Copy A Drawing To Watercolor Paper With Saral Transfer Paper
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The Potential For Damage On Watercolor Paper
Most professional grade watercolor paper is sturdy and tough Even so, the surface is susceptible to damage from repeated or corrected pencil marks and erasing.
The damage often occurs when transferring a scene to watercolor paper free-hand. No matter how well you draw, the underlying drawing for a watercolor painting needs to retain proportions and space relationships among all the shapes. The more erasing and adjustment, the greater the chance for damage to the surface of the paper.
Read this article for help in making a careful and accurate free-hand duplication of your drawing.
Using Transfer Paper
Another way to move the drawing to watercolor paper is with transfer paper. This method only works when the original drawing is the same size as the expected painting.
Transfer paper is essentially the same thing as carbon paper used to be for written or typed works. The transfer medium is actually graphite - the same medium as in a regular pencil. There are several brands available but my recommended brand is Saral Graphite Free Transfer Paper.
The Transfer Process
Placing a sheet of transfer paper over watercolor paper
The process is quite simple.
Place the watercolor paper that will receive the drawing on a firm, flat surface.
Cut a piece of transfer paper to the size of the painting.
Lay the transfer paper - DARK SIDE DOWN - on the watercolor paper.
Place the original drawing over the transfer paper. Make sure the edges are lined up square to the watercolor paper.
Trace over the individual lines and contours on the original drawing. Those lines will be transferred to the watercolor paper by the graphite layer on the transfer paper.
The video below steps through the process.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
Drawing To Be Transferred
Watercolor Paper Same Size As Drawing