How-to Use Tombow Markers to Watercolor

Hey hey!! Today, we’re doing some watercolor with Tombow markers. The color inspiration for this card is from this week’s Make the Cards Challenge.

Watch this video to see how easy watercoloring with markers is. All of the products I used to complete this card are linked at the bottom of this post.

This technique can be done with any water based marker. I have Tombow markers so that’s what I’m using, but if you have Stampin’ Up markers, Arteza, or Zig water based markers, use those. It’ll work with them too.

I’m using a wet-on-dry technique which means the paper is dry while my paint brush is wet. There’s less drying time with this method. If you want a more organic look then wet your paper first.

First thing is to stamp and heat emboss your image. Remember to use a little extra pressure since you’re stamping on watercolor paper. It has texture and you want to make sure the embossing ink gets in all of the little nooks and crannies of the paper.

I’m using a plastic flat pallet to scribble ink on to and pick up with my water brush. You can use a piece of acetate with a piece of white paper under it. Rise it off after you’re done and reuse it. Scoop a tiny bit of the Kaleidoscope Powder onto the pallet and mix it with water. Scribble a section of color onto the pallet too. Pick up the color with the water brush then the sparkly mixture and mix it on the pallet.

Now, paint in each section of the image with the mixture. It’s that easy. The colors will be much softer because we are watering them down a bit. If you want brighter colors, then choose darker markers.

You can color directly on the paper with the markers and then use the water brush to dry to move that color around however I’ve found that not all colors will move.

This is a simple watercoloring technique. I hope you give it a try and share your project with me! Don’t forget to head over to Make the Cards Challenge and join us in the fun!

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