There are lots of happy accidents when it comes to creative work.

In this post, I’ll show you how to create a unique, moody watercolor calligraphy look that’s blended with liquid link.

I’m not sure how I originally came across this idea, but one day I had my inking set of Pentel Aquash water brushes out along with a watercolor palette, and I decided to dip the tip of my ink brush into the watercolor and try doing brush lettering that way.

I loved the results and wanted to share with you how I achieve this effect!

I truly love how it looks. The blending in the calligraphy occurs naturally between the ink and the watercolor because of the water brush filled with ink.

Materials Needed for a Watercolor Calligraphy + Ink Effect

To achieve this calligraphy effect, you need a water brush pen filled with semi-transparent black ink.

This is one time where you don’t want a really saturated, dark black ink; you want the watercolor pigment to be able to shine through!

Here are the materials I use. You can certainly try this with different supplies.

• Pentel Aquash Water Brush filled with Higgins Eternal Black Ink
• Card stock
• Watercolor palette
• Regular round watercolor paint brush or Aquash filled with water
• Mixing palette
• Painting rags

It’s important to pull your watercolor into a mixing palette for this effect because you don’t want to dip your ink brush pen directly into your watercolor pans.

Mixing and Blending Watercolor with Ink for Modern Calligraphy

It’s simple from here!

You’ll want to use a clean watercolor brush or water brush to pull watercolor pigment into a mixing palette, that way you won’t get your palette filled with black ink.

Next, take your water brush filled with ink and use it to pick up the watercolor from your mixing palette. Then, go ahead and do your watercolor calligraphy or brush lettering as normal.

The color will automatically blend from watercolor to ink. The more you dip your calligraphy brush back into the watercolor, the more colorful your lettering will be.

Here’s the video tutorial: