Hollyhock Single, Australian tree fern, Hostal de los Reyes Católicos, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 1970s disco club look, and more — pen + watercolor for June 17, 2026

Today's 8 pen-and-watercolor pieces: Hollyhock Single, Australian tree fern, Hostal de los Reyes Católicos, Santiago de Compostela, Spain, 1970s disco club look, Golden hour person silhouette, Lisbon Door in Faded Indigo, Sierra Madre Tablelands, Mexico, Stoking fire three hearth figures. Each piece comes with an AI-generated photoreal reference, three AI-generated example artworks in different treatments, and a short focus paragraph naming what to study in this one.

Why these references use AI

This daily series uses AI-generated images as practice prompts, not as finished artwork to copy. Each subject starts with a synthetic photoreal reference generated with Gemini/Nano Banana, then moves into three pen-and-watercolor interpretations of the same subject.

I use AI here because daily art practice needs variety and low friction. Real life can get repetitive, busy, or visually narrow. These generated reference sets make it easier to study bodies, buildings, animals, landscapes, objects, gestures, light, palettes, and compositions that might not show up in an ordinary day.

The goal is not to reproduce any image directly. Treat each set as a starting point for observation and study: choose what interests you, change the framing, simplify the subject, alter the palette, and make your own version.

Piece 1 — Hollyhock Single

Pen + Watercolor · Loose pen and watercolor line-and-wash

Three takes

Focus for this piece

This hollyhock provides an excellent study in rendering delicate translucency and varied textures. Focus on building the petals' papery quality with multiple, very dilute pink washes, allowing the side light to reveal their luminous depth. Use a fine pen with a light, variable touch to describe the crinkled edges and subtle radiating veins, contrasting their organic forms with the firmer, more definite lines of the wooden board. Observe how the ink defines structure while the watercolor provides volume and a soft, atmospheric glow.

Piece 2 — Australian tree fern

Pen + Watercolor · Loose pen and watercolor line-and-wash

Three takes

Focus for this piece

This piece is an excellent study in depicting complex organic structure through contrast: the airy, layered fronds against the sturdy, fibrous trunk. For the fronds, focus on varying, delicate pen lines to define their intricate, bipinnate forms without over-drawing, then build their volume and "rustling" movement with light, layered wet-on-wet washes of various greens. Counterbalance this with broken, textured pen lines and a drier brush technique to capture the rough surface of the trunk.

Piece 3 — Hostal de los Reyes Católicos, Santiago de Compostela, Spain

Pen + Watercolor · Loose pen and watercolor line-and-wash

Three takes

Focus for this piece

This piece is an excellent study in simplifying complex architectural forms and establishing a clear hierarchy of detail. Employ varied pen line weights: reserve your finest, densest lines for the intricate Plateresque carvings of the central portal, and use looser, more broken lines to suggest the surrounding façade and overall structure. Pair this with watercolor washes that are layered and distinct on the main building, but become softer and more atmospheric to simply suggest the distant cathedral and the activity in the plaza. Focus on allowing the eye to comfortably settle on your primary subject without getting lost in overwhelming detail.

Piece 4 — 1970s disco club look

Pen + Watercolor · Loose pen and watercolor line-and-wash

Three takes

Focus for this piece

For this piece, concentrate on using the distinct qualities of pen and watercolor to render varied reflective textures. Employ bold, committed ink lines to define the sharp glint of the gold metallic platform sandals and bangles, contrasting them with soft, layered scarlet washes that suggest the fluid shimmer and deep folds of the polyester satin jumpsuit. This interplay will help you capture the dynamic interplay of light and shadow characteristic of the disco era.

Piece 5 — Golden hour person silhouette

Pen + Watercolor · Loose pen and watercolor line-and-wash

Three takes

Focus for this piece

This piece offers an excellent opportunity to practice creating strong value contrast by silhouetting a dark figure against a brilliant, wet-on-wet sky. Focus on a limited warm palette of lemon yellow and cadmium orange for the sky, allowing them to bleed and glow organically. Carefully define the figure's form through negative space, emphasizing the brilliant rim lighting around his hair and shoulders by reserving white paper or skillful lifting techniques. Use a confident, consistent line weight for the figure's outline, letting the rich, dark watercolor fill create the solid form.

Piece 6 — Lisbon Door in Faded Indigo

Pen + Watercolor · Loose pen and watercolor line-and-wash

Three takes

Focus for this piece

For this piece, focus on how varied pen line weights and judicious layering of indigo washes interact to render both crisp architectural structure and organic, weathered textures. Use sharp, fine lines for the azulejos and lettering, contrasting these with broken or dry-brush penwork on the broad pine boards of the door. Build the "faded and crackled" effect by applying multiple thin, broken washes of indigo, allowing each to dry before the next, suggesting the salt air's slow work without overworking the surface. Pay attention to how a singular warm wash for the keyhole or distant Tagus can punctuate the dominant cool tones.

Piece 7 — Sierra Madre Tablelands, Mexico

Pen + Watercolor · Loose pen and watercolor line-and-wash

Three takes

Focus for this piece

This dramatic Sierra Madre scene offers a perfect study in rendering distinct geometric forms with varying degrees of clarity. Emphasize the abrupt angles of the mesas and barrancas using strong, clean pen lines for the mid-ground, progressively softening and breaking lines as the distant tablelands recede. Build depth through a series of layered, transparent washes—warm ochres and tans up close, transitioning to cooler, paler tones for the background—to convey the vastness and dry, golden light of the late afternoon.

Piece 8 — Stoking fire three hearth figures

Pen + Watercolor · Loose pen and watercolor line-and-wash

Three takes

Focus for this piece

This multi-figure piece is an excellent study in rendering a consistent, singular light source – the warm firelight from below. Focus on using a limited palette of warm tones and precise value control within your washes to convey the upward illumination on each figure's form. Pay attention to how highlights and shadows fall across the varying planes of the faces, hands, and clothing to emphasize this consistent lighting direction. Allow soft, wet-into-wet applications to suggest the hearth's glowing embers, reserving crisper line work to define the figures themselves against the warm atmosphere.