Tag: watercolor pencils

From one comes many: a growing gallery of colorists

Ruby Charm Colors June 14, 2018

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how one piece of art can multiply and transform into many different versions as colorists (people who love to color in coloring books) approach the same line drawing with their own color preferences, creative vision, tools, technical skills, and experiences.

The tools or media a colorist chooses to work with plays an important role in the overall appearance of a coloring. Some colorists like to mix things up and use not only a blend of different colored pencils, but also other media like watercolor, markers, chalk, gel pens, pastels and even eye shadow. Others prefer to stick with their favorite pencil brand. Either way, gorgeous results are within everyone’s reach— it just takes is time, practice, and a willingness to learn and experiment. And sometimes a little luck!

Lisa Duggan (below and here for a close-up) colored her version of Mice in Freesia using Faber-Castell Polychromos colored pencils. She tackled the background with a few layers of Tombow Dual Brush markers and a little more colored pencil over the markers. Marilyn Reading opted for a more limited choice of media and used Prismacolor colored pencils for her version of Mice with Freesia. To see more details of Marilyn’s coloring, click here.

Vanessa Black opted for Tombow Irojiten Colored Pencils, Printworks Super Soft Colored Pencils, and then Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens for her high-intensity background. Click here to see the details in Vanessa’s piece.

Lora King used a mix of Hero and Holbein pencils. I don’t have great links to Hero and only one for Holbein (which can be hard to come by as far as purchasing goes). Lora also used Jane Davenport pencils and Prima watercolors, Tombow markers and even Derwent Artbars. For a closer view at how she combined all her media, click here.

Each version of the Mice in Freesia has its own unique feel, and different elements of the design are brought forward (or pushed back) through use of color, shading, pattern, and different applications of the media.

The next set of drawings are examples of colorists seeing past the lines of the original Insects illustration into completely new and original creative territory. Some may be worried by the idea of altering an artist’s work (and I have seen colorists on social media flip out on other colorists about how they don’t think it is okay at all) but I think it is fantastic!

I don’t mind being the catapult if someone has a vision they want to reach in their own coloring. If my work can inspire new ideas, then I feel I have accomplished something special. I include the simple black and white illustration above the work of Fumiko and Valencia (below) so you can see how they altered the original work to fit their individual visions.

Fumiko Tsutsui, coloring in the “Black Magic” coloring book, veered away from the simple circles and and created her own galaxy using the circles merely as guides for her tiny dots and stars. This gives her Insects a timeless, almost alien feel as they float through space. I believe Fumiko works mainly with Prismacolor and Irojiten pencils, but I am not positive. I believe she also uses Sakura gel pens to add embellishments. You can take a closer look at her work here.

Valencia Venter Van Zyl took her coloring of the same Insect design (but printed on white card stock) in a completely different direction by adding strawberries and roses. The way she approached the circles by adding borders and tiny flowers is reminiscent of an heirloom teacup saucer which gives the design a more antique feel. Here is Valencia’s coloring up close. And I am sorry I don’t which pencils or other media she used …

Hot off the press! I also wanted to share Allison Capelle’s version of Insects which she just posted today. Allison used all Polychromos for the insects and Caran d”ache Neocolors II for the background. She achieved an intensely saturated, jewel-like feel to her completed work (and you can view a larger version here).

All of these colorists have beautiful, individual approaches that bring the original art to new levels. As an artist, I find this very exciting and feel that there is a collaboration between creatives not typically found in other art forms. When we see a painting in a gallery, or a sculpture on a table, or view photos or films, we participate to a degree, of course. But not to the extent people interact with the art in the adult coloring book world. Colorists take the line art—the basic framework—and transform it through their own creative lens. They truly involve themselves—physically and mentally—in the art.

Adult coloring as a hobby is sometimes ridiculed for being childish, but those who ridicule may not be looking close enough to see the beautiful art that’s being produced by colorists around the world. And they may not understand the truly therapeutic effect putting a pencil (or other media) to paper can have. For me, coloring or drawing puts me in a state of focus I don’t find elsewhere. Keen focus. And at the same time, a state of catharsis. My mind feels clear and sharp, and overall I feel relaxed and more centered. A sort of yin and yang effect.

Sometimes I think that we are too bombarded by distracting “little bits” that throw us off track. Every waking moment. Cell phones are continually dinging at us, we see a flash of the “news” on TV or one of our other devices that barely scratches the surface of a story before jumping to the next “bombshell”, we read newspaper and magazine articles that are so short it’s a wonder anyone gets paid to write them. I sometimes worry that our ability to focus and think deeply about much of anything will someday disappear. So yeah, I get the adult coloring craze that surfaced a few years back, and those who dismiss or ridicule it are missing out. I think a lot of people crave something real and tactile—something they can start, see their progress, make their own decisions, hold in their hands and say “I did that.”

