Don’t you just sometimes want to get away. We love visiting the forest. Let’s draw one for fun!
Julia – one of our museum volunteers – shares a simple drawing that showcases the serenity of a forest. We hope it inspires some creativity as you draw from your imagination at home.
Watch the video:
Gather your tools!
You’ll need:
- Sketchbook or some paper
- Colorful drawing instruments, such as marker or colored pencils
- Imagination
Note: Julia often first sketches her subject with a pencil, then outlines with an illustrator pen (both 0.1 and 0.5 point). But in keeping this simple, she started drawing immediately with Tombow acidfree water-based markers.
Draw!
First, setting into a comfy space with your sketchbook or notebook, your colored pencils or markers. Then tap into your imagination and start drawing.
If you are having difficulty getting started, you might look at some books or websites with illustrations of forests. Ask yourself:
- What kind of forest will I draw? Will it be based on reality or a dream?
- While forests feature trees, will it also include families camping or animals wandering?
- What season is it? Will the trees have snow?
- Is there a story to my drawing? What is it?
Remember, you should draw your forest the way you imagine it. And don’t worry about it looking “perfect” – focus on having fun.
Tip: If your child gets frustrated because his/her drawing doesn’t look a certain way, we often recommend reading the book Ish by Peter H. Reynolds. What’s special about this story is the main character discovers the fun in creating once he realizes his art doesn’t need to look exactly like the thing he was trying to draw. Ish is awesome!
About our volunteer
Julia is a student at Arizona State University studying biology. She draws to relax and think. You might find her at the museum helping at an event, but she’s often behind the scenes helping input data and prepping sample artworks for marketing events.