In this tutorial I will tell you how to draw a tree in Photoshop. In order to draw in Photoshop, it is advisable to have a graphics tablet, but you can get by with a mouse, but in the case of a mouse you will have to try to draw as accurately as possible. Well, let's start drawing.

Step 1

In order to draw a tree in Photoshop, you need to create new document. Choose a canvas size large enough for the detail to be at the proper level. I usually choose a canvas size of at least 1000 pixels wide.

Using a regular round brush, draw a tree trunk. Here you can not limit your imagination and draw exactly the trunk you like.

Now you need to select a brush or create one. If you don’t know how to create brushes in Photoshop, write to me about it, and I will definitely make a lesson. By the way, in Photoshop there is a standard brush with leaves, you can use it. The brush should be translucent - along the edges we paint over the crown of the tree not completely, but so that it seems to shine through.

Step 2

Now we need to decide which side the light is coming from. So, we have determined that the light is coming from the left, which means that we need to highlight the left side of the tree crown. We choose a color a little lighter than the base color and begin to apply it to most of the tree crown. Then we choose an even lighter color, but now we paint a smaller area. We also make the left side of the tree trunk lighter.

Step 3

Now we need to add color to our tree. You can immediately paint in the correct color or create a layer with a gradient and the blending mode you like. We begin to apply spots on top of the crown using different brushes so that the crown looks uneven.

Step 4

We add details to both the crown and the trunk. We also add grass near the base of the tree so that it doesn't look so lonely. You can also draw branches on the tree in different places that show through the crown.

Step 5

All that remains is to add a background, a couple of fallen leaves, and make color correction.

In this tutorial I will explain how to create your own shape brushes and how to use them. These brushes will save you a lot of time when painting trees, bushes and grass.
I used Photoshop CS5 and a Wacom Cintiq graphics tablet. You can use any other tablet to be able to control the pen pressure.
Let's create something beautiful!

Final result:

(click on image to enlarge)

Step 1. The first thing we have to do is create a new document; I usually make it about 500 by 500 pixels with a resolution of 300 dpi, so that later the brush does not become pixelated when it is enlarged when we work with a large image.

We will create a brush for painting leaves - a brush in the shape of a maple leaf, with its help we can quickly and easily create beautiful foliage. To get started, just take any standard Photoshop brush and start drawing the outlines of a shape, in this case a maple leaf.

Step 2. Now we need to add some depth to the brush.
I created a new layer and painted the veins using Chalk brushes(Chalk).
Use a white brush with 50% opacity to paint the lighter areas.

Step 4. You'll notice that the brush you just created appears at the very bottom of the list of brushes. Now we must select this brush from the list and open Brushes panel - F5. This will open the brush settings, which you can change as you wish.

Step 5. The default brush settings don't allow you to control or change your strokes, so the first thing we need to do is adjust pen sensitivity, do it in the menu Different dynamics(Other Dynamics) or Transfer in Photoshop CS5.

note: This setting will only work correctly when using a graphics tablet.

Install Transparency fluctuation(Opacity Jitter) 50% and make sure that this setting will be adjusted by pen pressure. To create brush direction changes and adjustments, select Dynamics of shape(Shape Dynamics).

Step 6. Size fluctuation(Size Jitter) - 100%, control - pen pressure. Please note, control for setting Angle fluctuation(Angle Jitter) installed Initial direction(Initial Direction), and for Circle oscillation(Roundness Jitter) - Pen tilt (Pen tilit), MinimumRoundness - 25%.

Step 7 The last setting before using the brush is Setting the Brush Shape(Brush Tip Shape) where I set Interval(Spacing) 70% to separate brush marks from each other.

Step 8 Now we know where to find the brush settings, we can easily try them out and try changing the values ​​and settings.

Step 9 Okay, we've set up the brush and now we need to save these settings. This is very important, because when you select another brush, all your settings will be lost, and this way you can apply them to other curly brushes. Again press F5, open the brush settings window, and select from the pop-up menu New Brush(New Brush Preset) and call it. Now the previously created brush will be saved with the new settings you applied and will be at the bottom of the list of brushes.

Step 10 The next steps will be quick and will summarize what we just did. I'm going to create another Maple Leaf by simply changing the shape of the shape. First, erase the petiole of the leaf, then go to the menu Select> Select All (Select> All) and then in Edit>Transform>Distort(Edit > Transform > Warp).

Step 11 By selecting a point and dragging it, you can shape and distort the shape of the leaf as shown in the image below.

Step 12 You can also drag anywhere inside the grid, the shape of the sheet will change. After editing the sheet, press Enter to confirm the edit.

Step 13 After applying all the necessary settings for the brush, such as Shape Dynamics and Other Dynamics, I ran the brush over the working document and was happy with the way our brush painted.
The illustration below represents the full image created with just the new shape brushes.

Freely place elements around with the new shaped brushes, use your imagination and creativity to create trees, bushes, grass or even entire landscapes.

Step 14 Save the brush with the new settings as we did in the previous steps and it will be added to your list. We now have two maple leaf views, both saved with the settings we gave them. There is an arrow in the list of brushes in the upper right corner. Click on it and select Save brushes(Save Brushes), designate your own list of brushes, they will always be stored with you and you can use them at any time.

Step 15 We have come to the end of the lesson. This may all seem difficult, but try making your own brushes and you will realize that it is not so.
Don't be afraid to experiment. Curly brushes are very helpful in the work. Drawing them takes time and peace of mind, but in the end you will be happy knowing that you can speed up the process digital drawing using a variety of methods.

Good luck on your journey through the world of digital painting!

20.06.2009 26.01.2018

In fact, drawing a tree in Photoshop is not that difficult. You just need a little effort and imagination.

What we will mainly use in this tutorial:

• Brush. We will draw all the main points of it.
• Smudge Tool (Finger) - allows you to smudge the tree bark. It sounds crazy, but in the process you will understand why.
• Eraser Tol (Eraser) - correct a drawn image
• Brightness and Contrast
• Filter Gaussian Blur

No art education or freehand drawing skills required! It only takes a few minutes.

Step 1. Create a new document.

Let's open a new file: File - New (ctrl+n)

Step 1. Sketching the tree

Let's take Brush Tool small size and make a sketch of the future tree.

Step 3. Detailing the barrel

Let's create a new layer: Layer » New » Layer and draw the tree bark using Brush Tool. Use a color that will be the main one.

Change the brush settings and paint the texture.

Now draw clear light and dark parts to the bark.

Using Brush Tool make the shadows deeper.

Using Smudge Tool smear the tree bark, but maintain its texture.

Step 4. Start drawing foliage

New layer. Let's draw the foliage of a tree using Brush Tool.

Now take another brush and paint the foliage with different colors.

Delete the layer containing the sketch by clicking Delete Layer at the bottom of the layers palette. Insert a new layer where the sketch layer was and fill it with the appropriate color using Paint Bucket Tool.

Adjust the foliage on the tree and its borders using Eraser Tool, selecting the desired brush and erasing the necessary areas with dotted strokes.

Using Smudge Tool adjust the bottom of the tree trunk.

Apply the following to the tree trunk layer: Image » Adjustments » Brightness/Contrast.

Step 5: Add More Leaves

Now you need to take a leaf-shaped brush. Set the same parameters for the brush as shown in the screenshot below.

Now draw the leaves.

Step 6. Finishing touches.

Duplicate the foliage layer: Layer » Duplicate Layer. Place it below the original foliage layer and apply a filter: ( Filter » Blur » Gaussian Blur).

Now let's glue all the layers into one Layer » Merge Visible (shift+ctrl+e) and give the tree an effect sunlight between the leaves. This can be done using Dodge Tool.

Duplicate the layer and apply a filter to it ( Gaussian Blur). Change the layer mode to Soft Light and set transparency 73%

Lesson author: Marina Tereshkova
Everyone is a little artist at heart. But for some reason, many are afraid to pick up brushes and paints. Now I will tell you how you can draw a picture in Photoshop.
To get started, you need to create a new document. I chose a transparent background, height – 1200 pixels, width – 900. Duplicate it, we will work with the top layer.
Using a small brush size, sketch out a rough outline of the tree.

Now select a larger brush and paint the tree trunk with broad strokes along the contour.

Created in Photoshop Elements 8.0, but can be used with almost any other graphics editor.

All my lessons are designed for beginner and intermediate level artists.

Start with a basic tree shape.

Add some soft light and shade. There is no need to carefully mix light and dark tones, because... any imperfection will later help achieve a realistic looking bark.

Take the Burn tool in Midtones or Highlights mode with a medium Exposure level (about 40-50%) and using a small soft brush draw curved relatively vertical lines.
Keep your hand relaxed and change the pressure on your hand to avoid pictures with “perfectly” drawn lines.

Take an even smaller Burn tool and go over the lines of the bark again, making them more clear and drawn. Also add some small cracks. Remember to keep your wrist relaxed.

Using the Burn tool and a large soft brush, work more carefully into the overall shape of the bark according to where the light hits. Make the shadows deeper using the same Burn tool and the highlights lighter using the Dodge tool.

Remember, time, as always, is a factor. The more effort you put in, the better the result will be. :)