Coloring can be “mindless” but it can also be mindful.

This next batch of colorings (above) have unique qualities, too. Lisa Duggan colored two different versions of the Lion Fish design. Her first version (a close-up here), was colored in September of 2017, and she used Prismacolor and Polychromos pencils. In her second version (completed more recently), Lisa used Derwent Inktense, a little layering on top of that with Polychromos, and then added embellishments with gel pens. Click here for a close-up of Lisa’s second coloring. Her color choices for the Lion Fish and the background uniquely alters the mood of each version.

Lora King, fairly new to coloring on black, colored her Lion Fish (click here for close-up) from the “Black Magic” coloring book by using five different pencil brands—Pablo’s, Polys, Prismacolors, Irotijen, and Heroes—plus she experimented with chalk, Caran d”ache Neocolors II, Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Brush Pens, and a Zig Clean color brush. While chatting back and forth about the piece through social media, she expressed a little frustration about the learning curve when coloring on black (it is not easy) but I absolutely adore her Lion Fish and the rich, almost metallic pops of color she’s got going on. It almost looks like a painting!

Nateko used aquarelle pencils for her version of the Lion Fish though I am not sure if they were Faber-Castell or Staedtler aquarelles. You can view her close up here.

Again, the media we work with can make a huge difference in the overall look and feel of a piece. And I probably say this more than I need to, but never be afraid to experiment! Even if a coloring turns into a disaster, there were probably some useful skills learned in the process.

Here’s another set of colorings that beautifully highlight the variety of work being done by colorists working with the RubyCharmColors illustrations. This is Gazelles.

Lisa’s warm hues, blending of the sky with a few hazy clouds hanging in the air, and her coloring technique effectively brings us to the African savanna (see close-up) while Fumiko’s blue gazelles and and striped planet looks like a mystical scene from Avatar (here’s her close-up). On Instagram Lisa commented that Fumiko’s coloring looks like night photography and I tend to agree. Both colorings are uniquely beautiful!

Now this is pretty cool … same colorist, different versions of the original line drawing: one was printed in black while the other was printed at about 50% grey-scale. Colorist Beth Hovey told the RubyCharmColors group on Facebook that she used the Sun & Moon illustration as an art lesson for her granddaughter!

After coloring the black line version, she printed out the grey line version to help her granddaughter understand how black lines and gray lines can have an affect how a coloring turns out. She used the same color palette for each version—and even though she said the purple pastel chalk on the black line coloring was applied a little heavier—we can still see the nuances between the two different versions.

Coloring the grey line version (which I include with all of the PDFs I offer on Etsy as a bonus) puts more emphasis on shapes and colors and less emphasis on the sometimes heavy black lines themselves. Working with grey line versions can also make it a little easier to veer from the original design and add more of your own details since the lines are much lighter and easier to color over. And you don’t have to have a grey-line PDF to do this. Depending on your printer’s settings, you can can either choose “Greyscale” or even print at a lower “economy” setting which spits less ink on the page (if you have an inkjet printer). Laser printer? Not sure … but you can always poke around your printer’s settings and try a few experiments.

The next three images are from colorists Sandy Kinzer, Lucia Brown and Paula Leach, each working their own magic on the same image. Here, it’s all about the color combos. The simple butterfly design was offered as a freebie through the RubyCharmColors group on Facebook (you need to join and participate to get the freebies) as a teaser and as a practice run for the more complicated “Butterfly with Spheres” design that was released shortly after as a downloadable, printable PDF.

Sandy’s butterfly feels like spring with a lovely mix of pastels and a few bright colors we associate with the season of growth and awakenings. Lucia’s butterfly uses a pallet that is a little more limited, and her use of pinks and turquoise create playful, modern looking contrasts.

The close up of Paula’s butterfly in more muted tones above shows the metallic, glittery pens she used to embellish some of her detail work. Below is her coloring of the full version of “Butterfly with Spheres.” Her color pallet is intentionally limited and gives the piece a soft, romantic unified look.

Having a little time to think about colors before approaching a final piece can be helpful. And being able to experiment with different media on a more simple piece before committing to the final can take away some of the pressure, too. Not everyone is concerned about the final outcome (and that is perfectly fine), but there are a lot of colorists who are, and who want to keep learning and pushing themselves creatively.

Now how about these rabbits? Again, color changes everything! These three colorings below are of the Spring Rabbit illustration.

Lisa (close up here) used Polychromos pencil over her layers of Derwent Inktense, and also used Prismacolor pencils for the rabbit and flowers. Lora (close up here) used a mix of Hero, Holbein & Caran d’Ache Pablo pencils with Royal Talens Angora watercolors. Both colorists created compelling, balanced and lovely final pieces. Frankie used Conté à Paris Pastel pencils and Polychromos along with a white Posca pen to complete her beautiful rendering of Spring Rabbit. If you’d like to see a larger version, click here.

