Illustration Made Simple: Deepen Your Watercolor Using Colored Pencils

1. Introduction: To some people, new projects can feel pretty daunting. And to my biggest regret, I am one of those people. Where do I start? What will it look like? Oh, what about colors? And we all know overthinking will only make things worse. I'm, I'm anymore Belle shovel, a graphic designer, illustrator, and artist living in the beautiful province of giving. I'm a multi interests person with way too many projects on my mind. And I like to say that I'm not working in the creative field because it's easy, but because it's fulfilling. I have to say, I haven't always been a persevering person. I am way more inclined to give up the first obstacle. However, I find that perseverance pays a lot in self-confidence. And this is why I'm here. Sure this class is about creating a simple illustration with watercolor and colored pencils. But this class is especially about the method I use to get to the end of a project. This class is for you, if you are a beginner in the creative field and don't know where to start. This class is also for you if you feel intimidated by watercolor as an illustration tool. But this class is especially for you. If you would like to pick up illustration. But feel like stuffing before you've even started because you feel overwhelmed. The project for this class is a small, simple illustration of an animal with an element of its environment. We'll start with the brainstorming technique and then we'll go over to thumbnail sketches. Next, we'll play with colors, experiment a few watercolor and colored pencil techniques and draw the final sketch before creating the final illustration, you will need materials for sketching watercolors, colored pencils, brushes, and watercolor paper. This class is a simplified cheat sheet to artwork creation, meaning that even though our process is small and simple, you can then take it and apply it to bigger, more complex projects. In other words, it's a solid base on which to build ready. Let's do this. 2. Your Class Project: Today we are going to work on a small illustration representing an animal with an element of its environment. I'll show you my own process for creating this and I encourage you to try it and see how it works for you. You will need paper and pencils or an iPad for brainstorming and sketching. If you watercolors with pans and a water container, colored pencils, brushes, watercolor paper. And if you'd like some sort of board to tape or a stretch your watercolor paper. We'll start with a simple brainstorming technique to get us going and start brewing ideas. Once we have decided what the subject of the illustration will be, we will start sketching thumbnails for composition. When this is done, we'll make a Pinterest board for color inspiration will then go into technical practice to learn how to apply color in a simple and effective way. Starting with watercolor and then deepening the colors and contrasts with colored pencils. The next step will be to create the final sketch and transfer it to the watercolor paper. And lastly, we'll go into the final coloring of the illustration. Voila, to set yourself up for success. I suggest starting small, let's say in a four by 6 " size so as not to get overwhelmed by the size of the project. The reason we're working on this project today is that by starting small, we are making sure to build on solid foundations for bigger projects in the future. The steps don't change that much once you move into bigger illustration projects. And I strongly feel about dividing projects into smaller steps so as not to get overwhelmed when you tackle on bigger, more complex illustrations. The last thing I would like to mention is this. Please don't be hard on yourself when you try new things. I speak from experience when I say that being hard on yourself will only kill creativity. We are here to practice and learn. And it's completely normal not to feel completely satisfied on your first try. So please, please try to have fun and not only value the final result. With this being said, let's do this. Up next. Let's brainstorm. 3. Brainstorming With Mindmaps: Hey guys, thanks for joining me today. I'm super excited that you decided to join me for this class. The first thing we're going to do today is a bit of brainstorming with mindmaps. Now you may ask yourself, why should I brainstorm? I get all of my ideas when I wake up and I never have to think twice about it. If that's your case. Well, good for you. But I, as a simple mortal, sometimes have to deliver projects in their relatively short amount of time and have no clue where to start. Now, if that is your case, I can show you the brainstorming method I use not only to get ideas, but also to choose what ideas to include or not in a project. All sarcasm, left aside, mind maps are great, intuitive way to get ideas on paper. I also find that they helped me make connections. And while doing them, I often get interesting or surprising ideas that I really would not get elsewhere. The idea behind a mind map is to start from a central concept and then you branch out two related concepts and branch out again and so on. The final result is some kind of spider web that you can then observe and choose from. I would