Impression Obsession - Old is New

Greetings friends.  Today the IO team is revisiting some of the older stamps that we absolutely love.  I am sharing a design that I find to be perfect for practicing your Copic coloring.  The goal is to color the berries so they are darker around the edges and lighter in the center to give them a more "rounded" appearance.

 

Here is a closeup of the coloring:

 

The first step is to stamp the Strawberries image onto white cardstock with black Memento ink.  Now it is time for the coloring!

Impression Obsession Items Used
Strawberries D2200

I used these berries in one of my Copic classes, so I thought I would share the extensive notes with you.  I hope it helps you with your coloring!

Blending Three (or More Colors). 

• This techniques works better with colors in a natural blending family.  In other words, the markers are from the same color family (B, R, E, etc) and are a few numbers apart form each other (B01, B04, B07).
• Color the entire area with the lightest color.  Make sure that you really saturate the area with ink.  This will serve as your base color for the entire piece.
• While the base layer is still wet, add the mid-tone color to your picture using a flicking motion.  By this, I mean to press your pen to the paper, color, and lift the pen up at the end of each stroke.  Do not cover up all of your light/base color.
• Blend the two colors together using the lightest color.  Circular motions will really help with the blending..
• Add your darkest color to the piece using a flicking motion. Do not cover up all of your light or mid-tone color.
• Blend the darkest and mid-tone colors together using the mid-tone pen.  Again, be sure to use circular motions to help with the blending.
• Finish with the lightest color if necessary.

**Note..if things aren’t blending really well, you can repeat the whole process again.

Step 1- Light color

Step 2- Add mid-tone

Step 3- Blend with light color

Step 4- Add dark color

Step 5- Blend with mid-tone

Remember, light colors are easier to blend than dark colors, so practice with you light pens first.  However, for this card, we are moving on to reds!

Working With Reds:

• Reds can often be tricky, and people sometimes experience them bleeding more than other colors.  The particles of red dye are denser and larger than other colors and therefore they fill up space faster than other colors.  It is therefore much easier for these colors to bleed past the lines.  Here are some tips to help with reds:
• Work on an surface such as scrap paper or even a paper towel.  The extra absorbency will help pull the colors down instead of sideways.
• Use less ink than you might use with other colors.  Don’t try to saturate the images or you will end up with a lot of bleeding.
• Avoid using circles when coloring.  This technique works well for getting rid of lines, but it saturates the paper with even more color.  Instead, use more feathering with your brushstrokes.
• Let the paper dry a bit more in between colors.  The wetter the surface is, the more your color will bleed.
• Don’t color directly up to the edges.  Give yourself a little space around the edges until you get a feel for how much the color is going to bleed.
• Remember that the blender pen doesn’t do much to get rid of mistakes.  Reds tend to bleed into the wet area instead of back towards the image edge.  Other colors can be “pushed” with the Blender, but not the reds.  You can try putting a paper towel under the piece of you use the blender to absorb some of the extra die.  Just remember to move to a dry piece on the paper towel every time you add more of the blender pen.  It will take many attempts to get rid of the extra red (if you can at all).
• Always remember to add your reds first.  That way you will have a chance to fix any mistakes before you spend a lot of time coloring the rest of your image.

Instructions:

• Stamp berries onto white cardstock using black Memento ink. 
• Decide where your light source will be.  For this particular card, the light will be shining straight on the berries.
• Color the centers of the berries with the lightest (R20) marker.  Do not color all the way to the edges of the berries.  Allow the piece to dry a bit.
• Add some of the mid-tone marker (R22) from the edges of the berries towards the center.  Again, don’t go all the way to the edge.  Also, remember that you do not want to cover up where the light would be hitting the berries.  Let that area remain light.  It will act as the highlight of each berry. Allow the piece to dry a bit.
• Blend the two colors with the light (R22) marker.  Allow the piece to dry a bit.
• Add a touch of the darkest (R27) marker to the edges of the berries and feather the color in towards the centers of the berries.  Allow the piece to dry a bit.
• Blend the mid-tone and darkest colors with the mid-tone (R22) marker.
• If you are not happy with your blends, allow the piece to dry and repeat the process.  Just remember that you are working with reds and don’t want to overdo it!
• Color the leaves with the green marker.
• Outline the berries, leaves, and stems with the grey marker to get some dimension.
• Stamp the saying on the inside of the card.