Going deep with indigo

I love indigo¹, in all its moody darkness, but let’s look at some other ways we can work with this cool blue hue.

Mix the dreamiest greens you’ve ever seen.

Yellow and indigo combine to create magical greens like what you’re seeing behind the lions below.

Liquid watercolors in yellow, red, and indigo.

Create chromatic blacks

Layer liquid watercolor or ink on top of orange to create stunning chromatic black that’s more original than anything you’ll find in a bottle.

I drew this in our Unlikely Friends Animal Game session

Mute it and dilute it

I muted indigo with white gouache to start the coffee shop sketch, then went full intensity for the dark areas. Aren’t the textures delicious?

An Inktense Block in Deep Indigo / Dark Indigo Graphitint pencil

Indigo in action:

In the video, watch how I build layers of liquid watercolor to create the owl illustration below. I also swatch and compare several indigo materials, and how I mix it from primaries.

More fun ways to explore indigo:

• Draw an Insect Tea Party

• Sketch some snow globes and use indigo as your background (too early?)

• Play the Unlikely Friends Animal Drawing Game

• Get meditative and sketch a manatee slowly

Favorites