I carry around little scraps of watercolor paper and a tiny travel watercolor tin I made, so that when an opportunity to sketch or paint presents itself I can take advantage. Today it was too sunny to be indoors so I made this little watercolor sketch while eating my lunch in the sun, between running errands.
Do you carry art supplies around with you too?
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!
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Over on Instagram I’ve been creating a lot of watercolor flowers using Tombow Dual Brush Pens lately — in case you can’t tell from my blog, using Dual Brush Pens to make a watercolor effect is one of my favorite things.
For these flowers and leaves I mixed several colors together to provide greater variation and also because I just really enjoy mixing whole new colors. I also waited for each layer to dry before adding another on top to give it a bit more depth.
Have you ever used water soluble markers before? (Tombow Dual Brush Pens or something else) Would you like me to post some tutorials in how to use them to create different watercolor-look florals? Let me know in the comments!
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!
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World Art Day is coming up (April 15) so I’m going to show you an easy and fun way to make some abstract art for your walls. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
The first step for making your abstract art is to use the Blending Palette and a wet paintbrush to transfer Dual Brush Pen ink onto your watercolor paper (watch the video below to see how I do it).
Once all of your color blocks are dry, start cutting out shapes. Try geometric shapes, some squiggles, flowers etc. Go with your first instincts...do you find yourself gravitating towards circles? Maybe triangles are more your thing?
Once all of your shapes are cut out, start arranging them on a new piece of paper until you have a combination you like. Try a minimalist layout with just two or three shapes, then try one with lots of shapes and colors.
Once you have a layout you like, use your MONO Multi XL Liquid Glue to stick all the pieces down. Once everything is dry you can frame your masterpiece and hang it on the wall!
Comment below and tell me if you have any of your own art hanging up at home. If not, why not?!
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!
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Today I’m going to show you how to make a watercolor Easter card in pastel Dual Brush Pen colors. We're also going to use embossing powder because it resists ink nicely to give you white outlines. Here's what you'll need to get started.
Start by drawing a bunny template on a plain piece of paper. Think of them as snowmen with ears...a big circle for the body and a smaller one for the head, then two ears and a fluffy tail. Use your template to trace bunnies onto the right-hand side of your watercolor paper (when you fold it that will be the front) using your MONO Graph Mechanical Pencil. This is a good time to write a greeting on the front too. I chose a simple Happy Easter.
Follow the directions for your particular embossing pen, powder and heat gun. The general steps are usually to draw / write with the pen, sprinkle the powder on top of the ink, shake off any excess then heat with the gun for around 15 seconds until the powder melts and looks 'embossed'. Emboss over all of your pencil lines for the bunnies and your greeting.
This is the really fun step. You get to choose how you'll color your bunnies. Will you pick one color for each, or blend all of the pastel colors to make a rainbow? I choose to pair up the pinks, yellows, blues and purples to make each bunny two-tone, and used the green for the greeting at the bottom. You can color directly onto your watercolor paper, right over the embossing once it is cool. Then to get the watercolor look, use a damp paintbrush to go over the ink and blend it together.
And there you go, once your ink is dry your card can hop on over to its intended recipient!
I’d love to see your card, share it with me by tagging @BrownPaperBunny on social media!
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!
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Are you as excited as I am about spring?! I'm so excited that I've been creating lots of spring flower letters with Tombow Dual Brush Pens and I want to show you how to make them. Here's what you'll need to get started.
Start by drawing the shape of your letter, lightly, in pencil. You can choose to draw either an uppercase or lowercase letter. Next, add your first spring flower. I like to draw one larger flower near the top of my letter as a focal point. Keep it nice and loose, starting with the lightest color first. Add small amounts of different shades to give it some variety. The colors I chose were 873 Coral, 991 Light Ochre, 723 Pink, 761 Carnation, 195 Light Green, and 245 Sap Green).
Next, draw flower stems along the penciled shape of your letter, leaving some spaces for smaller flowers and buds to be drawn in between them.
Start filling in the spaces at the ends of the stems with flower bud shapes and small, slightly open flowers. Follow the same approach as you did for the first flower, by adding different colors to each flower for variety. Don't worry if they don't look much like flowers at this stage, and it's ok if they're a little messy. After all your flowers have been drawn you can fill in any gaps with leaves.
Next, it's time to add water. Start with either the stems and leaves or the flowers, but don't do everything at once or it will run together into a muddy mess! With a damp paintbrush gently brush over the ink, blending colors together a little until you have a watercolor look. Once your first part is dry then you can start on the next bit.
