Hey friends, this is Katie and today I want to show you how to make a DIY Ocean Collage! But first: did you know that around 70% of the planet’s surface is covered by oceans, but we have only explored about 5% of the world’s oceans. There’s a lot more to be discovered!
I wanted to create a piece of art that highlights some of the beautiful coral life found in the ocean, so I hope you join along!
Supplies:
- Tombow Dual Brush Pens, 10-Pack, Eighties
- TwinTone Marker Set, 12-Pack Bright
- Tombow Blending Palette
- Paint Brush
- 90lb Mixed Media Paper
- Tombow MONO Aqua Liquid Glue
- Tombow MONO Graph Mechanical Pencil
- Craft Knife of Small Scissors
- Washi Tape
Step one:
Start by sketching out different coral reef shapes onto a piece of mixed media paper.
Step two:
Apply Dual Brush Pen ink to the blending palette by scribbling the marker onto the palette.
Pick the ink up with a damp paint brush and paint the first layer of your coral sketches. Learn how to achieve a watercolor effect with Dual Brush Pens in this blog post! Let dry.
Step three:
Time to add detail! In the last step you painted the main color of each coral shape, but in this step, I want you to add shadows and/or use the fine tip of the TwinTone markers to add more embellishments. Let dry.
I love layering the extra-fine 0.3mm tip of the TwinTone Marker over top of a wash of Dual Brush Pen ink, because you can add line art or fun details!
Step four:
Use a craft knife or a pair of small scissors to cut out your coral shapes!
Step five:
Now it’s time to make the background! I’m creating my piece at 5×7, but you can cut your background paper to any size. Use washi tape to tape an outline around your paper.
Apply Dual Brush Pens to your background. I wanted this to look like the ocean, so I used blues and greens, and a touch of pink (296, 443, & 725) from the Eighties 10-pack.
Spray the background with a mist of water, or use a paint brush to apply water and move the ink around. You can also use salt to achieve a speckled effect. (Learn more about using salt here!).
Let dry.
Step six:
Use MONO Aqua Liquid Glue to adhere your coral reef elements onto the background. Many of my coral reef doodles were small, so I’m using the pen tip of the glue bottle to apply glue!
and that’s it! I hope you enjoyed learning how to make this DIY Ocean Collage Art. If you make your own version, Show us on instagram by tagging @tombowusa and using the hashtag #tombowusa!