Creative exercises
Draw an icon family in Aquarell: consistent sizes, lines and colours
Use a leaf, cup and flower to establish shared canvas, visual-size and colour rules, so three separate drawings feel like one family.
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An icon family feels coherent through shared rules, not merely equal image sizes. Aquarell brushes and layers can make hand-drawn icons for blog sections, personal notes or small cards. A leaf, cup and flower provide a practice icon family.
Aim for recognisable icons with similar visual weight side by side. These are pixel-based drawings; strict vector paths or unrestricted size editing call for a vector tool.
1. Write down the family rules
Use 1000 × 1000 pixel transparent canvases and three to five fixed colours. Keep subjects approximately within a central 700 × 700 area, leaving space around them. This is a composition reference, not an automatically generated app grid.
Choose a line style: clear outlines or recognition mainly through colour areas. Use one approach for the first family rather than a finely realistic leaf, thick black cup and outline-free watercolour flower. Consistent style gives later settings a basis for comparison.
2. Establish line scale with the first icon
Begin with the familiar leaf. Try an approximately 12-pixel outline, adjusting to the tip’s actual behaviour. Judge line width relative to the subject, not the number alone. Soft-edged brushes look lighter than solid brushes at the same size.
After sketching the leaf, view it at about 120 pixels wide. Check its tip and main vein. If internal details disappear, simplify before colouring rather than reworking all three later.
3. Draw the cup and flower with the same rules
Keep separate canvases or native originals. A cup is more rectangular than a leaf and may look heavier at equal bounds; reduce its body slightly and leave room for the handle. A flower’s open contour may need more size to balance it.
Compare visually rather than forcing every object into the same rectangle. Place export previews side by side in a note or webpage draft, then adjust originals. This uses ordinary canvases and does not claim a dedicated batch icon-layout feature.
4. Connect the drawings with a shared palette
Share at least the main colour, dark details and one accent. For example, use gray-green for the leaf, gray-green and cream for the cup, cream with a little orange for the flower, and dark brown for structural lines throughout.
Colour roles can stay consistent across subjects. Do not let an accent dominate one icon but nearly vanish from the others. A lower-saturation main colour with small accents can provide balanced variation.
5. Match detail density and edge treatment
Three to five leaf veins are enough. Keep the cup rim, handle and one shadow, and the flower centre with a few petal marks. Retain only details useful at reduced size, so one icon does not become a full illustration while the others remain sketches.
Check edge thickness and transparent transitions. If one drawing has soft texture while the others are hard-edged, adjust the brush or reduce local texture. Consistency means keeping variation within one range, not removing every hand-drawn difference.
Final check: test the real use case
Compare them first on white, then check transparent edges on dark. Ensure no unexpected white square remains and no fine lines vanish. For blog buttons, check that accompanying text explains their purpose rather than making everyone guess from icons.
Judge the visual centre at final display size. A tilted leaf or cup handle may pull the weight sideways; adjust the originals rather than hiding inconsistent margins with forced webpage cropping.
Export and organise files
Export separate transparent PNGs with clear filenames, such as leaf-1000.png, cup-1000.png, flower-1000.png. The dimensions in filenames must match actual exported pixels, not merely the initial 1000-pixel canvas.
Save each native project and a family-rules note. Before drawing a fourth icon, compare line width, subject bounds, colour roles and detail count. The family can then expand without guessing its style from memory.
Keep a rules page for the icon family
Save a separate rules page with colour swatches, line-width samples and the three previews, marked as your working reference. Compare new icons beside it for outline weight and space. Weeks later, you will not need to guess the style or revise every icon already in use.
Questions and limitations
Why do icons look different in size on equal-sized canvases?
Outline shape, empty space, dark area and tilt affect visual weight. Inspect the actual subject bounds and compare side by side, not merely canvas numbers.
Can a PNG be used as a logo at any size?
PNG has fixed pixel dimensions and reveals pixels when enlarged excessively. It suits small fixed-size icons; editable vector logos or larger outputs require a workflow chosen for that purpose.
Must every setting match the first drawing exactly?
No. Equal brush sizes are only a starting point; different shapes may need small adjustments. Preserve visual rules rather than copying numbers mechanically, without changing every rule arbitrarily for one image.
How do I check an icon for a dark page?
Place the actual exported PNG on a dark background to inspect edges and details. Viewing on a white canvas is not a substitute; pale transparency fringes are easier to find after changing backgrounds.
Sources and applicable version
Information checked on October 22, 2026, for Aquarell 1.0.5 (iOS / iPadOS 15.0 or later). See the official description and Apple release lookup; the interface may change with the version.