This blog post describes how I used two other material, crayons and china marker, to get almost the same effect. The principle idea of the technique is based on using oil based black media to draw the outlines and then color the inside with watercolor. The reason that this combination works so well is that water and oil don’t affect each other and if we use paint that is solvent-based, it could smudge the oil-based media. The watercolor has the advantage of not covering the oil paint-stick so it offers a great contrast.
While you can use a variety of thick papers or boards, I like watercolor paper since it does not warp with the watercolor. The rough texture also makes the texture created by the oil paint-stick very interesting. Less textured paper is not as dramatic.
Your watercolor can be in ink form (ecoline), dry cakes or tubes, it really doesn’t matter.
- We will begin by looking at 2 methods to transfer your sketch onto watercolor paper. I will be shortly posting a blog detailing transfer methods, but this should get your started.
- We will prepare our oil paint-stick.
- We will then draw the outline and black parts of the drawing.
- CRITICAL: The drawing needs to dry for 1-2 days before we can add details.
- We will use waterproof fine-liner to add details.
- We will color the drawing with watercolor.
Download files and list of supplies
I have include this line drawing which you can download, print and use to create this drawing. I’ve also included a reference sheet of pictures I have taken and used to draw this orchid.
Transferring your sketch onto watercolor paper
There are two easy ways to transfer our drawing onto the thick watercolor paper.
- Using a pencil, you make markings on the BACK of the paper. When you tape the drawing in place on the watercolor paper, you trace over the drawing and the pencil transfers to the watercolor paper.
- The second method is almost the same but you use ready-made graphite paper that already have the pencil on them.
Check out my blog post for detailed information on transfer techniques
You can view the video on drawing transfer techniques posted on my youtube channel below:
Drawing with Crayons
The humble crayon plays a star role in this technique, creating all the black sections. Besides being cheap, another benefit is that unlike Oil stick paint and china markers, crayons actually DON’T need 1-2 days to dry and you can add the watercolor immediately.
Drawing with China Marker
China markers are not that well known to the general public. You may have seen coffee servers writing the brewing time on pots of coffee with it to ensure freshness, and that versatility of being able to draw on almost anything is what makes them so special. You can purchase them from office supply stores.
Another interesting thing about them is that they are made from paper that is wound around a core. By pulling on the exposed string, you cut through one layer of paper and can unwind it – effectively sharpening the marker!
You can use them like the other media we have discussed but be careful, they do smudge on paper and it may even take up to 3 days for them to set.
Adding the Details / Watercolor
Refer to Part 1 of this tutorial to see exactly how you can add the details.
You can read about this process on my blog at:
Or watch the video on my youtube channel:
Some Final Notes
I hope that you have fun with this process. For more information, here is a link to the video showing this process.