like to add that for me. It's very helpful not to censor myself. This is the best way to get surprising and interesting ideas. You can make choices later. But during the brainstorm, if an idea pops into your head, just write it down. This method is simple, easy, and unrestricted. It's like a word association game. Mindmaps are also very flexible in the sense that you could start with a very general concept or you could start with something more specific. Once my mind map is done, what I do is I look at it and see what speaks to me the most. I asked myself Which elements inspire me? And if I'm stuck, I may just choose random elements and see how it goes. Alright, Enough with the theory. Now it's time to show you what I mean with a practical example. My starting point for today's brainstorm is the word there. I already know I want to illustrate a bear and we have to start somewhere. So that's it. I branch out to mood and environment, adding words as they come to mind. See how I move from one area of my brainstorm to the other. This is fine. That's okay. In the name of non censorship, you can move wherever you like and you just add ideas as they come. You think about it. You added somewhere. Sure. My bear could be in the water, in a river or in a lake. 0 accessories, that's a good one. Scarf, iPad. Oh, cup of tea. Not sure a friend is an accessory, But I said no censorship. So I'm going to leave it there. I could put the bear and forest full of trees or on a rock surrounded by ferns. Your brainstorm does not have to be long. See, I already have a few elements that speak to me a lot in this one, I seem to be leaning towards Xen mood and their habit, I think are all be doing a bear sitting on Iraq drinking a cup of tea. There you go. All decided. In conclusion, the main reasons I brainstorm with mindmaps are to get ideas on paper in a simple, intuitive way to get interesting, surprising ideas and connections and also to help me choose in the end. Now it's your turn to try it out. And please share the steps that you take in the projects gallery so we can learn from each other. Up next for the sketching in thumbnails. See you there. 4. Sketching It Out In Thumbnails: Now that we have chosen a subject for today's illustration, it's time to start sketching. In pretty much every project I do, either in illustration or in graphic design. And even maybe when I'm painting, I always start by sketching in a small-scale in what is called thumbnails. The reason I do this is to help me make decisions more effectively when sketching out in thumbnails. You don't have to be precise. And you can sketch out a number of compositions in a short amount of time before going full-scale and your final sketch. Still, you will see a number of things in a thumbnail sketch such as balance, emphasis, the proportions, and the movement of your compositions. We are not going over composition extensively in this class. But let's see what we can try out in thumbnails before going full scale. You can definitely test out the orientation of the support. So either going vertical or horizontal with your format, or if you prefer working in the shape, instead of filling out the whole sheet. You can test that out to like I'm doing here. You can also test out the point of view. The first I am trying out here is a bird's eye view. Of course, it's a thumbnail, so you may have a bit of trouble seeing the details. But here's my bear lying down on the ground with a cup of tea next to it. You could have the viewer be at a high angle. So looking from a higher point in space, like I'm trying out here. Or maybe this is my favorite drink these days. Maybe the foreground is per minute. So you can see elements a bit unfocused in the foreground. As if the viewer, we're hiding in the bushes somewhere in his spine. A bit creepy when said like this. But it's a neat trick that can drive your eye to the main subject of the illustration. Is it a very close-up shot like I'm doing here, where we can see my little bear from up-close holding onto its cup of tea very dearly. See here, I cheated and drew the framing around the artwork at the end. It's a trickier can use. If you're not sure how to frame your subject, you draw more general shot and kind of zoom in on the interesting part. As you can see here, these two sketches look alike a lot. But the first one is very symmetric, while the second one is off-center, giving it a different vibe. Also, keep in mind the rule of thirds, which is a proven way to keep things interesting. By placing the important elements along the lines of the grid, you are more likely to achieve a balanced and dynamic composition. Of course, you can break away from these rules and explore, but this is a good starting point. In conclusion, starting with thumbnail sketches is a good way to test out compositions and make decisions rapidly and effectively. It's not all set in stone and it can still change. You have a good foundation to build on for your final sketch. I encourage you to go ahead and try it out for yourself, and I will see you in the next lesson. Up next, we'll play with color. See you there. 