Transcripts
1. Welcome to the Class!: Hi, I'm Anna Stapenko, a watercolor and marker artist. And in today's class, we are drawing a
super sweet project, a bright red donut, using alcohol based markers. This class is
beginner friendly and perfect if you want to
practice smooth planting, laying colors, and adding
depth shadows and highlights. We'll start with a
simple pencil sketch, then move step by step
through base coloring, shading and final details
all in real time. Even if you're a complete
beginner, don't worry. I have included a marker basics lesson to
get you started. There is also a materials lesson where I will show you
everything I use, and you'll find a
full palette of all markers used in
this class attached. By the end, you will have a
vibrant doughnut illustration and a stronger understanding of how to use markers
with confidence. So grab your supplies, and let's start sketching.
2. Marker Basics: Let's take a moment to talk
about some marker basics. I will be working on Bristol
paper by Windsor and Newton, but there are many
other great brands that make this kind
of paper, too. It's an excellent
choice for markers. It allows me to create smooth color fills and
beautiful gradients. Now, let's get familiar with different types of marker nips. There are a few common
ones you will come across. First, the brush nip. It looks and feels a lot
like a real paint brush. It's perfect for expressive
flowing lines and gives your strokes a
dynamic painterly feel. Next is a chisel nip, great for covering
larger areas quickly. And if you tilt it, you can also get thinner
lines with the edge. And finally, the ballet nip. This one is ideal for crisp lines and small
detailed areas. Let's try creating a
gradient using two colors. First, I lay down
the lighter color. Then I add the darker color, slightly overlapping
the lighter one. I go back in with
the lighter color and blend the transition. You can go back
and forth between the two markers to soften
the gradient even more. Here's how it looks up close. You can also create a gradient
using just one color. Since marker ink
builds up in layers, you can get a full range of tons from just a single marker. For example, I apply the
first layer of color. Then I move slightly to the
side and add a second layer. I keep repeating this adding more layers with
small gaps between. And you'll see how the color becomes richer and
darker with each pass. Look at the tunnel range you
can get all from one marker. Now, let's talk about filling
an area with a solid color. To create a smooth even fill, use a small circular
motions so marker, working wet on wet without
lifting your hand. Of course, you can
also use strokes like this to create some interesting
texture and effects. I also have a magical tool
here, the colorless blender. It's used to soften blends, but also to lift
color from the paper. I like to place an extra sheet of paper underneath my work. This helps absorb
the ink I'm lifting. Watch how the pink fades out. It's a great way to create
highlights and fun effects. Just remember to
clean the blender tip afterward on a scrap
piece of paper, since pigment tends to
stay on it as well. And here are a couple of my favorite tools for
highlights a white gel pen. It works beautifully on top of marker layers and is perfect for adding sharp,
bright highlights. And a white pencil. This one gives you
soft white accents and can help brighten up areas
without looking too bold. It's not as opaque as gel pen, but it creates a
gentle glowing effect.
3. Materials: Here are the materials we'll
be using for this class. First, we'll need paper. I'm working on Windsor
and Newton Bristol paper, but many other brands
make this paper as well. Or you can use any market
friendly paper you have. Next, you'll need a pencil. I'm using both a needed
eraser and a regular erasm. But one of the two is enough. We'll also need a white gel
pen and a white pencil. Then a marker blender.
This is optional. I only use it briefly to
smooth out some shadows. So if you don't have
one, it's not a problem. For the grays, I'm using
cool gray markers, picking every other shade
starting with C one. So C one, C three, C five and C seven. But you can use
any gray you like. For the doughnut itself, I'm starting with
a very light beige for the brightest spots. I don't want to leave
them completely white, so I'm using a shade
called brick white, but you can also use
a very light gray. For the bun, I'm using a
slightly darker beige E 53. Then for the doughnuts icing, I have three reddish
brown markers. The first is a light
red or light pink for the lighter areas, which are blend with the
light brick, white shade. Then I use a bright red for the more vivid spots and a brown shade for
the darker areas. As you can see, I'm
using warmer reds here. But if you would like your doughnut to
have a cooler look, you can switch to pink
or purple markers. For example, a bright
pink instead of red and a purple shade
instead of brown. That's it. Now, let's get
started on our doughnut.
4. Sketching the Donut: First, I sketch the
overall rough shape. Then I lighten it
with a kded arrasm. And begin refining the
drawing with more detail. I define the area
where the icing drips down and shapes
the donut bun. I also draw the doughnut hole. Now I want to adjust the
left side of the doughnut, making it a bit wider. And finally, I refine the
silhouette of the center, since some sprinkles
will be visible there. That's it. Our pencil
sketch is done. Now we can move on
to the markers.
