How to Draw Watercolor Outlines ️ Tips & Tricks for Beginners

Really good advice. If a great painter like you can use tracing to such a great affect I‘ll definitely not try to reproduce everything from hand. I‘ll try this method.Thanks. Really admire your very detailed paintings!

You are amazing! Robt

Thank you so much for your beautiful lessons. Wonderful. All lessons are so helpful and meaningful ❤❤❤

i use these weird gel crayons i got at marshalls, they come in tons of different colors, i rub them on the back of a printout and trace on the other side with a ballpoint pen. i prefer this to carbon paper/graphite because you can get a really pretty colors for the linework, i usually use purple, turquoise or magenta

Thanks for this! I love that you give so many detailed helpful tips, like where to use the different types of pencil. I can draw but it usually involves a lot of sketching and erasing before I am happy with the result. That can dent and abrade the watercolour paper so I much rather trace a finalised drawing.

It's a very cute adult wallaby :)

You can use white pencil ✏️ or pastel pens like yellow or any lite color

The problem is that the pencil ✏️ could have effect after finishing

Hello, do you know those "colepaper"?
I t is exactly for this use.
30 sheets A4, 5€ ~
And every sheet can be used several times.

But the idea to draw to the transparent paper on the i pad was unknown to me.
So many thanks for that! ❤

Greetings.

Thank you so much Anna⚘Your videos are highly helpful for me. And I learn and really enjoy your tips...and I think your voice is really sweet and beauty⚘💖

I watched all of this and I still have no idea what you've done. BTW, do you ever breath air?

Thank you!
🤗

Thanks for the tips. Small critique on the painting. Perhaps it should have been an Australian flower in the background. Perhaps something like a protea?

Depending on the size of my paintings, I will use my cheap projector in a dark room and trace from there. I dont like the mess of transfer paper.

Use water color pencils

Great instructions, thanks so much!

Interesting idea ,I just draw it with pencil,was not allowed to trace at school the teachers would always know we had to leave construction lines to prove our. Work .I wondered a bit.... interesting idea if you want to work with the paint quickly a few times without sketching it everytime .thanks

I trace too! I can draw anything well enough but Id rather spend my time painting :) I used to use this technique before I bought a light pad but I loathe this it, and the mess it leaves on my WC paper from the soft graphite side of the drawing. It inverts the image also, which is rarely desirable considering the light and dark areas that are drawn in are subject to light direction so that must be taken into account. Everyone has their own preference!

Wouldn't tracing considering a cheating?

Loved this, as always! I would love to see a video of you that gives tips on how you create your lineart on the iPad. (I’m assuming that’s what you do anyways)
Like the outlines you provide for skill share and patreon. Which brushes you use, the settings you’ve selected ect.

Thank you so much for all your tutorials ♥️ I learn so much from you! 🤗
This tutorial helps me soooo much ♥️

Could you let us know the brand of glove you use? I live in rural Mexico so if you also got them at a specific store that would be very helpful. Thank you!,

Could you list again the different hardness levels of pencils and what they are best for?

I use grid and draw the paintings

Thank you!!! I usually print the image in gray scale, and there are even some ways of turning it into a kind of line drawing. Then I trace using a lightbox, but I also have an iPad.

What I really appreciate is that you aren’t lecturing about drawing. Yes, drawing is a great skill, and something I also enjoy. However, I’m really trying to learn how to paint with watercolor, and I do not want to spend a lot of time trying to draw right now. I also use a projector for my acrylic paintings, and I could use that for watercolor images, as well.

It seems like tracing is cheating. How do you feel about tracing a photograph? I guess it’s not much different than copying, but it seems wrong? Your results are amazing! Perhaps too amazing?

I have made the mistakes with carbon paper, halfway through painting I realised the lines don't melt or disappear. Next I used the grid method onto a sketch pad, traced my drawing and transferred it to the WC paper using 4B graphite on rear of tracing paper, now I know it muddies the watercolours .... so try again!! Still trying to paint the same dog portrait. Now I'll try your method - thank you for all the tips on the grade of pencils plus everyone else's comments and tips on iPad, inverting colours and also the Lightbox are really helpful. Thanks to all

Very similar to my technique except that using an IPad would be great because of illumination vs Window

I like to tape translucent paper to my computer monitor and trace. Then I use the transfer paper on the paper or canvas. Works well!

those eyes! wow

Instead of using the cross-hatching on the back then taping down then redrawing, I would draw over the ipad tracing with a black fineliner pen then use a light box to transfer it to my watercolour paper

Two things I want to suggest:
1. Graphite sticks make it much easier to cover the back of the paper.
2. You might prefer to not do this, but kneaded erasers are really useful to pick of the excess graphite and lighten your work without damaging the paper. When I clear up the traced drawing, I like to use a soft pencil because I accidentally end up pressing too hard with a hard pencil halfway through, so using kneaded erasers has made my life easier.

Another tip, increase the contrast of your picture to maximum so you can see it more clearly under the paper. If your image has too many pale colors , invert the colors so they become much more saturated.Also you can use a kneaded eraser to lighten the sketch,though, instead of using it like normal eraser, use roling motion to pick up the graphite, it limits the smudging

I love this tutorial because I used to be able to draw as an novice in childhood. But seeing this method will enable me to have scope in the near future as I am retired. I did some painting 30 yrs ago but gave up due to a series of illnesses. I love all your work and you are an inspirational. Thank you so much.

I understand if you’re getting paid for realistic lines but at my age, just want to have fun and freehand everything..too many steps lol 😆🙏🏽🙋🏻‍♀️👍🏽

What if you want to paint a larger image than your iPad screen size?

That method never worked for me because the picture always moves too much. I would just draw it and take a photo too see how close I was by putting them side by side. Crazy how much it would move and it drove me nuts.

I make a copy of image of what I want to paint, put on my light box and tape it down., the put copy of whatever on top, and trace with bright light on. If watercolor paper is too heavy, I put tracing paper on top instead and draw and then transfer drawing onto watercolor paper. It works for me.

I draw my pictures on a drawing paper or some smooth paper and when I am satisfied I scan the drawings just to preserve them for if I need them after and I trace it on a tracing paper and after I transfer the lines on the watercolor paper just to avoid erasing on the watercolor paper.

Many thanks for this…..I find it easier and quicker to print the reference photo on to a sheet of paper, then use a very soft graphite pencil to cover the reverse side, then tape this to your waterclour paper , then use a harder pencil to go over outlines and details…. ….should I want a painting larger than the tracing, I use proportional dividers to work things out….hope this helps ‘

I generally download the free image I am going to paint, then I use GIMP to have the outline (there is a specific feature for that), then I print the manipultaed image the exact size I need. Then I reverse the printed image, cover the outline with 9B pencil traces, put it on my painting watercolour sheet, reverse it and trace it. Alternatively, I draw freehand - which is much better.

I used to trace from my tablet in this way. I have now downloaded an app that holds the image still or creates an outline to trace. Once I have drawn it onto the paper, I turn it over against a window and rub pencil only over the outlines so I don't have to do the whole back.

Hi Anna, I've just discovered your channel and am enjoying your videos - you're an inspiration. One word of caution about using the graphite to trace your image onto the WC paper - use a light touch. If you press too hard, your pencil will leave an imprint on the paper and paint will pool in those lines. I'm looking forward to more videos from you. Thank you! Mona

Is this a cheat sheet? Who cares, this is a great idea, I'm definitely going to try this with some of my own photos.
Very useful tips about the paper and hardness of pencils. Thank you

A professional artist taught me how to make graphite paper out of tracing paper. It works better than purchased graphite paper because it is still erasable if needed after applying the traced image onto the watercolor paper.

If you already have a tablet, usually you can transfer the darkest parts directly on watercolour paper. Same if you have window on a bright day. The rest can be filled by hand.

❤❣

thanks for the tips :)

Amazing painting sister 😃👍👍👍

If you are using an iPad you can turn on guided access and that freezes the screen so you don’t have to worry about the imaging moving. Also if I’m tracing I invert the image before I trace and the I place the paper with pencil mark onto the watercolour paper and rub over the lines. No need to shade the back of the paper