In this tutorial, I’ll show you how I make a cute bunny card. For this card, I’m drawing a bunny with watercolor pencils and then doing a clear wash over the drawing. I’m using a Micron pen to write the card’s message.
I cut the paper into 6 x 9 inches rectangle and fold it in half to create the card. To simplify the folding process, score the paper with a ruler and something pointy, but dull. I use one of the dull sides of my scissors for that purpose; other people use a butter knife or an old used up pen (without ink).
I did a preliminary drawing for the card. As per my usual technique, I draw my subject on plain paper, shade the back side of the paper with a graphite pencil, and trace the picture to the watercolor paper card. If the drawing came out too dark, I lightly erase some of the pencil marks.
Now, the fun part is adding color. Drawing with watercolor pencils is very enjoyable for me because it reminds me of my coloring books from childhood. To color the bunny, I use Derwent Watercolor Pencils. My primary colors are Blue Violet Lake, Rose Pink, and Gunmetal. My secondary or accent colors are warm colors: Yellow Ochre, Copper Beech brown.
I use the pink pencil to draw the cheeks, inside of the ears, and the belly. I alternate the grey and violet pencils to create the fur. To create the fur, I draw short straight lines all around the edge and then lightly shade inside the bunny. When I shade with pencils, I create my strokes at an angle. In my opinion, having a consistent angle of shading strokes gives a polished look to the drawing. My shading angle is about 45 degrees, very similar to how I write my letters. Please note that the fur strokes point out in all directions and are an exception to the rule that I mentioned above.
I add my yellows and browns throughout the drawing to liven up the bunny. When drawing the eyes, I leave the white reflections in the eyes white and shade the rest of the eyes with brown color. Then, I use a black pencil to outline the inside of the eyes and draw the lashes. Since this is a cartoonish drawing, I’m okay with using plain black as opposed to using a tinted black or dark color, as I usually do.
For the flowers, I use my pink rose and magenta pencils. I draw the base color with pink rose and then outline the flowers with magenta. I use orange chrome and may green to create the flowers’ centers. For the leaves, I draw with may green and then outlined the leaves with darker green, aka cedar green. For blue flowers, I use the blue violet lake and spectrum blue to darken the flowers.
Adding water to the drawing feels magical. Honestly, watercolor pencils are that much fun! I use clear water to paint over the pencil drawing. It’s quite essential to rinse the brush between color application. Otherwise, the colors get muddy. For instance, when I’m painting the flowers, I use clear water to brush over the petals. Then, I wipe my brush with paper towel or napkin. Then, rinse it in clear water and only then paint the green leaves with fresh, clean water. If I didn’t rinse my brush, the red would mix with the green and create brown color. Not what I want!
For the message, I used a faux calligraphy technique to create my letters. I wrote the saying with a pencil and used my micron pen to go over each letter. Then, I made the down strokes of each letter thicker, which gave it a faux calligraphy look. The “me blush” part I thickened uniformly.
Hope you enjoyed my tutorial. I encourage you to paint with me. Show off your painting by tagging me @theinspiredartist.me on Instagram and using #theinspiredartistsketchbook hashtag. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to my Instagram to see my art process and what I’m working on every day.
Thank you for LIKING and SUBSCRIBING! Stay tuned for more videos. XOXO Dasha
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