The Coyote & Fox illustration (below) is one of my favorites as it is one of the first I drew specifically for coloring book pages. Both Allison and Lucia approached the design with different visions—Allison and her Tombow Irojiten Colored Pencils created a mystical evening scene (close up here) and Lucia, using a mix of Derwent Colorsoft and Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils, created a brighter scene where the mandala-like “sun,” the fox and the leaves pop out of the background (close up here).

I can’t tell you how exciting it was for me to see these appear on Instagram when I was starting my Etsy business last year—so inspiring!

Horse with Flowers is a more recent drawing, and I have three colorings I’d like to share though I know there are more floating around out there. Betty Hung, a colorist and blogger (check out her beautiful and helpful blog about coloring here) used Chameleon pens and Colortone pencils in her beautifully balanced piece. Her blending of the background is soft and exquisite (zoom in here).

Alexandra used a wide variety of media including Caran d’Ache Museum watercolors, Luminance, Prismacolor, Faber-Castell Polychromos and a Wink of Stella to achieve her highly saturated coloring (close up here).

Below Betty and Alexandra is the Horse with Flowers colored by Sabine Juergenmeier. Sabine used gold watercolour for the background and a collection of different brands of pencils including Faber-Castell Polychromos to achieve a beautiful muted color pallet that almost looks like it was painted on a marble wall–a very lovely effect than can be seen more closely here.

Last but not least I wanted to share this collection of Luna Moth colorings. Not only are there wide varieties in color scheme, but also some departures from the original Luna Moth illustration that make each one unique and attractive. The process Betty Hung used for her Luna Moth is detailed in her blog, Color Art, and is worth a visit and subscription.

There are so many other colorings I’d love to include in this post, and so many wonderful colorists that I’d love to tip my hat to, but I’ve run out of time. I would love to do this again in a few more months, though, so keep those colorings coming, please use the #RubyCharmColors hashtag on Instagram, and please tag RubyCharmColors on Facebook.

I’d really love to see your work!

A big THANK YOU to all the colorists willing to share their work and joy of coloring with us all! Show them some love and give them a follow on Instagram!

Alexandra @addictedtocoloring

Allison Capelle @allisoncapelle

Beth Hovey @bethhovey

Betty Hung @colorartbybettyhung / https://colorart.ca

Frankie Davis @francesmarionz

Fumiko Tsutsui @fumiflying

Lisa Duggan @duggan.lisatide

Lora King @dukewife

Lucia Brown @kindacolouring

Marilyn Reading @mzreading

Michelle Caraway Herren @gizmokids

Nateko @nateko

Paula Leach @pstonecolors

Sabine Juergenmeier @sabinejuergenmeier

Sandy Kinzer @sandrafkinzer

Valencia Venter Van Zyl @valencia_van_zyl

Vanessa Black @vmblack68

Lion, Hare & Moon: Lesson Learned

Ruby Charm Colors May 16, 2018

My latest illustration for coloring, the Lion, Hare & Moon, was a learning lesson once I starting filling it with color, so I thought it might be useful to share my mistakes with those of you who use (or want to try) watercolor pencils in conjunction with regular colored pencils.

The illustration itself was inspired by wondering about our perceptions of strength and weakness, the fierce and the tame. And do we always know which is which?

After the illustration was complete (drawn on my iPadPro using the Procreate app and an Apple pencil) I printed it on Georgia-Pacific “Image Plus” 110 card stock and pulled out my pencils. I started with the moon using a Derwent Turquoise Blue watercolor pencil to lay down a base layer. I often do this for larger spaces and use Pentel and Sakura Koi water brushes to blend the watercolor pencils. So far so good.

I wasn’t thinking ahead about doing a blog post about this piece until I was nearly done, but I usually try to snap a few pics of my work in progress. The lighting is a little off in the pic above (my apologies) but you can see how pale the first layer is on the moon.

I also used watercolor pencil for a base layer on the lion (Faber-Castell Albrecht Durer, Bistre), then once it dried, started working it over with colored pencils (mostly Polychromos Bistre , Burnt Ochre and Sepia, plus Prismacolor Premier Black, Light Umber, and Pumpkin Orange, Sienna Brown, then Polychromos Dark Chrome and Naples Yellow.

Once the basic colors were down in a few light layers, I used Caran d’Ache Luminance pencils (Brown Ochre and Yellow Ochre) to blend in the body. For the mane, I used one of my favorite pencils, a Derwent Studio (Rexel Cumberland) Burnt Carmine, which has deep wine undertones. I also used a Luminance Buff Titanium pencil to work in highlights under the eyes and cheeks. I then used a Crimson Irojiten pencil (which I order individually as needed through Blick) to work in the reds I put down in the mane and the sun ray lines with Prismacolor Tuscan Red and the Derwent Burnt Carmine (see below). I probably grabbed a few other similar colors during this process as well.

