With the help of above introduction one can start exploring painting with watercolor which becomes a very addictive pastime. The more you practice and experiment the medium of watercolor which unfolds its magic. The unpredictable nature of the pigments makes it more interesting.



Till now we got detailed introduction about watercolor painting techniques, now I will show an example of ‘how to use watercolor for Illustration’. I will explain the step-by-step procedure.

I mostly use watercolor for children book illustration as its very vibrant and bright in colors, which interests children more. Let’s take a simple example of a character of a small girl flying a kite in a garden in which focus will be on character coloring, background and detailing.

• Rough Sketching:
To start with sketches is a good idea whether you are painting from imagination or lively. Take any rough paper and let your ideas flow through your pen or pencil. Here are some doodles for the illustration I am planning to do.



• Penciling:
After finalizing the idea of illustration, start drawing final illustration on the watercolor paper pad. Draw very light pencil lines unless you want them to be visible after coloring. I would like my pencil lines to be visible as it gives little touch of imperfection to the drawing.



• Inking:
I keep scribbling lines on top of lines till I can see required form for my story idea. Once I am satisfied with composition, I start cleaning up the drawing with waterproof ink pen.





I like to add some more lines to the illustration after completing the painting with waterproof ink pen. I like to add details, shades, and thick and thin lines using inking. Sometimes it helps to bring out the characteristics of the drawing. You can remove the pencil lines using eraser very lightly because it may peel off paper surface.