Follow Up: Better Water Illustrations (all suggestions)

[Circa 1976]

This is a follow up regarding this post. Here I have posted the different illustration results using the same body of water, along with the EN World folks who suggested or supported the idea.

I know a poll or ranked poll would've been ideal, but I don't really understand how either works.

Body of Water, no enhancement (this is what the water currently looks like):

1. Broken Inner Shoreline (Bagpuss)

2. Crosshatch (aramis erak, Composer99, GMMichael) - Unsure about this one; not because crosshatch isn't a good idea, but because it's difficult to do in a drawing or layout program. I included only the top portion of the water because it's hard on the wrist to do the whole thing. In fact, I'm not even sure that this is crosshatching, but it's the best I could do.

3. Shading, including Multi-Hue (aco175, Composer 99, nyvinter, Wofano Wotanto)

4. Full Wave Pattern

5. Shorter Waves, Variable Length, Scattered (Staffan, zottel)

6. Single-Hue Shading with Curvy Wave Symbol (Edgar Ironpelt)

Note: If any Admin can turn this post into a poll or ranked poll (whichever you think is best), you have my go-ahead.

Which one do you like best?

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I like the last two the best, although, I don't know why you got rid of the ridged lines (broken shore line) on the last one. I think the dark with the wavy lines might not be bad with the ridged lines to denote the shore line.

I think the second last(#5) is the cleanest looking. You could even get away with less waves and it will still do the trick.

Honestly, while some of the others look good - like the shaded one (#3), it is easy to mistake it for a crevasse instead of water.