Balloons scrubbed round with the side of the tip4 pens. Each balloon is one round scrub. Use only the point of the pen for the strings.
Bamboo in flat pushed segments2 pens. Push the tip flat for each segment and leave a hair of white paper at every joint.
Bunting of pressed triangles on a tip line4 pens. One thin line across with the tip, then a pressed triangle hanging from it in each colour.
Daisies from short curved strokes around a dot3 pens. Dot the middle and pull short curved strokes outward around it, turning the page as you go.
Feather flicked out from a tip-drawn shaft2 pens. Draw the shaft with the very tip, then flick strokes out from it, lifting as you go.
Fern built from press-and-lift strokes1 pen. Press the side of the tip down and lift to a point for each leaflet, working up the stem.
Fish from two crossing curves and a dot2 pens. One fat curve for the back and one for the belly, crossing at the tail. Dot the eye.
Show all 70 ideas (63 more)
Straight from the pen, continued
Garland of single-press leaves3 pens. One press and lift per leaf along a wavy line. Change to the next green every third leaf.
Page border of pressed dashes and tip dots2 pens. Alternate a pressed dash with a dot from the tip, all the way around. Keep the gaps even.
Songbird in five strokes3 pens. Body, wing, tail, head and beak get one stroke each. Do not go back over any of them.
Tulips in two pressed strokes each2 pens. Two curved presses make the cup. One thin upstroke of green is the stem.
Wind-blown grass in single flicks2 pens. Quick upward flicks that all lean one way. Start heavy at the root and lift off.
Wreath of small pressed leaves and dot berries3 pens. Pencil a faint circle. The leaves all point one way around it, and berries are single dots.
Your name in thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes1 pen. Press on every downstroke and lighten on every upstroke. Keep one slant throughout.
Pull it out with water 14
Balloon with the shine left dry1 pen. Draw the outline thick, wet from it toward the middle, and stop short of the shine.
Breaking wave pulled back from a dark line2 pens. A dark line under the crest, pulled down and back with a damp brush. The foam is bare paper.
Fan shell with each rib faded toward the next2 pens. One line along each ridge, wetted toward the next, so every band fades the same way.
Grapes ringed, then wetted inside the rings2 pens. Ring each grape, wet inside the ring, and let neighbours touch a little.
Lake fed by colour pulled off the far shore3 pens. Colour the far shore, wet it downward into the lake, and stop where the near shore begins.
Leaf with colour drifting in from edge and midrib2 pens. Draw the edge and the midrib, then wet between them so the colour drifts inward.
Lit pane in a wall pulled outward2 pens. Draw the frame thick in the dark pen and pull it outward. Fill the pane with the pale one.
Pear coloured from one edge only2 pens. Colour just the left edge, then pull it across with clean water so the right side stays pale.
Plum wetted in from a violet edge2 pens. Violet around the edge, wetted inward. Touch blue into the damp middle.
Ridges faded downward with water1 pen. One line along each ridge, pulled down with water until it fades to nothing.
Sea glass wetted inward from a heavy edge3 pens. Outline each piece heavily on one side and wet inward. Leave a bare glint in each.
Storm cloud pulled up from its base1 pen. Scribble along the bottom of the cloud only and pull the colour upward with water.
Sunset pulled down from three stripes3 pens. Lay a stripe of each along the top of its band and drag it down with a damp brush.
Treetop of dabs half melted with water2 pens. Dab marks for the leaves, then touch each clump with water so half the marks melt.
Let two colours meet 14
Beetle shell with two colours meeting2 pens. Wet the shell and touch in green and violet at opposite ends. Legs with the dry tip.
Campfire flames from yellow up to red3 pens. Wet the flame shape. Yellow at the base, orange, then red at the tips, each touching the last.
Chameleon shifting colour along its back3 pens. Wet the body. Green at the head, yellow in the middle, blue at the tail, touching while damp.
