Adding Detail

Do you background?

I often see beautiful cards that feature a wonderful stamped and coloured background that coordinates perfectly with the focal image. Oftentimes, it's achieved with masking or fussy cutting to add extra elements. I tend not to add much of a background to my cards, even though I love how it looks (pure laziness, I think), but today I decided to flex my creative muscles a little further than normal.

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By The Seaside

A squidgy octopus isn't usually my first choice when it comes to card making, but there are a few people in my life who absolutely love them, and their seaside environment. I guess their intelligence and unique appearance kind of make up for their lack of cuteness and cuddliness... although I, for one, would rather have a puppy!

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Tutorial - Colouring Florals

Starting with a coloured background is a fun and interesting way to create cards. For the best effect, coloured pencils are my go to medium since the pigment sits on the surface of the paper, but you could opt for acrylic paints or oxide inks if you prefer.

1. Start by stamping and embossing an image and sentiment onto coloured cardstock, then choose a couple of lighter, but coordinating pencil shades. I used gold embossing powder on a deep jade colour.

2. To help the other colours pop, and to create lots of lovely contrast, add a light layer of white pencil to the entire image. We're colouring purely for decorative effect, so don't worry about highlights and shadows with this particular tutorial.

3. I want the centre of my flowers to be white, so I'm adding another layer of white near the base of each petal. To help blend the colours together, "flick" the pencil from the centre out toward the edge of the petal. Don't try to create straight lines between the different coloured pencils as that makes blending more difficult.

4. Add a mid tone to the centre of each petal, blending with the white.

5. Add your darkest colour at the edges, flicking the colour from the edge back toward the centre.

6. If desired, strengthen the white a little more.

7. To colour the leaves, I'm adding my darkest colour at the base of each, the mid-colour in the centre and then white at the very tip. Blend the pencils together by adding light layers of colour rather than one heavy application.

8. Adding a shadow will help "lift" the image from the background creating the illusion of depth. This can be done with your coloured pencils, but I prefer to use markers in various shades of grey. The darkest grey will be closest to the image and then I'll blend the tones outward to soften the edges of the shadow.

9. To create a convincing shadow, only add colour to two of the four sides (top, bottom, left and right). I chose the bottom and right-hand side. I also added a very thin, single line of shadow to my sentiment.

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Cut Sheets, Stamps and Dies II

Continuing on from our earlier tutorial about using the coordinating cut sheets, stamps and dies, I have another technique idea for you. This time we're going to colour over the top of the cut sheets with either pencils, which I'm using, or markers. With this technique, you can enhance, darken, or lighten the pre-coloured images, or even change them completely!

I've opted to enhance and darken the images, so I'm using pencils that are close to the same colour but darker by a few shades, plus little hints of black to deepen those shadows and create a stronger contrast.

Here they are all coloured. As you can see, the pencil leaves added texture on the paper. If you prefer a smoother finish, you can either use markers or blend out the pencil with wax or oil depending on the type of pencils you're using.

A comparison...

Here's a birthday card made with the colour-enhanced images.

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Seasonal Gates

I've coloured the Spring, Summer, and Autumn seasonal gates using a combination of alcohol markers and coloured pencils. Adding the pencil helps to bring back some of the details that get lost during the colouring process, particularly when you're completing a "no-line" project. I've included the before and after photos for each of the three images below. Now all that's left is to make them into cards...

markers only                                                          markers + pencil

Digital Stamps:

Winter Gate + timelapse

I started out with the intention of creating a monochromatic card, but as often happens, once the colouring was done I decided to transform the image into a night scene. You can see the process in the timelapse video below (the link will take you to my YouTube channel).

Here's a timelapse video of the image being coloured:

TIMELAPSE

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Tutorial - Colouring A Shaggy Coat

Today I want to show you how to colour the hair on a shaggy dog. In my example I've used black pencil, but you can switch it out for whatever colour you'd like your pooch to be.

1. Start by printing (or stamping) your image onto a piece of white cardstock, then begin adding the first layer of colour. It's important to colour in the direction of the hair growth, for example, the hair in his ears grows up toward the tip of the ear.

2. Now add in the darkest area of colour, which will be inside the ear. Again, make sure you follow the direction of hair growth. Keep your pencil quite sharp so that the individual strokes are visible.

3. Add more pencil strokes coming out from the darkest area. As you work outward, allow the strokes to become further apart so that "gaps" start to appear. These will naturally lighten the area.

4. As you get to the lightest area, apply less pressure to the pencil as well as keeping the strokes further apart.

5. Now apply a base layer of pencil to the face. In general, dog fur grows outward from the nose, so that's how you'll want to colour.

6. Add in the darkest areas of colour - around the eyes, which helps to sink them into the skull and prevent bulging, below the nose and around the back and bottom of the muzzle.

7. Now add in the mid strokes working through to the lightest pencil strokes at the top of the head and muzzle.

8. If you wish, you can use your black pencil to add more shading to the dark areas. You can do this in the traditional way or with short, dark lines. I've added more shading around his muzzle to help separate and distinguish it from the rest of the dog's head.

9. Add a light coat of pencil to the nose, then colour the nostrils black.

10. Shade from the bottom of the nose to about half way up, reducing the amount of pressure on the pencil so that the colour fades out. You don't want to use obvious pencil strokes on the nose as it has a smooth texture.

11. Complete the nose by shading in slightly from the top and each side. This will help to give the impression of shape. If you wish, you can add a little white pencil as a highlight.

12. Finish the dog's head by colouring his chin in the same manner as the rest of his fur.

13. Apply a layer of colour to the dog's body. (You can work in smaller stages if you prefer.) Remember to always follow the direction of the fur's growth, which is away from the head and toward the tail. The fur on the legs grows down toward the feet.

14. Add in the darkest areas and then work out toward the lighter sections.

15. Add additional shading where necessary, paying particular attention to areas that overlap.

16. Complete the image by colouring the eyes and tongue.

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