How to Draw a Lighthouse

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b Class Description

Step into serenity with this peaceful lighthouse drawing class, where you’ll learn how to bring a calm coastal scene to life using shading, depth, and detail techniques. This on-demand lesson guides you through the process of rendering a realistic seascape with soft skies, a distant sea, and a lighthouse full of character.

Your Learning Journey Includes:

☁️ Crafting Clouds: Learn how to draw soft, natural-looking clouds that add depth and atmosphere to your sky.
🌊 Seascape Perspective: Discover how to create the illusion of distance in the ocean, bringing a realistic sense of space to your drawing.
🏠 3D Shading Techniques: Master shading methods that make your lighthouse and buildings appear three-dimensional and grounded in the scene.
🌾 Foreground Focus: Explore how to draw a foreground that draws the viewer in and leads the eye into the composition.
🌸 Distant Flower Fields: Learn subtle techniques for suggesting a field of flowers in the background, enhancing the sense of distance and softness.

Tools for Success:

🎥 Step-by-Step Video Instruction: Watch and draw along as each part of the scene is built from the ground up.
📄 On-Demand Learning: Access the class at your own pace, with the ability to pause, rewind, and revisit key lessons whenever you like.
📥 Downloadable Reference Materials: Includes all the references you’ll need to complete the scene confidently.

Designed for beginner to intermediate artists, this class focuses on practical, easy-to-follow techniques that result in a beautifully atmospheric coastal drawing. Whether you’re working in graphite, charcoal, or pencil, this lesson will enhance your landscape drawing skills.

Join now and create your own peaceful lighthouse scene today!

 You Will Need

Set of Pencils (2H, HB, B, 2B, 6B)
Electric Eraser
Kneadable Eraser
Soft Eraser
Drawing Paper or Sketchbook
Soft Lint Free Cloth

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Class Tutorial

Drawing

Start off by drawing in the horizon line, making sure it is perfectly straight.
Draw the buildings and the lighthouse as accurately as you can too making sure you get the symmetry of the lighthouse correct. I have used my artist license to leave out some of the buildings.

Sky

Fill in the sky with an even tonal value. Don’t worry about the clouds, they will come later, we are just trying to hide the white of the paper. Next add in the clouds. In this drawing I have used the clouds from another photo to make the sky more interesting. If you do the same, just make sure that the sun is coming from the correct direction in both photos. Clouds higher in the sky must be larger as they are closer to you. The closer you get to the horizon, the small the clouds must be.

Buildings

Print out the template and combine the tiled pages together. If you are new to working with tiled templates, watch as Nolan explains how to do it. Transfer the tiled template to the canvas using whatever transfer technique you prefer. Keep the template attached and hanging in back of the canvas for easy reference.

The lighthouse is at the back so draw that in first. Make sure you get a good contrast between the highlight and shadow side of the tower. With the lighthouse itself complete you can now move on to the houses. Don’t try to add too much detail into the houses, do ensure you get their perspective correct. To stop the buildings looking flat, add enough contrast between the sunlit walls and the walls in shadow.

Sea

Draw in the sea making sure you don’t loose the horizon line. Make the sea darker at the horizon and lighter as you move closer. The waves in the front must be larger than the waves at the back in order to get the perspective looking correct.

Rocky Outcrop

The area by the lighthouse is quite rocky, so don’t make this area too smooth

Meadow

To create a meadow effect block in the foreground. Add some grasses overlapping the sea – this adds distance between the sea and the meadow. Complete the drawing by adding in the flowers. The flowers grow in groups so be careful to not make this area look too spotty.