Transferring a Drawing to a Bound Watercolor Journal …
As most of you probably know from my previous post – I recently stumbled upon this awesome watercolor journal which paints like a dream. I love using it for experiments and watercolor journaling. But I have had a slight problem with it… You see, my favorite method for transferring my line drawings to watercolor paper was using a light table. But since I was using a bound watercolor journal – and I really didn’t want to destroy the binding by ripping out the pages – using my light table was a no go.
Transferring with Graphite Paper…
So I switched gears and pulled out my handy graphite paper – which I honestly haven’t used in years. I have to say – it worked like a dream! And the results were actually better than I thought! I will caution you – since I was working on Hot Press watercolor paper – transferring the drawing with my graphite paper was pretty easy. But – if you are using a bumpy Cold Press paper – your results might not be as smooth.
So How Did I Do It?
Well, I’ve put together a printable sheet of my steps plus all the equipment/supplies I used. And as an added bonus – I’ve put together a short video to show you the process :) So enjoy!
How to Transfer a Drawing to Watercolor Paper
I love to transfer my line drawings to watercolor paper! I usually use a light table – but this time I needed to work in a bound watercolor journal. So – instead of roughing up the paper with mistakes and pencil scuff marks – I instead opted to transfer the line drawing using wax-free graphite paper and following these five simple steps.
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First, secure your watercolor journal flat with two metal clips.
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Then, with your scissors, cut your wax paper to fit the size of your drawing. Next, tape your drawing and wax paper together – making sure to place the shiny side down (or graphite side down) toward your watercolor paper.
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Afterward, secure your drawing and wax paper to your watercolor paper with some tape. If you are using extremely sticky tape – simply rub off some of the glue by placing tape sticky side down on some fabric.
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Next, outline your secured drawing with a colored pen. This will help you visually see what you’ve already traced.
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Lastly, peel back the wax/drawing combo and touch up any pencil lines that might have gotten lost in the tracing. Once done – paint to your heart's delight!
Supply Links
Graphite Paper
Watercolor Journal
The rest of the supplies you can use from whatever is just lying around your house :)