Tutorial - Level Up Your Digital Stamps

Pre-coloured digital stamps are very handy when you need a quick card, but you can also use them as a base for other techniques, such as washy watercolours (if you have an ink jet printer), or sepia toned cards. Today I want to show you how to level up the colours, which is especially handy if your printer is like mine, and a bit miserly with the ink.

1. Print the pre-coloured images onto a sheet of cardstock. I used MSWord to resize and position all four of the images onto a panel for my card. You can use photo editing software if you prefer, and you can work with a single image if that works better with your design.

2. I'm going to apply gel pens over the top of some of the colours in the image. You don't have to recolour the whole thing to get a great result, instead, choose a couple of colours that appear in multiple places in your image, like accents. For example, I wouldn't choose blue as there are large areas that would require a lot of colour!

As you can see, adding a little bit of red has already brightened the entire panel.

Next is some gold and silver.

3. Use a white pen to add shine and highlights, particularly on the edges and corners of metal objects, like my robot, and in the eyes of any characters.

4. To add dimension, use a couple of shades of grey to place shadows behind the image. Start with the darker grey and trace a line around the outside of the image, then soften with a lighter grey. For the best result, only add a shadow on two sides of the image - for example, the right hand side and the bottom.

Here's a before and after...

Digital Stamps:

The Forest At Night

The pine trees from the Tree Scapes set make the perfect foreground for a beautiful night sky. I started by printing the image multiple times at various sizes and orientations to create a forest. After all the colouring was done, I added a little more ground to complete the scene.

Click on the link below to head over to the Beccy's Place YouTube

channel to watch see how the night sky was coloured:

The Forest At Night Video Tutorial

Stamps:

Top-Up The Colour

Using pre-coloured digital stamps is a great way to create quick cards, but don't forget that you can add extra touches to the images, such as boosting the colours with pencils and markers. This can be especially useful if your printer doesn't produce nice bright colours and deep shadows.

I printed the coloured version of the Good Friends digital stamp and then added some additional colour with my alcohol markers and coloured pencils, with most of the focus on deepening shadows and grounding the figures.

Stamps:

Hocus Pocus

I really enjoyed colouring the background of this image. Instead of carefully blending the shades of grey marker, I tried to keep them quite mottled, which to me, looks rather like an old oil painting. I can just imagine this little collection of bottles sitting on a dusty, long-forgotten shelf in a creepy apothecary somewhere.

Stamps:

Colouring The Candles

The technique for getting lots of depth and dimension in your projects is to colour in layers. When we colour, we're actually attempting to make a flat, two dimensional object appear as if it has three dimensions by adding highlights and shadows. Simply speaking, dark colours recede and light colours advance... this is the push and pull of colour.

I started by printing the five candles in a light grey ink, which will blend in as I apply colour. I've base coated my candle in the lightest blue I'm using for this project. Don't apply too much pressure to the pencil or you'll end up burnishing your project, which will prevent any further colour application. (NOTE: A burnished surface will be shiny and won't successfully take further colour)

With the same pencil I'm adding a little more pigment to the right and left sides of the image. As I work toward the middle of the candle, I reduce the pressure until my pencil is barely touching the surface of the paper. This is how you achieve the variation of colour intensity.

Do the same again at the top and bottom of the section you're colouring. The centre should be light where you've gently feathered the colour out. This will form a high point on the surface of the candle that will appear to come forward. We are starting to give the image some shape.

Repeat those steps in each section of the candle using the same pencil. Remember not to apply too much pressure as we still have lots more colour to add.

Using a darker tone, gently apply colour in the crease between each section of the candle. Start on the line and gently reduce pressure as you move up toward the centre, then go back to the line and gently work down. This is a very narrow area we're colouring, you don't want to completely cover the first layer of blue. Allow the darker shade to curve upward at the edges of the image, following the lines.

Repeat for each section of the candle, including the very bottom where you will only work upward.

Now we're introducing a grey. This will tone and darken the shadow areas where there is less light, tricking the eye into believing those areas recede.

By darkening the lines of the image, our eyes tell us that there are creases along the length of the candle.

Repeat along all the centre lines, remembering to gently reduce the pressure as you colour away from the line. Apart from on the boundary of the image, none of your colouring should have very defined, straight edges.

Add a little black pencil to the candle wick, applying less pressure in the area where it meets the flame.

Colour the flame with a mid yellow, remembering not to apply to much pressure to the pencil.

Using your lightest yellow, apply colour at the bottom of the flame and gently reduce pressure as you work your way upward.

Now use a darker yellow, or a light orange, at the top of the flame and gently work your way down. The colours should blend nicely, but each should still be visible.

Apply the darkest orange to the very tip of the flame, blending it with the dark yellow.

Use your mid yellow to add a glow around the flame. Start colouring up against the flame and work your way outward in a circle, reducing pressure on the pencil as you colour until you're applying the lightest pressure possible.

Use the darker yellow to add some highlights on the candle itself. Again, make sure you gently release the pressure as you colour so you don't end up with sharp lines.

I used a white pencil to add some dots to my candle. If you want to add decoration, remember to continue it around the side of the object with some parts hidden from view. As you can see, I've added some half circles at the edges of the candle. This strengthens the illusion that the candle is rounded rather than flat.

You might have heard the term "anchoring the image". This basically means creating a relationship between the item you're colouring and the space around it. Without an "anchor" our object is simply floating around without an obvious up or down. We need to give it a place to exist, and the easiest way to do that is to add a little shadow underneath, which I did with a dark grey pencil. Now our candle is complete.

Time to repeat the process for each of the other candles. Start with a basecoat and darken the edges of each section with the same pencil...

... add a darker shade in each crease to help shape the image...

... add some shadow areas to deepen the creases in the candle...

... colour the flame and the glow, remembering to gently release the pressure on the pencil...

... add some decoration...

... anchor the image in space.

Now repeat the technique for each of the remaining candles and you have a completely coloured image.

Stamps: