Patience...small circular motions...and not too much pressure are the keys to getting good results with color pencils. We also know that the best quality art paper for using color pencils has 'tooth', that tiny amount of texture so that the pigment in the pencils will grab the paper. (not unlike the surface of an Inchie Square!) We know too that with the layering of similar...yet different colors... you can shift the appearance of a color - by making a red look more pink...or making a red look more orange.
Another way to accomplish a similar shifting or overall tone of a color is to use a Copic marker as the foundation, or base for color pencil coloring.
I am crazy nuts about using oversize stamps on Inchie Squares. Maybe it's the slight unpredictabilty of how your stamped image will turn out...or maybe it's just that by seeing only a portion of an image the rest is left to your imagination. Either way, this Elegant Pointsettia from Memory Box is a perfect image to demonstrate a little coloring trick.
Remember, when stamping with an oversize image it is much easier to ink the stamp and turn it face up, and then bring your Inchie Square to the stamp. For more control on setting it down on the stamp you can either make a little tape handle for the back of the Inchie Square or do what I often do and just stab it with an awl as a way to pick it up - but make sure you don't stab too hard or it will go all the way through!!
If you want to have a finished poinsettia with an underlying pink tone, first color with Copic marker R00. Unlike color pencils, the alcohol marker fills in all the little spaces created by the slight texture of the Inchie Square surface.
Apply the first layer of color pencil - Prismacolor Scarlet Lake
Then layer in Crimson Lake
And finish with Raspberry
If we were to start over and you wanted the pointsettia to have a more 'gold' or redder tone begin the coloring process by laying down a foundation of Copic marker YR21.
Use the same colors, in the same order as the 'pink' version - starting with Scarlet Lake
Then Crimson Lake
Finish with Raspberry
A great feature of the Inchie Squares is they are solid core white and you can color the edges with Copic markers - this adds a nice finish quality to your work.
What would a holiday card be without a little pizzaz? You have to try Smooch (!!) the new Pearlized Accent Inks from Clearsnap. They are quick drying and really add just the right amount of sparkle!
When you compare the two versions side by side it's amazing to think they were colored using the same 3 colored pencils. The only difference is the Copic marker foundation color. When you start experimenting it's amazing how you can influence your coloring with this little trick!
White Inchie Squares and Inchie Note from Inchie Arts. Patterned papers by Graphic 45.
