How to Draw Flowers on Piano in Pen and Ink

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.