If you'd like you can leave your spring letter at the last, watercolor stage. But if you'd like to add some small details, grab your MONO Drawing Pens and add thin lines to suggest where the petals are, and which direction they are going in. You can add some lines to the outsides of the stems and leaves as well. To keep it looking loose and fresh I recommend not closing all of the petal and leaf shapes completely, but leaving some gaps here and there.
Voila, you're finished! Now you can frame it and hang it on your wall, or give it as a gift! I’d love to see your spring flower letters, so be sure to tag @BrownPaperBunny if you share them on social media!
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!
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This week I’m redoing an old watercolor portrait from 2011, using skills and knowledge I’ve learned since then to try and improve upon it.
I’ve always loved messy watercolor portraits with ink lines so I wanted to re-do that style. If you’d like to create along with me, here are the materials I’m using:
A few things I’ve learned since creating my 2011 portrait are not to mix too many different colors or everything will get muddy and brown. I’ve also learned that using different line weights gives you more interest. AND I discovered that if you color across the whites of someone’s eyes they look really weird and creepy.
So I’m using a limited color palette, I’ve got my 01, 03, 05 MONO Drawing Pens and Fudenosuke Brush Pen for the line work, and I’m avoiding washes near the eyes.
To start, sketch out your portrait in pencil, then either transfer ink from a Blending Palette with a wet paintbrush (like I did for the cheeks and lips) or use the Dual Brush Pens directly onto the watercolor paper then go back and wet it. I made sure to let the color run together a little, and added some extra water splotches. You can watch each step in the video below.
What do you think, did I improve on my 2011 effort? Have you ever recreated an old project? Or is there one you’d like to re-do? Let me know in the comments!
If you’re new here, I’m Jessica — a watercolor artist and fashion illustrator, living in Seattle. I’d love to connect on social media, come say hi on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter @BrownPaperBunny!
You might also like these blog posts:
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!
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Howdy! Today I’m going to show you how to create some loose watercolor florals in living coral (try saying that five times fast). Living Coral is the Pantone Color of the Year for 2019. These florals are super easy to make and I'll be showing you how to use Tombow Dual Brush Pens to get a watercolor look and add line work. Here's what you'll need to get started.
The first step is to scribble some ink onto your blending palette. Dual Brush Pen 905 is pretty close to the color Living Coral already, but I wanted to add a little punch of pink so I used a touch of 815 in the mix. Experiment with blending different quantities of each color until you get a shade you love.
Once you've got your ink onto the blending palette wet it with your paintbrush.
Using your paintbrush, transfer ink from the blending palette onto your watercolor paper. Start making loose flower petal shapes around in a circle. Leave a little white space so the paper can show through. And don't worry if it looks pretty messy at this stage, we're going to add detail at the end, and they are meant to be loose florals after all. ;)
To add a little more variety to your base color, drop in a few dots of yellow ink using the same technique as before. Let them spread into the living coral color while it is still wet.
On your blending palette, mix up some green for the stem and leaves. I used colors 177 and 228. Using your paintbrush, transfer the ink from the blending palette to create a stem and leaves coming down from your flowers.
Here's what mine looks like so far.
Once the ink is completely dry, use your Dual Brush Pens to add detail to the petals and leaves. Experiment with the brush tip and the bullet tip and see which you're more comfortable with.
And voila, you've got some loose florals in living coral. These would make a nice framed art piece, or look great in your journal, or on a card to someone special.
I’d love to see your flowers! Share them on social media and tag @BrownPaperBunny so I can see!
Yep, you read that right…we’re going on a cruise, AND holding creative classes in lettering, watercolor florals etc. on days when we’re not in port.
And the best part?! We want you to come with us! You can find all of the details on The Lettering Companion’s website, but the basics are:
When: December 15-22, 2019
Cruise line: Royal Caribbean Cruises
Ship: Harmony of the Seas
Destinations:
- Leaving from Orlando, Florida
- Philipsburg, St. Maarten
- San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Cococay, Bahamas
- Returning to Orlando, Florida
While the cruise isn’t for a few months, spots are filling up fast. You can put down a deposit with our travel agent and then you don’t have to pay the remainder until closer to departure. We’d love to have you, so if you’re interested, get over to The Lettering Companion’s site for all the details!
Naturally, I’m so excited that I had to paint a watercolor piece to celebrate. I used Prima’s Tropicals Watercolor Confection Set (you can still get 15% off their products with my code BrownPaperBunny15%), on Canson XL Watercolor paper.
Just think, that could be you standing on a gorgeous beach, with a bag full of art supplies, ready to relax and create! ;)
I’ve been working on getting faster with my fashion illustrations, and the best way to cut time off each sketch is to use a fashion illustration croquis or figure. Croquis are also a great way to get started illustrating fashion if you aren’t confident drawing figures yet.