The colored pencils went down quite smoothly over the Faber-Castell Bistre watercolor once it dried. Per usual, it gave my colored pencils a nice “tooth” to grab onto.

Next: the grass. No watercolor pencils, but a variety of Prismacolor (Kelp, Prussian, Artichoke, Moss and Olive), Luminance (Moss, Olive Yellow and Olive Brown 50%) and Polychromos (Permanent Green Olive and Chromium Green Opaque) were used in multiple layers and then I burnished the colors using Irojitens (Cactus, Lettuce, Verdi and Forest).

Because the Irojitens are harder than other pencils, they work well for burnishing since they push the pigments around and, depending on how hard you press, deeper into the fiber of the paper. This helps to get rid of the small white dots that can appear in the coloring.

I try to work in small circle to avoid streaks, but sometimes my fingers get cramped and I get anxious and more concerned about finishing an area than making sure my colors are smooth. I am sure this happens to a lot of colorists. Sometimes time is running out and you just want to finish. Or move on to the next thing.

I also get a little sloppy (especially with watercolor layers) but that’s okay. I am constantly going back to areas that need a little more work and yep, sometimes I need a break from the larger, more monotonous parts of a page (like when I was coloring the grass).

Here’s when one of the biggest issues came in with this piece. Once I started working on the moon with regular colored pencils, I noticed that the turquoise Derwent watercolor pencil started flaking off in spots. It was most noticeable with the darker blues. The painted pigment would come up and leave small white flecks that were really difficult to color over, blend back in, and burnish.

My fix? I used small dabs of watercolor to help fill in the white spots in the dark areas, and I also realized that once I added my gel pen embellishments at the very end, the white flecks probably wouldn’t stand out as much. And I figured small dabs of ink would work too, so I tried not to panic and overwork those darker areas. With all of the pressure I had already used, I didn’t want to risk damaging the paper.

I used Titanium Buff again (Luminance) to work in the highlighted areas and blend my lighter blues and greens together. The flaking was not as noticeable with the lighter colors, thankfully.

The lesson here is that it really does pay to test out your ideas and tools before working on a final piece–especially if you are using a brand or color combo you haven’t tried before.

In this case, I used my Derwent Watercolour which is a fairly old pencil (15 years?) and got unexpected results. It could be the age of the pencil, or it could be the pigment in this particular pencil that doesn’t like being colored over with regular colored pencils. Hard to say. I have used lots of Derwents and have not noticed this issue until now. I have an even older collection of Staedtler Aquarelle pencils that all seem to behave beautifully.

But again, the point it … unless you are certain you’ll get the results you want with whichever tools you are using (paper included), try it out first on a scrap page of the same paper. There have been many times a design colored beautifully on one type of paper, but then total crud on another.

As I was working on the moon, I decided to try something a little new (for me, at least). I didn’t want the the rays coming off the moon to be a solid color, or just use a gradient, so I grabbed an Indigo Irojiten and drew a paisley-like pattern in that space after very lightly coloring a layer of Prismacolor Black and Indigo closest to the edge of the moon.

I then used Holbein Ice Green (aren’t they just the most dreamy pencils!?!) to add small dabs of color to the shapes I drew. I didn’t take my time drawing the paisley shapes or coloring them in perfectly because I thought that if everything went as planned, it really wouldn’t matter….

Here’s where the fun part comes in–blending these simple little lines and shapes with the Luminance Buff Titanium pencil. I colored with lots of small, fairly hard, circular strokes to push the color around and soften up the paisley lines and shapes. I also followed up with Irojiten Eggshell and Cascade (a light aqua hue) for more blending and burnishing after this pic was taken to smooth things out even more. The overall effect looks like fabric or even batik in spots.

My wheels are turning and I’d like to experiment with this technique even more in the future.

Here’s where we are at so far (below and about 6 or 7 hours into it). I also added some rainbow colors to the rays, and somewhere along the way I colored in the hare. I forgot to mention that little guy! Same pencil brands, same technique using the Irojitens to burnish.

Here I go again saving the background for last! A few colorists on Facebook and Instagram have been chatting about this dilemma, and I really don’t know what the answer is. Sometimes I can picture the color scheme of the entire piece in my mind when I start–other times I just grab pencils and start working on a focal point.

I considered a black background for the contrast it would provide, but then thought that would be too harsh and might even obscure the lion’s mane and tips of the grass if it was too dark. So I settled on a combination of Black, Indigo and Grey. The Prismacolor Black was used in the U-shapes closest to the moon. Just a few light layers but progressively darker as I worked toward the center…

Then I added a few layers of Prismacolor Indigo (again layering progressively deeper toward the center and blending into the Black).

