How to Outline Watercolor Portrait in Ink

How to Outline Watercolor Portrait in Ink

By Vladimir London, Watercolor Academy tutor

Part 6 - In this video, you will discover how to make a mixed media artwork by using the wash-and-outline method.

For outlining in pen and ink, I will be using a Lamy pen and Pelican brown ink 4001. I have to say that if you want to try the wash-and-outline method, you don't have to buy any fountain pens or special inks; it just happens that I have this particular pen. Instead you can use any drawing medium of your choice. It could be pen and ink or maybe graphite or colored pencils, ball pen, gel pens, black or colored markers or whatever you like. As the name of the wash-and-outline method suggests, this method consists of two steps. First, an artwork has to be done in watercolor, and I showed you various painting techniques in the previous videos. And the final step is outlining the design using the drawing medium of your choice. Such a method can make or break an artwork. You have to plan it beforehand because if you overdo the watercolor part of this method, the pen or pencil lines on top of colorful layers might look redundant. That is why I left the watercolor artwork a bit unfinished. The colors are bright but light and the chiaroscuro contrast is quite soft. This gives me room for outlining the design.

The outlining process is rather simple. All I have to do is repeat some outlines in pen. There are several things you need to keep in mind when using the wash-and-outline method. First of all, it is better to go a little bit lighter with colors than you would do otherwise. Secondly, you have to decide on the color of the outlines. Also, you may want to vary the thickness of lines. Some lines you'll make slimmer and others bolder. It is very important to stop outlining just before you think the artwork is completed. It is better to stop drawing before the artwork is fully finished than overdo it. Leaving an artwork slightly unfinished gives an opportunity to a viewer to become a co-creator and to complete your work in one's mind. Because the fountain pen is not flexible enough to give variable widths of lines, I will use another pen with a wider nib to make some lines bolder while leaving other lines slimmer.

The girl's portrait will be outlined in bolder pen-strokes. This will suggest the atmospheric perspective. According to this perspective, objects that are closer to a viewer should appear with a greater contrast and be depicted in bolder lines. This will visually bring foreground objects closer to a viewer. I'm using brown ink because it fits well with the warm color of the girl's hair and the background colors.

I hope that you found this video helpful in learning several watercolor painting methods and techniques. To learn how to paint in watercolor the professional way, you can enroll in one of the Watercolor Academy courses.

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