The last couple of days I have been busy with drawings of cupcakes and macarons. They are becoming hugely popular as a form of decorative art for newborns and little girls bedrooms. They are fun, quick and easy to draw. The only downside is they leave me craving cupcakes and macarons!

I do the initial drawing lightly in pencil and then use Faber Castell’s Albrecht Durer’s watercolour pencil crayons to build the shape of the cupcake or macaron. I treat it with layers of different coloured pencil much like would were I using normal pencil crayons. I then do a wash of water over the pencil crayon with a brush with a water reservoir. I will also layer some of the darker areas by picking up pigment from the pencil crayon with the brush and layering further to create a bit more depth and contrast.

I love water brushes for this type of work! A water brush is a reservoir of water attached to a brush. Water flow is controlled by a small plastic feed and can be increased by squeezing the barrel. I love their portability, they can be filled from any source, and remove the need for open water containers, which for me is vital as I am incredibly clumsy. If I am not knocking water over my work, I am rescuing my art work from the cat splashing it with water, or in my absent minded concentration I am drinking from my water container instead of from my cooldrink glass. And the best of all for a lazy artist like myself, they clean themselves through use.

A waterbrush is unlike any other brush. It consists of a bunch of bristles at the one end, and a container or reservoir designed to hold water at the other end. The two bits screw together, and the clip-on cap stops the water leaking out when you’re not using the brush, much like a fountain pen.

As you use the waterbrush, water gradually seeps down from the reservoir onto the bristles. This means the brush bristles are permanently moist or damp. If I need a bit more water I just squeeze the reservoir. That way I can control the quantity of water needed for creating various washes. I find them perfect for the watercolour pencil medium.