Markers, Inks, and Washes

Watercolor has and remains to be an extremely popular medium for artists, and students, to explore. The fluidity of the paint creates expressive work that has a etherial and whimsical feeling to it, regardless of the subject matter. Good liquid watercolor paint is expensive and can dry out quickly if not properly handled. Alternative watercolor techniques bridges the gap between wanting to teach watercolor lessons and having a limited budget to do so.

Markers (yes, even crayola markers) can be used to create watercolor like drawings/paintings. A few approaches to this technique include:

       

 1) Drawing directly onto the paper and using a water filled brush to pull the ink across the page, like this landscape. This leaves a direct line of pigment where the line was drawn with tones being pulled out by the water.

2) Scribbling the marker ink into a plastic palette or plate until a small amount of liquid pigment can be seen, then adding water. The brush acts as a transfer from the palette to the page just as any other liquid watercolor paint. This allows for more fluid application like the rabbit drawn here.

Any kind of water-based marker will achieve this technique, with higher quality markers producing better washes. Crayola, Vis-a-Vis markers, and EF 400 waterbase markers all will create a watercolor effect. Using this technique, students can explore many aspects of the elements and principals of design including tone and value, texture, color, and line. Students could be asked to create a value scale using marker wash in preparation for a still life painting. This lesson would focus on proportion, scale, and tonal value.



India Ink is another watercolor-like medium that can create the same wash effect. Unlike marker washes, India Ink is a relatively expensive material that is very permanent. This medium would be reserved for upper level 2-D Design classes or AP Art for those reasons. Developing tonal value using india ink requires a specific set of observational and mixing skills that may not yet be developed in Art 1 classes. To achieve various tonal ranges, students should spend ample time practicing gradation and value scales to get precise ink to water ratios. (patio furniture wash drawing by Alyson Highsmith)