How to Draw Flowers on Piano in Pen and Ink

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b Class Description

Capture the poetic stillness of a post-performance moment in this expressive pen and ink with watercolour wash class. “After the Concert” is a charming scene featuring flowers and pearls resting on a piano keyboard—perfect for practicing perspective, linework, and soft colour washes.

This class is a delightful introduction to combining pen sketching with watercolour, offering a balance between structure and spontaneity.

🎨 What You’ll Learn in This Class:

🎹 Sketching the Keyboard in Perspective – Learn the rules of one-point perspective and how to apply them to render a realistic piano keyboard.

🌼 Simplifying the Flowers and Beads – Discover techniques for suggesting floral and decorative forms without overworking the detail.

💧 Adding the Wash – Use light watercolour washes to bring warmth and atmosphere to your pen sketch while maintaining the integrity of your linework.

🖌️ Class Features:

✅ Perfect for lovers of music and art
✅ Focus on pen and ink fundamentals with added colour
✅ Great for developing your perspective and composition skills

By the end of this class, you’ll have a whimsical and emotive artwork that captures a moment of stillness and elegance—plus the confidence to explore pen and wash techniques in your own scenes.

Join now and sketch your own musical memory!

 You Will Need

Drawing paper or sketch pad
Pencil
Soft eraser
Kneaded eraser
Fountain / Dip pen
India Ink & Container for dipping
Fineliners (0.3, 0.5 & 0.8mm)
Small set of watercolor paints
Soft round brush

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Short Class Video

Class Tutorial

Drawing the outlines

Once you have transferred the design to paper we can begin to go over all the pencil lines with Indian Ink. The pen I’m using here is called a mapping pen. I’ve switched over to another felt-tipped pen.

Drawing the piano keys

We can now begin to block in the black keys of the piano. Begin inking in the outlines of all the keys. Notice that they all conform to the single point perspective. These black keys give impact to the picture – the intense black against the stark white of the keys.

Drawing the white keys

Ink in all the gaps between the keys. Notice how the gaps appear smaller towards the left-hand side of the painting. Complete all the vertical lines, and the black keys hiding behind the flowers. Finish off the edging of the keys against the piano.

Drawing the black keys

A series of very fine lines to the black keys will show up the reflections off them.

Drawing the shadow on the keys

The shadows here are not very dark so I have come back to my fine point mapping pen. You can also use a 0.l mm tipped here just as well. A series of small curved lines are added to give volume to the ivories.

Drawing the flowers

Use a fine tipped pen to add in the shadow areas of the petals. Once again, be careful in adding too many lines. Notice also that there are many tonal ranges in the petals.

Drawing the leaves and stems

Draw in the veins and shadow areas of the leaves. The flower stems will be a bit darker on the lower side. Rough in all the centers of the flowers. The outside edges a bit darker than the center portions.

Drawing the pearls

The shading of the pearls is just a series of small curved lines and dots to give the impression of the rounding of each one. Don’t forget to add the cast shadows onto the piano keys. Also don’t forget to shade the pearls almost hidden under the petals.

Erasing the pencil lines

Make sure the ink is dry before beginning to erase all the pencil lines.

Adding a color wash to the painting

In order that the lettering will show up better, I’ve made up a light blue-black mix of watercolor and roughly painted in the background.

A pale desaturated pink mix is used to glaze in the shadows of the keys. The leaves are a light yellow green.

The petals are a nice dark yellow color for the two left hand daisies plus the one under the other flowers. Two of the flowers are orange. Darken up the flower centers.

The pearl shadows are a light yellow, while the ones to the right reflects the flower colors.