5. Coloring — Part 1: We'll start with
the lightest areas. I will be using E 40 and r02. First, I cover the
brightest highlights on the doughnut with my
lightest shade E 40. Then I take RS two and
fill in the entire sin, avoiding the donut bun. Next, I go back with E 40 and immediately blend these transitions
to soften them. Now, I take a bright red r08 and start building up the most
vibrant areas of the icing. I also start hinting at sprinkle shapes using
the chisel nip. In my opinion, the chisel
tip is perfect for shaping sprinkles and quickly
covering larger areas. Now I switch to a brown e09 to mark the shadow
areas on the doughnut, adding volume and depth.
6. Coloring — Part 2: Then I go back to r02 to
blend the ball tread. And again, use E 40 to soften
the lighter transitions. This helps create smooth
gradients on the glaze. At this point, I want
to go in again with r08 and e09 to boost the
brightness and contrast. Okay And once again, I use Rzo two to blend the
edges for soft finish. A few final touches with the bright red to refine
the glaze silhouette, Then back to r02 and E 40 to make the
transitions extra smooth. And finally, I take E 53
and fill in the donut bun. And for the final touch, I will take a brown
marker to define the outline of the ice in
the way it drips down. And then go over the bun one more time with
the Bache E 53. Now, I use an eraser to clean up any leftover pencil lines.
7. Adding Shadows: Now let's work with O grace and add shadows to A doughnut. I will be using cold grace. First, I take my
lightest shade C one and start with the shadow under the center
of the doughnut. I blend the edge with
a colorless blender to create a smooth transition
to the white paper. Next, I use C three and
go over the same area. Blending it again
with a lighter C one. Then I add C five to
deepen the shadow. And blented a bit
more with C one. Now, I take my darkest
gray C seven and apply the darkest
shadow right at the edge where the doughnut
touches the surface. I will soften this
area using CT. C one. And a bit of C five to create
a nice gradient. Let's move to the side
shad of all the donut. I tilt the shadow slightly
so it's not straight but angled and pull the
shadow outward. Then I add the darkest
parts with C five. Okay. Bland wis three. And then, again, we see one. I go back with CF one more time to refine the
darkest areas. He and planted again using C three. And C one, building a
very soft transition. As a final touch, I add a bit of c wet on wet to smooth out
the edge even more. Now I want to add some shading
directly on the donut bun. I start with a C sue and
apply it on the left side. I. Then I soften it
a bit using r02. Now I take C one and add soft shadows in
the lighter areas. Shadows always help to make the drawing look more realistic. D. Again, I bend softly with r02. Ne 40. Now I grab my bright
red again to define the shape of the glaze
where it drips down. Here, I want to darken this
little area with C five, since it's in deeper shadow. Then I blended with brown and tried to create a smooth transition. I also deepen the tone of the red on the left
side of the donut. Let's now go back to the bun. I take Beige E 53 and
go over it again. Then with light red r02, I add a soft shadow under the glaze and blend
it back with E 53. Finally, I use C three to reinforce a shadow
on the bun itself.
8. Adding Sprinkles & Final Icing Details: Now let's work on the icing and the sprinkles using a
pencil and a white gel pen. I start by adding sprinkles of different shapes with
a white gel pen. Trying to match the
reference exactly, but I want to capture the
general shape of the sprinkles. Also, the pen is white. When it goes over
the red marker, it takes on a softer
pastel shape, which works perfectly
for this piece. I try to make the sprinkles
right in shape and size. For example, this red spot here will be the
shadow of a sprinkle, so I draw the white sprinkle slightly offset to
give it depths. The shapes don't have
to be too perfect and you don't have to add as
many as in the reference. It's up to you. Even
with first sprinkles, the doughnut will
still look beautiful. Okay. Then I add some tiny dots
to fill in the spaces. Here and there, I drop
a few more sprinkles. At this point, I already
like how it's looking, so I will stop here. Now, I take a white pencil to adjust the transitions
and highlights a bit. And I also use it to create some of
the soft texture, adding tiny dots and smudging
them with my finger. Then I grab a brown
marker to deepen and intensify the shadows
under the sprinkles. We already added
some shaded spots in red for the sprinkles. But here and there, I want to make those
shadows even darker, making the doughnut and the sprinkles look
more realistic. Then I take Gracy five and use it to deepen
a few more shadows. Then I pick up Rzo two, a soft pink and lightly go over some of the sprinkles to
tone down the bright white, making them feel more
right and natural. We are almost done a
few final touches. I grab a brown marker and deepen the shadows along the
edge of the icing. Here and there and
also inside the hole. And that's it. Our
doughnut is finished.
9. Final Word: Thank you so much for
joining me in this class. I hope you had fun drawing this bright red doughnut and feel more confident
using your markers. To help you keep practicing, I have added a reference image with lots of
different doughnuts. So feel free to pick your favorite and try out
your new skills. And I would love to
see what you create. Don't forget to upload your sketches in
the class gallery. If you enjoy this class, be sure to check out my art
Skillshare classes too. See you next time
and happy drawing.
Anna Ostapenko, Watercolor & Marker artist
