How to paint a green iguana

Hang on Studio Wall

Equipment

300gsm Not paper (cold-pressed)

Watercolours

Fine liner pens

Have fun with pen and wash

Green Iguana, pen and wash on Seawhite’s NOT watercolour paper, (42x42cm)

Be creative with colour as you paint a green iguana using pen and wash with Liz Chaderton.

How to paint with pen and wash

The challenge with pen and wash is how to make each element play a significant role.

You are not trying to create a lovely pen drawing then colour it in, nor do you want a watercolour painting that you simply outline. The aim is for pen and colour to add up to more than the sum of the parts.

Paul Riley’s top tips for successful pen and wash:

Keep your pen clean, be it fountain or dip
When inking in, work from top to bottom
If necessary use blotting paper to keep work dry
When working monochromatic use dilute ink of the variety used for the pen work
Keep your watercolours paler than the pen work
Keep your watercolours clean
Make sure washes are bone dry before adding pen work and visa versa
Wash out fountain pens with detergent regularly
Don’t mess around with dip pens that don’t work. Change them for fresh ones
Enjoy yourself!

Paul's tips are taken from the May 2018 issue of The Artist.

Top tips before you begin:

Make sure your fine liner pens contain waterproof ink. Liz used Unipin in black.
Select highly transparent colours to ensure the line work remains visible. Liz used Talens Ecoline liquid watercolour. You could also use lightfast inks or Brusho.
With the tail receding into the background, you will need to make sure there is variation in the line strength and add weight to the closer and more important areas.
There is a danger that your line work could become too rigid, remember that you want to try retain the expression and looseness of a sketch.
Spend a couple of minutes spent on a thumbnail to help plan your painting.
Ponder your lights and darks along with the overall composition.
As you produce your thumbnail, think about what you want to say in your painting. If you do not know what you are trying to communicate, it makes it hard to know when to stop.

Having completed my thumbnail, I decided to crop in closer to the iguana. As you can see, my sketch is not a thing of beauty; it really is a working doodle.

Demonstration: Green Iguana

Reference photo (available from Pixabay)

Begin with a light pencil guideline before reaching for the pen.

Then using the finest pen (0.1mm), begin at the centre of interest and work outwards.

Use a continuous-line technique in places to retain a fresh feel to the lines.

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Top Tip

You don’t need to draw every scale but rather to capture the feel of the skin.

1. Continue in the same way with the rest of the body, trying to leave out anything too specific on the furthest parts of the lizard. Fight the temptation to include too much close-up detail.

2. When you are sure the pen is dry, rub out the guidelines.

Top Tip

Even pens that promise to dry instantly can smudge so be careful!

Take a thicker pen (0.8mm) and begin to add more detail, strengthening lines on the head and front legs to bring them forward.

Top Tip

Be sure to stop too soon rather than too late, you can always add more ink after the colour has gone on.

Now comes the fun part of adding the colour.

Begin working wet-up-to-wet without paying too much attention to the lines.

Be careful to leave flashes of the white paper.

Use a small spray bottle to soften edges in places.

Continue painting the lizard, trying to keep the strongest colours around the front legs and head, and dulling down the colours towards the back by adding more blue.

The finished painting

Green Iguana, pen and wash on Seawhite’s NOT watercolour paper, (42x42cm)

1. Use a blue wash to indicate the ledge and darken some areas to help the animal stand out.

2. Carry the shadow tone up into the animal to add layers of interest.

3. Add drops of paint to emphasise the draped legs.

4. To finish, strengthen the ink around the eye a little and add a few tiny spots and lines of white where highlights may have been lost.

This demonstration is adapted from a July 2019 issue of Leisure Painter. Enjoy endless inspiration with access to past and present issues of both Leisure Painter and The Artist magazines, plus exclusive video demos, tutorials and more, with our Studio Membership! Discover how you can join today.

Liz Chaderton writes regularly for Leisure Painter, hosts webinars for Painters Online and produces video tutorials for our Studio members. She also runs regular workshops near her home in Berkshire, visit www.lizchaderton.co.uk for details.

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