Pencil Markmaking for watercolor
Helen Shafer Garcia
This is a great tip for details and repeat patterns for watercolor. I used this technique when I was an illustrator for Resorts and Hotels. It's great for small details.
You will need 1- 10 or 12 round watercolor brush, a 2B pencil, a set of watercolors, and a small sheet ( I used a 7” x 7”), of 140IB hot pressed or cold pressed watercolor paper.
Print out some patterns shapes that you would like to practice on. If you are timid about drawing directly after the paint is on the paper draw out the designs before the paint in pencil.
Using lots of water on your brush, pick one base color to wet the paper and start the dropped in watercolor process described in my online classes. Make sure the paper remains shiny wet.
Continue to drop more colors on the shiny wet paper, allowing the paint to flow naturally.
While the paper remains wet, draw some of the pattern shapes with the 2B pencil. ( You will be tracing if you already drew the shapes) Press down hard into the paper so that it makes an indent. You can use a small spray bottle to keep the paper wet.
The top two shape pencil lines are acting as reservoirs to hold the paint and water. The paper started to dry by the time I started to draw the lower shape. You can still see more graphite from the pencil when it’s too dry. Allow your paper to dry if this happens.
Once the paper is dry, you can now re-wet the paper with more colors. Go over the lines that you want darker or brighter.I love using this technique for small details. Have fun practicing!