With awards season in full swing, one of my favorite things is to illustrate outfits from the red carpet. With the Oscars around the corner I thought it would be fun to share a set of my fashion illustration croquis so you can illustrate the red carpet with me.
Enter your email to download and print this set of free croquis. Then use the figure croquis to illustrate your favorite outfits. Tag @BrownPaperBunny and #BPBcroquis on Instagram so I can see your finished sketches!
Fine print: These croquis are for your own personal use and not for licensing, resale, or commercial use.
If you’d like to see some of my fashion illustrations for inspiration, check out these posts.
This week I was challenged to use multiple watercolor techniques in one portrait. I took that challenge and not only used multiple techniques but as many as I could think! Can you spot them all in my portrait above? Let me know, in the comments, if you think of any I missed!
Dropping kosher salt into almost-dry watercolor paint gives you a fun starburst effect. You have to experiment a little because if the paint is too wet or too dry it won’t work.
This technique is fairly self explanatory. You wet your paper first, then add wet paint onto the wet paper, and watch it spread in a deliciously unpredictable way!
Wet paint, onto dry paper gives you a controlled, precise finish.
Flat washes give you a nice even area of color. I usually create mine with a really wet brush, onto dry paper.
This technique has a few different names, but I like the term ‘fade’. It’s where you add a little wet paint to your dry paper, then rinse your brush and use it to pull the paint down the paper. You can then rinse and repeat until the color is faded completely.
A graduated wash can be achieved via wet-on-wet and controlling the spread of paint by tilting the paper or blotting with paper towel. Or you can get this look by similarly to the fade technique but by using more water and rinsing your brush less in between each cross stroke (more of a dip than a rinse).
A watercolor glaze is a thin wash applied over dry paint. It’s useful in unifying a painting with a similar color, or if you need to reduce the contrast of an area etc.
Watercolor scumbling is a technique I only learned recently, and it’s great for adding texture — especially to your underpainting. Scumbling is basically scribbling, or loose dots which let some of the paper show through.
Most used with pencil or ink, crosshatching can either be a fun or madening watercolor technique. Too wet and it turns into a muddy mess, but just a little bleeding together can make for a very cool effect and give you lots of texture.
Here’s an example of an entire portrait I created using watercolor crosshatching.
If you have a fine brush, doodling on a painting can be really fun and is a great way to add some detail or areas of interest.
Masking fluid is a liquid rubber that once dry can be painted over, preserving (masking) the area underneath until it is removed. It’s great for highlights or details you want to keep while applying a wash or big area of color to the rest of your paper. Make sure you dip your brush in soap before you use it with masking fluid, and clean it immediately afterwards or else it will dry and in your brush and ruin it. You can also use masking fluid pens or dip a toothpick into it instead of risking your brushes.
Lifting off is great if you want a lighter area, or you made a mistake. It can be done with a clean dry brush (or paper towel) into almost dry paint, or you can gently use a sand eraser or razor blade to remove areas of dried paint (these last two will damage the paper though and you won’t be able to paint over the top).
I often get asked what brands of watercolor, paper, and brushes I use, so I created a list for you here.
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!
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In honor of our little girl’s upcoming birthday I’m going to show you how to get an invisible ink effect with Tombow’s new Fudenosuke Colors Brush Pens. I don’t know about you but when I was a kid I was obsessed with invisible ink, codes, and spy gadgets. I guess I never grew up because I still love those things! Recently, I discovered that you can use Fudenosuke Brush Pens under water-soluble ink (such as Dual Brush Pens) to create hidden text and drawings that can be revealed later. Here’s how!
Use your Fudenosuke Colors Brush Pens to create your hidden text, drawing, or designs on the watercolor paper. This technique would be a fun way to write a letter to someone, create an invitation, a birthday card, a little note or a drawing.
Let your first layer dry completely. Then use Dual Brush Pens in colors that match the Fudenosukes to cover the first layer. The Dual Brush Pen colors I found that matched well were: 856 for Red, 946 for Orange, 055 for Yellow, 195 for Green, 476 for Blue, 636 for Purple, 725 for Pink, 969 for Brown, N65 for Grey, and N15 for Black.
If you can still see the Fudenosuke ink through the first layer of Dual Brush Pen, let it dry completely and add a second layer.
You’re finished, and you can send your creation off with instructions to wet each color with a paintbrush and water. Here’s what the rainbow invitation looked like after I wet each top layer color and the Fudenosuke ink emerged.
