How to Draw Grouped Trees for Large-Scale Landscape Masterplans in Photoshop

Creating trees for a large-scale landscape masterplan can be time-consuming, but with the right Photoshop brush settings, you can make your plans look professional, balanced, and realistic in just minutes.
In this tutorial, I’ll walk you through how to draw grouped trees for landscape and urban design masterplans, along with tips for brush setup, layering, and shading techniques.

Step 1: Brush Setup in Photoshop

Open the Brush Settings panel from the top menu (Window → Brush Settings).
Use the Hard Round brush tip instead of the soft one for clean, sharp edges.
Set the spacing between 95–105% to create a natural rhythm in the brush stroke.

Next, turn on Shape Dynamics to adjust size jitter, and enable Scattering. Around 70% scatter with a count of 2–4 works well for grouped trees.
Then activate Color Dynamics. The higher the value, the more color variation you’ll get. For spring and summer palettes, keep the values around 5–10%, and for autumn tones, increase them for warmer colors.

Step 2: Drawing Grouped Trees

After setting up the brush, pick a grass color as your base, then choose a slightly darker green for the trees.
In large-scale plans, trees are usually about the width of a building, but precision isn’t the goal—visual balance is.

Start painting tree groups, varying their size and spacing to create a sense of movement and depth. Don’t fill the entire area; leave gaps and open spaces for layering later.

Step 3: Add Depth with Layers

Create a new layer underneath the main tree layer to add more depth to the plan. Use a lighter color this time, draw beneath the top layer, turn off shadows, and lower the opacity.
This soft second layer helps the composition feel more dimensional and natural.

Step 4: Add Street and Sidewalk Trees

For straight roads, hold Shift while drawing to create a clean line of trees.
For curved or irregular roads, use the Magic Wand Tool (shortcut W):

Select the road area.
Go to Select > Modify > Expand to widen the selection slightly.
Right-click the dashed outline, choose Make Work Path, then Stroke Path using the brush tool.

This method quickly creates precise tree lines along both sides of the road.

Step 5: Add Watercolor Texture (Optional)

To give your plan an artistic finish, apply a watercolor texture as a layer mask over the trees.
Adjust the saturation and hue to blend it naturally with your tree colors. This adds a soft, hand-drawn touch and creates more visual depth.

Final Touches

At this point, the masterplan should feel balanced and visually complete.
Add small tree clusters or single accent trees to fill subtle gaps and maintain harmony.

You can use the same brush settings for your own masterplan renderings—whether for urban, landscape, or mixed-use projects.