ARTiful, get inspired to create

Free resources for artists

Blog

Add impact to your drawings with selective coloring

louise selective coloring small
Drawing / Inspiration / Mixed media / Painting technique / Popular posts / The Big Picture Collective Art Project

Add impact to your drawings with selective coloring

If you want to play and really draw the attention to one area of your drawings, selective coloring is a very efficient and fun technique to try.

You can leave most of your drawing black and white or monochrome, then just add a touch of bright color in selected areas.

Supplies list:

  • mixed media or watercolor paper (hot press so there is not too much texture and you can draw easily)
  • waterproof marker
  • graphite pencil and eraser
  • Inktense crayons or watercolor pencils or watercolor
Inktense crayons are a bit like watercolor pencils, their color becomes more intense once brushed over with water

Inktense crayons are a bit like watercolor pencils, their color becomes more intense once brushed over with water

Here is an example of selective coloring with a contour drawing.

work from a reference picture, black and white is easier for drawing

You can work from life or from a reference picture, here I used the black and white version of a picture of my daughter.

work with pencil first,  especially on portraits so you can make as many corrections as you want to before adding ink.

I recommend you work with pencil first,  especially on portraits so you can make as many corrections as you want to before adding ink.

Keep the drawing very simple, basically just a contour drawing and you can decide later if you want to add more details in certain areas.

Keep the drawing very simple, basically just a contour drawing and you can decide later if you want to add more details in certain areas.

can go over it with a ball point pen, dipping pen, marker or a fine liner.

When you are satisfied with your pencil drawing, you can go over it with a ball point pen, dipping pen, marker or a fine liner. If you are going to use water later on for the selective coloring, make sure that your pen is water-resistant.

erase your pencil lines

You can then erase your pencil lines.

 Here I am adding some circular designs on the top.

You can then decide if you want to add more details in some areas. Here I am adding some circular designs on the top.

I did draw the outlines of the designs with pencil and filled them only in the areas where they were not hidden by the hair.

I did draw the outlines of the designs with pencil and filled them only in the areas where they were not hidden by the hair.

In this case I want to add selective coloring on the hair so I am adding more details to the hair.

In this case I want to add selective coloring on the hair so I am adding more details to the hair.

Drawing hair can be a bit tricky, but you will get nice results if you go line by line following the direction of the hair.

Drawing hair can be a bit tricky, but you will get nice results if you go line by line following the direction of the hair.

 I chose Inktense pencils. They are like watercolor crayons and you get an intense color when you wash over them with a brush.

You have many options to add selective color to a drawing but in that case I chose Inktense pencils. They are like watercolor crayons and you get an intense color when you wash over them with a brush.

I am a Blick Art Materials affiliate and I receive a small compensation for sales. That does not effect in any way the cost of the purchaser’s order but it helps me keeping the content of this blog free.

 

Derwent Inktense Blocks

Watersoluble ink blocks that bring a new sense of freedom to the drawing and painting experience, Derwent Inktense Blocks can be used dry or wet. Dry, they deliver pure, vibrant color. When wet, they create a translucent ink-like paint that can be worked over when dry. – Set of 12

Go over the areas you just colored with a clean brush and water.

Go over the areas you just colored with a clean brush and water.

You can still see the marker lines and texture underneath the color.

You can still see the marker lines and texture underneath the color.

ink drawing and selective coloring with inktense

The finished drawing.

Here are some other ideas of selective coloring

Simple contour drawings with selective coloring

selective color on contour line drawing
selective color on drawing for the Big Picture Art project

selective color on roof tops of paris drawing for the big picture art project
selective color on portrait for the Big Picture art project

Drawing by Charlotte Pelissier.

Selective coloring on life drawings

 

A bit of color on the background and the hair

Selective coloring on the background and the hair

India ink painting with a touch of red watercolor

https://youtu.be/whyo1BoKg6o

4/5 - (6 votes)

Comments (3)

  1. Kaye

    [ove

  2. Rob

    Hi Folks, not ben doing any art lately disappointingly too many important sidetracks. However, I like the idea being suggested for the mural of drawings so with a little luck & determionation I am aiming to send in something to add to the plan. Good luck enjoy your messages & workshops so thanks for sending them. Kind regards Rob.

    1. Thanks Rob ! We can’t wait to see what drawings you can make for the mosaic 🙂

Leave your thought here

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

The reCAPTCHA verification period has expired. Please reload the page.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Download this PDF

A Mixed Media Treasury of Techniques and Ideas

Join my mailing list

Learn from the comfort of your home:

 

 

HOW TO MAKE PAPIER MACHE BOWLS

 

 

 

 En Français