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Although I love regular watercolors, sometimes getting the perfect color combo with the colors you have can be difficult. Plus, sometimes you just need a quick dynamic watercolor background for lettering or drawing. One of the most simple ways to do this is to use markers and combine with water. I use these Tombow Markers – specifically their “Bright” pack.

 

DETAILED STEPS FROM THE VIDEO

 

Step 1:

 

Take a regular plastic bag (gallon Ziploc bags work the best!) and draw on it with your Tombow Markers. Make the color drawing close, but there is no need to make them touch because once you add water, it will blend into each other nicely. You can use as little or as many colors as you want, but I’ve found that three colors usually makes the best combination.

 

Step 2:

 

Take your Watercolor Paper and either use a simple spray bottle or a Pentel Aquash Aqua Brush to put droplets on the paper. Try to find a nice balance between too little water and too much water – you’ll be able to tell if you used too little or too much when you put the plastic bag down on the water.

 

Step 3:

 

Take your plastic bag with the Tombow Marker color and place it color side down on the water droplets you just put on. You’ll immediately see the color start to bleed together – so just press down slightly on the bag to move the color and water around and to the edges. Once you’ve reached the desired shape, pull the bag off and wipe the bag dry with a paper towel.

 

Step 4:

 

Before doing any drawing or lettering, you want to make sure it is completely dry. Either wait for the watercolor to dry itself, or take my short cut and use a heat gun, like this one, to quickly dry your piece.

 

Step 5:

 

Finish your piece with any lettering or drawings you want to put over your beautiful watercolor background! In the video above, I use a Sakura White Gelly Roll pen, but in the past, some of my favorite pens to use over watercolor are: Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens, Stabilo Fine Liners, Dr. Ph Martin’s Black Ink, Sharpies, and Chalk Markers.

 

& Voila! You have a beautiful and simple way to create watercolor backgrounds.

 

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