Step-by-step
Step 1
For this feather design you'll need the medium edding acrylic marker set in basic colours. This set contains five medium edding 5100 acrylic markers (traffic yellow, traffic red, gentian blue, yellow green and black). And don't forget to have glass of water to hand. Our photo shows you everything you need at a glance.
Step 2
Print out the template and copy it to the desired size if you need to. Place the motif and a light source behind the canvas and start tracing the template.
Step 3
Before you begin, activate your acrylic marker as follows: shake the marker with the cap on until you hear the mixing balls start to rattle inside. Then carefully pump the nib up and down until the ink appears. Test the marker first on a piece of scrap paper.
Step 4
The feather will be divided into four segments. Grab the acrylic marker in red and draw the outline of the upper segment of the feather. Note that in order to a achieve the watercolour effect shown in the next step, the ink must still be damp.
Step 5
Using the wet brush, water down the still-wet ink of the outline and delicately spread it towards the middle of the feather to achieve a transparent watercolour effect.
Step 6
Now repeat this process for the other three segments using traffic yellow, yellow green and gentian blue to create a colour gradient with a light water-colour effect in these areas, too. Leave the canvas to dry thoroughly.
Step 7
Once everything is completely dry, use the acrylic markers in black and traffic red to accentuate individual parts of the feather and add some contours. This will give a nice structure to the soft-coloured base.
Step 8
Next, take the tape and mask the frame of the canvas. Use the brush to dampen the outer areas of the canvas, making sure that the feather you’ve already painted doesn’t get wet. With the brush, now add some water at the top and bottom of your feather. Add a dash of ink to the wet canvas using the red acrylic marker and carefully blend it in using the brush.
Step 9
This will give your motif a nice surround and bring it to life. You can see the finished design here.
Products and materials
Other materials
- Art canvas (A3)
- Feather template
- Soft pencil
- Wide masking tape
- Paintbrush
- Glass of water
Video
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