How to Draw Forest Backgrounds for Manga

Line by line tutorial for drawing forest backgrounds. Easy tips for drawing details and texture on trees to create depth in your drawing.
Deviant Art: mikekoizumi.deviantart.com
follow me on Twitter: / koizu

[@Andry12345]

Could you do more of these? Different backgrounds as well? :D

[@edenhealing1513]

Thank you for these tutorials. I am too sickly to attend classes for this atm due to a heart condition for which I need surgery for. So this helps immensely and I can learn from home. You are a fantastic artist and teacher. Thank you.

[@eisonara4153]

Tara Hayman lol

[@yenzythecrazyone2407]

Goku had a hart problems and he mad It. Sou can too✌.....kamehameha!!

[@protesilaus_]

late reply but i hope ur ok now

[@blandyblandmin8483]

@@yenzythecrazyone2407 Some people can't spell heart properly

[@septimiusthedestroyer7394]

Awe, hope your okay, I recently got diagnosed with diabetes and it sucks

[@ruffprofessional5677]

look at that flick of tha wrist

[@ComicSanshasABadTimmie]

I was looking for this comment

[@Anime-tx8nn]

knew someone would say it

[@Sockless]

Soon as he said it, I looked in the comments for this particular comment

[@itsprobablyillegal2397]

ayyyye!!

[@wuddlypum6095]

Damn my tree looks like a freakin zebra with all these lines :(

[@koizu]

thanks man, glad I could help. Backgrounds are surprisingly fun to do-- very relaxing. I'd like to do more in the future for sure.

[@koizu]

thank you :) I did a few studies in my sketchbook to explore some designs referencing trees a found using Google images. But the layout I made up.

[@nibnathan3044]

ART HOMEWORK COMPLETE!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

[@ryanmiguelconcepcion7787]

Did you Graduate?

[@narutardednerd]

This is great!!! Most manga artists don't seem bold enough to do a tutorial on forest backgrounds. They concentrate on more boxy and simple landscapes! You rock!!!!!!!!

[@visoma9556]

Именно этот парень лет 8-9 назад научил меня рисовать эти деревья! Я до сих пор использую его технику по сей день. Не знаю, что делал бы без его скилла🤣😍

[@pyne]

This has been so useful I thought I would need loads of sheets of paper to get the image I wanted but the way you put it helped me draw it the way I wanted it to be first time. Thanks!

[@gypsydrake9205]

Thank you so much Koizo. This was very helpful to me, you see, me and my sister are writing a manga, but she specializes in characters, and I specialize in writing, so we needed more people to do backgrounds and objects, until I saw this video that is! :D Thx a lot.

[@krillsoup6294]

yeah, when I try to draw random scattered patterns in manga it turns to a line. Then you try harder to make it irregular and it turns in to a diagonal line. OCD sucks for artists.

[@nunisthathigh4825]

In art you first draw the rough sketch process. Then you find out what the results of the end product is. Art is ultimately unpredictable. So yes, I can certainly see how OCD would suck for artists.

[@elizabethravenport8333]

I loved the tutorial!!!❤️ I did the picture but I made some small changes. This was my favorite tutorial of the landscapes videos I have seen so far!!❤️❤️❤️

[@koizu]

@32janik That will be a tricky one and I often think about it because a lot of you guys have been mentioning towns. I'm just trying to figure out how to explain it simply. Hmmmmm~~ I will have to think about it more. But it's definitely on my mind :)

[@Kittymewmew1000]

I have such a hard time thinking of what to have as a background for drawings I've made up. I can get the person/s or character/s in the picture perfect but the background doesn't seem quite what I want. Or it just feels thrown together

[@embot594]

Ikr ;-; first I'll have some random car or something and then suddenly theres a dragon

[@mohamedsherman5618]

Kittymewmew1000 p

[@AndrewMaksymBrainNectar]

@Em Bot Dragons are awesome!

[@wolfvinn6247]

Kittymewmew1000 same as me...

[@JunDageki]

I like how the the technique is to draw carelessly instead of drawing perfect symmetrical lines, which is very convinient and also it makes sense.

[@fashionovawigs]

Wait Trees Are Organic I Thought They Were Made In China

[@ummhey1733]

... ok...

[@fashionovawigs]

***** yeah i think it was more like sarcasm than a joke but k :D

[@colincooper7402]

Hector Solis LOL

[@xxcookiejaxx5386]

Hector Solis I

[@dierdrecabral3804]

BRUH......😑😑😑👋👋👋BOI!