Day sky meeting night sky on wet paper2 pens. Wet the page. Blue from the top, violet from the bottom, left to meet on their own.
Fall leaf where two halves run together3 pens. Colour one half of the leaf in each of two pens and wet the join so one runs into the other.
Galaxy from colours touched into wet paper3 pens. Wet the paper first, touch in each colour, and let them run together. Stars are bare dots.
Hummingbird with a throat that bleeds into green3 pens. Wet the body, touch green on the back and red at the throat. Wings are single dry strokes.
Koi whose patches spread on a wet body2 pens. Orange patches on a wetted fish shape. Where they spread into the pale body, leave them.
Nectarine with red creeping across wet yellow2 pens. Yellow all over and wetted. Touch red onto one side and watch it creep across.
Northern lights drifting on a tilted page3 pens. Wet the sky, stroke green and violet upward, and tilt the page so they drift.
Pansy with violet meeting yellow mid-petal3 pens. Wet each petal. Violet at the edge, yellow at the middle, meeting halfway.
Soap bubble ringed with three pale colours3 pens. Wet a ring, touch in three colours around it, and leave the middle and one glint bare.
Tie-dye shirt with feathering rings4 pens. Wet the shirt shape, drop in rings of colour, and let the edges feather together.
Two-flavour ice pop with a mixed drip2 pens. Two colours side by side on wet paper. The drip at the bottom is where they mixed.
Pick it up from a palette 14
A green you do not own, mixed on the lid2 pens. Scribble yellow and blue side by side, blend them with the brush, and paint a leaf.
Cloud undersides painted from a plastic lid1 pen. Scribble grey on a plastic lid, pick it up with a wet brush, and paint only the undersides.
Far hills from one scribble and more water1 pen. One scribble on the lid. Add more water for each hill farther back.
Fog bank in three watered layers2 pens. Several very pale layers from the lid, each left to dry. The boat is one dark stroke.
Glass of water in the palest lid wash1 pen. The palest blue from the lid for the waterline and the shadow. The rest is paper.
Mugs from the pen with shadows from the lid2 pens. Take watered grey from the lid for the shadows. The mugs are drawn straight from the pen.
Onion skin in thin lifted brown2 pens. Thin brown from the lid in curved strokes that follow the bulb. Add the roots with the tip.
Pale lid-wash sky behind pen-drawn trees2 pens. Wash the sky from the lid first. When it is dry, draw the trees with the pen's point.
Rainy window with drops touched in damp2 pens. A pale grey wash from the lid. While it is damp, touch in darker drops with the pen tip.
Sand dunes from a wash mixed of two pens2 pens. Mix a sandy wash on the lid. Paint each dune paler than the one in front of it.
Snowman shaded with watered blue3 pens. Watered blue from the lid down one side of each ball. Hat and nose straight from the pens.
Soft colour patch with lettering over it2 pens. Paint a soft patch from the lid, dry it, then letter over it with the pen itself.
Three eggs in barely tinted washes3 pens. Water each colour down until it hardly tints the brush. One stroke per egg.
White cat made of grey lid-wash shadows2 pens. Paint only the shadows in watered grey. The eyes come straight from the green pen.
Line first, colour after 14
Cactus with spines inked after the green dries2 pens. Colour first this time. Ink the spines last, once the green has dried, so they stay sharp.
Front door coloured solid inside an inked frame3 pens. Ink the panels and the mail slot. Colour the door solid and leave the frame white.
Fruit crates with one dab per fruit5 pens. Ink the crates. Drop one dab of colour in each fruit and do not fill the outlines.
Houseplant inked first, coloured second2 pens. Ink the pot and stems. One green for leaves and one colour for the pot, each pulled out with water.
Napping dog in one ink line under one wash2 pens. One unbroken ink line, then a single warm wash over the whole body.
Noodle bowl with a one-wash broth3 pens. Ink the bowl and chopsticks. The broth is one wash, and the toppings are single dabs.
