Marta's Garden

Given the chaos we are having at home, the only solace I find is being able to color a few minutes or hours at night to the hum of the air drying machine in the kitchen. I have to admit I am not a big fan of the bokeh technique, but decided to try it out anyway. I'm not sure if this is for me, but I can honestly say I had fun doing it though. Just not sure the effect is my style. Nevertheless, I learned something new with this month's class project.

Below is my finished project all colored up using Prismacolor Premier pencils. So I now own the entire sets of Prisma, Spectrum Noir, and recently Polychromos. I have yet to complete a project using Polychromos, but I can honestly say I've just about had it with my Spectrum Noirs. I'm just waiting to finish out the pens, and it will be quick given how fast the points break, and then I'll just focus on Prisma and Polychromos.

I can honestly say I am happy how this turned out. The image is called Marta's Garden and it is by Molly Harrison. Kit and Clowder's monthly pencil classes are something I look forward now. It does take perhaps 3x the time to finish something vs. alcohol markers, but I really don't mind. It is very soothing trying to color with pencils, and once you're done, to see what it can look, is really rewarding.

Hope you guys like it! 

Have a great week ahead!

Coloring with Color Pencils

Hi Everyone! I've been missing in action the last couple of weeks because I attended Copic workshop and certification classes. Add to that I've been trying to finish 2 color pencil images I've been working on.

Today I finally finished the 2nd one and thought I'd share them with you. Coloring with color pencils takes I'd say 3x the amount of time compared to alcohol markers. My personal opinion.

This is November's Tiddly Inks Create and Learn project from Kit and Clowder. I used Prismacolor Premiere Pencils to color, and a white Molotow pen for the stars and sparkles. I have to admit it took me a long time to finish this. It was a bit challenging. From the tree to the gift sack and roof, I pretty much struggled on those points. Obviously I still need a lot of improvement, but overall glad that I was able to finally finish this.

This 2nd image was December's project. This one I enjoyed coloring very much. I didn't have to redo or repeat much, and I loved coloring the transparencies in the balloons. I love the slightly monochromatic look by just using Cool Greys. I wish I have a ton of time, because this is one image I'd love to color using Copics. This image is by The East Wind, and I again used Primsacolor Premiere pencils to complete this.

It takes so much time and effort to color using color pencils, but it's so worth it. I love the focus and concentration I pour into it. It makes me more aware of details, and partly I think it trains me to have more patience, because this is definitely not a quick job.

Have a great week ahead!!

Redoing Twilight

As promised I made another go with the image Twilight by Crafts and Me. This time I used Derwent Coloursoft. I wanted to try just how waxy this brand is, and color wise, how vibrant. I am happy with the colors, pigment is very vibrant, and it's not far from Prismacolor. I love especially how the bricks turned out, and the skirt too. I still had trouble with the wings, and the thunder I'm not so happy about. I did try using Derwent Burnisher to cover the tooth, but I don't think it worked. I also did try the Derwent Blender, and like the Burnisher, I don't think it did anything at all.

I used Strathmore 300 Series Drawing paper still, so as to get an apples to apples comparison. Since the Coloursoft pencils are very creamy and waxy, I found that it takes less layers to achieve the same look as the Prismacolors. But the disadvantage it, it's too creamy that layering on more colors is also hard. A couple of layers in and the paper just can't take any more. You will feel the pencil just gliding, but not really blending. I think the right thing to do is to use it in conjunction with Derwent Studio or or Artist, but I was too lazy to try. Overall, for a first try, I am quite satisfied. It also taught me how else to do it better next time.

Here's a close up comparison.

If you want the specific colors I used, send me a note and I'll share them with you.

Thanks for looking!

Twilight

I am so happy that I've finally finished coloring this piece! It took me almost  a month, with a couple of hours here and there, and a lot of giving ups in between thinking whether to start over or not, before I finally came to an end and finished the entire thing! I love love love how the brick wall turned out. Trust me it did not look like that even halfway through it, which scared the hell out of me. But I tried to keep going, until I was satisfied by it. 

