A light pencil sketch is all you need. It's a simple guide for your paint, not a finished drawing, so keep it soft, simple and easy to paint over.
How do I make a sketch for watercolor?
- Use a regular pencil and a light touch. Hold the pencil loosely and press gently. Dark, heavy lines can show through light colors.
- Start with simple shapes. Most subjects begin as circles, ovals, triangles and lines. A cat is a circle for the head and an oval for the body, and a flower is a circle with petal shapes around it.
- Draw outlines only. Skip shading. Your paint will add light and shadow later.
- Lighten the lines before painting. If your lines look too dark, dab them gently with an eraser so only a faint guide is left. Rub gently, because hard erasing can rough up the paper surface.
- Paint inside the lines. Start with your lightest colors. A little pencil showing through is normal and part of the charm.
Can I add outlines after painting?
Yes. Once the paint is completely dry, you can draw crisp outlines or details on top with a fine pen. See "What is the Fineliner for?"
Not confident drawing?
- Trace around simple objects, like a leaf, a cookie cutter or the bottom of a glass.
- Sketch from a photo, starting with the biggest shapes.
- Follow one of our free step-by-step tutorials: https://tobioskits.com/pages/watercolor-tutorials
For more first-page ideas, see our article "I'm a beginner and my sketchbook is blank. How do I start?"