Pen, Ink and Watercolor Wash Sketching.

View All Free PDF
Sketching Downloads

An Exciting New Way for Artists to Explore Scenic Vistas. About a year ago, near where I live in California, Google Maps Street Views began adding a new feature of off-road panoramic photos taken by a camera mounted on a bicycle. These new areas include off-road trails, zoos, college campuses, theme parks, pedestrian malls, landmarks, and places like Stonehenge in England.

Google Maps Street Views now covers countries and major cities around the world.
Artists can sketch online or scout local areas for scenic views, determine likely compositions, and then travel to the plein air location to start sketching or take reference photos for studio painting.

Open with free Reader

On a recent evening, I was online looking at the Google Street Views Map of Monterey Bay, and I noticed a little yellow icon of a man (he is called “Pegman”) in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. I found I could drag him down to the map and to the Monterey Bike Path, where he produced a series of 360-degree photos of the views from the path. More than that, I could click on arrows and move Pegman along for mile after mile, allowing me to look at the interesting scenery and weigh possible compositions for sketches and paintings as they became visible from the path. I had known there was a bike path near Fisherman's Wharf but, were it not for Street Views, I would not have thought it a good place from which to sketch.

When I use photographs as my reference, I work directly from the computer screen. With several segments of the panorama open at once, I can easily zoom the image in and out, just as our vision works in nature. This allows us to view the total scene and then concentrate on a specific area. The new composition is thus created by our choices, and it is those choices and how they are executed that make our art individual.

Because this part of the bike trail is near the center of downtown Monterey,
many people find their way to the tiny beach, creating an intricate pattern of paths.

I needed a tonal sketch to make sure the paths did not get lost in the vegetation around them. Using smooth Arches hot pressed watercolor paper, I drew the brown waterproof ink lines. (7.5" x 5.5")

I let the ink lines dry, and then painted the white areas with a #0 brush and Winsor Newton Permanent Masking Fluid. I’ve just discovered this great product and wish I had done so years ago. Unlike rubber masks that need to be erased, this mask is permanent. It dries as a slightly shiny coating to which watercolor or ink washes will not stick. As you can see in the photo of my studio pictured above, I used both the tonal sketch and the computer screen panorama for reference as I worked out the light and dark areas on the larger painting of the paths. (11" x 7.5" Aquarius II)

Pen, ink, and watercolor painting of the rock and tree. Most people walking along the bike path stop to look at the rock, probably because of its bird population, but also because its natural beauty contrasts so strongly with the man-made boats and the restaurants and gift shops crowded together on the wharf behind it. I was also intrigued by the foreground image of the sad little tree doing its best to survive. To heighten the contrast between the two, I used free-flowing lines in the foreground while keeping the wharf straight and angular. (11" x 7.5" Aquarius II)

You can download these two outline drawings to use for practice sketches. Try this if you would like to experiment with working from a panorama photo. When I'm concentrating on trying a new color combination, ways to let colored ink washes create the lights and darks, or any of a dozen other techniques such as textures, crisp vs. soft edges, or light source, I find it helpful to start with a completed line drawing. With the composition established, it is much easier to work on just one aspect of a painting.

For practicing different techniques, I often scan studio sketches at the ink line stage like those above. Later, I print the scanned image on a laser printer or copy machine. This gives me a duplicate sketch with waterproof black lines that will not run when overlaid with washes. For these 7.5" x 7.5" sketches, you can cut good quality drawing paper or smooth 90 lb. hot press watercolor paper to your printer's standard 8.5" x 11" letter size.

Download the PDF file below. It includes the reference panorama photo, the two sketches, and some tips. Print the sketches on art paper. Open the panorama photo in Acrobat Reader and use the magnifying glass to zoom into the areas from which these sketches were made. Get out your paints and, while sitting in front of your computer, pretend you are on site along the water's edge adding washes to your finished line drawings.

The free Reader opens the PDF files.