Hello!
This activity should take only about 10-15 minutes, depending on how many rabbits you draw. The supplies you will need are:
- Black Tombow(TM) Pen (#N15)
- About 8 – 5″x7″ pieces of watercolor paper (hot or cold press)
- #12 round watercolor brush
- Optional: black Micron pen, size 01
(Note: If you do not have these items on hand, don’t worry! Use any watersoluable marker, any paper, and any brush, and do your best. If you like the process, THEN go out and purchase the nicer stuff!)
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BUNNY POWER: Easy Tombow Rabbits
STEP 1
This is a V.I.S. — Very Important Step. Take about two minutes and go to the following link, and just LOOK. You don’t need to draw anything, but just look at photos of rabbits for about two minutes. Googly Rabbits.
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STEP 2
Now take your Tombow marker and draw a simple outline of a rabbit. You can draw from your imagination or from a reference (your choice). Keep it simple!
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STEP 3
Dip your watercolor brush in clean water, and tap off a little of the excess, either on a paper towel or the side of the water container. (You want your brush “loaded”, but not “too loaded.” You will probably need to experiment with a few rabbits before you get the hang of it.) Start painting on the line, being careful to leave the outside edge of the line intact:
A quick demo of the whole painting process:
Tips while painting:
- you will probably need to re-wet your brush several times.
- work fairly quickly so that the water doesn’t have time to dry before you get the whole inside of the bunny painted.
- even though it is a “black” marker, when wetted down the colors will separate into pinks, light blues, etc.
- Leave some white spaces.
- Take extra care around the eyes (see Step 3b)
- If you make a mistake, don’t worry! Just stop, let dry, and go to Step 5.
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STEP 3b
Here is a slower demonstration of the painting process. Take care around the eyes, as shown.
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STEP 4
Let dry completely. In some cases, this is the last step… your bunny is done, and doesn’t need anything else!
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STEP 5
Sometimes, though, you may need to go back in to your drawing, either with your Tombo marker or other fine-tipped black marker, and re-draw any lines that may have been obscured by the painting step:
You can even add other details:
Done!
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This tutorial brought to you from Artspark! Ten free tutorials this week! Go here for the full schedule and links.
P.S. If you do this project and upload it to your blog, flickr, etc., leave a comment here with the link!!! Let’s paint 1,000 bunnies!!
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Robbin said:
Jane, I just find you everywhere I wander. lol
Wendy said:
So cute! I have to get me some of those markers.
iHanna said:
Thanks Carla, this is so easy and inspiring! Your bunny collection is super cute.
Timaree said:
Carla, here is the link to the bunny I did from your 6 second video flickr. (Let’s hope I did the link correctly or I’ll do it again. It was really fun.
Gwen Diehn said:
Very sweet tutorial! Amazing what strange things a simple pen can do!
jane lafazio said:
so darn cute and easy and fun! love it!
leith said:
Rabbit love…but I have no idea what a tombo pen is, or what makes it special. I Googled it and found places to but them, but not what they are. So, pretty please, is it just a water soluble ink like a washable marker, or is it a watercolor tool of some sort. I see the variations and tones when you hit it with water…does _any_ marker do that?
Meanwhile….http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UgLL_q5FMCU&feature=related
carlasonheim said:
So sorry… I should have provided a link right away…. and it’s actually “Tombow,” not “Tombo” — my bad (but their logo is hard to read!!)
leith said:
OK! thanks…There will be bunnys….Oh yes, there will be bunnys.
Annika said:
Ooooh, I love these rabbits! So simple and so loveable!
Trekky said:
So cute & so much fun to do 🙂
I even managed to include a guinea pig too!
Thank you!
dymphie said:
so lovely, thanks for sharing your technique! I’ve linked back to your bunny-post here:
http://creatiefblogvandeweek.blogspot.com/2011/04/teken-een-konijn.html
leith said:
BUNNY POWER!
9 submissions for your Thousand Bunny Project
I didnt have a marker that did what your Tombow does, so I used watercolor pencels and a pigma pen. I had fun and was done quick as a bunny.
Lisa Firke said:
I’m a little late to the bunny party, but I thought since this was a “rabbit, rabbit” day (ie first of the month) I would give these a try. I didn’t have a Tombow, so I used a Pilot instead, which didn’t give the same lovely range of neutrals, but still turned out well.
Here’s a link to where they are on Flickr: http://flic.kr/s/aHsju7qWu4
Thanks for the inspiration!