The layers started looking a little streaky as my fingers were cramping up again and I just wanted to get all of the blue filled. I am sure many of you can relate!

To avoid streaks, it does help to keep turning your paper so that you are not always coloring in the same direction. For this piece, though, I planned to burnish these areas and go back over them a few times so I didn’t worry about the streaks too much.

And that’s what I did–first with the Irojiten Indigo pencil pushing the Black and Indigo Prismacolor layers around and blending them together …

… and then with Irojiten Taupe. I also went over all the sky areas yet again with Pigeon Grey, which is a little lighter than Taupe, toward the outside areas.

Using Irojiten shades close to the original layers of colored pencil you put down can provide rich saturation levels and also slightly change the tint of your original layers depending on what you choose.

The Pigeon Grey gives the Indigo a nice smokey look, for example, while using Eggshell will inject a slight yellow tint into your original colors. Don’t be afraid to experiment with this if you decide to use the Irojitens the way I do. And remember that I am not a colored pencil expert–I am still learning as I go and still making mistakes!

Here is a quick video of blending and burnishing with the grey Irojiten over part of the sky. You can see how it really adds depth to the existing light layer of Indigo:

Once I finished the sky, I was left with the mostly blank white circle inside the moon shape. Another dilemma. I settled on trying out the soft paisley-effect again, but with a few slightly different colors including Faber-Castell Permanent Green Olive. I kept the tip of my Luminance Buff Titanium pencil fairly blunt, but again, used lots and lots of circular blending as you can see in the video below:

I did a few touch-ups in spots, but once all the colored pencil work was complete, I added a bunch of dots using Sakura Souffle gel pens (and a darker Turquoise Moolight pen). It can be tricky to work with these pens because they take a few minutes to dry and can smudge easily until then, so I usually work on a small few sections at a time and let it dry under my hot little Halogen desk lamp before moving on.

And here you go … the finished piece! Except that I just realized I never colored the stars … hmmm. For another day! I think they should be dark Indigo, yes?

If you would like to try this design on your own, I offer a downloadable, printable PDF through the RubyCharmColors Etsy shop as well as a bunch of other downloadable single and “bundle and save” designs, and have copies of the Artist’s Edition of my spiral-bound book if you don’t have access to a printer.

Feel free to share your questions or comments about this post and give me a follow (if you don’t already) and find some of my posts helpful.

As always, happy coloring!

wild, wild dogs: a new page to color

Ruby Charm Colors April 2, 2018

I feel very lucky to have seen African wild dogs (also called painted dogs or painted wolves) at the Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe over twenty years ago. Even then, their numbers were perilously low and the park rangers said we were very fortunate to have seen them in the wild.

I love how unique each dog’s splotchy-spotty coat is, and their rounded upright ears. The dogs I drew somehow morphed into leafy, flowery specimens … but I like to let my imagination run where it wants to more often than not.

After the black and white illustration was completed (about 14 hours from idea sketches to final product), I printed a copy on grey card stock, then got out my watercolor pencils to give the sky some color using Albrecht Dürer 154 Kobalttürkis Hell (aka Light Cobalt Turquoise) by Faber-Castell.

Kobalttürkis Hell.

I was a little sloppy with the turquoise, but once I add more color with my regular colored pencils, it will all come together. I used Caran d’Ache Luminance (I get mine as open stock through Blick) as well as Faber-Castell Polychromos and Tombow Irojiten pencils for the dog so far. As much as I dream about having full sets of my favorite pencils, I prefer purchasing them “open stock” so I can get the colors I use most. I have quite a few pink pencils that have been used only once – to make a color chart. I don’t dislike pinks necessarily … I just rarely think about using them.

Does anyone else love the Luminance Titanium Buff pencil as much as I do for blending and highlighting?

It will be a while before I have time to finish this piece. In the meantime, the illustration is now available in my Etsy shop as an instantly downloadable and printable PDF if you would like to play around with whichever color scheme appeals to you. And if you are not sure about colors (or which pencils or papers to use), print a few copies and play around until you are happy with the results (the beauty of PDF coloring pages).

Less expensive than a bag of chips and far healthier for you. 😉

Happy coloring!

Bo Dog and the Moon

Ruby Charm Colors February 7, 2018

Bo Dog and the Moon, colored pencil

“Bo Dog and the Moon” is based on an old pencil sketch I did of a canine companion I had years ago. He was a floppy, bumbling (150 pound) Anatolian shepherd. Bo lived with me in my car for a summer while I collected data for research on birds in the Sleeping Bears Dunes National Park. Yep, I’ve had my share of odd (but always interesting) jobs!

