Learning to draw grass correctly is essential to creating realistic landscape drawings, and can add great realism to your images.
At its core, drawing grass doesn't require too much precision: just short vertical pencil strokes should suffice.
Use a Sketch or Ciao Marker
Copic markers provide an easy and affordable way to achieve the look of grass. Available in an array of colors, these refilled markers can easily transform grassy spaces. Sketch and Ciao models are great options for beginners looking for their first set.
If you are using a light color marker to draw grass, I would advise starting by filling in the large green areas first and adding individual tufts while it is still wet on paper - this will prevent dark spots from appearing under your grass.
COPIC Ciao Markers are ideal for beginners in design, art and graphic drawing! These refillable markers feature both a medium broad nib on one end and super brush tip on the other; plus they come equipped with premium alcohol- and dye-based inks that can be refilled up to 17 times!
Make a Tuft
At its core, tufts of grass are just two marks on paper - an upward and downward stroke with light pressure from a pencil. When creating these images with pencil, make the upstrokes start off thicker then taper off gradually towards the pencil tip while downstrokes should also taper off gradually to simulate real blades of grass moving in the wind - this creates the effect that tricks your brain into believing there's real grass present!
Continue shading using a 2B pencil, working between the white spaces that represent individual blades of grass. Be sure to add lots of shadow in areas close to the ground; as less light hits a piece of grass' surface, its darker appearance should increase accordingly.
Add a lighter earth tone to some grass areas, particularly those located in the foreground, to provide some contrast and help it stand out more from a distance.
Make a Clump
Drawing one blade of grass may seem straightforward, but creating an entire clump may prove more challenging for novice artists or children.
Begin by applying a light tone over the grass with an HB or 2H pencil to soften and reshape areas of highlight, creating uniformity across each section. Next, use your darker chisel point pencil to shade negative space surrounding highlighted areas - this helps make grass look more natural by eliminating "black spots" that appear when shading on light surfaces.
Continue to shade the grass this way, adding darker values for shadows and variation. Try to resist using black for all purposes as it can make the grass appear artificial and unnatural; as you practice and draw these techniques more frequently, drawing realistic landscape elements will become easier for you.
Add Details
Details matter in grass drawings, especially if the tufts of grass are the subject. Include details such as mowing patterns in lawn paintings or include details like long grass with its undulating textures in landscape paintings.
Beginning by shading your paper with soft pencil strokes of various lengths is an effective way to start sketching. Once done, use an eraser pen to erase some of the graphite to achieve lighter lines.
Use different shades of green to simulate grass with different textures, for instance by choosing lighter tones for areas flooded by sunlight and darker hues for further distances.
As another great tip, make sure that when drawing grass blades from the ground up they bend and taper just like real grass does. This can ensure that their marks bend and taper as desired - an essential step when drawing realistic looking grass!