Monday 22 December 2008

Watercolouring Tutorial

I often get emails asking how I watercolour... gee are there A LOT of different ways out there and I have tried dozens of them! I remember when I first started, I read and read and still didn't know where to start. This tutorial shows how I watercolour and techniques I personally find the best at giving me the results I like.

What I use:
  • Stampin' Up! Blender Pen
  • Stampin' Up! Watercolour Paper
  • Stampin' Up! Classic Ink Pads
  • Jet Black Stazon Ink
  • Twinkling H2O's
  • Fine Aqua Painter
1. With the classic ink pad closed, press the lid hard into the ink pad to transfer ink onto the lid. This will be your palette. Use a blender pen to pick up a small amount of ink and then watercolour as if you are using a marker. Scribble the blender pen on scrap paper to clean and remove the ink and change colour.
Tip: Start with your lightest shade first, allow each layer to dry fully and then work on building the colour rather than trying to watercolour the shade you want it straight up. This way you will have more control over the tonal variation of your image.

2. Watercolour a light wash over the entire image. Think about the lightest area you would like, and do the whole image in that light shade.
3. Allow the first layer to dry then apply some thick colour where the sun would be casting a shadow. Without letting the ink dry, quickly wipe the blender clean and then in small circular motions, blend just the edge of the colour in with the lighter areas.


4. Continue over the whole image returning to areas when they are dry to apply more layers if you would like it darker again.
5. Decide on a secondary colour to really bring your image to life. Watercolour lightly on the shadow/dark areas.

6. Continue over the whole image then add other colours.
7. Apply a small amount of Twinkling H2O's with an Aqua Painter on the dark areas to accentuate them further.

Tip: try not to let too much water leak onto the paper. Lightly wet the entire area to spread the H2O's properly and to avoid having little water line marks left behind.

8. Apply your finishing touches to the rest of your image. I put some Kindy Glitz on Huggable Hank's wings and a bit of H2O's on his scales in blue to make them stand out.

I hope this helps! GOOD LUCK!!

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fantastic Tutorial and great blog! Thanks so much for sharing.

Katie Cotton said...

this is great tutorial! I have used ink pads with a water pen but never a blender pen. I'm definitely going to check that out!!! :)

Elena said...

Thank you so much for the wonderful tutorial Amy! I will try it! Thank you again!

Kelly Schelske said...

Awesome tutorial Amy, thanks so much!!

Hugs,
Kelly

Michelle B. AKA JustPaintingAround said...

Oh, Amy, I am so excited to see this! I've been wondering how you colored. I haven't seen a blender pen used for watercoloring like this before. I generally stink at watercolor as I have always felt I get things too wet. The blender pen just may be what I need. I'm going to give it a try!

Unknown said...

Awesome tutorial Amy--- That little dragon is just adorable!!! Thanks for sharing your techniques with us!

Cheryl said...

You are absolutely amazing with your watercolouring,your cards always look fantastic!!Thankyou for sharing,I will have to try this out.

Tracy.H said...

This is great! Thank you so much! :0)

Tammi said...

Great tutorial, your coloring is gorgeous! And we did one of the elf ecards last year, they are awesome for a great laugh! :)

Cheri said...

Thank you so much! I've been admiring several bloggers' coloring (similar to yours) and wished I knew how they did that. I'm going to try this on my next project!

Karen said...

Hi Ames!! Long time to chat hey!
Thanks for your tutorial! I will give it a try but I still dont think mine colouring will EVER be anything like yours!!

Karen
xo

dpkennedy said...

Thanks for the fantastic tutorial!

Ila said...

Your Tutorial is Fabulous!! you are an expert with this method...Wow!!...Hugs, Ila

Stephanie Hargis said...

How did I miss this??? Thanks so much for linking today's post to it! I am definitely going to try this technique! I will be sure to let you know when I do too! You are so talented and I would love to be able to color half as well as you! :D

Lynne in NI said...

Wonderful tutorial - I always watercolour my images but am never very happy with the outcome. So I'm definately going to have a go at this!! TFS!

Diana said...

Great tutorial! Thanks so much!

Susie said...

Beautiful coloring. Thanks for the tutorial.

Michelle said...

OMG! I don't know what to say other then you did a FANTASTIC job! I so want to color like you and now, hopefully I can get close! I LOVE that dragon! He is ADORABLE!!

Thank you for sharing your tutorial - it's awesome!

Michelle's Daydreams said...

These are wonderful tips, I'm going to give them a try. :)

Jo said...

Great tips!! Thanks so much for the tutorial.

Anonymous said...

This is awesome.. I have been wanting to learn how to color in stamps.. Love the instruction and detail. Not sure I know what Twinkling H2o is though.. I need to research that.. Thank you for the tutorial.

The Wired Angel said...

I love water coloring and blending with prisma pencils. I really enjoyed your tutorial. Thanks so much.. now I'll take my blender pens out of storage!

Merry said...

Wonderful tutorial...and terrific colouring.

fairie said...

thanks for the awesome tutorial. I only have watercolor crayons, would they work the same way?

Hilde - Boble said...

Thanks so much for sharing.