Cliffs

In this short step-by-step tutorial you’ll learn how to draw a cliffs from start to finish, including the line art, colouring and shading.

Hand-drawn red line representing a winding river or border – ideal for adding natural features to custom fantasy maps or battlemap overlays.

Step 1: Define the basic shape

Let’s start with a basic shape. This will be the shape that the edge of the cliff will follow. Use a sweeping motion to create a natural looking share.

Black line representing a fantasy river or canyon – hand-drawn element for RPG map base layers or terrain guides.

Step 2: Draw the edges

Now that we’ve decided on the basic shape of the cliff, it’s time to draw the edge. Keep the shape of the edge natural by avoiding straight lines and adding jagged corners. Avoid smooth shapes and curves, the cliffs should be sharp and “edgy”.

Jagged cliff outline in black ink – perfect for marking steep elevations or dramatic escarpments on fantasy RPG maps.

Step 3: The cliff face

A cliff is more than just a line. Beyond the edge is a steep drop. Drawn vertical lines down from the corners and points of the cliff’s edge. The length of the lines determines how high the cliffs are.

Black ink illustration of a jagged cliffside with vertical drop – a striking terrain detail for fantasy map overlays.

Step 4: Add details

It’s time to add details to you cliff. Keep adding more vertical lines falling the cliff face. You can also draw a subtle horizontal line where the cliff meets the ground. Additionally, you can add some horizontal lines along the cliff face to add some texture to the cliff.

Line drawing of a steep cliff edge with shaded rock face – ideal for fantasy maps that need dramatic elevation or impassable terrain.

Step 5: Flat colors

Time to get started with adding color. The first thing that we need to do is settle on the colors for the cliff. Which color works best depends a lot on what other colors you use in your map, so play around and see what looks best!

Sometimes the black of the line art can look too stark on your map. In this case you may want to change the color of the line art. Take a very dark shade of the original color and apply it to the line art.

Detailed hand-drawn cliff edge with visible rock face – great for showing elevation drops or dramatic terrain features on RPG maps.

Step 6: Shadows

Now let’s add shadows to the icon. I have my light source in the top left corner. This means that in this tutorial, most of the cliff will be covered in shadows. The areas that will be the darkest.

Hand-drawn cliff illustration showing layered rock face and elevation drop – perfect for RPG battlemaps and fantasy topography.

Step 7: Highlights

In this step we’ll add the highlights. We’ll do this the same way that we did with the shadows, except we’ll be drawing with a lighter shade of the colors. Add a light stroke around the areas where the light catches the cliffs. This is mostly along the “bumps” on the cliff face, and off course the edge of the cliff.