Are you even allowed to do that?
Mix watercolour and graphite? Yes. Yes you can.
Helloooo my wild hearted treasures,
This week in this little (but big-hearted) Wild Studio, I am sharing my latest free tutorial on creating a Tiger portrait with some watercolour and graphite - I hope you will grab your sketchbook and play along with me.
But wait. Are you even allowed to do that? You can’t combine watercolour and graphite, they don’t work together, right? Well, yes, yes you can, and yes they do. And it can be delightful and fun!
Side note: The free tutorial has all you need to create this fierce and graceful friend, but the full version with ALLLL the bits and bobs, all 90 minutes of it, is inside Hedgerow (as well as soooo many other fun tutorials AND a vibrant community to support your journey too. Just sayin’. If you are a wild-hearted creative woman (or want to be!), I think Hedgerow could be a place for you and your creativity to thrive :)
Tigers are one of the most incredible beings - if you are a crazy cat lady like me, I know that goes without saying. And the fact that they are one of the few felines that love water too? Even more delightful.
Have you ever watched water move across paper? There's something mesmerising about it - the way it flows freely, finding its own path, creating patterns we could never plan. Like tigers themselves, water has a nature that can't be controlled - it can only be gently cajoled, respected, played with. And I think using watercolour when honouring tiger with art supplies is a perfect combination of reverence and respect and curiosity.
I love exploring how combining watercolour and graphite can help us capture both the power and delicacy of wild beings. It's a beautiful partnership - water's fluid movement balanced with graphite's precise detail. Each medium brings its own gifts to our creative practice. The combination of a loose grip and precise control in graphite, and the fluid nature of watercolour used in both the loosest way, and refined and highly pigmented is such a fantastic opportunity to practice our desire to find connection, not perfection.
Here's a simple exercise to try before jumping into the tutorial:
The Water Flow Practice
Wet a small area of paper
Add a drop of watercolour
Tilt your paper gently
Watch how the water moves
Notice where it pools, where it flows
Feel yourself relaxing as you observe
Watercolour play like this is meditative and humbling. And you get to be present and delighted by it. While we can influence where the water moves, the actual laying down of pigment has so much to do with the structure of the paint that it is definitely a lesson in letting go. But also an opportunity to find wonder. Letting go and finding wonder - now that is a solid basis for a practice can transform how we approach our art. When we learn to trust water's wisdom - to let it flow where it will rather than trying to control every mark - something magical happens. Our art becomes more alive, more authentic. We can add intentionality with other mediums and continue the conversation in unique and deeply personal ways - singing the song of the wild in pigment and hope.
Creating art isn't about controlling every mark - and that is a really hard lesson to learn. It's about finding harmony between intention and flow, between strength and gentleness. Just like tigers themselves, who move with both incredible, terrifying, power and exquisite, gentle, grace. And who will occasionally do something incredibly unexpected and even derpy, and we love them for it even more.
Have you tried combining watercolour and graphite before? Tell me all about it - how did it make you feel??
Tell me all the things, I am here for it all!
