How to Draw a Japanese Landscape

Japan is an archipelago of thousands of islands, of which the 4 major ones are Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu, between the Sea of Japan and the Pacific Ocean.

Water is a predominant element in designing a Japanese landscape, as well as lush nature, typical architecture with curved roofs, and the massive Mount Fuji…

Symbolic elements of Japan

Major elements support Japanese culture and imagery found in stories, drawings, paintings, and photography:

- Mount Fuji: the iconic mountain of Japan, it reaches 3776 m and is the highest in the archipelago,

- Buddhist temples and Shinto shrines. They are found in the heart of nature so they rightfully belong in Japanese landscapes. For some landscapes and gardens, a pavilion also features this type of curved roof.

- Maple trees with vibrant colors: there are many species in Japan,

- Cherry trees abundant with flowers in spring,

- Japanese gardens, following a coded composition,

- Bridges in Japanese gardens, which are curved upwards,

- Torii: religious gateways that symbolize Shintoism. Made of red-painted wood, they represent an entrance to the sacred, a threshold. In Japanese, "tori" means "bird" seen as messengers of the gods, and torii means "where birds perch".

- Lanterns,

- Rounded clouds for more stylized drawings,

- Japanese macaques bathing around hot springs: in Japan they are called "nihon-zaru" or "Japanese monkeys".

To draw a Japanese landscape, you can mix these elements.

Regarding colors:

- Red: the essential and characteristic color of Japan, symbol of peace, prosperity, and also associated with the spiritual.

- Orange: for the leaves of the trees.

- Blue: sky and stretches of water (ponds in gardens, ponds, waterfalls, sea and ocean surrounding the island, etc…).

- Green: predominant vegetation, the color of some ponds. It is also the complement of red, which can be used to highlight red colors in a drawing.

- Culturally, white along with red is an important color, but it is not so prevalent in landscapes.

Typical tree shapes

The colors used to depict a Japanese landscape are an explosion of shimmering tones; oranges, reds, greens, and pinks are common.

In the drawing below, to the left of the drawing, a sketch of a maple tree in shades of red and orange with serrated leaves and moderately dense foliage that allows a glimpse of the fine branches.

In the center, the cherry tree with round clusters represents flowers whose colors range from white to pink. Pink cherry trees are ubiquitous and often enough to indicate that it is a Japanese landscape. Their branches are curved and also often depicted with marked angles and a dark brown or black trunk for very stylized drawings.

Pine trees, which are spiky, are also present (the trees at the bottom). Trees with small oval masses are also typical of this type of landscape where the shape of some trees is controlled and even miniaturized for gardens. In Japanese gardens, they use the technique of "shakkei" to add depth and dimension to the garden with four layers, the last and fourth layer being the actual location of the garden (mountains).

How to draw cherry tree branches

1/ I choose a range of soft and vibrant pink. Three or four shades are enough to create the flower's texture. I add a pale sky blue for the highlights (a reminiscent echo of the sky).

For the branches, dancing brown curves form the base of the forks. Lines of irregular but increasingly fine size from the trunk to the tip add to the realism.

2/ I draw simple tufts with the lightest pink. I vary their sizes. This will be my base.

3/ I add to the heart of the pale pink the first halftone and the darkest color is once again intertwined into the mass of the middle pink tone.

4/ I draw with more precise shapes the details of some petals and complete flowers, and I also add cherry blossoms directly onto the branches.

Finally, I add small touches of blue from the palette, respecting the position of the sky and the light (this is not to be placed everywhere as it was for the pink).

Composition and space

In Japanese visual arts, composition and space play an important role in the image. The same goes for their gardens or even what can be observed in photos of landscapes: spaces that breathe, lush vegetation that still invites serenity and contemplation... areas of calm.

In the West, although the so-called "landscape" format (where the horizontal width is greater than the vertical edge) is common, depictions of landscapes in Japan are also widely available in vertical format, which can enhance the visual appeal.

Drawing a typical Japanese landscape with a pond and pavilion

For a typical Japanese landscape, you could draw Mount Fuji in the distance, surrounded by cherry trees with lakes, mountains or even the city stretching out in the background...

For a bit more complexity while mixing Japanese elements, I suggest drawing a landscape that includes a pond, a pavilion, a bridge, rocks, maple trees, and mountains in the distance…

1/ Once the horizon line is chosen, I draw a shore with water beneath it. On the shore, rocks litter the water's edge, and above are small bushes and trimmed shrubs, leading up to the beginning of a staircase.

2/ In the foreground, I add some foliage: a stem from which oval leaves branch off. This isn’t an essential step because often the foregrounds are calmer in Japanese landscapes, so as not to attract attention and to lead the eye towards the other planes.

3/ I draw the line of distant mountains, my final plane.

4/ Above and on the side of the stairs, I place the curved roof of my architecture which overhangs the expanse of water.

5/ I draw the vertical lines of the wooden structure of the architecture. There are several levels: edges for the corners and below the verticals of the stair railings. The roof remains wider than these elements.

6/ I finish drawing the pavilion by tracing horizontal lines: a border around the pavilion, the top of the stone staircase... Finally, at the bottom of the staircase, I draw the Japanese bridge, typically red, curved upwards and made of wood.

7/ I draw the vegetation on the right, some thin branches.

8/ I finish drawing the vegetation in the background (you can mix maples and pines, I draw more simply so as not to overcrowd the drawing.) This is the background.

9/ To accompany the foreground, I draw maple branches on the left side. They lean towards the water and are thin and slightly curved.

10/ Finally, to finish the composition, I draw the serrated leaves of the maple. They are said to be palmate and lobed: several "veins" going to each tip of the leaf starting from the central vein.

For drawing, I draw irregular leaf silhouettes for the large clumps, not detailing every leaf. I only sparingly draw those with their veins.

Add gray shades, shadows, and reflections

11/ I add some shades of gray; feel free to add the color touches mentioned earlier in the first part of the article! Reds, oranges for the maple leaves, etc...

I paint shadows, water reflections, I detail the vegetation and add some light spots.

12/ To finish, I darken the values of the foreground foliage and add some stylized branches and leaves.

 

Here is our finished landscape!

Writer and illustrator: Vincyane