[@Slifer644]

Definitely going to come back to this video when drawing backgrounds

[@GabrielDiGirolamo]

I like the technique, it's easy, fast and effective! way to go, koizu!

[@koizu]

I might have to do this one after seeing all the thumbs up for it :) maybe it could be a sort of romantic looking city with some people walking around-- like Final Fantasy cool city, not Niagara Falls.

[@koizu]

lol! Ya, I lived in Tacoma for a bit and thought the weather was beautiful. It rained a lot but I love being around all those trees. Here in LA everything is brown TT

[@RaptorJames]

I drew with you, and I have improved from stick trees. Thank you so much :) Your art is amazing.

[@tamaraRable]

I learned so much from this video!!!! Not just about how to draw a forest but how to build up a proper background. Thank you so much for sharing your wisdom. :)

[@RohaniRashidAtWork]

Whoa.. I wish I had those skills..!

[@liliedove]

I really appreciate this! I've been stressing myself out over trying to digital paint a tree as an anime styled background and after hours of experimenting on it I want to break something! Sketching along with you in my pad definitely calmed me down lol It's all about knowing which details to put in, how to put it in, which details to leave out, etc. Sometimes it just takes watching someone else do it to help you connect the dots!

[@aabirmaghni2166]

i know right?? i was trying to draw a releastic tree for HOURS AND HOURS i am so stressted and there u have it a perft tree

[@ZaWarubro]

Don't you hate when you're at the apex of inspiration. get your paper and pencil, place the lead on the paper, draw a line, and then feel like, "Haha, I can't draw!" .___.

[@estelamorales344]

I like the way you draw... I wanna be a mangaka myself. And I am watching ur videos becuz I like ur advice and techniques... they are awesome.

[@cassandraborgmuscat4725]

This guy is an amazing teacher, I understood everything! Thx you've really helped me!

[@Frty_Jce]

You are a very good artist! Thanks for giving me tips on how to draw a forest!

[@halleluiah01]

this was helpful. I need to draw a forest with butterflies flying around and this helped me learn how to draw trees and a forest! Thanks

[@galaxycat6403]

omg best tutorial ever VERY NICE JOB!

[@_1Astro]

Thanks you you helped me learn how important it is to have details and shades on your tree

[@667airborne]

you make it sound so easy thank you mate keep it up

[@afrokaioty]

Wanna practise guitar but can't stop watching your vids.Great job!

[@christianrojas9994]

I like your style ^_^. I've been looking for good ways to draw forest backgrounds. I've gone through countless drawing books and a lot of them don't go too far in depth with forests. This video is just what I needed to continue my drawing education. Thank you for putting this up and I will be checking out your other videos. Keep up the good work.

[@cherrybomb4370]

For a struggling artist like myself, this is extremely helpful, thank you so much.

[@CraftyBunny]

Wow, I can't believe how easily and helpful this was, thanks you so very much!

[@Joyful_artist_uk]

Thank you I will definitely try this as always struggle with trees/forest

[@downtimelg]

First vid i've seen of yours and I already subbed. This is EXACTLY the type of drawing instruction I was looking for. Thanks for spending the time.

[@elizabethvsworld]

That is so good OML like that's literally the best tree ever :D

[@Filiporwegian]

I'd love to see more videos about backgrounds, that was really helpful.

[@JordanDGrant]

Nice! It was fun drawing along with you!

[@patchi795]

Omg tysm! This video helped me so much with trees!!!

[@paulalimanov1868]

AMAZING!!!! and i thought i would never learn how to do a proper forest, Thank you very much!

[@joshuashakir2772]

Bruh u just made this seem so easy now I'm thinkin its easy I had no trouble almost. Thanks

[@PSIstormz]

Wow! Really loved the video! You should definitely make more background tutorials. Such a great help, thanks so much!!!

[@blankred3]

Thank you. Been wondering about doing backgrounds and this def helps!

[@waterate1415]

Very nice art you drawed !

[@wiwi7_]

COOL !! finally I found an awsome yet simple background to draw whenever I'm out of ideas THANKS A LOT :) nice work

[@InterestingPros]

GOD DANG that's freaking amazing, and you make it seem so effortless! I always thought I would never be able to do backgrounds, but you make me feel like I can! You are so cool! :D

[@Ibfinity]

I can't believe I missed this in my subscription box. Great tutorial by the way!

[@ausaiden]

This is the most useful and simple advice i have seen yet, youtube or anywhere! Thanks for posting. :) I shall subscribe to your channel.

