Pink Tulip: Watercoloring with Ink by Debbie Olson

I have to admit that when it comes to coloring, I habitually reach for my Copic markers! Occasionally we all need to shake it up a bit and use something different. Since this month's focus is ink, I chose to watercolor a stamped Tulip image with Adirondack ink refills.

The inks that I generally use when I am stamping an image that I plan to watercolor are Palette inks or Brilliance. If I use Brilliance, I heat-set it before painting, especially if I am using it on a really absorbent paper such as Arturo paper.

For this piece, I stamped my image on an Arturo Soft White Single with Palette Noir ink. I then put just a drop of reinker from the Meadow, Watermelon, and Lemonade inks on a scrap piece of acetate and use a medium and a small waterbrush to paint my image. Water-based reinkers are very simple to watercolor with. Keep in mind that they are concentrated, so a little goes a long way.

Helpful hints:(1) If I'm coloring an image that has a deep color (such as a dark pink or deep red) on the perimeter, I normally float my background color in first. That way I don't have to be so careful around the edges to avoid making my deep color bloom out into my pale background. (2) Before you color an image, decide upon your light source. It doesn't really matter where that theoretical light is coming from, as long as you are consistent with it. (3) Shadow areas tend to be not only darker in value, but also a bit cooler in temperature than well-lit areas. (4) Always THINK before you paint. For example, in the tulip, one petal overlaps another. The top petal will be lighter in value than the one that wraps underneath it. Also, look for lines that indicated crevices or humps and render then accordingly. A couple of minutes of thinking time will save you time trying to correct your mistakes afterward!

The background of this card is stamped in Adirondack Watermelon ink using a Tulle Damask Scrapblock. I then used some Long Rectangle Nestabilities to cut and emboss both my image and top mat layer.

Thank you for visiting the In Touch blog today!

Comments

[Pharmacy Prescription]

Great site ,this information really helped me , I really appreciate it.Thanks a lot for a bunch of good tips. I look forward to reading more on the topic in the future. Keep up the good work! This blog is going to be great resource. Love reading it.

[Sharon Harnist]

Beautiful watercoloring, Debbie -- thanks for the tip about floating the background first, next to a dark focal point!

[Penny J.]

Your coloring technique (whether using copics, watercolors, etc.) is absolutely fabulous! The projects are always so beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing so graciously.