How to Draw Grass with Ink, Pencils, or Colored Pencils

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Add realistic grass to any drawing with our beginner-friendly tutorial

Co-authored by Eric Gibbons and Hunter Rising

Last Updated: July 28, 2026 Fact Checked

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• With Pencil
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• With Pen & Ink
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• With Colored Pencils
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• With Markers
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Do you want to make your drawings of grass look more realistic than a few green pointed lines? Even though it may seem tricky to add all the details of grass into a drawing, it’s actually pretty easy with a few simple drawing techniques. Whether you’re working in graphite, ink, or colored pencils, we’ll walk you through the process with exclusive tips from one of wikiHow’s art educators! Keep reading for step-by-step guides to add grass to your drawing and make it look real.

Simple Steps to Draw Grass

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1. Sketch curved vertical lines across your paper for the blades of grass.
2. Make another set of curved lines below the first one to add depth.
3. Erase overlapping lines to define different blades.
4. Add shadows near the bottom and where blades overlap.
5. Use more details for grass close to you and fewer details for grass in the distance.

Steps

Method 1

Method 1 of 4:

How to Sketch Easy Grass with a Pencil

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1. 
   1
   Sketch a series of curved vertical lines with a sharp pencil. When you’re first starting your grass drawing, sharpen your pencil so it has a really pointy tip. Then, press down on your paper and flick your wrist up to draw a slightly curved vertical line. Repeat the process across your paper, varying the sizes, angles, and directions of the lines to make the grass look overgrown.

   • While you can use any pencil you have at home to draw grass, a 2B pencil is a good choice because it’s a little softer and moves easily across the page.
   • Expert tip: Art educator Eric Gibbons recommends observing grass in real life to help inform your drawing.

   Meet the wikiHow Expert

   Eric Gibbons is an art educator with over 35 years of teaching experience. He’s also the creator of ArtEdGuru™, a platform supporting art educators through lessons, publications, and classroom resources.
2. 
   2
   Create another set of lines below the first set. Move your pencil a few inches below the first set of lines, and repeat the process. This time, the tops of the lines will overlap the first set to give your drawing a little more depth.
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3. 
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   Use an eraser to define blades of grass. After you have your basic lines drawn in, take a look at your drawing and look for any areas where the blades of grass look more prominent. Take a fine-tipped eraser and get rid of some of the overlapping lines around those areas. Keep the erased areas thin so they resemble tall blades of grass coming out of the ground.

   • Only define a few blades of grass in your drawing. If you feel like you erased too much, go back in and make some more lines.
   • Make some of the blades overlap. Have some grass going in front of the blades you define and have others go behind them.
4. 
   4
   Darken areas near the bottom and between blades. Shadows between the grass blades look darker near the ground and lighten up as they get closer to the tip. Take the side of your pencil and press a little harder to darken the areas between the blades. As you move further up the blades, reduce the pressure with your pencil to lighten the shade.

   • Use a blending stick to soften the shadows and make the pencil marks less noticeable where you drew your shadows.
5. 
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   Try out negative drawing with an eraser if you want lighter grass. If you’re looking for an alternative way to draw grass, shade a section of your page with the side of your pencil. Then, use a fine-tipped eraser to make curved vertical lines for the blades of grass. After you get some of the grass texture in, go back in with your pencil to add more lines to define the blades and shadows.

   • This technique works well for drawing grass in the distance. When you draw things further away from you, you see fewer details. All you need is the implied texture and shape, and your brain will still recognize it as grass.
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Method 2

Method 2 of 4:

How to Draw Realistic Grass with Pen and Ink

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1. 
   1
   Sketch the front row of grass blades with a pencil. Start by defining a few blades of grass that are closest to the front of the drawing. Sketch out skinny vertical shapes that go up at different angles and make them end in a point. Try to overlap a few of the blades to make them look visually interesting in the composition.

   • Lightly shade around any overlapping blades of grass with your pencil so you can keep track of them when you start inking.
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   Outline the front blades with a liner marker. Use a thin liner pen and follow along your pencil outline to define the first row of grass blades. Work slowly so you don’t make a mistake or go outside of your outlines. Vary the pressure you apply to the paper and lift the pen up slightly to make the lines thinner and thicker for more variation.
3. 
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   Use a thicker pen on one side of the blades to add shadow and depth. Use a liner pen with a slightly thicker tip, and go over the outlines on one side of each blade. Make sure you’re consistent with the side you choose for your entire drawing. When blades overlap, add a slightly larger shadow on the blade in the background to make it appear further away.
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   Add directional texture lines to the blades. Go back to your thinner pen, and lightly draw in some lines inside each blade. Make your lines follow the shape of the blade, and occasionally lift your pen off the page to add some variety. Include more lines near the base of each blade and fewer near the top so it looks darker near the base.
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   Use thinner and sketchier lines for grass in the distance. After you finish rendering your first row of grass, sketch in grass in the background with your pencil using short curved lines. Keep the lines closer together in the foreground but spaced further apart as you move into the background. Then, use your thinnest pen to go over the lines.

