There are a number of different ways to convert a digital image from a photograph into a piece of digital art that looks like a sketch.

The word "sketch" means different things to different people. This technique uses the Photoshop Graphic Pen filter. The trick to this technique is to make multiple passes with the Graphic Pen filter. This varies the length of the strokes. For further variety, variation in opacity and layer masks allow the digital artist to precisely control the length of the strokes for different features of the image, just as a artist using a graphic pen and paper would sketch the scene.

To see the detail in the sketch strokes, the instructions use a full-size crop of the image. To see the entire image, click here.

I did not bother to sharpen the image in this case. I find that sketches often benefit from a soft focus. A sketch should lose some detail. When artists sketch with traditional materials, they simplify reality.

The sketch used three passes with the Graphic Pen filter. You can find it under Filter | Sketch | Graphic Pen . . . on the Photoshop menu bar. Each pass with the Graphic Pen filter resulted in a B&W sketch. To add color back to the image, the Background layer is copied and the opacity reduced.

I started by making a duplicate of the background layer. I applied the Graphic Pen filter: setting Stroke Length to 5, Light/Dark Balance to 50, and Stroke Direction to Right Diagonal. The image was difficult to distinguish because of the numerous small strokes.

Another copy of the Background layer was made. The second pass with the Graphic Pen filter used the same settings, except the Stroke Length was set to 10. The opacity was reduced to 50% and a Reveal All Layer Mask was added. A soft-edge brush with 50% gray was used to further reduce the longer strokes in selected parts of the image. This helped avoid the look of driving rain.

The third pass was identical to the second. It started with a copy of the Background layer. The Stroke Length was set to 15. Opacity was again 50% and a Reveal All Layer Mask was used to selectively "tone down" the effect by brushing with 50% gray.

Color was restored with a fourth copy of the Background layer. The opacity was reduced to 65% to allow the original color to show through. Normal blend mode "softened" the strokes from the multiple passes of the Graphic Pen filter.

If you prefer more of the Graphic Pen effect, you could use a Color layer to add just the color from the Background layer and then increase the opacity.

You can combine different filters for different sketch effects. Some combinations I like include Dry Brush followed by Graphic Pen or Poster Edges followed by Smart Blur.

Good luck!