[@neighborlytoad-3938]

it is so nice to watch you draw

[@boutassai]

Thanks for the vid man, nice, simple and to the point. Keep em coming :D

[@darylholliday2542]

Hey, I came back to this video after a while because I was having a brain fart for some reason. It still helped me as well as before. Thanks! 8 years later.

[@amazingamazina9889]

I love this! ❤️

[@Wolfaren07]

I always look for references, it helps me alot!!!

[@wiccanmagic97]

I leave right next to a forest but I couldn't draw trees before, but after I watched this video now I can.Thank you very much for making this video!^^

[@popsis15]

so pretty!!

[@pdaconsultantsltd2483]

This is what I needed thank you so much 😊

[@ianfrood]

Awesome technique really helped me thanks.

[@angelbeatsclannad]

This guy is amazing just like Mark Crilley. Ive learned a bunch from them and have some fan art of them both on Deviant Art.

[@bjon130896]

END of video... MY MIND HAS BEEN BLOOOOOWWN!!!!!!!

[@koizu]

sure :) that will take some time though. My manga takes place in a pre-Industrial time so there is probably going to be some towns. I will need some time to do research and think about the video. Nice idea.

[@givemeoats]

Trees are terrific!

[@srgtfrog]

work in 3's! nature loves the number 3. Notice how many sets of 3 koizu uses throughout his piece. good luck

[@DoDahWiWah]

This is awesome! Thanks so much for this

[@mrwhitesan]

I drawd it exactly like you, youre really inspirational.

[@TinkaSparkle]

It looks awesome! ^0^

[@youdecidewhatmynameis3549]

such an amazing artist. keep up the great work. 👍

[@petertoncic]

Thank you, that was an amazing learning experience!!

[@beastbroak12l9]

Thank you so much, this was really helpful for a comic/manga that I'm doing ( if your interested of what the manga is about it's about the wendigo, if your not familiar with the wendigo, I highly suggest to search what it is, if your busy of course but anyways thank you so much for this tutorial, it was very helpful)

[@pinkpiggy976]

Thank you SO MUCH. I suck at drawing trees and backgrounds so this helped me out A LOT! BTW. I like how you draw the tree perfectly the first time but take two tries to draw the bush in the background. lol. :D

[@naomikennedy9543]

Nice work , thank you, been wondering about this!

[@ChiNguyen-xc6bs]

This is not even hard I just love it

[@nicolasvazquez7231]

Dayuuum this video reeaaaaally help me out

[@zoro-dn6sy]

I have art exam this morning.. this video really help me

[@hizkiaaudwinkristiawan3591]

THANKYOU FOR YOUR TUTORIAL, I PERMISSION TO USE THIS TUTORIAL BRO FOR MY FUTURE GOALS

[@GemmaHurrah]

Cool work!!

[@koizu]

ah dang, well the hard work will pay off for sure ^^ keep at it dude

[@fahralyacoub8970]

I really love how you make slow and talk

[@demi1318]

This helped so much, thank you

[@brandenbenevides304]

i drew this and it came out amazing

[@AnnaHeey]

These are some great tips. Thank you so much. ^^

[@updatedotexe]

I wish I would have learned something like this in art class which I had for too many years. All we did was stupid abstract shit and stuff. I am currently learning and practising to real this good stuff via youtube. It is basically a shame how much time I already wasted in art class. There was only one time I can remember we drew people with pencil and ofc we drew some bottles and fruits but the instructions always were miserable - stuff like: "Got ya some food, kids. Now draw it." I love this channel!

[@koizu]

hey Will! thanks man, appreciate it ^^

[@wan2wanted644]

You're a brilliant, thanks, you give me inspiration

[@migmigeviota2109]

Wow! You are amazing!

[@faktumstream1beatz335]

I now know how to sketch a forest background. thanks!

[@LazyDudePN]

very nice, hope you do more backrounds videos :)

[@alice84849]

This is so cool and usefull! Thank you

[@yuyuxoxo1197]

I love your tutorial, u are very good at teaching and kinda funny LOL. very interesting ^_^

[@JKMlive]

thank you so much i really wanted my manga to have good scenery

[@Asukalangley16]

Thank you for this detailed video. Very helpful! :)

[@mathoose6821]

Dude you make it seem so easy lol thanks for the epic vid

[@koizu]

Any time, Mathews! Ty!

[@nazoroku5036]

Keep up the good work man

[@alvesdds]

Dude you are the best!

[@irfanazim6696]

You are quite exceptional!

[@gebatron604]

Incredible!

[@bri5green1]

This was great thank you so much!