Marker Geek Monday: Colouring a Detailed Stamp Image w/ step by step guide & video

Hey folks! Elaineabella here with my Marker Geek Monday post, hoping to inspire you to get your Stamping Bella stamps inked up and coloured! Click through to see my video, step by step guide and tips and tricks for colouring a detailed image like our new Tiny Townie Casey has a Cornucopia.

Tiny Townie Casey Has a Cornucopia:

One of the awesome new releases is Tiny Townie Casey has a Cornucopia. She’s a fantastic image for Autumn and Thanksgiving, and a lot of fun to colour.

Here’s the card I created for the release:

I know that if you are a beginner, detailed stamps can be a little intimidating. With that in mind, I’ve got a slower version of my colouring video and a step by step colouring guide for you, along with some of my tips for tackling and colouring a detailed stamp image. While I used Copic Markers to colour Casey in my video and guide, the general approach and tips would also apply to other colouring mediums such as pencils.

If you have ordered the Casey has a Cornucopia stamp from Stamping Bella, you can download a Copic Colour Map for the image via your account on the Stamping Bella website. If you purchase the stamp elsewhere you can contact Emily at Stamping Bella to obtain one. Visit this page for more information: How to Get Your Free Colour Map.

Over on my Marker Geek Blog:

As well as this post talking about tackling Casey herself, I also have another post today on my own blog Marker Geek.

Over there I’ve got a video and step by step guide showing how I added a simple background to Casey for my card above. It really isn’t hard to do, but can be a fun way to give your characters a setting and make your cards POP!

Click through to check out the post and watch the video: Marker Geek – Adding a Fun, Easy Copic Background to Your Stamped Images.

Colouring a Detailed Stamp Image like Casey has a Cornucopia:

The first thing I did before picking up my markers was to search for “cornucopia” in a search engine.

This should give you a good idea of what you would expect to see in a cornucopia. A quick image search is always a good place to start if you’re slightly unsure about how to colour something or are having difficulty determining exactly what you are looking at. Sometimes looking at the black and white stamped outline, it can be hard to discern all the details straight away and having a better idea of what to expect can help your brain make sense of the lines.

I might print out some reference images to keep on my colouring desk while working on an image, so I can easily refer back to them. Another way to do this is to use your smart phone or tablet device.

Step by Step Colouring Guide:

Here’s a step by step guide to show you the order in which I tackled Casey has a Cornucopia. You could of course start colouring whichever area you prefer first, this is the order I find works best for me.

Please feel free to save this image or pin it to your Pinterest board. It is intended for your reference. I do ask that you do not repost this image on your own blog or directly send the image to other people, instead please direct them to this blog post to obtain it for themselves.

Colouring the most obvious areas first gets you started. Don’t obsess over the tiny details and end up freezing, marker hovering above the paper! Make a start, and colour the bits you are sure of.

I tend to start with the skin tones and hair on most character images. On this particular image colouring the dress first really helps, as it gives a backdrop for the cornucopia and helps you to make better sense of some of the lines. If you watch the video closely you will notice that there were some areas on the dress that I initially passed over, but noticed as I continued to work on the whole image, which really emphasises my point. You will also notice that I didn’t initially colour the top part of the cornucopia container. When I started colouring I had difficulty deciding exactly what was fruit and what was basket in that area; as the colouring progressed it became obvious and I could tackle that area with more confidence.

Copic Colouring Video:

Today’s video is a longer version of my Casey has a Cornucopia speed colouring video. I’ve uploaded a new, slower version so that if you would like to watch the process in more detail, you can.

You can watch the video below or in HD over on YouTube.

Note: I apologise that the video is a little wobbly. Unfortunately I filmed it before I had addressed the issues I was experiencing with my video camera. These issues are now fixed and more recently filmed videos do not have the “wobble”.

Other Colouring Info:

Since we’re talking about autumnal images, last week’s Marker Geek Monday had some helpful Copic colour combo suggestions for colouring PUMPKINS!

There are a couple of pumpkins in Casey’s amazing cornucopia, and the new release includes a couple of other pumpkins in the Set of Pumpkins stamp set and Tiny Townie Patricia Loves Pumpkins stamp set!

Click through to check out that post and grab the colouring info, plus watch a pumpkin colouring video! Marker Geek Monday Copic Colour Combos for Pumpkins (incl. video).

Over To You!

If you try out the techniques or colour combos shown in this post 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