You’ll love learning how to draw a palm tree in just 14 simple steps. Palm trees are an excellent way to bring a touch of the tropics into your home decor. Whether it’s summer, winter, or any season in between, these beautiful plants can instantly transport any room into a vacation paradise. In this article, we’ll guide you through the process of drawing a palm tree using a pen and then adding vibrant watercolour to your artwork!
We’ve broken down the process into 14 easy-to-follow steps, so even if you have just a couple of minutes now, that’s perfectly okay! You can bookmark this page and return to it later to complete the remaining steps.
How to Draw Palm Tree
Palm trees symbolize the essence of summer and vacation. Just looking at them evokes the soothing sounds of ocean waves and the scent of the sea breeze.
Let’s get started and begin drawing!
Materials You’ll need
To create your palm tree drawing, you’ll only need a pencil, a permanent ink pen, and some paper. If you want to make your drawing even more impressive, you can add a watercolour wash to it!
Below, we’ve listed the basic supplies you’ll need for your pen, ink, and watercolour drawing:
Supplies Needed for Drawing Pineapples:
- A 2B Pencil
- Faber Castell Pitt Pens (for inking)
- Kneadable Eraser (for erasing mistakes)
- A scrap piece of paper (for testing colours)
- 300gsm Watercolour Paper (if you plan to use watercolours, choose heavy paper that won’t wrinkle)
- A soft bristle round or filbert brush (for applying watercolours)
- Watercolour pans or tubes (e.g., Windsor and Newton Watercolour Pan with rich colours and easy portability)
How to Draw a Palm Tree Step-By-Step
Here on, we will show you the simple and easiest way to draw your palm tree making it look as beautiful as it should:
Step 1: Outline the Palm Tree Trunks
Using a permanent pen, create the outlines for the palm tree trunks. Draw the first trunk in a vertical position and the second one leaning to the right. Also, add some grass where the trunks meet the ground.
Step 2: Draw the Center Veins of Palm Tree Leaves
For each palm tree leaf, draw a single line where the central vein of the leaf would be. This line serves as a guide for shaping the leaves.
Step 3: Shape the Palm Tree Leaves
Starting from the central vein you drew earlier, shape the palm tree leaves around it. Instead of drawing each leaf separately, create clusters of leaves to give the impression of a large palm tree leaf.
Step 4: Continue Shaping the Palm Tree Leaves
Finish shaping the palm tree leaves on the first tree and begin drawing the shapes of the leaves on the second palm tree.
Step 5: Finalize the Palm Tree Leaves
Complete the drawing of the palm tree leaves by refining their shapes.
Step 6: Start Shading the Palm Tree Trunk
Begin adding shading to the palm tree trunk. Use techniques like hatching (parallel lines) and cross-hatching (intersecting lines) to create shadow areas.
Step 7: Finish Shading the Palm Tree Trunk
Continue shading the palm tree trunk using hatching and cross-hatching techniques. Additionally, include small circular patterns to enhance the texture and visual interest of the palm tree trunks.
Step 8: Commence Shading the Palm Tree Leaves
Start adding shading to the palm tree leaves.
Step 9: Complete the First Palm Tree
Conclude the shading of the leaves on the first palm tree. Afterwards, move on to shading the leaves of the second palm tree.
Step 10: Finish the Second Palm Tree
Complete the shading of the leaves on the second palm tree.
Step 11: Transform Your Palm Tree Drawing into a Watercolour Painting!
When you’re just starting with watercolour painting, you’ll use a method called “wet-on-dry.” This means you apply paint to your brush and then paint it onto the dry paper. This approach gives you better control over the colours you use.
Once you’ve outlined your shapes with your initial colour, you can switch to a technique called “wet-on-wet.”
“Wet-on-wet” painting involves using watercolour paint on a wet surface. The paint then spreads and blends, creating fascinating colour effects.
Although it’s a bit less predictable than “wet-on-dry,” I find it exciting to watch the watercolour pigments interact as they dry, forming beautiful textures and patterns.
We began our watercolour palm trees by applying a wash of Cadmium Yellow Hue.
Step 12: Add a Second Layer of Wash to the Palm Tree Trunks
Apply a wash of Raw Umber over the Cadmium Yellow Hue to add depth and shadows to the palm tree trunks. Concentrate more of the Raw Umber on the sides of the trunks.
Step 13: Apply the First Watercolour Wash to the Palm Tree Leaves
Use Viridian Green to create a wash over the palm tree leaves.
Step 14: Introduce Shadows to the Palm Tree Leaves
Paint Hookers Green washes into the shadowed areas of the palm tree leaves. To make the leaves appear more realistic and three-dimensional, apply the Hookers Green to the base areas of the leaves, avoiding the central portion and the tips.
What Can You Do With Your Palm Tree Drawing?
Palm trees make fantastic additions to your home decor! They add vibrant colour and a lively touch to any room.
What’s even better is that you can enjoy palm trees in your decor all year round, unlike many other plants that are limited to the summer season.
You can frame your palm tree drawing and use it as wall art, for making cards, in your art journal, for decorating photo albums, for creative journaling, and so much more.
Conclusion
Congratulations, your palm tree drawing is complete! Now you have a beautiful piece of art that can serve many purposes. It could be a perfect addition to your bedroom wall, or it may hold sentimental value, reminding you to make time for nature and not get too caught up in work.
I hope the tips I provided on using pen and ink, along with watercolour wash techniques and materials, have helped you in your palm tree drawing journey. Whatever you choose to do with this artwork, my wish is that it brings joy into your life. Happy drawing!
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