Watercolor Drawings

I just got a new set of watercolor pencils for Christmas – here are a few watercolor drawings I’ve created to try them out!

The yellow hot rod was the first watercolor pencil drawing I tried out – the technique is definitely different than using markers. I think the key is “less is more.”

I started with a basic line drawing using Micron pens on watercolor paper. I actually really like this line drawing. I think it turned out nice and clean.

From there it was just, “try it out.” Having done no research or youtube-watching, my intent was to layer the tones, as you might do with markers. This is, in fact, not a proper strategy. It turns out that these watercolor pencils are most effective when you just simply pick the tone you want, scribble it, and then get it wet to smudge it around with the drops of water.

After the yellow and grays were laid down, I added a little brown in for the shadows to give the body some depth. Finally, I used white chalk marker to brighten up the reflections in the tires.

My second drawing was this 1950 Cadillac Series 61 “Le Monstre” race car. It had the same underpinnings as the factory Series 61, but was built with an entirely customized aerodynamic body for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It’s understandable why the car was called “Le Monstre,” both mechanically and aesthetically – it’s pretty ugly! I started it off with a Micron 005 line drawing, and sparingly used watercolor pencils to fill in the shading. This sketch was made as part of Stefan Marjoram’s Sunday Sketch Challenge.

I learned a lot from both watercolor drawings and I’m excited to explore further! Visit the gallery to see the latest!