On this little cactus you can practice blending on a palette, blending on paper, and dry ink over a wash.

I used the Tombow Watercolor Set (mine was kindly provided by Tombow but you can use my affiliate code ‘bpbunny’ to get 15% off your own).

Step 1

Scribble some 249 (Hunter Green) and some 993 (Chrome Orange) onto the Blending Palette that comes in the set. Use the Water Brush to blend some of the two colors together, leaving some of each unblended. Paint the mixed green onto your cactus, and while it’s still wet drop a little yellow into the places closest to where you imagine the sun would be, and a drop of unblended green in places furthest from your imaginary sun.

Step 2

Once the cactus is dry, use the same technique to add colors to the pot. Then wipe off your Blending Palette and scribble some 757 (Port Red) and 885 (Warm Red) onto it. Mix the ink with your Water Brush and add on some little flowers.

Step 3

After everything is dry, use your 993 Dual Brush Pen to color in the diamonds on the pot. You can then blend the ink directly on the paper, using your Water Brush. If you’d like, you can add spikes and shadow detail with the bullet tips of your Dual Brush Pens to finish it off.