It’s still World Watercolor month….but I won’t be painting today! Instead, I’ll show you a cool technique for coloring water. Get it? Coloring water during World Watercolor month? 🙂 It’ll be on Yupo paper!

Tutorial: How to draw reflective water

Watch the video below and scroll to the end to leave comments or questions — or click HERE to watch it on YouTube and leave comments over there. I read both dutifully!

Process

Cover the surface with reinker color (Copic B16), adding a little isopropyl alcohol for texture using a cotton ball while the ink is still wet. (If using direct markers, scribble a bunch then before it dries, move it with the cotton.)

OPTIONAL: darken some areas with a marker and negative drawing (Copic B18). Leave light areas where you’d like to add the white reflections.

Add thin lines as desired with a gel pen, and use gouache for thicker spots. Then soften the edges of the white with a baby wipe!

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Want to learn more?

This month it’s World Watercolor Month. If you’re a painter there are MANY options for you to get a deal, because all watercolor classes are covered by this month’s discount code. AND if not a painter, there are some courses for you too – scroll to the bottom of the page. There’s some underwater fun there! Tap to get the code and see the options.

Could you help?

It’s awkward asking, but….I need to. This year is again brutal for artists like myself; I just did some calculations this week and saw just how much expenses have skyrocketed in the first half of this year compared to last. Two huge things that have hit me are my affiliate links, which has dropped to about 1/10th of what it usually is because Shareasale no longer tracks your purchases properly; only a few payments come through. And the other is the cost of the website which has shot up by $3000 more than the first half of last year. It is bonkers! 

I know it’s a tough time for everyone, I get that! But I bet you have a friend who’d like to learn some art who hasn’t been tapped out yet. Maybe share on your social media. Post your own homework from a class and tell people what you learned and how art helps you.

People LOVE a recommendation. Could you share the link to art-classes with them? If everyone encouraged one friend to invest in themselves and learn something, I would breathe a lot easier. 

Supplies

1. Copic Markers 
   1. Copic Hex Chart 
   2. Copic marker refill B16
   3. Copic sketch marker B18
2. Olo markers 
   1. Olo marker hex chart
3. Yupo paper, medium weight: Amazon  \ Blick 
4. White mediums:
   1. White Signo Uni-ball Gel Pen  Amazon \ Blick
   2. Daniel smith Titanium White gouache