Draw a Snowy Tree

Hello everyone, today we're tackling a classic of winter landscapes: the snow-covered tree. With its branches covered in snow, it immediately brings a magical atmosphere to your drawings and, most importantly, you'll see that it's possible to draw no matter your skill level.

Get your pencils, paper or tablet ready, and most importantly, your creativity! Let's go!

Studying snow 

Before diving into drawing snowy trees, I invite you to take a short detour through our article on how to draw snow (https://dessindigo.com/blog/tuto-dessin/dessiner-neige). It will give you some useful basic tips, but don't worry because we'll review the essential points in this article.

As always, to properly draw an element, it is essential to start by observing it. Look at the pictures below: you can see that snow clings everywhere it can, except on vertical surfaces. Conifers, which keep their needles in winter, get almost entirely covered in snow, while leafless trees let the snow settle directly on their branches. There's no need to draw everything perfectly, but these details will make all the difference!

In the diagram below, you can see how the snow settles in small rounded piles on the branches of the trees.

To draw a snowy tree, start by drawing the structure (1), as it will serve as the base for the rest of the drawing. Once the branches are in place, add rounded shapes to represent the snow that has settled on them (2). Don't worry too much about the details at this stage, just focus on the main shapes. You can then add colors to bring your drawing to life (3).

How to draw the color of snow?

Here are some colors from the photos we just saw above.

As you can see, snow is never really white. Under the sun, it takes on beige, light yellow, or pinkish hues, while in the shade, it turns shades of blue and violet. To make your drawings more believable, avoid using pure white. Instead, opt for subtle shades suited to the light: warm tones for sunlit areas and cool tones for shaded sections.

Use more saturated colors for the shadows to create contrast and accentuate depth. These variations will add more realism and dimension to your snow.

Draw a simplified snowy tree

Before discovering how to draw a snowy tree step by step, I recommend that you already have a good mastery of drawing trees. If you want to learn more, I invite you to consult our article on how to draw trees.

We will start by drawing a snowy tree in a rather cartoonish style. As you can see in the examples below, to create a cartoon-style snowy tree, we simplify the different elements as much as possible. We keep the trunk and a few main branches, but most of the small branches and foliage are replaced by large volumes of snow. This allows us to play with the shapes and movements of the trees while simplifying the drawing.

Here's how to proceed, step by step. To make it more visible, I've chosen to tint the background. If you have the opportunity, I recommend always working on a tinted background when you are drawing snow. This will help to bring out the nuances. You can tint the background yourself or use a pre-tinted support.

Drawing a snowy tree: From a sketch to the final colored drawing

If you prefer to draw a tree realistically, the principle remains the same. However, here we will focus more on the structures and details. Here is how to proceed, step by step.

And there you have it! Now you have all the keys to drawing snowy trees. Don't forget, whether you're drawing a cartoon tree or a realistic tree, observe how the snow settles, use a variety of colors (not just white and gray) and above all, have fun! 😊

Illustrator and writer: Chloé Pouteau