Parked bicycle over one loose patch of colour3 pens. Ink the frame and wheels with care, then put one loose patch of colour behind it all.
Rain boots with colour pulled down from the tops2 pens. Ink the outline, then pull the colour down from the tops so the toes are palest.
Robin with red pulled outward from the breast3 pens. Ink the bird and its perch. Red pulled outward on the breast, a brown wash on the back.
Sailboat with blue pulled along its waterline3 pens. Ink the hull and mast. Blue is pulled along under the boat, and yellow is the low sun.
Stack of books in flat colour between ink lines4 pens. Ink the spines freehand. One flat colour per book, with no blending.
Street corner in waterproof line and loose colour4 pens. Draw it in waterproof ink first. Add the colour loosely and let it miss the lines.
Teacup with only its shadow side coloured2 pens. Ink line first. Colour only the shadow side and the tea, and leave the rest white.
Windmill with sky pulled down and grass pulled up3 pens. Ink the sails and the door. Sky comes down from the top edge, grass up from the bottom.
How this list was compiled: Original list written for Draw This Next on 2026-09-30: 70 subjects chosen for what a water-based brush pen does that a marker and a pan of paint do not, in five groups by what the pen and the water do (straight from the pen, pull it out with water, let two colors meet, pick it up from a palette, line first and color after), with an Easy group for ideas that take two pens or fewer. Each hint opens with the count of pens and then names the move. Kept apart from things-to-draw-with-markers, watercolor-painting-ideas and watercolor-pencil-drawing-ideas; no item repeats a title from any other list on the site. No maker or range of pens is named. How the medium behaves was checked on 2026-09-30 in a pen maker's own how-to page (water-based ink, a flexible tip whose line thickens with pressure, color rubbed onto a palette and picked up with a water brush, colors that mix and spread on paper wetted first, a gradient from touching two tips, watercolor paper), https://arteza.com/blogs/articles/how-to-use-real-brush-pens; in a general how-to (ink pulled out with a water brush before it dries to a lighter shade, a second color pulled into the first, heavy paper, more pressure on downstrokes for lettering), https://www.wikihow.com/Use-Watercolor-Brush-Pens; and, for washes, wet-on-wet and layering, in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Watercolor_painting. Licence: own work
How it works
Not sure what to draw with watercolor brush pens? These ideas are sorted by what the pen and the water do. Each gives the number of pens, then the move. Easy holds the ones that need two pens or fewer.
Read the full guide
Three moves on the paper
Straight from the pen uses the tip alone: press for a thick stroke, lift for a thin one. Pull it out with water drags fresh ink into a pale wash with a damp brush. Let two colours meet works on paper wetted first, where colours spread into each other.
What to draw with watercolor pens when you want it pale
Pick it up from a palette is the answer: rub the pen on a plastic lid and lift the ink with a wet brush. The colour comes out lighter, which suits skies, shadows and fog. Line first, colour after starts with a waterproof ink line and puts loose colour over it.
Bring the water in before the ink dries.
Use watercolor paper or heavy cardstock. These pens are a wet medium.
Go light on the tip. Pressing hard can damage the brush.
Questions and answers
What is a watercolor brush pen?
A pen with a flexible brush tip and water-based ink. Used alone it draws thick and thin strokes like a marker. Touched with a wet brush, the ink spreads and pales the way watercolor does.
What are easy things to draw with them?
Leaves and petals, because one press and lift makes the shape. The Easy group keeps to two pens or fewer: tulips in two pressed strokes each, a balloon with the shine left dry.
Do I need a water brush?
Any soft brush and a cup of water will pull the ink out. A water brush holds its own water in a hollow handle, which is handy away from a table.
How is this different from things to draw with markers?
Things to draw with markers are for flat colour, alcohol blends and paint markers, none of them moved with water. Every idea here uses the brush tip or water.