Illustration Tutorial: Coloring With Watercolors

Learn how to apply color to your illustrations quickly and easily with Paula Bossio

A good way to bring your illustrations to life is by coloring with watercolor. It is a very flexible technique that allows you to give your illustrations a unique style. If it fits your aesthetic, it is worth taking the leap and experimenting with it.

If you are ready to try it, the graphic designer, illustrator, and author Paula Bossio (@paulabossio) will explain in this tutorial how to quickly and easily apply it to your drawings. Get your sketches ready, and let's go!

1. Gather supplies

Once you have your sketch ready, the materials that you are going to use are:

• Watercolor paper
  
• Watercolor kit
  
• Traditional brushes or refillable brushes
  

If you hesitate between traditional brushes and refillable brushes, keep in mind that the latter are quite practical since, due to their nature, it is not necessary to stop painting to add more water to the mixtures. However, use the one you feel more comfortable with.

2. Combine shades and colors

To give more depth to your illustrations, try not to work with pure, simple colors, but combine different shades and pigments instead.

If you have not had a chance to clean your watercolor kit since the last time you used it, consider if the current mixture of colors could work before doing so.

3. Apply the first layers

Using watercolor is a slow process that requires a bit of patience since you have to wait for the paint to dry in order to really see the color that will remain on the paper.

The first layers that you are going to apply need to be very watered down. That means that your strokes should have a lot of water but little pigment. This way, the first layers will be very transparent, just setting the initial tone to the illustration.

As we color the different parts of the drawing, let them dry to avoid mixing the colors. However, don't stress if your brush strokes get a little out of the drawn lines. It is common in this type of painting and will not spoil your illustration.

4. Paint the second coat

Once the first layer, slightly opaque, has been prepared, it is time to move on to the second one and start adding details, depth and shadows.

To begin this process, consider the light source in your illustration and determine where you should place the shadows. To paint the shadows with watercolor, use more pigment in your mixture, or switch to a darker tone of pigment color.

If you need to add gray shades, don't use only black pigment. Mix it with some blue, or even blue and brown, depending on the type of shade you want to achieve.

5. Add details to your illustration

The ideal way to get a detailed illustration is to repeat the process over and over again, adding more details and shades on each layer. The key word is patience. Let the paint dry every time so you can see the true color on the paper before going for another round.

Now you know the secret to applying watercolor to ink or pencil illustrations and give them more depth and texture.

If you liked this tutorial, remember that you can learn how to write and illustrate your own stories with Paula Bossio in her course Narrative Techniques for Illustrated Stories.

You may also like:

- Introduction to Children’s Illustration, a course by Adolfo Serra.
- Experimental Watercolor Techniques for Beginners, a course by Ana Santos.
- Introduction to Colour Psychology: Chromatic Narrative, a course by Sole Otero.