Bo (Mr. Bojangles as he was originally named when I adopted him) loved to swim in Lake Michigan, and sometimes at night we’d hear the coyotes yipping.

The artwork above is a piece I colored with a mix of watercolor pencils and colored pencils–mostly Staedtler Aquarelle (a very old set I bought in Gaborone), Caran d’Ache Museum and Luminance (I only have a few but wow do I love both of these pencils), another favorite, the Faber-Castell Polychromos, Prismacolors (tried and true) and Irojiten (beautiful pencils made by Tombow). This piece is about 8 x 10″ on card stock. I almost always do what I call a “color test” on each one of my designs created for coloring books because I want to make sure there are no issues that can trip up a happy coloring experience for those coloring my art. A black and white illustration of Bo Dog and the Moon is included in my first coloring book for adults, and I also created a downloadable, printable page for coloring as well.

The design, now digitized and modified a bit using the Procreate app and Photoshop, has found a home on a number of different products through my Ruby Charm Colors Threadless shop. There are spiral notebooks, pillows, blankets, water bottles, bags and lots of shirt designs.

A “Color Your Own” version of Bo Dog and the Moon is also available as a soft-cover, 120 lined page, 6” x 8” spiral notebook that can be colored with your own favorite colored pencils, pens or markers. The tote bags, great for daily errands, shopping, hauling art supplies, or even using as a special gift bag, can be colored or painted by you or others as well. Bo Dog and the Moon is printed on both sides, constructed of 100% spun polyester with cotton web handles, lined with black fabric, and available in three sizes: 13” square, 16” square and 18” square.

This past summer, I transferred my Bo Dog image to the back of a denim jacket and after painting blocks of color in acrylics, started embroidering and a sewing on beads and metal studs. The jacket is almost finished (just need to add a few final touches and sew in a cotton lining) and it’s ready to wear. Here’s a close-up of part of the jacket:

Lots of options if you are interested in adding “Bo Dog and the Moon” to your home or wardrobe!

purchase here: Ruby Charm coloring book coloring page home goods, clothing & accessories

All Threadless items come with the Threadless Happiness Guarantee!

The black & white illustration this design is based on was originally drawn by the artist, Susan Carlson, for the Ruby Charm collection of coloring pages and books for coloring enthusiasts.

Learn more about the artist’s process

my coloring process

Ruby Charm Colors August 2, 2017

I’ve had a number of people ask about my coloring process, and now that my RubyCharmColors Etsy shop is up and running, I have a little time to devote to a new post.

I basically follow a two-step process. First I use watercolor pencils (and blending with a water brush)–and then step two–light layers of regular colored pencils on top of the watercolors. It is a technique that works well for me though I am still experimenting and playing around with it. Not everyone will want to devote a substantial chunk of time to a coloring page, and not everyone will like the same technique I use, but in the spirit of turning adult coloring pages into an art form, here’s how I do it …

Some of my favorite tools I keep handy when coloring

TOOLS

Before we jump into process, I thought it might be useful to talk about a few of the tools I rely on. First, I like to work on a decent illustration board. I have two (one large, one small) from my art school days and am glad I never got rid of them. The surface of a good illustration board is very hard, smooth and shouldn’t scratch. Coloring on a surface that is scratched or dented can make your pencils skip and it’s hard to get a nice even layer of color.

Another thing I appreciate about a good illustration board is that I can write notes on it with a pencil (if I need to remember which colors I am using) and I can test color combos on it, too. The board can be easily cleaned with a damp cloth and a little soap between projects. Sometimes I tape my work to the board, but since I like to move my paper around to work on different areas, I only tape it if I want to set it aside for another time. My smaller board (pictured above) has a few eye screws on one side so I can hang it up and out of the way when I’m not working on it.

I also can’t live without my pencil books. I have 4 of them (two for watercolor pencils and two for regular colored pencils) so I don’t have to use the tin and cardboard boxes some of my pencils came in. Aside from keeping everything organized, they don’t clang around and there’s less of chance I’ll knock the boxes off my desk and risk cracking the leads inside the pencils. The tin boxes are attractive, but they make a horrendous clatter when they hit the wood floor. There are a few nice cases out there, but I settled on the zip-up “books” made by BTSKY and Soucolor (and ordered them through Amazon). No issues yet, and I use them a lot. Grey for my watercolor pencils and black for my regular colored pencils.

A good pencil sharpener is a must. I have an electric X-ACTO (great for new un-sharpened pencils) and a small brass sharpener. I’ve had it forever and have no idea where it came from. I use the brass sharpener the most because it gives me a fine point without chewing up too much of the pencil.