5. Playing With Color: It's time for me to be vulnerable with you guys. For some, color matching comes naturally. For others. It takes work and a lot of color theory instruction. But at some point they get it. For me. Things are different. I'm still waiting for that moment where my brain will go. I finally get it. I used to be ashamed of it. But now I realize that we all have our strengths and weaknesses. And that if I keep working, maybe someday I will get it or not. Anyway. I still need help picking out my colors and that's fine. Today. We'll keep things simple and find colors intuitively. Let's find 23 colors for our illustration. And then we can decide where they go. That's fine. Illustrations that you like and thin them on a Pinterest board. It should give you an idea of the colors that speak to you the most. Then you can pick two or three colors in these illustrations. And then you can get your color wheel or your watercolor to find the closest colors that you can match. Do the same with your colored pencils, but I suggest that you go a few shades darker to create that. Let me show you how I do this and you will see if it makes sense for you. This is my Pinterest homepage, and there's already lots of cute stuff in there. This image right here hits home for me on the colors. So I'll pin it in a newborn that I will call their inspiration. Now that this is done, I am going to search for more inspiration because this is just the homepage. And even though it is filled with cute stuff, it's not specifically related to what I'm looking for. Let's search for color inspiration. I'm getting warm fall vibes. It's fall right now and I'm getting all the vibes right here. This image right here is soft green. It's closer to what I'm looking for. I think I wanna go with forest greenery vibes. Let's spin it and go on with the search. This one right here has soft green too, but a pink punch of color. I like that. And maybe that one too. And more earthy tones. Let's continue looking in this page. Not specific enough yet. Again, I'm ready to zoom in on the green forest t colors. That search again for, Let's say forest illustration inspiration. This should do the trick. I think we're getting there. Look at all those trees. This illustration right there, I love it. Let's spin it. This one's a bit dark. That one though, loved the vibe. And this one too. As you can see, I'm really starting to zoom in on what I like. And I will continue looking to make sure, oh, that one here is really great, loved the lighting. And I think I have enough for now. Let's look at the whole board to get an idea. Yeah, that looks pretty good. I could have gone on forever, but I have all I need here. That one right here. I really like the mix of the dark and pale green along with the brown and the orange. And I will go with this one for my official inspiration. Let's jump to my color wheel to match the colors that I own as closely as possible. I made this one a while ago as a way to know exactly how the colors in my watercolor kit will appear on paper. It's not only very useful, but it also looks very pretty on my wall. Just kidding, but really as a tool, it's super useful. For my illustration. I am choosing this permanent green that I can use in layers or in gradient from light to dark. I will pair it with the sepia tone seems to match the colors that I chose earlier for the orange. Well, this is simple. I'll go with orange. Okay, Now on a piece of scrap paper, I'll match the colored pencils and I'm going to be using to darken or deepen the watercolors for this sepia tone, I have two pencils in mind. The second one is a perfect match, but I actually want a color that will differentiate from the watercolor, and this one won't do it. So I'll go with the first benzyl and let's do a swatch on the paper here. I'll do this to check out all of my colors together in the end to make sure I liked the result of the colors I'm matching. I like to check now, so I don't have a big, unpleasant surprise on my final illustration. Let's go in for the green now. Note that for the green, I'm choosing two greens, one for the pale green and one for the darker green. I chose only one watercolor and colored pencils with differentiate between the pale and dark green alone. Let's fast forward for the orange because the principle remains the same and I'm certain that you all got it. Now, last thing I'll add is a pale shade of all of my colors to check out the possibilities. And that's it. I encourage you to go ahead and try this method, especially if you don't know where to start with colors. For today, we can keep things simple, but this also works for more complex projects. Don't be afraid to show screenshots of your Pinterest boards in the project gallery. I would love to see what you come up with and how this is working out for you. Up next, we'll be experimenting with cool techniques. See you there. 