How to Draw Fall Leaves
Three fallen leaves show the different outlines of maple, oak, and birch foliage. Explore their curled edges and branching veins in a small autumn arrangement with clear differences in shape and surface.
Start the lessonStage 1: Place the Leaves
Sketch a large circle on the left for the maple. Add a long oval slanting down to the right above a smaller, pointed oval for the birch. Let the two right-hand guides meet.
Stage 2: Shapes
Replace the circle with pointed maple lobes and the upper oval with rounded oak lobes. Refine the birch into a smooth outline with a downward-facing tip, tucking its top beneath the oak. Add curved stems to the maple and oak, and a small curled tip at the oak’s top.
Stage 3: Add Veins and Toothed Edges
Draw the maple’s main veins spreading from its stem into the lobes. Add a central vein with curved side branches to the oak and birch. Add small teeth along the birch edge and smaller points along the maple outline.
Stage 4: Finish the Pencil Drawing
Add fine branching veins and light, mottled shading across all three leaves. Define curled maple tips and the birch’s folded lower-right edge, deepening shadows beneath these curls and the oak’s rolled tip. Shade the stems and add soft shadows beneath the leaves to complete the drawing.
Explore colour
Add colour
Make room for your drawing.
One page, 4 stages, and space to draw.
