PAINT A DYNAMIC CHARACTER

MARCEL MOSQI describes his step-by-step process to painting a vibrant, stylised character in an action pose using Indian ink and watercolours

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MATERIALS

PAPER

Arches 300g cold pressed watercolour paper

NIB PEN

Zebra G pen

INK

Royal Talens waterproof Indian ink

WATERCOLOUR

Sennelier

While using digital media is a brilliant W way to create or enhance artwork and simplify the creative process, going 100% traditional is a great exercise and a very interesting experience. For this illustration I'll work on cold pressed watercolour paper, which I find easier to paint on, produce deeper colours, and add variations to the tints when they're not dry yet. This tutorial will work with hot pressed paper as well, it's just not as flexible and won't allow much in the way of modifications, but will be way easier to ink.

With regards to the inking medium, any waterproof ink or pen can be used, but the Japanese G pen offers a great variety of line variations and is very satisfying to use. There are many ways to draw with it, but it requires some practice and patience. It will disagree with the grain of the paper, but it's worth the pain - the sharpness of the line it provides is a great way to make any drawing dynamic. A good way around it is to use a fine brush with the Indian ink.

In this tutorial, I'll go over my key steps for designing and painting a character in an action pose, from the first sketches to the final details.