The Art Lab, Episode 38: Spaghetti Mountains

| Allison

Hey, guys! How’s life? Mine’s good, and currently smells like pizza baking in the oven. (It’s movie night with homemade pizza. 😉 ) Wait, that was the timer… HOLD ON.

Okay, we’re good. Ha, that was an interesting coincidence. ANYWAY, less food and more art now, eh?

Oh wait, I forgot about the title. XD Maybe we’re not done with food yet… Today I want to show you how to draw “spaghetti mountains,” what I decided to call this certain doodling technique. 😛 I think it looks so neat in the end, and it’s quite fun and relaxing to draw.

Art Inspiration:

Pointillist Line Drawings of Mountains by Christa Rijneveld

{via}

Isn’t this gorgeous? I love it! I made a similar piece using this as inspiration, and also made you guys a little tutorial if you’d like to try it yourself. 🙂

Materials Needed:

  • Paper, an ATC, canvas, etc.
  • Black pens or markers (I used varying sizes of Micron pens + a black brush pen)
  • A white gel pen (optional)
  • Some time

1. Draw some jagged lines for mountain ridges with your thickest pen (I made the lines thicker later). Make some ridges in the background and foreground.

art 1 (915x1280)

2. Take your second thickest pen and start filling the first mountain with “spaghetti.” XD Draw some curvy lines that all start and end at the same point, and follow each other closely. Like so.

art 2 (1280x854)

3. Add more spaghetti in a different direction, and connecting to the noodles you already drew.

art 3 (1280x854)

4. Keep adding more spaghetti in all different directions until you fill the whole mountain ridge.

art 4 (1280x854)

5. Now for the ridge behind it. Use a slightly thinner pen to show perspective, because things (like spaghetti) look smaller when farther away.

art 5 (1280x854)

6. Keep it up! After you finish that ridge, move onto the one behind, using a thinner pen each time and making the lines close together. Doesn’t it look so neat thus far?

art 6 (1280x1280)

7. Add a sun behind the last ridge. I left a white space, but you wouldn’t have to. 😉

art 7 (1280x854)

8. Next we’re going to make the “rays” of the sun. Using your thickest pen, fill in the space above the sun with rows of dots or ovals.

art 8 (1280x854)

9. Make the dots in each new row bigger than the last…

art 9 (1280x854)

10. Ta-daa! You’ve filled the whole page!

art 10 (1280x956)

11. You can definitely leave it like that, but I added a bit more embellishment with a white gel pen. First I colored in the sun black, (weird, I’ve never seen a black sun before, have you? XD), and then rimmed it with dainty white dots.

art 11 (1280x854)

12. And lastly, I added some white circles to the black dots, just to break things up a bit.

art 12 (1280x854)

13. Ta-daa! You’re finished!

art 13 (856x1280)

What do you think? I think… strange but neat. 🙂 I hope you get a chance to try this, because it’s quite fun and I love the end result.

Thanks for reading, dears! Now go make some art. 😉 Oh, and if you DO make art inspired by this post, we’d love to see it! Check out this page to see how you can help us fill our gallery.

Have a great day, guys! I hope I haven’t made you too hungry… XD

***Allison***

94 thoughts on “The Art Lab, Episode 38: Spaghetti Mountains”

  4. Whoaaa, this is super neat, Allison!! I’ve been in the drawing mood quite a lot lately, and I can’t wait to add this to my sketchbook that seems to be filling up rather quickly. Whoops. XD
    Also, the intro to this post was so hilarious! I love homemade pizza – it’s so delicious. Do you prefer thick-crust or thin-crust pizza? There’s your random question of the day. 😉
    Anyways, I really loved this post and I think you did an amazing job on the drawing! 😀

    -Clara ❤

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    Reply

    1. Aww, I’m so glad to hear that, dear! Ooh yes, I hope you can! Sketchbooks are only wasted when they’re empty, you know? 😉
      Heh heh, well thanks. XD YES it is! Also… I think thick-crust pizza. 😛 What about you? And do you prefer it filled or normal?
      Aww, yay! I’m so happy you liked it, and thanks for the comment!

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      Reply

      1. Haha, that’s true! 😉 I finished the drawing yesterday and I’m pretty happy with it – thanks so much for posting the tutorial, it was so helpful! 😀
        YAY, that’s the right answer. XD I love thick-crust pizza! And I think I prefer it normal. 😛 Great, now I’m hungry for pizza. *sigh* XD

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        Reply

        1. Eep, really? I can’t wait to see it! And no problem. 🙂
          Heh heh, YES. Definitely! I like stuffed crust for a piece or two, but it can get a little too much after a while. Oh bummer… SORRY. XD

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          Reply

      2. Hello Allison! I just followed you a few seconds ago, I love your art! (by the way…IM ALSO HOMESCHOOLED! My family makes our own homemade pizza, but since around… 3 months ago we’ve been making our’s gluten free. Now were making them with spelt. Their pretty good!

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      1. And finished my drawing! I actually didn’t recheck your tutorial before starting 15 hours later, but it turned out *decently.* 😉
        Lot less ridges, and it really doesn’t look like spaghetti, but it’s still pretty! Thanks again for the awesome post. 🙂
        P.S. Suggestion, do more Ink Stuff. Ink is way more fun than other art mediums. In my humble opinion. 😉

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        Reply

        1. Wow, really? That’s great! Do you think you’ll post a picture? I’d love to see it. 🙂
          Oh, no problem! I’m glad you liked it. 🙂
          P. S. And thanks for the suggestion! I probably will because I just got new pens for Christmas which I love. 😉

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          Reply

  17. Those mountains you drew look better than real mountains for some reason. This spaggitie mountain thing is very original and cool. Also spaggitie is very hard to spell……….. is that just me? XD 😉

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Ha ha, really? Well thanks! XD And thanks – but actually it wasn’t my idea because, you know, the art inspiration… 😛 But anyways, thanks (for the third time XD)! Also YES spaghetti is very hard to spell. XD

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      Reply

  18. Yum! Homemade pizza! Wish that was a thing in my house… 😦 😛
    That art is sooooooo good!!! It’s kind of abstracty? Not sure how to describe it, but the “strange” aspect about it is what makes it wonderful 😀
    Lydia ❤

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    Reply

  28. that’s gorgeous! i thought you were actually going to show how to make mountains out of spaghetti, and i was a little confused until i saw the pictures. XD

    mmm, pizza sounds so good right now…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply
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