6. Experimenting With These Cool Techniques: Hey back everybody. So glad you're still with me for today's project. We are at this very exciting point in our project where we can finally get our brushes and pencils out and try out a few techniques. This is a very technical lesson and we'll mostly be a demonstration. But here's the list of things we are going to go over with watercolor. I'm going to show you how I lift pigment to fade colors in. I will also show you how I lay your colors for shading and to add volume to shapes. And lastly, I'll show you how I sometimes add an unfounded line to add shadows and depth. Then over the watercolor swatches I just created, I will show you how I use colored pencils to add an outline to some shapes to give them even more depth and definition and shade very delicately for the same reasons until I am satisfied with the result. If you're ready, let's go into demonstration mode. First thing I like to do is drop a bit of water and my pigments and wait for a moment to let it sink in. I kind of forgot which one is the right brown. So I'll look with my color wheel. There you go. Here's a very short note on the brushes I use when creating illustrations. I like to use synthetic brushes because I find that they absorb less water and it gives me more control over the result. And my fine arts practice, I use natural bristles for watercolors, because on the contrary, they absorb more water and the pigment spreads more freely. For today, I'm using my Princeton brushes, my favorite for that kind of work. It's really a trial and error thing, finding your favorite brushes. Now that my pigments have absorbed water, I'll transfer them to a small pylab. Simply because I prefer working this way. I'll keep my pigment pans close by in case I need to refill. First thing I'll do is the lifting technique. To do so, I'll apply a watercolor wash and right away with a clean wet brush, I'll go over the edge of the swatch and this brush will absorb some of the color, creating a blending effect. This technique takes a lot of practice. You will see that the more I do it, the better it gets. I seem to be a little rusty, but that's fine. Plus there's no water on my paper and it's a bit harder to do. I'll do it on wet paper so you can see the difference. Much better. Next thing I'll be doing is combining payer layers with lifting pigments to create volume. Let's apply layers and let dry a little. I'll also paint my brown layers for the third technique right now. This way they'll have time to dry. It's dry enough that I can go in and add an orange layer. And once again, come in right now with a clean brush to lift pigments and create a blending effect. It makes a very smooth gradient and creates volume. On the third one, I'm just going to show you what adding a layer without blending does. It can be very interesting for lighting effects. Last technique I'll show you is just adding a non faded line to your watercolors swatches. It can create an interesting shadow, a bit more punchy, more illustrative, cartoony, also super interesting to try in your illustrations. Now add some random washes and let them dry. So we have a few washes to work on for the colored pencil techniques. Note that when you have a wet wash, you can add some pigment to it to intensify it or to add volume to. The pigment will travel on its own in the wet wash. This is called wet on wet technique. It's fun to do and I encourage you to try it even though it's not in our official program. Once your washes a dry, it's time to get your colored pencils out. First, I'll add a very fine line to the green washes to add a little definition, depending on the pressure I apply, it can be very subtle. On the stronger washes, I'll apply more pressure to give it more power. I also have my forest green pencil here, and I can use it for even more definition. The other thing I want to show you is how to add depth shading very delicately in your washes. You will have to experiment to get the effect you want. But this is a very fun effect to do. It gives contrast depending on the strength of the shading you apply. I start with the line, then I go in and shade a little if I want to. You don't have to add shading, but sometimes it's fun. You can also add texture with the pencils, such as for fur or for details like eyes and lashes. Let's do it with the orange washes, line, shading and texture. And on the brown washes. To recap what we've done now, we've looked at lifting pigments to fade colors. We've also combined layering and lifting and learn to apply an unfettered line for a more cartoony effect. Then with the colored pencils, you can add subtle lines for definition. Add shading for depth and texture for a little interests. There you go. A few fun techniques to try out and to include in your final project. It's now your turn to try these cool simple techniques. Don't forget that it's very normal not to get the perfect result the first time. Especially with watercolor, it's a medium that can be quite unpredictable at times. But it's the whole beauty of it. To be honest. It's the whole reason I use watercolor because I'm such a control freak, get hard and it forces me to let go. To conclude this lesson. I encourage you to practice these techniques as much as you can before going into the final artwork. Up next, we're up for the final sketch. See you there. 