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    Home » Beginning Drawing Lessons Online » Drawing a Mountain Landscape Scene with Easy Pencil Sketch

    How to Draw a Mountain Landscape Easy

    Learn how to draw an easy mountain landscape in this video tutorial. Just follow along with the simple step by step directions in this art lesson!

    Drawing this craggy mountaintop is a perfect tutorial for beginners and it is fun and simple. With just a pencil and paper you will be drawing a realistic mountain in no time. 

    Mountain Landscape sketch and paintings with watercolor paints, pencil and brushes
    Jump to:
    • Materials
    • Video Tutorial
    • Transcript
    • Characteristics of Mountains
    • How to Draw a Mountain Step by Step
    • Variations
    • Tips and tricks
    • What to do with your sketch
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • You also might like

    Mountains might seem difficult to sketch but with just a little bit of practice and patience you can easily draw a mountain scene. Learning how to draw a mountain peak is quick (and painless, aside from paper cuts) with this online art school class.

    Whether it is a single towering mountain, a snow covered summit, or a sprawling mountain range this lesson will help you begin your artistic journey. Keep practicing your drawing and painting skills to learn new techniques and use what you already know.

    Materials

    The materials needed for this lesson are very simple, you probably have them on hand already:

    • Pencil 
    • Paper (Drawing paper is best but you can use whatever you have available. I am using a 5.5 x 8.5 inch spiral bound sketchbook with 60lb paper)

    Video Tutorial

    Transcript

    Read Transcript

    Hi. Welcome! I’m going to do a quick and fun sketch of a mountain landscape so if you’d like you can go ahead and draw along with me. 

    Let’s get started. I’m going to start by just drawing in a basic sketch of this mountain, kind of a silhouette. So there are all these layers within the mountains there’s a mountain in the back and more more layers of mountains as they come forward and into the foreground. 

    Now I’m going to start doing a little bit of shading so I’m going to turn my pencil onto the side and push down. And I’ll push down harder if I want really dark shadows. 

    Starting over here I’m going to draw in some of these rocks. I’m leaving the paper, the bright areas, paper white and those areas are actually the snow. So what I’m actually drawing in are these craggy black and gray rocks peeking out of the snow. 

    Another really great thing to do is to make my shadows follow the same contours as the lines of my mountains. If my mountain dips down like that I can make my shadows dip down like that, it helps add structure and helps define the shapes of the mountains just a little bit better. 

    Here is a really nice dark shadow here on the side of this peek. Then as the foreground gets closer to us here these areas are going to be darker so I’m going to darken in these areas quite a bit. This hill here is really pretty dark also. 

    Now as I am also darkening in these areas you can really start to see the layers of the mountain coming so you are starting to get more sense of depth, more sense of three dimensionality. 

    Add one more little peek there to the mountain. Add a few shadows in on it. And a few more craggy rocks peeking out behind here. And off in the distance this area is going be be really light, that’s even another mountain that we are seeing off in the distance beyond. 

    Following the contour of these mountain shapes. And just a few last little details. Alright, so here is our finished mountain landscape. I hope you had a great time practicing. Thanks for watching.

    Characteristics of Mountains

    Understanding the basic structure and organization of mountains is important when it comes to drawing or painting these summits.  

    1. Mountains are generally a triangle shape
    2. Think about the texture, rocky mountains are sharp and jagged, tree or grass covered mountains may have a softer silhouette
    3. Depending on where the light is coming from, one side of the ridge is usually darker and one side is lighter
    4. Mountains are most often found together, connected to one another in mountain ranges and overlapping

    How to Draw a Mountain Step by Step

    • Begin by roughly sketching in the outline of the mountain. It is helpful to look at an actual picture of a mountain if you are not drawing along with the video.
    • Then add some dark values. Turn your pencil on the side and push down from the top to add a lot of value quickly.
    • Determine where the whites and lights values will be. Leave these the color of the paper. 
    • Lastly go back through the entire drawing to add more detail and fine tune your image. Add more darks as needed. You can also erase any lines that seem out of place 
    • Look at your drawing overall. Is it believable and fairly accurate? Is there enough contrast (difference between lights and darks)? Is there enough detail with out adding too much?
    Sketch in the outlines
    1. Sketch in the outlines
    Add in shading in the dark areas
    2. Add in shading in the dark areas
    Leave the white areas the color of the paper
    3. Leave the white areas the color of the paper
    Add more detail and fine tune your image
    4. Add more detail and fine tune your image

    Variations

    • Try adding in plants, trees, people, or rustic shacks into to your mountain scene. Place these additions in background further away with a light sketchy quality. 
    • To add snow to your mountain peak, leave some spots white.
    • If you place them in the foreground you will want to add more detail. Look at a picture for reference of what you are actually drawing.
    • Drawing a mountain seen from your own photo is another great way to practice your drawing skills. 
    • You could also challenge yourself by using a different drawing material such as pen and ink or even charcoal.

    Tips and tricks

    • Turn your pencil on the side and push from the top to shade a lot of area quickly.
    • Create a sense of 3 dimension by including some very dark values. Add these in the foreground and closer to the viewer. Dark values will come toward the audience while light values will appear to be further away.
    Mountain Landscape sketch and paintings with watercolor paints, pencil and brushes

    How to Draw a Mountain Landscape Easy

    Learn how to draw an easy mountain landscape in this video tutorial. Just follow along with the simple step by step directions in this art lesson!
    Drawing this craggy mountaintop is a perfect tutorial for beginners and it is fun and simple. With just a pencil and paper you will be drawing a realistic mountain in no time. 

    Materials

    • Pencil
    • Paper Drawing paper is best but you can use whatever you have available. I am using a 5.5 x 8.5 inch spiral bound sketchbook with 60lb paper

    Instructions

    • Begin by roughly sketching in the outline of the mountain.
    • It is helpful to look at an actual picture of a mountain if you are not drawing along with the video.
    • Then add some dark values. Turn your pencil on the side and push down from the top to add a lot of value quickly.
    • Determine where the whites and lights values will be. Leave these the color of the paper.
    • Lastly go back through the entire drawing to add more detail and fine tune your image. Add more darks as needed. You can also erase any lines that seem out of place
    • Look at your drawing overall. Is it believable and fairly accurate? Is there enough contrast (difference between lights and darks)? Is there enough detail with out adding too much?

    Notes

    Turn your pencil on the side and push from the top to shade a lot of area quickly.
    Create a sense of 3 dimension by including some very dark values in the foreground that are closer to the viewer. Dark values will come toward the audience while light values will appear to be further away.

    What to do with your sketch

    Mountain landscape framed on a mantel piece next to books and vase

    Your completed sketch also makes a great decoration for your home or a beautiful gift.

    You can also leave your drawing in your sketchbook. When combined with other drawings it makes a great portfolio or archive of your skill and progress.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    How do you draw a mountain peak?

    Draw a mountain peak by sketching in the outline of the peak and hilltops. Then shade in the dark areas leaving the white colors the color of the paper. Lastly, add more detail and more lights and darks where needed.

    How do you texture a mountain?

    Treat different surfaces of the mountain differently to add texture. The snow, rocks, dirt, trees and greenery all might have a different texture. Use different shading techniques to imply this varied difference in surface quality. Use hatching, cross hatching, stippling, scribbles or simple shading to indicate different texture.

    How do you add scenery to a mountain?

    Plants, trees, people, and houses, barns or rustic shacks can all be added to your mountain scene. Place these additions in background further away with a light sketchy quality. If you place them in the foreground you may want to add more detail so look at a picture for reference of what you are actually drawing.

    How do you make your mountain drawing more realistic?

    To make your mountain more realistic look at a photo while you are drawing. Slow down and take your time. Look at the overall drawing for shapes and lights and darks. Don’t focus too much on small details. Practice makes perfect.

    Pencil drawing of a mountain landscape

    You also might like

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    • How to Draw a 3d Cylinder (Tube) with Shading
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    • Draw a Simple Ocean Scape Drawing Tutorial
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    Please leave your ratings, questions and comments below!

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    Comments

    1. Sharon says

      October 26, 2023 at 10:31 pm

      Such a nice landscape. It was very easy and relaxing to draw. Thanks.

      Reply

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