Black, White & Red

Today I want to show you how I colour black and white objects... and we'll throw in a little bit of red to keep things interesting. When colouring a black or a white object, the challenge is to get the right amount of shading and highlighting to create shape, without colouring the item grey.

Let's begin with the red. I usually apply a layer of the lightest colour to the entire image, keeping my pen strokes in the same direction / orientation as the image. For example, since I want a round balloon, my strokes are circular, following the outline of the balloon.

I like to add the darkest colour next and work my way back to the lightest, it seems easier to blend and to get the proportions correct. Keep the darkest shade to the lower portion of the balloon, and don't forget to add a little to the knot at the bottom.

Apply the next colour over the top of the darkest colour, blending them together where they meet. Take this second darkest colour a little further up the sides of the balloon, which will help to "shape" the image, giving it a spherical appearance. (Remember, dark colours recede and light colours come forward, so adding dark colours to the edges will "bend" the sides away creating the illusion of roundness).

Continue blending with the next colours, working further up the sides but keeping a circular shape in the centre, which is where our highlight will sit.

Finish your balloon by blending the lightest colour - the marker we began with - into the highlight area. You can use this same process for any colour you like, not just red. The basic technique is the same whether it's blue, yellow, purple, or red.

Now let's work on a black balloon. You'll want at least three shades of grey including a solid black, but you'll get a better result if you use five or six, depending on how large your image is. I'm using copic markers in 110, C8, C7, C6, and C5.

Start by applying a layer of your lightest colour in the same way as we did with the red balloon. Remember to follow the curve of the balloon.

Time to switch to the darkest colour. You might notice that I've used a lot more of the black than I did with the darkest red in this step. This is to ensure my balloon looks black rather than grey once I've finished. Generally, you'll want to fill more of the balloon with the darker colours while working up toward the highlight.

Blend in the next darkest colour, keeping that circular shape as you work. (I often skip the C9 as I don't find a lot of difference between it and the solid black.)

Blend the highlight with your lightest grey, the same one you began with.

Choose your markers for the white balloon. I'm using 0, C0, C1, C2, and C3.

Unlike the previous two balloons, we aren't starting with a base layer since our paper is already white. Instead, add your darkest grey to the bottom of the balloon, keeping the shadow very small. The challenge here is to bring our shadows gradually down to the white paper, leaving enough area uncoloured to form a highlight and to present the balloon as being white. 

Blend your next marker into the first. As you can see, I still haven't coloured a very large area.

Continue with the mid-tone marker, bringing the ink up the sides of the balloon to meet at the top. Notice how I still have a very large circle of blank white card in the centre of the balloon.

Continue blending with the lightest grey, keeping the white area quite large.

Now work the edges of the grey with the 0 blending marker. This will help to break up the pigment and blend the grey into the white area.

Here's the completed image:

Digital Stamps: