I'm sure most of you know what Tombow dual Brush Pens are by now. If not, they're double sided brush pens, usually used for lettering. But, what makes Tombows even cooler is that they're water based, which allows you to blend them, or even paint with them. Today you're going to be learning how to make something like these:
These look like they have actual watercolor backgrounds right?!
First, you are going to need paper. Watercolor paper is best, but thicker paper will also work. I used card stock for these.
Next, pick out your colors. It's fun to experiment with this to see which color schemes look best. Out of all the ones I made, my favorite combination was the purple (Tombow #636), pink (#743) and blue (#443). Play around with this! you can use as little or as many colors as you want.
Now you're going to want a blending palette. Tombow sells these, but I don't have any. Instead, I used a plastic sandwich bag, which works just as well. Now take all the colors you've picked out and scribble all over the bag. When you do this, you can do a pattern or just scribble randomly. Here's a quick time lapse of this, as well as the next step:
After putting the colors on your bag/palette, you want to make it wet somehow. To do this, I took a spray bottle filled with water and sprayed the bag a few times. Then, I put the paper on top of the bag, and flip it over so the bag is on top. This way I can see how the colors are spreading, and I can use my finger to blend the colors some more. (**NOTE** You can see in the video that I put the bag on the paper twice, This was because I wanted to see a bit more purple and pink instead of so much yellow. The second bag has no yellow on it, just purple and pink! This way the purple and pink will be layered on top of the yellow. If you choose to do this, make sure your paper is thick enough to handle two layers of water!)
Take the bag off the paper, and there's your watercolor! Usually when you take the bag off the paper, all the water will be pooled in one spot. To fix this, I like to move my paper around or use a brush to help spread the water a little more. Now, just wait for it to completely dry before you write over it, or else the pen will bleed.
This method is great way to make an interesting background for your artwork. It turns out different every time, and Tombow has such a wide range of colors to choose from.
Head over to Instagram.com/Mihnimalist to see my finished products! Thanks for reading, and let me know how this method works for you! (Tags: #tombow #brushpens #watercolor #lettering)
-Mihnimalist