Adventure Sketchbook, ages 8 to 12
How to draw Treehouse
A little house on a platform in a big leafy tree, with a rope ladder down to the grass. You will learn overlapping: how things in front hide things behind, and why the order you draw them in matters.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Time
- 30 minutes
- Steps
- 8
- Ages
- 8 to 12
How to draw Treehouse
What you need
- Paper Plain printer paper is perfect.
- Pencil (HB) For light first shapes you can erase.
- Black fineliner 0.5 mm, or any black pen.
- Eraser A soft white eraser.
- Coloured pencils Any set; sharpen them first.
Step by step
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01Big shapes
Big shapes, lightly
Lightly draw a trunk splitting into a Y, a long platform across it, a box-and-triangle house, and big ovals for leaves.
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02Construction
Plan the details
Add a rope ladder hanging from the platform, a low branch to the small leaf clump, and a round window and a door.
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03Details
Ink the nearest things first
Ink the nearest things first: the house with its roof, window and door, then the platform and the rope ladder.
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04Details
Trunk and branches behind
Ink the trunk up to the platform and stop. Ink the branches only where they peek out from behind the house and leaves.
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05Details
Clouds of leaves
Ink the leaf clumps as bumpy clouds, nearest first: the low one, the two sides, the top, then the one behind the roof.
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06Details
Erase the pencil
Wait a minute for the ink to dry, then gently erase all the pencil lines and ovals.
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07Colour
Leaves, wood and a red roof
Colour the leaves green, the trunk and platform brown, the house light wood and the roof red. Keep the window white.
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08Finishing touches
Shadows tuck things in
Light comes from the top left. Shade under the roof and platform, the right of the trunk, and the lower right of each clump.
Ages 8 to 12
