Thursday, January 31, 2008

Coloring Solid Images on Dark Paper

I'm not a real artist (I just play one on my blog) so I'm not going for realism when I color. My goal is variation and interest. I rarely use only one color ( like I showed you yesterday) but I prefer to blend several colors together. Sometimes I get a motley look after I've blended the colors. I like that. Coloring for me isn't difficult, but it is time consuming. The right tools will make a difference.
ETA: speaking of the right tools: I've gotten a couple of emails for clarification. The white pencil and the colorless blender pencil is the only thing need to blend the colors together. -- NO odorless mineral spirits and NO blending stumps. I can only speak for artist grade Prismacolor Premier and other pencils like it.( see my Color Pencil Comparison) You might be disappointed if you use color pencils that are not of this quality.


Supplies needed for this lesson:
Prismacolors Pencils or any wax or oil based pencil (water soluble aka water color pencils will not work the same)

  • Prismacolor Pencils used: White, Colorless Blender Pencil, Olive, Lime Peel, Violet, Parma Violet, and Lilac
  • A smooth quality dark colored card stock -- I used Chocolate Chip card stock from Stampin Up)
  • White Pigment ink-- I used Whisper White Craft Ink from Stampin Up. I've also used Colorbox for this technique. I would imagine that any good white craft or pigment ink will do the trick.
  • A solid rubber stamp. I used a Stampin Up set called Pretty Amazing.

To view the original card click here. I'm working on Mother's Day cards now so this sample I working with is for a 5 x 7 card. When I'm finished making them, I'll post them and link back to this post.

Preparing to color: Stamp the images on the dark cardstock with the white pigment ink. You can mask the main images to stamp the background. I guess you could heat set it, but I've never done that. I ususally stamp the image and go do something else. When I come back later or the next day, it's dry.

For this design, I start off by adding the darkest green (Olive) to the bottom of the leaves.
I try to stay right on the leaves. This first layer of application requires a light medium touch.

Next I add the lighter green(Lime peel) with very little overlap.

Starting with the inner most parts of the flower I add the darkest purple (Violet).

Avoid the lines that define the stamp if possible. Keep your pencils sharp and don't bear down too hard. It's better to add several 'coats' of color than to have one heavy 'coat'.

This is a little blurred, but you can see that I added all three shades of purple. Again don't overlap too much -- that comes later.

I add the white to the tips and blend down towards the flower's center with the blender pencil.

Add more white or more dark and blend until you get a look you like.




Let me know if you have any questions.

23 comments:

Anonymous said...

Super tutorial and very good photos.

Unknown said...

Great tutorial! Going from dark to light is a different slant for me. I'll have to try it. Thanks, J. More tutorials.

Alhambra Club said...

wow, thanks for the tutorial, this is fantastic, will definitely have to try this one.

Allison Rankin said...

This looks terrific...I will have to try it (someday...sigh!)...

Anonymous said...

Hi Jacki!

Thanks for posting the great tutorial! I wish I lived closer so I could actually 'play' with you!!

Off to play with my color pencils!
Dot

Anonymous said...

thanks so much for letting us all know how you achieved this fabulous look. Looks easy enough! Love this card!

Dawn Bibbs said...

SHOW OFF!!! :-)

You do some beautiful work...I think I've told you that before. By the way, did you know you can get GORGEOUS stamp impressions with clear stamps too?? :-)

Anonymous said...

EXCELLENT tutorial! This is very inspiring just like your advice on setting the timer ;)

Linda Carson said...

Gorgeous artwork! Thanks for the wonderful tutorial.

Denise Bryant (imchatty) said...

That was so cool. I love the end results. Thanks for sharing and showing us all the steps along the way.

Anonymous said...

Thanks Jacki, great tutorial. Will have to check my stamps to see if I have one that will work! sandie994

Heather said...

What amazing samples- this is a really cool technique- thanks for sharing!

Melissa said...

Great tutorial Jacki! Thanks for showing us how you make this beautiful card.

Louise (KardKrazy) said...

Thanks for the tutorial, Jacki. It's a beautiful card. I'll have to give it a try.

Scripture by Design said...

Great work! So pretty. Thanks for stopping by the SALT blog to encourage us!

Anonymous said...

Great tutorial! I learned so much and am going to try it tonight.

Anonymous said...

Jacki,
You are a rock star! WOW!!
Hugs,
Gina K.

Anonymous said...

It's all your fault!! Now I had to buy the "Pretty Amazing" stamp set - just so I could copy this beautiful technique! (You enabler, you!) Now I can't wait for it to get here so I can try this out!
Thanks--
~Jayne S.

Anonymous said...

hi--love the tutorial with the colored pencils and blender pen. i do have some questions--i keep seeing things on the blogs done with the copic markers and blenders. i don't want to invest in them, but might in the prismacolors (have a few now). i have a regular old blender pen and wonder if that is what you used with the colored pencils and also what you think of the colored pencils vs. the copic blender pens? i guess you blend with either the pencils or the markers? thanks for any help.

appreciate your tutorial. jo anne

Jacki Marie said...

jo anne~ I haven't tried Copics just yet. I don't know if I will. I know that in order to get the colors I would want, I'd would need several hundred dollars... I can't really compare the two, but I've been coloring with Prismacolor pencils for over 20 years (maybe closer to 30 years now, but for some reason that makes me feel old) The blender PENCIL is what I use. It is only used for blending color pencils as far as I know. It is different from a blender pen. Prismacolor blender pencil is a non-pigmented, wax-based pencil.
I hope that answers your questions.

Anonymous said...

I saw this gorgeous card on Splitcoaststampers and immediately saved it to my faves! I just found your blog through Gingerwood bulletin board, what a happy coincidence. Your card is gorgeous and thanks for the tutorial!

Sandy Knecht said...

This is the most amazing card. I love the colors and a thank you for the tutorial. It was wonderful. I had to buy that stamp set. I already have the pencils. You are amazing.

Anonymous said...

If you don't have prismcolor pencils, does SU have something that can be substituted? I'd like to try this technique.