My workspace showing a collection of tools used for the mouse.
I’ve been playing around with the wax-resist technique I talked about in Volume 2 of the Ruby Charm Colors Adult Coloring Art Journal and captured my progress so far with two time-lapse videos.
In the first video, I used the Caran d’Ache Neocolor II water-soluble pastels (Bronze, Raw Sienna and Toledo Brown) over simple patterns I drew with a white Pablo pencil. I had to keep moving my desk lamp around so I could see the white lines I was drawing on the white paper. It was a little challenging! I then blended the pastels with a Caran d’Ache medium tip water brush. The Bronze Neocolor is just beautiful with a slight metallic shimmer. Instead of coloring the pastels directly on the paper (which could mar the white lines I had drawn), I used a blade to shave a little of the pastel onto a palette and mixed with a little water before applying my colors to the paper.
Neocolor II pastel shavings: a little goes a long way, so if you are interested in investing in a set it’s good to know this in advance. I was gifted this gorgeous set of pastels by a dear fan friend and just adore them—rich, beautiful creamy colors!
Once the paint was thoroughly dry, I started going over the areas with a mix of colored pencils (mostly Caran d’Ache Luminance and Pablo, Polychromos and Prismacolor at this point) to start enriching my base colors.
Check back in a few days as I plan to post a few more videos of my progress! And if you want to give this technique a try, you can find Volume 2 of the Ruby Charm Colors Adult Coloring Art Journal on Amazon as well as Barnes & Noble.
UPDATE:
The mouse is all done for now so I wanted to add one last time-lapse and a photo of the finished piece:
I added subtle bits of color to the mouse and then used gel pens to add more small designs and embellishments. I got a little sloppy with the large “fish-scale” heart … can I blame it on cold hands and eyeglasses that need a good cleaning?
Little mouse all done for now!
Happy coloring and cheers to a creative weekend!
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