   • If the background grass starts to blend into the foreground, go back to the foreground to add and darken the shadows.
   • When you’re happy with your drawing, use an eraser to get rid of any stray pencil marks.
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Method 3

Method 3 of 4:

How to Draw Grass with Colored Pencils

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1. 
   1
   Sketch the base layer of curved lines with a brown colored pencil. Starting with a brown pencil can help you define the overall shape of the grass and shadows early in your drawing. Gibbons recommends using a sharp pencil so you can create clean lines that emulate the texture of grass. Make a sweeping curved line up to draw individual blades. Vary the direction of each stroke so the grass looks realistic—Gibbons says some blades will bend right, left, fold over, or even lay flat.

   • If you want to make grass look closer to you in the foreground, press slightly harder with your pencil and make the blades taller than the others.
   • Expert tip: If you have an area of grass to fill, Gibbons suggests starting with an undercoat of color, like yellow, blue, or green. This helps hide the paper (or other surface) you are working on.
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   Layer blue lines over the brown ones with varying pressure. A dark blue pencil helps you figure out where to place shadows and give your grass a cool tone. Draw directly over the first set of brown lines you made. Make the blue lines go in different directions to give the grass a lot of depth.

   • Avoid using a black colored pencil right away because it may flatten out your drawing. A dark blue works just as well to make deep shadows.
   • Expert tip: Grass in the foreground will be more distinct than grass in the background, says Gibbons. On the other hand, textures in the background will be less distinct and smaller, and color will be less intense. Andrew Wyeth's painting, Christina's World, is a good example.
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   Add highlights with a yellow pencil. Take a gold or light yellow pencil, and layer it over the lines you’ve made near the top. The yellow will be the lightest areas of grass, and make it look like the blades are glowing in the sun.

   • Layer some yellow over the blue marks you’ve made so they mix together and make green.
   • Try adding a hint of orange to a few of the blades to make your drawing pop even more.
4. 
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   Make a tight set of green lines over the entire drawing. Choose a light or medium-toned green. Draw in curved vertical lines over all of the lines that you’ve already made. Make sure to fill in any white gaps that you have between the blades you’ve already drawn to make the grass look full and lush.
5. 
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   Darken more shadows with a dark green or brown. Choose a forest green or the brown you started with, and fill in any areas in the foreground you want to darken up. Remember that grass will look darker near the base and get lighter as you get closer to the tip of the blade. Darken any areas where blades overlap to make your drawing really pop.

   • Try using a blending stick on the shadows to make them look like a single, smooth and consistent color.
   • You can also use a blending stick in a sweeping upward motion to create wispy blades of grass.
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Method 4

Method 4 of 4:

How to Draw Grass with Markers

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1. 
   1
   Make a base layer with a light green marker. Choose one of the lighter shades of green from your marker set. Use the wide tip of the marker to put down a layer of green on the paper. Be careful to only go over each area of paper once so you don’t accidentally darken the green already on the paper.

   • If you’re drawing grass in the distance, make a flat spot of color on your paper.
   • If you’re drawing grass close up, draw random vertical shapes extending up to add individual blades.
2. 
   2
   Make patches of darker green over the same area. You can use the same marker you used for the base layer or the next darkest shade in your set. Choose a few random points in the foreground and gently swipe your marker over the paper. Try to make small, patchy areas of darker grass to give your drawing more dimension.
3. 
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   Add tufts of grass with green or yellow to add texture. Either the same shade of green you just used or a light yellow marker works well. Make a small scribble or vertical line to define some blades of grass in your drawing. To make the grass feel closer to you, make the blades longer or larger. To make it seem further away, make the lines smaller and less defined.

   • Try using a light pink or orange if you want to add flowers to your grass field.
4. 
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   Use a darker shade of green in the foreground to add shadows. Choose one of the darker greens in your marker set. Then, use the thin tip of the marker to add lines along one edge of each blade of grass for shadows. Make the blades of grass darker near the bottom, and apply less pressure and make smaller lines as you get closer to the tip.

   • If you’re drawing a large field of grass, make sure the grass in the background is lighter than the grass in the foreground.
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