7. Drawing The Final sketch: Now that we have brainstorm, sketched in a small format, experimented with colors and technique. It's finally time to draw our final sketch. I'm sure it's pretty tempting to skip this step, especially if you're eager to see the final result. But bear with me, there is real purpose to this. All start the demonstration right now and I will explain as I draw, I start by choosing my favorite thumbnail sketch. If I haven't already, draw my frame at the right size with a very pale grid of thirds to help me guide composition. And now I start sketching full scale. Up until now, my sketches have always been in a smaller format than what the final illustration will be. This is the first reason I want to do a final sketch. I want to establish the illustration in its final size. It will also help me get rid of any doubt I may have about where to place the main elements in my composition, such as the bear itself and the cup of tea in my case. Keep in mind that you are the one deciding the level of precision you are going to achieve at this stage. Personally, I like to be quite precise, except when it comes to the background. I like to leave some elements to inspiration. I do it in my digital paintings, but even more with watercolor, because I like to be surprised by the medium. In this illustration. The background is very simple and there isn't much to be left to interpretation. But still, I won't be as precise in the background is I will be with the main subject of the illustration. Don't be afraid to take your time when you draw. I know social media surrounds us with the idea that artists are working at supersonic speeds. Hello reals. But it's really okay to take your time to correct anything you're not satisfied with and to really just enjoy what you're doing at the moment. I honestly just refuse to pressure myself into working fast. I opted out of this kind of thinking once I realised it actually was not helping me working faster to put that pressure on myself. I strongly believe that planning and giving myself space helped me more than pressuring myself. As you can see, I like to erase the lines from the grid at the end. This is just a better way for me to assess the composition as a whole. Without lines cutting in. You certainly don't have to draw these lines in the beginning and don't have to erase them either. It's just something that works best for me. Adding the last details, making sure my lines are contrasted enough for the next step. And voila, once you're done with your final sketch, I suggest that you choose where to apply your colors. If you would like to skip this and prefer to leave this to a spur of the moment inspiration thing. You can. I simply prefer not having to take that kind of decision in the final piece. Because then I can concentrate on the technical side of things. And there you have it. It's your turn to go ahead and try. And please don't be shy and share your sketches in the project gallery. As I said before, the purpose of the final sketch for me is to take away the guessing of the final illustration. The majority of decisions will be made in advance. So I can focus on the technical aspect. In the end, I take my time, enjoy the process, tweaking until I'm satisfied with the result. I don't always use the same degree of precision and the final sketch, but I make sure I know where to place the main elements and also have a general idea of where the colors will go. In the next lesson, we are creating the final illustration. See you there. 8. Putting It All Together: Our Final Illustration!: Well, this is it. Final illustration, guys. Here are the steps I'm going to take to achieve this. First, I need to transfer my final sketch to my watercolor paper. Then I'm going to start applying colors. Starting in light watercolor layers. I will gently add watercolor layers to add volume. And then I'll go in with the colored pencils to add even more volume, depth and definition. Ready? Let's do it. Okay, I'm ready to transfer my final sketch to the watercolor paper of my choosing. Most professional watercolor artists will stretch their paper before starting to paint. And I sometimes do it, especially if I'm working on a work of art. But this is a whole different game. And for today, this is not where I'm going. Watercolor paper comes in many shapes and sizes and in different grains. You can buy them in big single sheets that can be cut to the size of your choosing. You can also buy them in huge rolls and pads in tablets or n blocks. The only thing I recommend for today is that you work on a sheet of paper that has a heavy enough weight so as not to buckle as much underwater because this can get very frustrating. The reason I mentioned a sheet of paper is for transferring reasons. If you are working on a block, you will not be able to transfer using a light table. Don't get me wrong. This can be fun. But for today, I would like my illustration to look as close as possible to the final sketch that I have. The paper that I have today is 300 pounds. I think it should not buckle too much. I've also chosen a cold press paper with fine-grain to get better details with my colored pencils. I started by tracing a rectangle to determine my final format and make sure it's in the center of my sheet of paper. Now I can place my final sketch underneath with my watercolor paper on it and tape both in place to have a stable surface to work on. I can start tracing now, very likely not to damage the paper. As you can see, my paper is quite thick and this is side tracking me a little because I don't see the sketch as much as I'd like. It's okay. I'll just make sure my transfer is up to my standards by lifting the sheet to check