Brown Paper Bunny Studio

View Original

Inktober Day 11: Blouse (Tombow Marker Tutorial)

Please note: This blog post contains affiliate links, which help pay for the upkeep of this site. That being said, I will never, ever promote anything I am not 100% in love with!

Today's prompt for the Inktober Fall Fashion Illustration Challenge is 'Blouse'. Naturally I added some bunnies. ;)

Someone told me about a 'watercolor' technique using Tombow Brush Markers. I tested it out, and it was pretty cool, so I wanted to share it with you. I assume it would work just as well with any water-soluble markers!

First, pick out the colors you want to use - you can also blend them together to get just the right shade. 

Then make yourself a palette. I tried a scrap of watercolor paper, which didn't work so well once I started scrubbing at the marker color with water, so in the end I used tracing paper but I've heard a zip-lock sandwich bag works well too. (UPDATE: Tombow sent me a care package with a plastic coated blending palette, which works a treat. I bet a piece of plastic overhead projector sheet or something similar would also work well). 

Scribble some ink down on the palette, this is where you can mix the marker colors. 

See this content in the original post

Then use a paintbrush to wet the marker ink and then start painting on your page. If you aren't getting enough color you usually just need a little more water on your brush.

See this content in the original post

Here's my finished product.

See this content in the original post

This technique allows for subtle color build up and layers that you can't always get by using the markers directly on the paper. I'm definitely going to experiment a little more. 

Watch the timelapse video below of it all coming together. 

Leave me a comment and let me know if you've ever tried this - or if you're going to try it now. :)

And if you'd like to see the rest of my #Inktoberff entries, click here