A Valentine Gift for You!

Hello! It’s Superbowl Sunday and I’ve been working on a special gift for the fabulous people I have met through Instagram, Etsy, and Facebook – an original Ruby Charm Colors Valentine Butterfly drawn especially for you to download and color–no strings attached! It’s the best way I know to extend a sincere and heartfelt thank you to everyone who has supported me along the way this past year. Your kind words and willingness to answer my questions, talk about art, and purchase my books, illustrations and other creative projects, help motivate and inspire me to keep moving forward and creating new illustrations, paintings, and even beaded and embroidered projects.

So thank you!

If you are new to my art, this is a great opportunity to take it for a test drive and play with a little color. I recommend printing on card stock (if you have it) and be sure to check that the image “fits on the page” in your printer settings. If you need to take the PDF to an office supply store or printer, you should be able to save the PDF file to a thumb drive. And because this is a vector image, you can print this illustration on larger sized sheets of paper if you have the means.

All of the illustrations I sell through my Etsy shop include a complimentary grey-line version of the artwork, so you’ll notice the PDF is two pages long. I am growing very fond of the grey-line versions as they allow me to focus more on my colors and shapes and less on the black lines when I color. Having both versions gives us more options.

I originally sketched this botanical butterfly and heart on my iPad Pro with an Apple pencil on Saturday, and used several layers to create a clean black line drawing. I then pulled the black & white illustration into Adobe Illustrator to create a vector file, and to create a grey line version, and then saved both into a PDF just for you. The whole process, from rough sketches to final product, took about 10 hours. And then I printed a copy and started playing with a little color … because I can’t help myself.

Actually, those who know me and my work know that I typically “color-test” each one of my illustrations before letting them go to their new homes. I like to be sure the designs are workable, and that there are no glaring mistakes that can mess up an otherwise enjoyable coloring experience.

For this coloring, I used a mix of Caran d’Ache Luminance and Pablo, Holbein (generously sent to me by a coloring fan!), Irojiten, Polychromos and a few Prismacolors. And then added small embellishments with Sakura Souffle gel pens and a fine black Faber-Castell PITT pen.

The coloring is still a work in progress, but if you would like to give this butterfly a try, you can download the Valentine Butterfly PDF here.

Please note: This illustration is (c) by Susan Carlson (Ruby Charms Colors) and is for personal use only. You may print and color as many personal copies as you like, and use your colored pieces as gifts or valentine cards, but the art may not be distributed, sold or used commercially in whole or in part without my express written permission. Thank you.

After you print and color the Valentine Butterfly, you may want to check out my other coloring pages and book available through my RubyCharmColors Etsy shop.

Thanks so much for supporting an independent artist! –I sincerely appreciate it!

Best,

Susan