Markers Can Do This?! EASY watercolor trick!

In this step-by-step art lesson, students learn how to create a watercolor-style landscape using markers and water. This easy and engaging technique is perfect for elementary art class, beginner artists, and art teachers looking for a low-mess watercolor alternative.

This lesson focuses on foundational art concepts including landscape composition, foreground, middle ground, and background, value, and color theory. Students will plan their artwork using a thumbnail sketch, explore monochromatic and analogous color schemes, and learn how to control water to prevent muddy colors.

Using markers instead of traditional watercolor paint makes this project accessible, affordable, and ideal for 2nd–3rd grade art, homeschool art lessons, and classroom settings. The emphasis is on simple shapes, light layers, and the idea that less is more.


Lesson Steps

1. Quick Sketch
Students draw a simple landscape using foreground, middle ground, and background. The sketch is kept minimal with five lines or shapes or less to focus on composition.
2. Thumbnail Test
Students create a small thumbnail drawing and divide the paper in half to test their design before working larger.
3. Test Markers & Choose Colors
Students use either a monochromatic color scheme (one color, lighter and darker) or analogous colors (colors next to each other on the color wheel). Complementary colors are avoided to prevent muddy blending.
4. Add Water Carefully
Students use a paintbrush with a small amount of water to blend the marker. They learn that too much water causes bleeding and that marker should not be added again until the paper dries.
5. Final Artwork
Students recreate the design on a larger scale, working from the background to the foreground, using lighter values first and darker values last—just like traditional watercolor.


Materials Needed
• Pencil
• Watercolor paper
• Markers (washable)
• Paintbrush
• Water
• Paper towels or rags
• Tape (optional, to keep paper flat)

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Who This Lesson Is For
• Elementary art teachers
• Homeschool art
• 1st–5th grade students
• Beginner artists
• Art classrooms without watercolor paint


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#ElementaryArt
#MarkerWatercolor