How to Draw a Cemetery

While wandering through a city, we often discover impressive places: tall buildings, remnants of the past, large churches, or lively parks. But there are also places that awaken other emotions… and it’s one of these that we will draw today.

Hello and welcome to this tutorial on how to draw a cemetery. The goal is not only to depict a place but to give it a special atmosphere, imbued with mystery, eeriness, and perhaps melancholy. Depending on your sensitivity, you might choose either a dark and unsettling ambiance or a calm and solemn one.

So, without further ado, let's get straight to the point.

Draw a cemetery step by step

Let's start by laying out the first elements of our drawing: gravestones, which are essential in a cemetery.

Place two at key points in your composition grid; they will immediately attract the viewer's attention. Then leave an empty area: this space will naturally draw the eye when observing the image and create a feeling of depth and continuity.

Let's now draw some more gravestones.

Make sure to give them varied shapes: draw inspiration from real references or invent your own models. Arrange them so that they gradually recede into the background. You will notice that very few exceed the horizon line: it is this subtlety that provides natural depth, without the need to draw perspective lines.

This place, filled with symbols, evokes memory and the passage of time.
Depending on the atmosphere you want to create, you can enrich the scene in several ways:

Deciduous and flowering trees for a peaceful, almost contemplative atmosphere.
Or, conversely, dry and gnarled trees to create a darker and more mysterious atmosphere.

Once this foundation is laid, it's time to fill in our drawing a bit more.

The gravestones will occupy the lower part of the drawing, while the trees on the sides will frame the composition.

In the background, add a distant wood and a structure - a small church or mausoleum, for example - to enhance the depth and visual interest.

Finally, leave space for the sky: this opening will lighten the composition and avoid overloading the image.

Add color to the drawing

As is often the case, we will start with the background, because it sets the overall mood of the scene.
Here, the goal is to create a nighttime landscape, filled with mystery and calm, featuring a soft yet slightly unsettling light.

Start by applying a gradient that goes from a deep blue to a lighter, desaturated tone. This transition will give the sky a dense yet luminous atmosphere.
Then add a diffuse white spot, followed by a sharper circle in the center to represent the moon: it will become the main light point of your composition.

Once the sketch is removed, you should see a cold and delicate light emanating from the center, surrounded by darker shades.

To make the moon more realistic, don't hesitate to give it some texture: a few irregular splotches in various shades of blue, some lighter, others deeper, will evoke its slightly granular surface.

Continue with the dark shapes of the forest in the background and the grass in the foreground.

If you are working in traditional technique, use colors that are less saturated, almost uniform at this distance, the details fade and simplifying the forms contributes to the depth of the image.

Add a gloomy atmosphere to the drawing

Then, draw some mist using light white strokes. Avoid adding too much: a few well-placed areas are enough to balance the drawing.

Then apply the base color of the trees, a very dark brown. The background will immediately appear less saturated, as if covered with a veil of mist.

Add a slight vertical gradient to the trunks so that the mist blends in and adds more depth to your scene.

Finally, draw the grass, adding varied and irregular green strokes for a natural effect.

Draw the gravestones in the cemetery

Draw the closest gravestones with an even darker tone: this is the effect of the backlighting from the moon as seen from the viewer's position.

If you are working on paper, start with the furthest areas using a lighter gray, then gradually darken as you move forward.

The distant tombstones will appear clearer, softened by the moonlight and the mist.

As for the trees, don’t forget to give them numerous fine branches: even without leaves, a tree retains a complex branched structure.

Draw shadows and volumes

We've arrived at the last stage of our drawing.

It's time to add the shadows of the gravestones, oriented opposite to the moon, thus towards the outside of the frame.

Since the drawing is backlit, there will be little light.

Fortunately, gravestones are simple shapes, and so easy to shade: observe their orientation relative to the moon and only illuminate the faces that are directly exposed.

The stones at the bottom will receive more diffuse light, but will have less detail.

Those located even further away do not need shadows or light: their uniform color is enough for them to blend into the landscape.

Finally, add some texture to the trees with small, irregular touches of gray, brown, and dull ocher.

On the ground, draw short dark green lines and a few light green spots to suggest fallen leaves or sparse vegetation.

To finish, add a bit more mist between the stones in the middle ground to enhance the depth.

And there we have it, our tutorial is coming to an end!

I hope this exercise has helped you explore composition, light, and color in an atmosphere-rich setting.

Now it's your turn: imagine your own version of the cemetery.
Whether it is dark and unsettling or instead peaceful and symbolic, everything will depend on the choices you make — the vegetation, the light, the time of day, or even the weather can completely transform the scene.

Do not forget: good management of planes creates depth, details focus on nearby areas, and light remains your best ally in bringing each shape to life.

Writer and Illustrator: Bryam