I also keep a small brush handy for keeping my page free from little chunks of junk that accumulate while I work. I don’t like to brush the paper off with my hands because oil and sweat can make the paper less receptive to the pencils. I also use (at least when the weather is bloody hot) one of those funny-looking artist gloves so the side of my hand doesn’t stick to the paper and smudge things up. I originally got one for working on the glass surface of my iPad. Cooler months aren’t bad, but when it’s hot, I can’t drag my hand across any drawing surface without it sticking. No fun. And not good for smooth lines.

Because I use watercolor pencils for the first layer of color on my drawings, I also use a few different water brushes. They have a reservoir that holds water and slowly releases it as needed. If too much comes out, use a tissue to mop up the excess–and if not enough comes out, give the reservoir a little squeeze. These brushes allow me to control how much water I use, and since the bristles are fairly stiff, they work really well for blending the watercolor pencils in a very controlled manner. I have two Pentel Aquash water-brushes and a few from Derwent and Kuretake. I honestly don’t have a favorite brand at this point but choose based on tip size in relation to the area I am working on. Okay, well maybe the Kuretake has the best fine point for really tight areas.

STEP ONE: WATERCOLOR PENCILS

Below is a close up of the coyote I’ve been working on recently (a grey-line version of my Coyote and Fox illustration) printed on grey card stock) with the first rough layer of watercolor pencil. It looks a little sloppy, but that’s okay. It will all come together.

I used French Grey (my go-to color for nearly all of my work) and Night by Caran d’Ache (Museum Aquarell‘s which are dreamy to work with); Faber-Castell’s Albrecht Dürer watercolor pencils (Warm Grey, Nougat and Bistre); and Blue Grey 68 by Derwent. As mentioned, I don’t have full sets of any of these pencils. Instead, I order individual pencils as needed through Blick or pick them up in stores. Blick usually has decent prices and it is a reliable company, and buying specific pencils instead of full sets helps me avoid collecting colors I may never use.

Once I have filled in areas with the dry watercolor pencils, I use a water-brush to blend my first layer. The wet brown stripe in the middle of the photo above was worked with a fine point Pentel Aquash water-brush. Instead of “painting,” I think of it as gently “scrubbing” the color around … but not so hard the paper loses it’s integrity and falls apart. There’s nothing worse than creating a big ugly hole in the paper–especially if you have a good portion of a piece completed. I’ve done it enough to learn my lesson. Be gentle with purpose.

If you want to try this technique, practice a few times on scrap paper so you get a feel for your brand of watercolor pencils, your brush, and how they all behave (or misbehave) on the paper you will be using for your final piece.

I work in fairly small, controlled areas. Above, you can see where I started blending the brown swirl shapes. Working on small areas at a time allows the water to dry faster and keeps colors I don’t want blended together separated. As one area dries, I tackle a new one until I have finished with the watercolors.

Below, you can see where I’ve moved into the blues and added some Derwent Inktense Sea Blue and Deep Indigo. Watercolor pencils play nicely with one another, so if after blending an area you want more color, just sketch a little more on top and get it wet again. I prefer to add layers after the paper is dry, but a watercolor pencil on wet paper can produce lovely effects, too.

Things still looks a little sloppy at this point, and that’s fine. Before I started using colored pencils over watercolor, I was a lot more precise applying the color before blending with water. On their own, watercolor pencils produce a beautiful look. But since I will be adding a few layers of colored pencil over the top, I think of this as a simple under-body or base layer of color to build upon.

Why go through the trouble of laying down this watercolor base layer?

I have found that it gives the paper a really nice, faintly “gritty” texture or “tooth” that my colored pencils really seem to love–especially on smoother types of paper and card stock. The key is to make sure the paper has dried before grabbing your colored pencils.

Small, self-contained areas are pretty easy to work on because they have a definitive start and end point (such as the brown lines on the coyote’s rear and neck). Where it gets tricky is where there are larger areas that move from one color to another (behind the ears all the way to the back, tail, and part of the legs). I’ve had to learn to work fast. I typically “scrub” quickly in small circles, but sometimes I pull the brush along the edge of a border to get a larger area damp. Then my circular strokes are used to scrub those colors around and blend them together. If some of the areas look a little splotchy, don’t worry. The colors usually even out as they dry, and if they don’t, the colored pencil layer will eventually blend it all together.

My best advice? Play. Experiment! One of the great things about having digital copies of an illustration is that you can print out a few on different types of paper and play around with techniques and different color pallets before committing to a final piece. And … if you royally screw something up (I’ve done it plenty) you can print and try, try again.

While all of the areas I have water-colored are drying (it should not take long at all), I put my watercolor pencils away and pull out my regular colored pencils. I try not to mix them up because it really stinks when you color a whole area and hit it with water only to realize you hadn’t used a watercolor pencil. And watercolor pencils don’t work very well over regular colored pencils because of the waxes and oils in the colored pencil leads. They can, if thick enough, repel water. So I try to keep my pencils types separate.

