How to Draw a Waterfall with Stream - Pen and Ink Drawings by Rahul Jain

In this post, I will show how to draw a waterfall continuing as a stream. This drawing expands on the drawing we covered last (a stream through the woods) with a waterfall added as the source of stream. Drawing stones, water and inclined ground are the main elements needed for this drawing that are covered below. Detailed template to practice is provided at the end. Try it today.

Step 1: Draw Stones

Following pics show how to draw stones starting with outline and texturing to bring out the feel of stone. Click to see step by step in detail.

Start with an outline like this. Drawing outline is discussed in detail in linked stone tutorial.

Use dots and ticks to add tone to the sides. Parallel lines (hatching and cross hatching can be used for this as well.

Finish stones by using tapered crevices in the body and edges to give it rough feel.

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Step 2: Draw Water

Draw water per steps shown below. It is further discussed in drawing water tutorial.

Use slightly curved broken lines like these to indicate fall of water. Don't make the lines flat but give them a small bulge.

Water leading to small drop can be indicated using such wavy lines. Keep them irregular.

Water flowing out after the drop can be indicated using such 'ripple' lines. Draw then progressively bigger as they go out. This is discussed in detail in linked water tutorial.

To add reflection use more water lines to increase tone to indicate reflection. Keep the edge of darker tone irregular.

Adjust the tone of reflection to bring out a nice feel of it.

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Step 3: Draw Inclined Ground

The ground surrounding stones is inclined as water flows out. To indicate inclined ground use ‘contour lines‘ as shown below. The angle of these lines indicate the angle of ground.

Step 4: Draw Inclined Ground Around Waterfall

Same technique of contour lines is used to indicate inclined ground for waterfall. Here I use small contour lines in slightly different directions and indicate foliage on it to bring out the effect. The white that is left contrasts with the contour lines to bring out the effect. Don’t over do it to take away white.

Step 5: Draw Main Waterfall

Main waterfall is drawn using the same broken curved lines as we saw for small drop in stream. In addition, tapered dark is added to give it volume. This can be done for small fall as well depending on the volume you want to portray. Straightness from the edges of fall is removed using dots and ticks. Background for fall is made darker to contrast and bring out the waterfall.

Step 6: Finish

Adjust the tone if needed to your liking. Various other elements can be further added as desired.

This completes this tutorial on drawing a waterfall continuing as a stream. Use the template to practice. In the template I have provided each step above that can be practised individually. If initial attempt is not to your liking, then try again. Lot of it comes with regular practice. Feel free to reach out to me for any questions and clarifications.

Do share this with others who you think will enjoy drawing this. Any comments and suggestions for improving this content and suggestions for other content are welcome.

Happy Drawing,

Rahul

Step by Step Drawings