Happy Valentine’s Day! Don’t you just love love!? Whether you’re spending today with a partner, friend, or showing yourself some love I hope you are having a wonderful day.
These little flowers were painted using Prima’s Pastel Watercolor Confection set. If you’d like a discount on your own set, use the code ‘BrownPaperBunny15%’ to get 15% off Prima products here.
Watch the time-lapse video below to see how it all comes together.
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!
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Don’t you just love love?! Today I’m going to show you how to create a Valentine’s Day wreath that you could use on a card, or as a gift for someone special. Here’s what you’ll need to get started:
The first step in drawing your Valentine’s wreath is to trace a circle (I used an upside-down bowl) then start drawing flowers and leaves around the circle, using your Mono Graph Mechanical Pencil.
Next, add your lightest color of Dual Brush Pen on the outlines of your flower petals, and use a wet paintbrush to blend it. This will give you a nice soft background color. Watch the time-lapse video below to see how it all comes together.
Once the first layer of ink is dry you can repeat with darker shades in certain areas. I chose to draw stylized chrysanthemums, what’s your favorite flower? Let me know in the comments!
I added a quote to the center, and outlined the flowers and leaves using Mono Drawing Pens. Do you have a favorite quote or saying about love?
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!
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One of my absolute favorite things is blending markers with water (specifically Tombow Dual Brush Pens) to create soft backgrounds you can draw over. Let me show you how I do it.
Watercolor Paper
Paintbrush
Start by scribbling some Dual Brush Pen colors, that you'd like to blend, onto your blending palette. Then wet your paintbrush and blend the colors together until you have the shade you want. Next, use the paintbrush to paint the ink from your blending palette onto your watercolor paper to create a soft, watercolor-look background.
If you want a little more variation in your background color, repeat step one with a different shade of the same color, or a color you think will go nicely with the first color you painted onto the paper. I used yellow, blues and greens for my leaves and pinks and yellow for my flowers. Add your new color to your existing ink on the paper while it is still wet, and watch the colors blend together!
Once your background colors are dry go back in with either the bullet or the brush tip of your Dual Brush Pen and add details over the top. This adds some nice contrast to the soft background. And there you have it — I hope blending markers with water will become one of your favorite ways to create too!
I’d love to see what you create, tag @BrownPaperBunny on social media so I can take a look!
The weather here in Seattle has been particularly rainy of late, so I’ve been spending a lot more time inside. It’s not all gloomy though, more time at home means more time to create art! So I’ve been doing a lot more watercolor fashion illustrations to warm up, and thought I’d share a couple of them with you.
These first two were loosely inspired by Blaire Eadie, who I’ve been following on Instagram for years now.
I painted these next two while watching the Golden Globes. I would have painted every single dress that walked down the red carpet if I’d had the time, they were all so lovely!
Did you watch the Golden Globes this year?
Because I so often paint with Prima Watercolor Confections set they’ve given me a 15% off coupon to share with you. I believe it works on all Prima products, so use the code ‘BrownPaperBunny15%’ on your next purchase to save some dollars!
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!
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With New Year's just around the corner, there are lots of parties being planned and resolutions being made. So why not combine the two?! Set up a table with these cute New Year's Resolution Cards so people can write theirs down and mail it to themselves (so it doesn't get lost in all the merriment). Here's what you'll need to get started.
Watercolor paper or card
Envelopes + Stamps
Ruler
Scissors
Glitter
Scribble some ink onto your XL Blending Palette, using your favorite color Dual Brush Pen. Then spritz the ink with water and lay your piece of watercolor paper down on top of the ink. Carefully pull it off and leave it ink-side-up to dry. You can watch a video of this technique over on my Instagram account.
Once your watercolor-look paper is dry you can either repeat the process on the back, or leave it white. Then cut your paper up into any size cards you'd like, just be sure they fit into the envelopes you have.
Use your colored Fudenosuke pens to write on the front of the cards. You can write 'My 2019 Resolutions' like I have, or come up with something different. Leave the 2019 blank, or just in pencil, ready for the next step.
Use your Mono Aqua Liquid Glue to write 2019, then sprinkle some glitter over the glue. Wait until it has dried completely before you shake and brush off any excess glitter.
Once the glue on the front is completely dry, turn the cards over and use the small end of your Dual Brush Pen and a ruler to draw lines on the back. This will make it easier for people to write their resolutions.
Now you're ready to set up a resolutions table at your party! Stock it with your New Year's resolution cards, envelopes, cute stamps, and pens. If you have some extra time, wrap a shoebox in gift-wrap, and cut a slot in the top for people to put their sealed envelopes. The next day, after a sleep-in and you have suitably recovered from all the party merriment, mail off the cards to everyone.