To my surprise, the brick wall was not even the hardest part of this piece. I had a hard time with the hair and the wings, and struggled a bit on the night sky. The details were so tiny it was hard to do cast shadows. I will most definitely try again and will redo this. 

I used Strathmore 300 Series Drawing Pad and it has way too much tooth (?), too much effort to do the layers, but it has also allowed me to keep on layering until I got it right. I guess what I'm trying to say is despite the effort, it's a bit forgiving? Sorry guys, not really an artist so I'm still trying to learn the difference in papers, weight, texture and medium.

I have already reprinted this Twilight image by Crafts and Me onto a Strathmore 400 Series Colored Pencils pad, and the print turned out much better. The lines on the angel's wings are much more defined, so I'm excited to redo it again. I'm also excited to try on my Derwent Coloursoft on a full image like this so I can compare the outcome to the Prismacolor Premier. 

This is courtesy of Kit and Clowder's August Create and Learn Pencil class. I am so addicted with all this coloring. If you're a fan of it, check out Kit and Clowder and pick whatever is your favorite medium.

Can't wait to get started again!

Coloring w/ Color Pencils - TGF

Hi everyone! So I've been pretty quiet lately, but it doesn't mean I'm not crafting. I've been occupied lately with learning to color using my color pencils. If you follow me on Facebook you know I've just recently purchase a ton of pencils. So now I have the Prismacolor 150 on top of my Spectrum Noir Blendable pencils. I've also been hooked on adult coloring so I figured why not start using these pencils to color my images like Marci, Anya and the likes. So I've been patiently practicing with the help of Kit and Clowder. I have to admit coloring using pencils takes a whole LOT of patience, of which I'm embarrassed to say I don't have. But, for the love of coloring and crafting, I've been practicing.

Here's my first project/image from The Greeting Farm. I believe her name's Cordelia. More of like an image since I haven't yet really mastered how it is to make layered cards with so many laces and flowers (and yet I call my site shabby chic!). If I only have all the time in the world! Anyway, I digress. So here's my first full colored pencil image.

I embossed the background pink cardstock using Close to My Heart's Heart Embossing Folder (Z3018). The embellishments are from Adorn It, it's the closest I have to flowers. The pierced flourish is from My Favorite Things and I used Sweet Leaf ink from CTMH to make it green. Background paper and image were both die cut using Stitched Rounded Rectangle Stax from MFT.

So for the colors, I used Spectrum Noir Blendable Pencils. I followed Kit and Clowder's instructions down to the last color.

Skin - 02, 04, 07, 08, 89, 96, 100

Hair - 88, 84, 86, 95

Outfit - 1, 61, 62, 63, 116, 54

Pink Accent - 114, 34, 35, 40, 105

I used Strathmore Drawing paper, which probably isn't the best paper out there given the tooth still showing even after 3 layers of burnishing. I'm not sure if it's my pencils or paper, but my next project is to try the same image using Prismacolor pencils. This way I will know whether the problem lies with me, the paper or just the brand of pencils I used.

Hope you guys like it! Would love to hear your thoughts/advice!

Color Testing

Because of what happened to my Chameleon Pens, I thought I'd use my other markers and see which ones has the best output. Granted I'm not the best at coloring, but I wanted to see which brand/method gives the most pop when it comes to color.

My favorite is I think still Spectrum Noir, though I'm not that good at shading yet so this flower wasn't colored correct. However, I love just how rich and vibrant the ink is, compared to ShinHan.
My husband picked Prismacolor, though I find it a bit flat. His 2nd choice was Tim Holtz. I realized my techniques weren't the same, so it's probably not fair.

It was just a fun distraction, to take some stress away after a long day at work.

So which one's your pick?

Spectrum Noir Colored Pencils

I obviously have been on a shopping spree. My Spectrum Noir colored pencils just arrived too! So excited! It comes with a free DVD for some tutorials and practice and I can't wait to try it out. I got mine from Crafter's Companion. Check them out!

I love Spectrum Noir alcohol markers. I've been playing with Tim Holtz Distress Markers lately and now I have these colored pens. Hopefully I will get to try it out on some projects soon!