Essential Materials for Drawing Manga in Watercolor

Learn the essential kit needed for a watercolor painting of the popular Japanese art

Geoff Pascual ( @geoff_pascual ) is an artist who specializes in illustrating manga characters in watercolor. Although he had planned a career in business, when he realized he was making it through selling artwork online, he decided to dedicate himself completely to his art.

To create his work, Geoff uses specific materials that help him capture the images he visualizes in his mind on paper.

Below, the illustrator sums up the tools you should use to create watercolor manga illustrations.

Papers

To begin with, Geoff explains that you can choose to work with two types of paper.

- Basic paper. You can use paper from your printer.

- Watercolor paper. You can choose between two types. One of them is cold-pressed watercolor paper. Its surface, according to the expert, is excellent for painting, but the texture makes it more difficult to work on the final details. Therefore, you should consider making your illustrations on hot-pressed watercolor paper. This paper has a smooth surface ideal for drawing finer details with your pencil or small brush. It's the one Geoff usually prefers.

Regarding size, the expert believes that 10 x 14 watercolor paper is ideal to start experimenting when creating a single character.

In addition to paper, you’ll also need:

- A 2B pencil.

- An eraser.

- A fineliner. It can be a Sharpie or Micron.

Brushes

For painting, Geoff recommends:

- Mop brushes. They are used to cover large areas of watercolor paper. They carry large amounts of water and paint and can drag your wash a long way. The ones Geoff uses are from brand Raphael. One is a size 3/0, and the other is size 1.

- Round brushes. According to our expert, they are your mainstay brushes. You will use them to cover small details and medium layers. You should have a size 0 for detail, a size 4 for larger layers, and another size 2 for everything in between.

Paints

When choosing paint, consider the below:

- Watercolor tubes. Watercolor paint comes in very small tubes as it is intended to be mixed with water. Watercolor paint also comes in pre-made palettes, but the expert says he prefers tubes to create a palette of his choice. When it comes to makes, Geoff prefers Winsor Newton and Holbein paints. The first offers transparent paints, and the second, very intense opaque ones.

- Watercolor palette. The expert recommends one with plenty of room for mixing.

Consider having these items on hand that will make your work easier:

- A color wheel. Consulting it while mixing colors will help you make fewer mistakes.

- Pencil extender. Extend the life of your pencil as you sharpen it.

- Regular eraser.

- Masking tape. It will help you to better delimit areas to paint and fix errors.

- Two containers for water. One for washing the brushes and the other for clean water.

- A fine mist spray bottle.

- Paper towels.

As you progress and gain experience, you will find your personal preference and preferred materials. If you are starting out, however, you can follow Geoff's list.

If you want to learn to use these materials and bring your manga character to life, sign up for Geoff Pascual’s course Expressive Manga Illustration in Watercolor, in which he will guide you to explore visual elements, tonal values ​​and layers.

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Do you want to learn the best techniques to create manga and anime characters? Perfect your technique, regardless of your level of experience, and see how you progress with the help of these illustrators, who will inspire you with their work and reference material, and share their methods for drawing manga style.

English version by @acesarato

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