the precision from time-to-time. Note that your pencil lines will show through the light watercolor layers. So think about this when tracing. I for one, don't really mind seeing graphite lines in my art. But if it's going to bug, you consider tracing very, very lightly. Let's turn off the light table and add a few details to make this to my taste. Careful not to damage the paper when you erase. A few adjustments here, a few details there. Alright, this is done. By the way. It also works in a window if you don't have a light table. Let's start by applying pale layers of watercolor all over the artwork. Don't forget that it's very difficult to go back in time if you've applied color, but men to leave this area white. This is a good reason to take your time. Also, note that you might not see it because I fast forward through this demonstration. But I often let the color dry before painting adjacent colors, because if the first zone is still wet, the new color will bleed into it. It makes for a cool effort. But only if that's what you want. I can see that the rock will have no definition from the bear whatsoever. And I sort of knew that from the sketch, but left it as is. I will come up with a solution while I paint. I'll start adding shadows in a moment. Layering on top of the first washes. You can see that I use all of the techniques we've checked out earlier. But I mixed them up because my painting has become a very organic process. You can also know that while I demonstrated the lifting technique with two brushes, I sometimes get tired of alternating the brushes and do it with the same. It means you have to wash your brush quickly to lift pigment and dip it in the pigment every time you want to add color. I'm not really sure why I prefer this way, as it seems more complicated and less intuitive. But all I can say is that it comes to me more naturally. Here you can see me apply an unfiltered line to the side of the bear. I really like to do this on the side of cute animals. I think it makes them even more adorable. Okay, sorry about the 180 degree rotation here. But because I'm right-handed, this side is always harder to bite. So bear with me. Adding some shadows and details here. Since watercolor is more unpredictable than other mediums, I suggest you practice, practice, and practice again until you feel you have more control. About the rock. I've had an idea to differentiate it from the bear, but I'll try it on the testing paper first in case it doesn't work, I'll add a layer of green on top of the brown and see how it looks. Oh, interesting. It makes them glow. I'll do it on the illustration. It's super subtle, but it's just enough to contrast the two elements. Before going in with the colored pencils, we need to let the paper dry. Alright, let's start with the bear adding contour lines and for texture. I love this step. It makes everything come together nicely. Mouth, nose, eyes, and eyebrows. So q. Now, let's shade in some shadows to create contrast and depth. Time for a little bit of orange. I was eager to define this cup of tea a little more. I thought it looked like nothing before. I think the colored pencil defines it really good. Little flowers here and there with some shading to make them pop. With the green. I'll take time to add some grass blades. And with the darker green, I'll add even more shadows and a bit of texture and the grass. For the rock. I'll start with the sepia tone and pencil, but switch between this one and the green one. For a softer look, I'll add shading for shadows and a cross hatching texture to differentiate the pair from the rock even more. To finish up, I'll come back to watercolor. Yes, yes, you're allowed to do that. But beware of overworking your piece. I'll add details and a little bit more shadows on the bear to complete the look. And I'll finish this here because I really have a tendency to overwork my illustrations and I prefer having a light feeling of being not completely finished. Then going too far and not being able to go back. And voila, now it's your turn to try. Don't forget to take your time. Work in light layers and deepen the color is using the colored pencils to your satisfaction. And please, please share your work in the project gallery so we can learn from one another. I'm so curious to see what you come up with. Up next, a bit of a conclusion. 9. Conclusion: We're all done. Great job guys. I'm so glad you decided to spend a bit of time with me today. We have gone from brainstorming to find a subject to sketch in thumbnails for composition. Then we have gone on to find some color inspiration and to test out a few watercolor and colored pencil techniques. In the end, we have created a final sketch, transferred it to watercolor paper to create the final illustration. What a journey. I really hope you've picked up a few technical tricks along the way, but I mostly hope you remember that by breaking down projects into steps, you can tackle on anything without the overwhelm. Once again, please don't be afraid to share your project in the gallery. I love a good conversation and I will give feedback, do not hesitate to reach out. It will be my pleasure to connect with you all. Thank you so much again for taking the time. And I hope to see you in another class.