How to Describe a Waterfall

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People will oft hike for miles merely to see a waterfall. There is just something about them we find compelling; which makes them a groovy feature to be able to include when drawing your map. Hither, I have put together some simple steps which intermission downwardly the process I use when drawing waterfalls on my fantasy maps.

All of the brushes I will be using for this tutorial are available in Map Maker Essential Brushes pack for Procreate & Photoshop.

1: Get-go With a Sketch

The first thing you will want to practise is sketch and determine how large you want your waterfall to be. To do this you tin draw a curving line where the map of the waterfall will be. And so draw a rectangular shape downward from there to indicate the height of the waterfall. Then simple sketch in an oval shape near the base for the puddle of water that will exist at the bottom.

If y'all are only starting out I would recommend keeping your waterfall rather small, because it will be easier to draw in the beginning.

2: Sketching the Mountains

Now that y'all take an idea of how big your waterfall volition be, yous can start building upwardly the terrain effectually information technology. Sketch some simple triangles around the waterfall to indicate where some mountains will go. Go along things pretty loose at this point, because your goal at present is to focus on composition and the overall await of the waterfall.

In this example I will have the river weaving betwixt the mountains which is why I left some space in the middle above the waterfall. I have too placed a couple mountains effectually the puddle to add some depth to the illustration.

3: Refining the Line Work

After you take sketched out the general shape of everything, you tin can at present create a new layer and begin cartoon the final line piece of work.

For the mountains, you can now depict some of the ridgelines which connect one mountain to another. And so draw some unproblematic strokes down from the ridge to add together shape and dimension to the mountains.

Click here to check out the tutorial that I did on drawing mountains for more than details.

Yous can besides draw the cliff that your waterfall is spilling over. Remember that water will take eroded the surrounding rock, and so yous will often desire to apply a somewhat rounded basin shape. This will help it to look similar the water has cut into the rock.

4: Drawing the H2o Elements

You can now brainstorm focusing on finalizing the shape of your waterfall and river. Since this is in an isometric perspective, I have the river on the top going behind a couple of the mountains and so that it is mostly obscured. This is a great way to add depth to the illustration and really sell the perspective.

Working your way downwards y'all can and so draw the shape of the waterfall itself. Try to make the waterfall slightly narrower at the top and wider at the bottom. As h2o falls it tends to disperse or spread out the farther it has to drop.

Finally, you tin can finish adding the pool and the river flowing out of information technology. Make sure you roughen upwards the edges just a little bit so that it doesn't look too perfect. And make sure the pool keeps more of that oval shape to maintain the perspective.

5: Giving H2o a Sense of Movement

The main affair to keep in listen is the detail lines in the water should convey a sense of movement. Note though that this doesn't mean you should just depict direct lines to friction match the flow of the river. Look at some pictures of flowing water for inspiration and y'all volition see the organic flow of shapes in the water.

At the base of the waterfall y'all will want to apply more than rounded shapes to give the impression the water is bubbles or foaming up. It is similar technique to the one you would use to draw clouds, and then keep that in mind.

6: Detailing the Mountains

Now that you have a lot more detail in the h2o, you will desire to get dorsum over the mountains and add together some more detail so that everything feels cohesive. But add a few more lines running downwards the sides of the mountains also as downwardly the cliff face. Use a smaller brush and a lighter touch so that the details don't feel overpowering.

7: Blocking in Color

In one case all the line work is done you tin can brainstorm adding colour. I adopt more muted colors that will go well with the aged newspaper texture of my maps. So if you are working digitally you lot can use the eye dropper tool and select the background, and darken the color slightly for the mountains. Then shift the hue more toward blue or fifty-fifty teal for the water itself until you find something you're happy with.

For the mountains y'all volition want to determine the direction your light source is coming from. In this instance it is coming from the left, and so yous tin can have your darker brown color and block in some color on the correct side of the mountains, as well as on the cliff confront.

8: Deepening the Shadows

As you lot begin deepening the shadows, use your line work as a guide. On the mountains you can add together more than shading about the tops of the ridge line, and downwards some of the particular lines you added before. Remember that since our light source is coming from the left, y'all desire to have more than shadows on the right side of the mountains and on the cliff. Try to image your waterfall in a three dimensional surround to decide where the light would be hidden.

You can also begin adding some shadow to the h2o itself. Again, use your detail lines as a guide and add together some shadows along one side of them.

ix: Calculation a Pop of Highlights

Get through and add some highlights on the left side of the mountains where the low-cal will exist hitting. The lightest part will be virtually the height of the mountain where the low-cal hits nigh intensely.

Add together some highlights to the water along the item lines you lot added before. You will also want to add pretty strong highlights where the h2o spills over the border, too every bit where it bubbles up in the pool below.

Hither in Oregon where we take beautiful mountains and receive quite a chip of pelting, there are waterfalls all over the place. And so it makes sense that one of the most popular things to do is become hiking to see all of them. In that location is just something virtually waterfalls that people detect compelling, which is why they are willing to hike for miles simply to see one.

Beingness able to add them to your maps then is a fantastic way to add visual involvement that will cause people to have notice. People are accustomed to seeing mountains and rivers drawn on a map, but information technology is a less mutual to come across a waterfall. Which makes them a fun and unique element that will assist brand your maps more compelling.

If you lot constitute this helpful I would appreciate it if you pinned this to relieve for later and to share with your friends.
Thank you, and I expect forrard to seeing you map your story!

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