Welcome to my weekly blog and today I have something a little different.
I have had some lovely comments in the past on my colouring technique, so today I will give you a mini master class so you can give it a go.
Jane's Doodles stamp sets are just perfect to learn to colour and are my favourite stamps at the moment, well for a while now lol.
Step 1:
So I will show you how to shade, cut and then design a stunning card all made from scratch.
I started with white DL card and white card for stamping, I recommend 250 - 300gsm as it will hold the markers better.
I used the Snow Fun set as I need to start building up my Christmas card collection.
I used my Alcohol Markers, which were not expensive, but I have about 100 colours as it is always best to have a selection as you will understand why as we go along.
Now using a stamp block I stamped out my selection I wanted for my card using black Versa Fine.
Step 2:
Now the secret to a good shading is to use 3 similar colours, light shade - mid shade - dark shade.
I number mine as this makes it easier to find and use again another time.
Now starting with the light shade(1), colour the entire part of the jumper.
Next take the mid shade (2) and add some shadow around the neck, arms and side of the jumper.
Now take the number 1 pen and go over the mid shade and draw it outwards into the center of the jumper. This will make the mid shade lighter and blend in.
Now this won't look much at the moment , but bare with me, the magic will start appearing before your eyes!
Next take the dark shade (3) pen and do the shame shading as you did with pen 2 but not as wide.
Take pen 1 and draw out the dark shade and colour the whole jumper. This is how it should look
You can repeat these steps until you have the desired effect.
Step 3:
Next I went for the 3 colours to colour in the moose, which was 3 shades of brown. This time I used the light (1) and mid (2) on the body and then mid (2) and darker (3) on the antlers.
The skates I just used 2 shades of grey, colouring them in the light and then added the darker shade and again using the lighter one to draw the shade out.
Now I hope you're not too confused and understand why it's best to have a big selection of pens.
Doing a test sheet is always a help to check your shades.
Step 4:
Now cutting out your image is easy, but depending on your level of cutting, hence 2 options.
I always feel a slight bleed around your image looks good, especially if there is some real tiny pieces on your stamped image.
Use a craft knife gently around your image
Use small scissors
Now I find a craft knife easier believe it or not, but this is because I find using scissors I tend to cut too close to the edge of the image.
So this is all down to how comfortable you feel.
This is me using a craft knife
Give both a go to see what you find easier, but please be careful when using a craft knife.
Now once cut, you can tidy up your bleed around the image as you will have some jagged edges, just use the small scissors.
Yes I missed a bit on one of his antlers, I can hear you all saying it ha ha.
Step 5:
Next I coloured in the frozen pond pieces and with this I wasn't as precise as it is shiny water and water can have several shades.
After cutting both, I snipped the left end of one of the images and then lined it up with the other and made a larger pond. I then glued both together.
I used Cosmic Shimmer Sparkle Glaze to give a shiny effect on my pond.
Before I glued this onto my card base I added some sky to the card front.
Using my blending brush I normally use with blue ink only, I roughly coloured in 2 thirds of my card front. I didn't actually put any ink on my brush as it still had some from my last use, but of course use an ink if needed.
I recommend Oxide Stormy Sky.
I glued my pond onto my card front and then around it I added some artificial snow, using wet glue. This is optional if course, but just adds a nice effect
Step 6:
I put my card aside and then finished colouring in my other stamped images of the mountains, trees and other characters.
I messed up my bear, so I changed him with the racoon.
I loved colouring in the mountains as there is something about blending in grey shades I enjoy. I know I'm weird lol
Now I thought I would just share the images for my hedgehog so you can see the stages .
Remember you have the cover sheet with your stamps to use as a guide, but use your imagination and pick your own colours.
Step 7:
Next I put the mountain and tree pieces onto my card base and used glue and foam pads
(to give some depth.)
My 3 characters were added, after moving around to see where they looked best.
I had stamped a sentiment earlier, so I cut this out and glued to my card.
That's it finished!
I hope you will learn something from this blog and if you would prefer a video I could try and sort if I get enough people asking.
Thanks so much for joining me today and I hope I have inspired you to learn to colour your stamps in a more professional way.
Please check out Jane's Doodles stamps, they are amazing and cover all ages. They can also be mixed and matched between sets, which gives you loads of choices.
Until next week,
Adiós Amigos
Ian x
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