What's Perking? And More of the Little I Know about Coloring

In addition to Antique Engravings, last week's order included Hero Art's clear set titled What's Perking? It's another outline set, but much more my style than Antique Engravings, with clean lines and simple designs.

But they still need to be colored, so I tried several different techniques, just playing around. (Please know that you're only seeing the relative successes; there were plenty of failures filed in the trash!) The best way to learn is to play without fear of failure.

I LOVE that!

Since I put so much into coloring these images, I kept the card layout very simple and the same for all three cards. The oval stamp is from A Muse and provides a simple ground for the cups and coffee pot. It really is a must-have image as far as I am concerned (A Muse, you owe me for that!), but you can substitute an oval punched mask and sponging ink, too.

First up, colored pencils.


I don't use odorless mineral spirits or anything else to blend colored pencils. New readers may not yet know that I am allergic to anything that smacks of, you know, WORK. I'll look for shortcuts and easy substitutes and cheaper options whenever I can. Prismacolor makes a blender pencil that is colorless and works well to smooth out the pencil strokes and blend shading. The effect may not be the same as OMS or baby oil, but it's good enough for me.

Next up, a combination of Copic and Bic markers.


The dark gray is a Bic marker, but the light gray is the one Copic marker I bought with the intention of trying to outline images. My outlining ended up in the trash, but the light gray was perfect for this coffee pot.

Simplicity Tip: When you're cutting out images with open spaces like the inside area of the coffee pot's handle, use a craft knife to cut out the inner space first. Then, cut out the whole pot. In this case, I wouldn't have cut that area out at all, except I got sloppy coloring and went outside the lines.

Finally, just Bic Mark-It markers blended.


I'm struggling with getting a good blend using the green shades in the Bic Markers, but I have a few ideas. If they work, I'll share them, but the greens on the larger cup here seem a bit too flat to me, especially inside the cup. The yellows shaded and blended beautifully, I thought. I'll keep you posted.

Supplies
Stamps: Hero Arts; A Muse oval
ink: Palette Noir, or maybe Memento tuxedo black; VersaColor for the ovals
paper: PTI
accessories: prismacolor pencils, Bic mark-it markers, dimensionals, one Copic marker; a little stickles on the first card because I was feeling whimsical