Curious Stamp Coloring by Tonya Gibbs

Today, I would like to share with you a tutorial for coloring the rose from the Marion Smith Designs Curious Stamp Set. I used my rose on a A2 birthday easel card. 

 

 

 

The rose from the Curious stamp set will be the focus of this post today.  I also used the large doily from the Tea Party set.  I stamped the doily image and cut it in half. Then tucked it under the lace at the top of the flower cluster on the inside of the card.

 

  

 

I have a limited selection of markers, so I had to work with what I have. I suggest that you experiment with your own color combos. Also, I'm not a copic coloring expert by any means! So please don't critique my coloring too much. Trust me, if I can do this, anyone can. Just takes a little practice.

 

 

To color the rose image, I used these Copic color combos....

Rose:    YR24, YR23, Y23, Y21
Leaves:    YG95, YG23, YG13

Sky:  BG10

 

 

I'm not doing a tutorial on coloring the entire rose, since I'm not an expert. Just offering a suggestion for stamping your image.

 

 

I started by coloring my stamp with my the darkest colors YR24 for the rose & YG95 for the leaves. Make sure you work fast before the colors have a chance to dry. 

 

 

Squirt blending solution on the stamp to moisten the stamp before stamping. (WARNING: The blending solution contains alcohol and is highly flammable. It should not be sprayed, or dried with a heat tool. ) The colored lines will lighten a bit when you use the blending solution, so I started out with my darker values.

 

  

 

Stamp the impression onto Copic Coloring paper. I used Neenah Solar White Classic Smooth paper. Allow the image to air dry completely before coloring - usually only a few minutes. WARNING: DO NOT HEAT SET THIS IMAGE - The Blending solution is flammable. As you can see above, the image is not completely clear and bleeding did occur from the blending solution.  No worries, since we stamped with the colors that we intend to use, we can correct these imperfections when coloring.

 

 

 

 

Color your rose one petal at a time. I started with my shadowed area of the petal, then filled in with a highlight adjacent to the shadowed area.  Change your color combos for your highlights and your shadows to give more contrast to your image. Reference a rose photo from the Internet to get a feel for what areas should be dark, and which areas should be highlights.

 

For your highlights use colors light - med (omitting the darkest color, YR24),  then for your shadowed areas use your darker - med. colors.  (omitting the lightest color, Y23).   Here is a quick color reference.

Shadow color combos: YR24, YR23, Y21

Highlight color combos: Y23, Y21, YR 23

 

 

 

Your lines will start to disappear as you begin moving across the rose, so be sure to work in small sections.    

 

 

 

 

Once the image was colored, I used a Spellbinder's bracket die to cut out my rose. For the card base, I used the damask from Marion's Scarlet collection. I also added a few butterflies and the frame from the Scarlet collection as well. I love how my flower looks perched on the easel when the card is open.

 

 

 

I didn't get into too much detail about coloring since I'm learning myself.  However, I hope you consider these techniques when using the stamp with your own projects.  

 

Thanks for stopping in today,

 

Tonya A. Gibbs

http://www.psychomomscrapbooks.blogspot.com