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!
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This week I wanted to show you how to use Tombow Dual Brush Pens to make some cute watercolor-look tags for your holiday gifts. You’ll need the following supplies to get started.
Water Mister
Scissors
Watercolor paper or card
Hole punch
To make your watercolor-look gift tags, start by putting some ink down on your XL Blending Palette using your Dual Brush Pens. Try some different color combinations. Then spray the ink with water. Lay your watercolor paper or card on top and give it a good smush to make sure the ink blends.
Carefully lift the paper off and let it dry. Watch the video below to see the steps in action.
Using a light pencil, trace gift tag outlines onto the paper. I used a store-bought tag I had lying around.
Cut around each of your traced tags and voila, you’re ready to wrap!
You could get really creative with your color combinations, no need to stick to traditional holiday colors!
Do you have any gift-wrapping secrets? Share them with me in the comments!
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!
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Hello hello! Today I’m going to show you how to draw a fall wreath in jewel tones. While I love the colors of changing leaves at this time of year I thought it would be fun to branch out (pun intended) and try some brighter jewel tones that are a little less associated with fall. This wreath is super easy to draw and looks great on cards, your art journal, or in your planner. Here's what you'll need to get started.
Tombow Dual Brush Pens (I chose 312, 346, 528, 606, and 946)
Watercolor paper or thick paper or card
Tombow Mono Drawing Pencil (2H or 4H)
Paintbrush
Water
The first step is to sketch out your wreath, using a pencil. I chose a 4H pencil because it is super light. You can sketch in some flowers, leaves, and fruit at this stage, or just draw the basic circle you plan to follow.
Next you're going to use your lighter colors to draw in some lose branch shapes around the wreath. These are going to end up being your background branches to add depth to your drawing.
Go over them with a wet paintbrush to soften them and blend the ink together a little.
Once your background branches are dry, it's time to start adding your larger shapes. These can be flowers, large leaves, fruit etc. If you want to have a watercolor-look you can use your wet paintbrush to go over these shapes as well, to blend your marker strokes together. To see how I do this, watch the time-lapse video at the end of this blog post.
Once everything is dry it's time to go back in and add more details. You can use the brush or the fine tip of your Dual Brush Pens to create more leaves, branches, add detail to your flowers etc.
The final step is to add some lettering to the middle of your wreath. You could simply write the word 'Fall' like I did, or add your favorite quote, someone's name, or a holiday greeting.
Watch the video below to see how this wreath all came together. And share your own wreath on social media! Tag @BrownPaperBunny so I can see!
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!
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Fall is the perfect season to host lots of cozy dinner parties, so today I’m going to show you how to make some fun fall-themed place cards. But first, you'll need to gather a few supplies.
To create your fall-themed place cards start by using your pencil to draw a mason jar and some leaf shapes onto your watercolor paper.
Next, color in your leaves with Dual Brush Pens, and use a wet paintbrush over the ink to get a watercolor effect. Once they are dry you can add lines and detail with your Mono Drawing pens, then cut everything out. Check out the time-lapse video below to see each step, sped up.
To finish off your place cards write your guest's name on the jar and fall-themed questions on the back of each leaf as conversation starters, then make a slit in the top of your mason jar, and arrange the leaves in the top.
The cards look great laid on top of a plate or held up in a place-card holder.
What’s your favorite fall dish to have at a dinner party or pot-luck?
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!
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Hello hello! Today I'm going to show you how to create an easy floral self-portrait. You could make one for all the members of your family and hang them on the wall together!
Here are the supplies you'll need to get started.
An easy way to capture your profile silhouette is to sit near a wall with a lamp on your other side and have a friend or family member trace your shadow onto the paper. Once your silhouette has been captured you can go over it with Mono Drawing Pen to make it stand out.
Using your Dual Brush Pens fill your silhouette with loose florals. Then, with your wet paintbrush, go over the ink to give it a soft watercolor effect.
You can leave some white space, or fill everything in completely.
This step is optional, but if you want to add a little more definition to your flower shapes, use your Mono Drawing Pen to add in some lines and details.
Voila, you're ready to frame your self-portrait and hang it on the wall! And if flowers aren't your thing, you could fill your silhouette with patterns, fruit, or anything else that feels like you! If you really like tennis, fill it with tennis rackets and balls. Maybe books are more your thing, you could fill it with all your favorite titles. Tell me in the comments what you'd fill yours with!
I'd love to see your finished self-portrait, so share it on social media and tag @BrownPaperBunny!
