Drawing Notes - Materials - Watercolour

Although watercolour is a medium more usually associated with painting, it can easily be used in a way that allows it to fit into the category of drawing. The key difference is that for drawing purposes, watercolour is used primarily to compliment linear illustrations, rather than using its pure colour to create an image.

To draw with watercolour paints you will need a couple of soft watercolour brushes (usually sable or squirrel hair) and a suitable watercolour paper that needs to be strong and preferably slightly textured, cartridge paper is perfectly acceptable, however.

Try It Yourself

Using only a paint brush and two colours – one light and one dark – draw a yellow tennis ball without the use of outlines.


Step by Step Exercise

1. After creating the shapes by line drawing with a B pencil, wash the basic colours onto them.
2. Next, mix a neutral yet warm grey from ultramarine, violet and a touch of orange, and use this to wash around the shapes of the shadows, creating a sense of curvature on all three objects.
3. The final drawing relies heavily on the effects of colour, while still emphasizing the individual shapes and the linear structure of the detail.