How to Draw a River

Artist: Dawn / April 26, 2011
How to Draw a River

Step 1.


The first step is simple because all you have to do is draw out two aligning lines that in the end will resemble a road. The lining should be wavy.

Step 2.


Thicken the left lining for the river bed, and then add some defined rocks both big and small. Streams and rivers seem to have some sort of filtering system in place. The gravel and rocks at the bottom of a river are used for filtration purposes.

Step 3.


You will now start sketching out the foliage around the river and this can be foothills, trees, bushes, grass, flowers, or whatever else you would like to see in a river landscape. Add some detailing and defining on and around the riverbed, and then    

Step 4.


Continue to sketch out your trees, and bushes like you see here and remember that they can be pine trees, oak trees, or any other type of tree.

Step 5.


For the last drawing step all you need to do is sketch out more trees and then add some spurts of grass here and there, as well as some extra detailing on the water and solid surfaces.

Step 6.


Once the drawing is all cleaned up, you should have a nice drawn out landscape or scene of a river. Color in the landscape and you are all done.

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Details

Artist: Dawn
Date Added: April 26, 2011
Steps: 6
Favorited: 12 (view)
Views: 1 in last hour, 9 in last day, 54 in last week, 149770 total
Comments: 0
Tags: how to draw landscapes, how to draw rivers, how to draw streams
Description: It's been a long while since I made a drawing on some sort of landscaped scenery. Today I want to go to that other place where the sun shines everyday, the smell of new blossoms are in the air, and the sound of a flowing river is in the nearby distance. Today I will show you "how to draw a river", step by step. There is many definitions for a river and sometimes these bodies of water are called streams. There is a thousand rivers and streams across the globe and each one have their own names. They are also sometimes refereed to as brooks, creeks, and rivulets. No matter what you may call a river, one thing is certain with any name you choose to describe it, they are almost always freshwater, and they steadily flow in the direction to lakes, oceans, and seas. There are also the types of rivers that flow for a while, but then dry up before they even make it to an ocean or lake. If you look at a globe in an up close and personal view, you will see all kinds of rivers that spider off and eventually come to larger bodies of water. I wanted to draw a serene type of river because such landscapes seem to be more desirable to draw than others. I had fun creating my own version of a stream and turning it into a lesson on "how to draw a river". You can make your river drawing as long, wide, or small as you want. I guess it all depends on personal preference. Have fun with this tutorial guys and be sure to keep those pencils steady as I will return with more drawing fun.

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