Mary Beth Shaw said:
Adore that little bunny and you have inspired me to go play 🙂 Thank you for sharing!! Hope to see you at Artfest.
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Carolyn said:
Thank you so much for the tutorial, I was freed up to do yet another drawing of my spoiled little bun Domino. Too much fun!
Karen Drimer said:
Oh dear, I can’t stop with the bunnies now, there is a population explosion! Thank you for the tutorial.
http://travelswithlil.blogspot.com/2011/04/bunny-power.html
Carolyn said:
This was so fun! I did a doodle of my bun Domino with walnut ink. Thanks Carla!
http://carolynsnehring.blogspot.com/2011/04/bunny-power-domino-style.html
Dar Hosta said:
There were about seven million things I had to do today, Carla. And then I started making bunnies.
Vis A Vis pens also have a multi-colored-bleedy effect.
carlasonheim said:
That’s my JOB!!! (To get people to draw bunnies instead of do laundry.)
Deb Barends said:
This is great~ I used a black flair and it worked great… can’t wait to try with my class tomorrow! http://www.flickr.com/photos/58176429@N04/5586362203/
Laura Lea said:
I didn’t have a Tombow but I explored what I did have and made a bunny to add towards you rabbit. I will purchase a Tombow when I go to my local art store next. I like the colors you got. I like the technique. Thanks for sharing~ I posted on my Flickr site: counthttp://www.flickr.com/photos/58325824@N00/5586942200/
Nathalie said:
Thank you for this amazing tutorial! Here are my bunnies : http://nathalienayer.blogspot.com/2011/04/shoot-or-shout.html
fanny said:
Three rabbits at
Ididn’t have a Tombow marker , then used a black Lyra Aqua Brush , and a much too big round brush … we are moving and the other brushes are already packed !
Very funny ( the bunnies , not the packing ! )
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Yvonne said:
Oh my, I’m getting in a little late on this one… But I drew bunnies! And still in time for Easter, too 🙂 Did one in honour of Silly 4 and all!
http://muddleonthrough.blogspot.com/2011/04/bunnies.html
Els said:
Carla, you can see mine on the Flickr Alumni Site. It was so much fun, thanks Carla! greetings Els04
Ileen said:
oh what fun—thanks Carla for the great tutorial/directions
mine is posted on my blog at http://leenieworld.blogspot.com
Ileen said:
Carla, this is so much fun!! you can see my bunny on my blog
http://leenieworld.blogspot.com/
anna maria said:
That was so much fun I kept going with it and took a detour…..
http://annamariastone.blogspot.com/2011/04/few-bunnies-dog-and-cat-qualche.html
Diana said:
went out and bought the tonbow…great fun… just can’t see any colours other than the black/blue – how do you get pink?????
Sandy Box said:
Thank you Carla. I used overhead pens from the days when i was teaching in a high school – they were not as colourful- more blue. I am going to add easter eggs around young Tombow and will post him on Sketchbook Challenge flickr page.
leith said:
I had a vis-a-vis pen right on my desk. It worked great! Thanks for the tip!
pixie said:
Oooohhh, thank you thank you thank you for this post and videos. I’ve wondered how you got your rabbits, dogs, etc to look like that. I love it!
Deb Dugan said:
I’m a little late to the party, but what fun these Tombow rabbits are! I’ve posted to my blog http://dugandeb.blogspot.com/ Have we reached 1,000 yet? ;–D
Thanks Carla. This was such fun!
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Lisa Firke said:
Carla, this tutorial is a gift that keeps on giving. Now that I have my hands on some actual Tombow markers, I am obsessed. Here are some Tombow Pets (my dogs Cricket and Rookie): http://www.lisafirke.com/2011/tombow-pets/
Pia Lindén/virkpia said:
I love this! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Pia /Sweden
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Anoeska said:
I blogged about the bunnies, just made one myself (more to come). My blog http://creanoes.blogspot.com/2011/06/bunny-power.html (It’s in dutch…)
Thanks for the tutorial! I love it!
b said:
One of my bunnies is here:
http://upsidedownbee.blogspot.com/2011/08/tuesday-tuism.html
Thanks, Carla. This was fun and a great tutorial. You are an inspiration!
B.
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Tammie said:
wonderfully fun
thank you for sharing this!
viola said:
How fun, and lovely! I sure come back here and see the clips! I want to try this one day! 🙂 thanks for sharing!
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