Hop along with me as we paint a watercolor bunny. I will take you from the sketch to the final piece. If you are a beginner watercolor artist and want to learn the basics of watercolor, you are in the right place!
Let’s talk about it!
Getting Started with Your Bunny Sketch
To get started the only thing you need is a half sheet of ordinary computer paper. The focus of your initial sketch is to capture the shape of the bunny and it’s most distinctive feature – the ears!
Bunny ears are straightforward to sketch. Begin by drawing the first ear, keeping it upright. For the second ear, we’ll add a touch of whimsy by making it droop down along the side. Just a simple curve will do the trick. This variation will add character to your bunny.
Next, you will sketch the bunny’s face, paying attention to making those chubby cheeks. Start by making indentations for the eyes, then sketch the cheeks so they meet perfectly in the middle. Add a small half-moon for the mouth at the bottom of the face. For the eyes, sketch half-moons without filling them in. This outline will guide you when you add more detail later with your paints.
From the mouth upwards, draw a straight line – about an inch up – and finish with a simple ‘Y’ shape to create his twitchy nose. Hold off on adding whiskers at this stage. You will create those at the very end of your painting.
Your sketch should be complete at this point. Now it’s time to transfer that sketch to your watercolor paper. Listed below are 3 ways you can transfer your sketch to your watercolor paper:
- Redraw the sketch directly onto your watercolor paper.
- Use a light box if you have one available.
- The traditional method of holding it up against a sunny window, tracing it directly onto the paper.
A bit of fair warning. Try to trace your sketch lightly, as once you paint over the pencil, you won’t be able to erase it.
Once your sketch is in place, you’re ready to begin painting your watercolor bunny.
Essential Supplies for Watercolor Bunny Painting
Before we get into painting, let’s talk about the supplies you’ll need:
- A round watercolor brush. Given the size of the artwork in a journal, a smaller brush like a #2 works well, but feel free to use a # 6 depending on your preference and paper size.
- Watercolor paints: We’ll be using shades of brown, ultramarine blue, and light pink.
- Water for mixing with your paints and cleaning your brush.
- A watercolor journal or watercolor paper – I used cold-pressed.
If you want to hand-create your watercolor journal, I wrote a post on Watercolor Journals for you to read through.
For more reading on setting up your watercolor workspace, you can learn what you need and ideas on how to have a successful watercolor experience.
Painting Your Watercolor Bunny
If you are new to watercolor, you may want to check out some of the techniques in an article I wrote, about the Essential Techniques you may want to learn.
The first step is to create a very light brown wash. Mix a small amount of brown paint with a generous amount of water. Apply this mixture to outline your bunny, paying special attention to areas like the ears and around the cheeks, keeping the wash light to maintain the delicate features.
Try to keep those chubby cheeks free of paint to start with as you will want them to be as light as possible. No worries, we add a touch there later, but not yet.
After the initial wash, start building depth with a slightly darker shade of brown. Work in layers, gradually moving from lighter to darker shades. It’s crucial to let each layer dry before adding the next to achieve a more textured look.
Focus particularly on the cheeks and around the eyes. These areas need delicate handling to give your bunny its charm. For areas you wish to keep lighter, like the insides of the bunny’s ears and around its nose, use minimal paint and more water.
Mixing brown with ultramarine blue creates a deeper shade that adds richness to your bunny’s fur. Apply this mixture sparingly to areas that would naturally be shadowed or need a bit more definition.
When adding that brown and ultramarine blue, dab it here and there and spread it to areas where you want to emphasize texture.
For adding a soft glow and natural look to your bunny, incorporate a very light pink wash. Use this color to subtly enhance the nose and the insides of the ears, referencing the natural coloring of real bunnies.
Don’t worry about having the white of the bunny show in the ears. That very pink light wash you will place inside the ears should not completely cover the inside of the ear. Dab a slightly darker version of the pink near the base of the ears. With some water added to your brush, lightly push it up to blend it with the rest of the light pink wash.
Finishing Touches To Your Watercolor Bunny
To wrap up your masterpiece, now is the time to focus on the finer details.
Define the eyes and nose with careful strokes, leaving small areas white to mimic natural light reflection. Don’t worry if you forget to leave that area white, you can always use a white gel pen, No Bleed White, or white gauche to dab that reflection in.
Use a Micro pen for the whiskers, unless you are confident you can create thin whisker-like lines with black paint and a liner brush. I always get a bit heavy-handed when it comes to making whiskers and use my pen to add them in.
Once the watercolor bunny is completely dry, use your eraser to get rid of any pencil lines you can see. Please note, as stated earlier, that if you paint over your pencil lines, they more than likely cannot be erased, but you may be lucky if there is only a light wash. Sometimes those lines can be erased.
Be careful not to scrub your eraser over the painting or you may rip or damage your painting.
You are all finished! Now that you have sketched and painted your watercolor bunny, you can recreate him/her for Easter cards, greeting cards, gift tags, bookmarks, etc.
If you want to follow along with the watercolor bunny tutorial video, you can click underneath the image below.
Playing with watercolors is fun and rewarding, especially if you can create pieces like the above watercolor bunny. As you progress in your painting techniques, your skill level will improve and you can paint more and more complex masterpieces.
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Stay Colorful, Stay Creative, and HAVE FUN!
~Laurie