Watercolor Ghost Art with Markers

Make a simple piece of not-so-spooky artwork by using markers to create a watercolor effect. It’s easy to do and you’ll love giving each ghost its own unique facial expression. Let’s get started.

Image is a collage of photos showing watercolor ghost art, intended for Pinterest.

Table of Contents + show

How to Make Watercolor Ghost Art

This project only requires a few basic materials. I recommend the Tombow products listed below for best results, but in a pinch, you can use any water-based markers for the watercolor effect.

Materials:

Tombow Dual Brush Pens (I used 243, 620, and 873)
Tombow MONO Drawing Pen 05
Tombow Water Brush
Bristol Board or Hot Press Watercolor Paper
Plastic baggie or other non-absorbent surface

Image contains an open sketchbook with nine pastel colored ghosts drawn on the top page. Each has a different facial expression. A MONO Drawing Pen sits above the sketchbook, and three Dual Brush Pens (orange, green, and purple) sit off to the right.

Instructions

Scribble one of your Dual Brush Pens onto the non-absorbent surface.

This will cause the ink to form into droplets/small puddles.

Pick up ink with the tip of your filled water brush.

Video is a time lapse view of Amy creating the watercolor artwork.

Paint a variety of ghost bodies.

These are just upside down “u” shapes with a wavy bottom. You can experiment with making them tall, short, wide, thin, etc. for variety.

Repeat with your other colors.

I did three rows of three ghosts each, with one of each color ghost per row. Let them dry completely before moving on to the next step.

Image contains nine cartoon sketches of ghosts, each with a different facial expression.

Use the MONO Drawing Pen to trace the outlines and add faces.

Play around with different facial expressions to make each one unique. Try large eyes, small eyes, and all kinds of mouths.

Image contains an open sketch book with nine pastel colored ghosts drawn on the page. A black drawing pen sits above it on a white table with a piece of black and white polka dot fabric.

That’s all there is to it! Your painting is finished and ready to frame.

Art Tips

The darker the marker you choose, the darker and more colorful your ghosts will be. I chose pastel colors so mine were light and almost transparent, but you can also use darker colors if you prefer.
Try this project on a canvas instead of Bristol Board for a project that’s immediately ready to hang and display.
For a 3-D piece of artwork, add googly eyes to your ghosts instead of just drawing the faces!

Image shows nine ghost doodles in pastel colors, outlined with black marker. Each has a unique facial expression.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I clean my water brush between colors?

Just run the brush tip over a piece of scrap paper until the water runs clear instead of colored. Even if there is a bit of staining left on the tip, if the water is clear, you can switch to the next color.

What kind of non-absorbent surfaces do you recommend for collecting the ink?

I often just use a plastic sandwich baggie. You can also use things like a laminated piece of card stock, the plastic packaging that your markers came in, or a plastic paint palette.