Watercolor Basics: Creating and Transferring Line Drawings Digitally (Procreate) and Conventionally

In this class, I discuss the importance of line drawings and demonstrate three ways in which you can create them. I use this to transfer drawings to watercolor paper, but this would work for any medium and surface. The core benefits of using line drawings to transfer either a sketch or any other picture or drawing to watercolor paper include;

• minimal smudging as there is minimal pencil on your paper
• ability to create realistic paintings that have the correct scale, proportions, details and shapes
• the ability to focus on your painting skills rather than drawing skills
• ability to break down the process of painting into more manageable steps, as you tackle the lines and shapes before even beginning the painting process. In other words you can better focus on your painting if you have previously settled all shape and proportion issues.
• realism
• commissioned work, e.g. commissioned pet portraits, etc.

The methods I describe in the class can be broken down into three distinct ways of creating line drawings, and two methods of transfer. These three methods of creation are

1. Manually tracing over a photograph that you have printed (using a window or lightpad)
2. Digitally tracing over a photograph using an iPad and the app Procreate
3. Digitally tracing over a photograph using either Adobe Photoshop or Gimp (free) on a computer

There are two ways in which you can then transfer the line drawing you've created. Either use transfer paper, or shade the backside of your line drawing with HB pencil before transferring your line drawing.

The lightpad I mention in class is an A3 sized lightpad by the brand "Coralov" and can be found on Amazon.