January 23, 2017
5 Comments
Hey everyone! Elaineabella here and I’m back with the very first Marker Geek Monday of 2017! I know, we’re nearly at the end of January, where have I been? Well, a horrendous lingering cold and the craziness of the NEW RELEASE left me very little time or mojo! Thankfully I’m feeling better and the new release is of course now revealed and available to order. Since we have a new release, I thought I should probably give you some colouring tips and inspiration to go with it. Let’s get stuck in!
If you’re new to Stamping Bella and the blog, hello and welcome! Marker Geek Mondays are a weekly feature here on the Stamping Bella blog in which I give you some tips and inspiration for colouring Stamping Bella stamp images using markers and other colouring mediums. You can view all the past posts here: Marker Geek Monday Archive.
Who am I? I’m Elaineabella a.k.a Marker Geek! I’ve been a member of the Stamping Bella design team on and off for a number of years, and have been colouring the images for the website and stamp packaging for the last couple of years. In 2016 Emily a.k.a DA BELLA asked me to start a colouring feature here on the blog. I love talking about and sharing my love for colouring, so here we are. I hope that you find some helpful tips in these posts and plenty of inspiration to get your stamps inked up and coloured in.
Today I’ve got a quick colouring video for you featuring the new Kissing Booth Squidgy stamp set. I used the larger of the two stamps which measures approximately 2.75″ x 3.75″.
I already posted the full speed colouring video for this image on my YouTube channel HERE in which you can watch me colouring the image from start to finish. In today’s video I have left a portion of the wood colouring in real-time so you can get a really good look at exactly how I coloured the wood panels in this image.
Watch the video below or in HD over on YouTube.
As you can see, it is very much like colouring hair or anything else where you would like to retain some lines/texture. Give it a go!
Here are a few tips to help you as you practice:
Stamps like Kissing Booth Squidgy may include lines that indicate where you could add texture or shading. Use these to get started, especially if you’re a little unsure. As you can see in the image, the artist has illustrated some knots in the wood planks and some fine lines. There’s no need to try and colour the knots in detail in an image this size, but by following their outline with your strokes you can help give the impression in your colouring.
Don’t be precise with the lines, and try to introduce some variety in terms of length, direction and thickness. Also try to create some variety with the colour – some areas of the wood may be lighter or darker, more weathered etc.
If you make a “mistake” and a line ends up slightly thicker or longer than you intended, or you go over one of the indication lines in the image, don’t freak out! Try to work with it and incorporate that into the “look”. Enjoy the process and remember that the overall effect is what you’re aiming for, not having every single line in precisely the “correct” place. You’re working with a stamped image to give the impression of wood, not trying to create a perfect rendering. This tip also applies for hair!
This is possibly the most important tip. The aim here is to build up layers of colour and texture, giving the impression of a natural wood grain. While you may want to soften the edges of the lines somewhat, you don’t want them to blend in entirely.
NOTE: this post refers to colouring using Copic markers, but you could use a similar approach when using other brands of alcohol based markers and also coloured pencils.
Here’s the card I created with this image:
As you can see, with the little sign nailed to the top of the stand I have gone for a lighter overall colour to help separate it from the rest of the wood.
For full details on additional supplies etc you can visit THIS POST on my own blog.
If you try out the techniques shown in any of the posts with your Stamping Bella stamps, be sure to share! We would love to see the results and hear how you feel about them. Show off your creations in the comments below and even better, share your own favourite tips with us. Let’s talk colour!
If you are posting your images online, we would love to see them on Instagram and all the platforms mentioned above. To make it easier for us to find you just use #markergeekmonday and/or #stampingbella as a hashtag. Even better tag me @markergeek and @stampingbella . We love it when you connect, so don’t be shy!
If you’re on Facebook join us in our private chat group Stamping Bella Sistahood to share your creations there and chat all things Stamping Bella related!
Until next time, HAPPY COLOURING!
MWAH
Elaineabella
Great tutorial. Thank you so much!
This is really helpful! Your coloring always has me in awe. Thanks Elaineabella! 🙂
Wow. That is SO helpful.
Thanks so much for sharing Elaine! I missed your posts over the past couple of weeks! I did enjoy the new release, but still miss watching you color! 🙂
Wow! I love how the wood looks. I don’t own enough Copic markers to even begin to try to do something like this but I could try it with colored pencils. In fact, I think I have done something like that with a tree that I colored once. I took 4 years of art in high school and learned a lot about coloring but in the 70’s markers were not a big deal and Copics hadn’t been invented yet. I just love to watch you color and hear you explain it. Thanks for doing that. Someday mine will look as good as yours.