COLORED PENCILS

The pic above shows the coyote with all the watercolors blended and a start (on the belly) with regular colored pencil layers. Adding light layers can give your work a lot more depth, vibrancy and definition.

I like to use the softer colored pencils (Prismacolor, Faber-Castell, Caran d’Ache Luminance and Pablo, and Bruynzeel) for the larger areas and I work with a light touch and try to avoid coloring in the same direction. Light circles or tight cross-hatching works well. Sometimes the layers can get a little too thick and an annoying “chunky” build-up can occur. It happened with some of the sepia (see pic below) I was using to the left of the big white star. Too much build-up from being a little heavy-handed in that area, whoops.

Some of the sheen in my photos are a reflection of the wax in the pencil leads and appears when you apply a lot of pressure, or go over the same area quickly back and forth. Burnishing, as it is often called, can be a great way to deepen colors and set them, but you can overdo it so be careful. Once I have my softer layers of pencil down, I then use my harder pencils (like Tombow’s Irojiten pencils, the Verithins by Prismacolor, and Derwent’s Studio pencils) to carefully carve in sharper details. I used black, Tuscan red and indigo Verithins to define parts of the coloring below.

I also like to use the Caran d’Ache white Luminance pencil for all of my brighter highlights. It seems to give me the best coverage of all the white pencils I have. A little pricey compared to other brands, but for a responsive, reliable white pencil, I think it’s worth the price. Most of my white pencils barely show up when applied over other colors.

One tip about whites … if you want a bright white to appear over another color, always color that area with your white pencil first. Next, work your other colors around it and right up to the white. And then, hit the white area with your white pencil again being conscious of pushing from the white center toward the other color(s). If you pull from the other color(s) into the white, you’ll get more blending (and not a brighter white).

I find that I can blend and burnish colors together pretty well with the Derwent and Irojiten pencils as a final top layer. I usually use a shade or few lighter than the color I am working over. For instance, on the brown and taupe colored areas of the coyote, I used Irojiten’s Pigeon Grey, Chesnut and Eggshell to “set” the final layer over the Prismacolor and Polychromos French Grey and Bistre. I’ll do the same with the blues. Irojiten Indigo over Polychromos and Prismacolor Indigo for the darker areas, and maybe Irojiten Midnight Blue or Kingfisher for the medium blues.

As a side note, I have found that the Irojiten Eggshell pencil has become a favorite go-to for blending many different colors–it’s light enough to pick up the color of the layer underneath without muddying things up and it’s hard enough to push the colors together.

And there is a push and pull when it comes to working with colored pencils …

Below: slowly working more colors. I think I had about 2 or 3 hours into the coyote at this point. I realize not everyone wants to spend this much time on a coloring project, but I really enjoy the process. While I love to see the final product, it’s the act of choosing the colors, working the water and the pencils, and having time to focus on something tangible and tactile. An escape from all the screens virtual everythings.

The bottom photo shows the final layers of colored pencils, plus a few details that make the image pop. I like using the Sakura Pen-Touch paint pens to add small dots (be careful you don’t smudge if you try this – paint pens take a little time to dry). I also go in with a black waterproof Faber-Castell PITT pen to add dots and lines, or sometimes just to darken areas that got a little covered by pencil marks (like the coyote’s eye). Gel, metallic and glitter pens are fun, but I don’t use them much anymore because they don’t photograph or scan well.

I also try not to feel restricted when it comes to following the original design of any page (including my own illustrations for coloring) and often add in new details like the oblong white and grey shapes on the tail.

Here is the same coyote I tested out with color after my original black line drawing was complete and converted into a vector for printing. It was printed on white card stock (instead of the grey-scale lines on grey card stock for my current coyote). Not sure which one I like best, but they were both enjoyable to work on.

I hope some of the information about my process and techniques can be useful to you. Again, my approach isn’t for everyone, but hopefully it inspires you to try something new. Don’t be afraid to take your time and push your creativity to the next level. I am always trying to learn–always thinking about ways to improve. And while my own relationship to art (and now coloring) certainly provides relief from stress, art is also my passion (and can surely cause stress at times).

Isn’t that the Yinyang of life? 😉

I’d love to hear from you if you have questions, comments, or techniques you would like to share!

UPDATE: I now have six pencils cases – seems my pencil collection has grown a little. I am sure some of you can relate to this! 😉

Tag: watercolor pencils

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The black & white illustration this design is based on was originally drawn by the artist, Susan Carlson, for the Ruby Charm collection of coloring pages and books for coloring enthusiasts.

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The black & white illustration this design is based on was originally drawn by the artist, Susan Carlson, for the Ruby Charm collection of coloring pages and books for coloring enthusiasts.

Learn more about the artist’s process

Share this:

Like this:

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