Enjoy Your Day

Colouring on kraft card stock is another one of my favourite techniques. I love the contrast between the kraft background, with its earthy tones, and the lovely whites and pinks of delicate flowers. I've included a stippled background on this creation, which gives a kind of shadowy depth to the scene.

Since I was after a no-line look, I stamped the images in light brown ink. Once the colours go on over the top, the lines virtually disappear leaving an image that looks as though it's been painted or drawn rather than stamped.

I used a selection of warm grey alcohol markers to stipple the background, keeping the darkest colours close to the image and working outward from there.

After the entire background is complete, I colour the flowers and leaves with Prismacolor pencils. Using the pencil second allows me to tidy up any areas where I may have stippled a little over the lines. Since pencil sits on top of the card, rather than soaking in, it does a great job of hiding little mistakes.

Stamps:

  

Layering Colour

Regardless of what medium you're using - pencils, paint, markers - you'll always get a much better result if you colour your image in layers. Start with a base coat then build on top of it until your image has depth and dimension.

I've coloured the octopus image from the new By The Seaside set with copic markers. As you can see, I began with a light base coat and then added layers of colour to create depth and shape. The light colours in the image are focused on the areas in the foreground, such as the top of his head and the front few tentacles, while the dark colours are added to the recessed areas to give depth.

Base coat with E51.

Second layer E53.

Leave a few areas with just the base coat showing.

Third layer E55.

Start to darken the recessed areas

and shape the tentacles.

Fourth layer E57.

Now you can see a distinct difference between

the lightest and the darkest areas.

Final layer E59.

These are the darkest places in the image.

First layer C5.

I've stippled cool greys around the image

to "ground" it on the page.

Second layer C3.

Colour over all the stippling you did previously,

then add more dots with the same pen.

Final layer C1.

Repeat the steps above using the lightest pen.

Tutorial: Stippled Shadows

Last month I shared some photos of a colouring project I was working on that included areas of stippled shadow. I was asked by Kathy, one of my readers, to put together a little tutorial to explain how it's done.

1. You'll need a coloured image and some graded markers. I like to use either warm or cool greys for my shadows, but other colours work too. And although I'm using copic markers, this technique will work with other pens and mediums as well.

2. Apply dots of the darkest colour to the deepest area of shadow. In my case, that's below the body of the gnome and under his feet. Notice that my dots vary in size. Keep them larger and closer together in the main shadow section and a little smaller and further apart as you move outwards.

3. Use the next lightest marker to colour over the dark dots. Colour in small circles but don't overwork the area as you don't want to lose the dots you initially placed.

4. Using the same marker, add dots around the edge of the coloured area. Again, keep the dots larger and closer together when you're near the darker areas and smaller and further apart as your work outward.

5. Repeat step 3 and 4 with your lightest marker, remembering to vary the size of the dots. If you wish, you can use the blending pen (0), to gently fade the edges of your shadows if you feel they are too harsh.

Done! If you want shadows all around an image, like I did with the floral colouring from last month, simply use the same technique keeping the darkest dots in the deepest shadow areas where there is lots of shade, such as between and under flowers and leaves. As always, practice makes perfect, so drag out those pens and set to work!

Stamps: Gnomes in My Garden

Dog Tales Too