3 Colorful Fall Drawings You Can Create to Celebrate the Season

Feeling invigorated by the cooler weather? What better way to channel that energy than to explore new ways to be creative? Think of it as a celebration of the season and a fun way to develop your artistic skills.

To give you a jump-start, we enlisted a couple of skilled illustrators to share some of their best fall drawing ideas. Get ready to get inspired!

Draw Autumn Leaves

When you thought about creating an autumn drawing, what's the first thing that came to mind? Leaves, right? Of course! “Fall colors are breathtakingly beautiful. For this exercise, we'll be letting the leaves guide us as we play with color palettes, and create depth and variation,” says Monica Basile, an artist and educator based in Iowa City, Iowa.

Tools You'll Need

• a sketchbook or paper
• fine point pencil
• eraser
• fineliner pen
• a range of red, orange, yellow, and brown colored pencils
• a collection of autumn leaves

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What To Do

1. Collect: Gather a variety of autumn leaves. Look for varied sizes, shapes, colors, and veins.
2. Observe: “Once you've collected your leaves — or reference photos, if necessary — take time to study each one. Often, a leaf that seems at first glance to be yellow might actually contain a range of yellows, greens, browns, or oranges,” says Basile.
   
   “Really observe and name the colors you see. This project yields really fun results with leaves that contain some color variation.”
3. Swatch: Using your colored pencils, do your best to find the combination of shades that most resemble each leaf you’ve collected. Play with pressure and try blending multiple colors.
4. Sketch: You have two choices here. You can draw a series of leaves on one page, or you can focus on one leaf on the entire page.
   
   Whatever you decide, begin by lightly sketching the general shape of the leaf, then go back in with your fineliner pen to sharpen the outline.
5. Add Color: After the ink has dried, use the colored pencils to infuse your sketch with color. Don’t forget about how the leaves might vary in shade.
   
   You can adjust the color by pressing lighter or harder, blending colors, or simply by swapping out for a slightly darker or lighter shade. 

Create Foliage Drawings

Rather than just one or a few leaves, you could create an autumn drawing of trees, their foliage bursting with fall colors.

“When I walk home, I always walk through a treed avenue, and I love to see how the leaves change with every day that passes during autumn. I think there's no better way to illustrate autumn than to draw a collection of trees using a wide range of autumn hues,” says Greta Lorenz, a self-taught artist based in Germany.

Don't be daunted by the idea of foliage drawings. It's simpler than it may look.

Tools You'll Need

• a sketchbook or paper
• fine-point pencil
• eraser
• fineliner pen
• a range of red, orange, yellow, and brown colored pencils
• template or a picture you took of the foliage

What To Do

1. Take a Photograph: Take a picture (or source one) that says “quintessential fall foliage.” Maybe it’s a tree-lined street, a city park, or a thick stretch of woods.
2. Sketch: Using your photograph as a reference, start by lightly sketching the tree crowns, then move on to the trunks and the ground.
3. Add Detail: Use your fineliner pen to trace the primary shapes. Add features such as leaves, curvature, and any other details or shading you want to incorporate into your fall drawing.
4. Infuse Color: “For this, I’d begin with a light yellow and build up the whole crown, adding layer by layer, adding stronger colors until you end up with a dark orange or red so you create some depth in the drawing. That will make it look realistic,” says Lorenz.
   
   She adds, “Allow the other parts of your drawing that aren’t the trees to create a big contrast. For example, if there’s a street, you can draw it quite dark so the trees will look even more bright and colorful."

Foraged Nature Study

“While spring and summer bring us the inspiration of beautiful blooms, fall gives us an opportunity to appreciate some of the more understated wonders of nature,” says Monica Basile.

“This season is rich with so many beautiful natural forms that are often unappreciated.”

We love this fall drawing idea because it can help hone your observational skills and invoke a sense of awe and appreciation of nature, all while improving your technique.

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Tools You'll Need

• a sketchbook or paper
• fine-point pencil
• fineliner pen
• eraser
• collection of autumn treasures

What To Do

1. Forage: Start by getting outdoors and getting your hands dirty. You can forage in true wilderness, a back yard, a park, or even an urban environment.
   
   Basile says, “You may not have to go any farther than your own front door, or you can use this opportunity to enjoy some extended time in nature.”
2. Observe: The key here is to shift your focus to the macro level. Take a look at what the trees have offered up for the season. Maybe it’s intricate seed pods, chunky acorns, delicate helicopter seeds, or crinkled fallen leaves.
   
   As you walk out in the crisp fall air notice if any of the shapes you see inspire you or intrigue you? Collect the items that you’re drawn to most.
3. Examine: Once you’ve foraged for your little autumn treasures, take the time to really investigate each. “Ask yourself what shapes you see, and what the relationship is between its different parts,” says Basile.
   
   “Even if you’re looking at an acorn and you’ve seen millions of acorns before, try to approach it with utter curiosity; it should be as though it were the first time you’ve laid eyes on such a thing.”
4. Rough Sketch: Using your pencil, lightly sketch rough lines that describe the general shape and gesture of your items.
   
   Try drawing true to size, larger than life, or something in between.
5. Add Detail: Using your rough sketches as an outline, add more detail to the items you've drawn. “It helps to have a very sharp pencil if you’re working with an item with intricate details,” says Basile.
   
   “Trace the structures of your item with your eyes first, and then with your pencil. Try to look more at your item than at your paper. If a line you draw seems to not quite describe what you see, that’s what your eraser is for.”
   
   The objective here is not realism for the sake of realism, but to use the process of drawing to really understand and appreciate your subject. Don’t let yourself feel rushed.
6. Add Inking, Texture, and Shading: Use a fineliner pen to trace over your pencil lines. Take one more opportunity to study your items, then incorporate texture and shading with lines.
   
   Basile says, “This may call for varying your mark-making to include stippling or other techniques. Take one more look at the shadows and curves of your item, and add any shading that may also help describe its structure. This last step can really bring your drawing to life.”

Inspiration is Everywhere

We hope you're feeling inspired to get outside and create your own fall drawings. Don't worry about perfection. Just getting outside, appreciating nature, and flexing your artistic muscles will make it time well spent.

Still looking for ideas? Check out even more things to draw to channel your artistic energy, improve your technique, and just have fun!