A neon blue illustration of a whimsical, childlike character with a rounded body, simple facial features, curly antennae, flower-like arms, and oval-shaped feet against a black background.

Attempting the Glow Effect

Have you seen those reels where artists do a simple drawing in white paint pen, then outline it and make it look like a really cool neon effect?

Like this one by NashVibes Art


Or this one, by Gaspi Mendoza

 
The process looks fairly simple: white drawing on black paper, outline with a light version of a colour, then again with a darker version of that colour. 

So that's what I did.

A set of acrylic paint markers in various colors lies next to a small black canvas with a glowing blue doodle of a cute creature with antennas, round eyes, and short legs. With two uncapped markers resting between the set and the canvas.



Except it didn't look quite right.  It's okay I guess, but I wanted to do better.  Maybe the white wasn't thick or consistent enough?  Maybe the blues weren't contrasting enough?  So I got out some more paint pens.

A black piece of paper with a blue and white drawing of a cute robot-like creature. Next to it are three wavy lines drawn in blue and white, giving a subtle neon effect. On the right side, there is a black marker and a blue-capped marker partially in view.



Even if I accepted the neon bit, I couldn't get over the messy white line.  So I tried drawing the colours first, then doing the white afterwards. 

Then I switched colours and spent some time experimenting with different line thicknesses and methods.

A black square canvas features various hand-drawn shapes in blue, purple, and white, including a blue, cartoon-like character with antennae, abstract squiggles, hearts, spirals, lightning bolts, and wavy lines. The bottom-left corner has text reading "Take 2."



Then I did even more doodling and swatching. 

A black sheet of paper with purple and white drawings exhibits a striking neon effect. Three outlined hearts of varying sizes adorn the upper half, while two arch shapes rest at the bottom.



Now, that one on the bottom right there. the arc?  There are two things I like about it.  The nice consistent white line (even if it is a little thin), and the pencil halo.

That's the trick!

When you look at a lot of those videos, they don't show themselves using any pencil.  But in some of them you can pause on the final image and see a pencil halo.  And in this one by Celyn Haf, you can actually see the pencil being added. 


So that's what I did.  I drew my image in a light coloured paint pen - in this case purple.  Then I outlined it in a darker purple.  Then I added a halo in pencil.  And finally, a thin white core.

A drawing of a cute, rounded creature outlined in white with a neon effect glowing purple. It has antennae, circular eyes, a smiling mouth, and limbs resembling rounded rectangles. The background is black, and the signature "CH 6/1/24" is penned in the bottom right corner.



It's not perfect, but I was happy to call this experiment concluded.

--

Now you'll notice that the dates on these art pieces are way back in January.  This is because I have a bad habit of doing blog projects and not writing the blogs for months (sometimes even years).  I'm writing this post in August and I thought I'd have another go at this glow neon effect. 

Except that it didn't go too well.

A sketch of a cute, cartoon-like creature on black paper. The creature has a rounded body, antler-like protrusions on top of its head, simple oval eyes, and a smiling mouth with a blue tongue sticking out. It has small ears on the sides and simple, rounded arms and feet. Two colorful question marks, one in blue and white and another in light blue and gray, are drawn below the creature, adding a playful touch.



I did manage to narrow down a white pen I like, and two blues. 

Three markers lie on top of a black spiral-bound notebook. From left to right, they are a blue Spectrum Noir marker, a multi-colored Posca marker with a neon effect, and a white Spectrum Noir acrylic paint marker. All markers have their caps on.



I even established that drawing a monster was a waste of time.  I'd just do something abstract. 

A black spiral-bound notebook features a single blue and white curvy line drawn with a marker.



Okay maybe not.  I'm not the steadiest when following lines by hand.  I HATE inking sketches I've done traditionally - what on earth made me think this would be easy?

I tried some straight lines.

A triangle is drawn on a black surface with three layers of lines in varying shades of blue. The innermost line, made with a white paint pen, is surrounded by light blue and the outermost line is dark blue, creating a gradient effect.



Also nope.  I was ready to give up.  But I wanted to prove that the neon thing worked.  So I grabbed my iPad. 

A glowing neon outline of a cute, cartoonish character with a rounded body and two curly antennae. It has simple oval eyes and a smiling mouth. The character's arms resemble flower petals, and it has rounded feet. The entire outline glows in bright blue against a black background, giving a cheerful and modern neon sign appearance.



I just used it as a canvas - no fancy digital art editing or anything.  All I did that I couldn't have done with paper and pen, was use layers.  Look, I even downloaded the time lapse for proof.



And it doesn't look too bad.  But the unsteadyness of the lines did annoy me a little, so I went full digital.  Outline tools and gaussian blur and everything.



And now I'm accepting that I'll never get the neon thing down and moving on.


 

 

Back to blog

Leave a comment