When Derwent first asked me to write a blog piece for them, they said I could write about anything I liked – straight away I thought “Coloursofts”!
Ever since they sent me their products to try Coloursoft pencils have been my number one favourite, I love the softness of these pencils, the way they blend so easily & the vibrancy of the colours. They have an almost buttery texture that goes on so smoothly and blends like a dream! You can see here how you can use the colours to make light and shade leaving no harsh lines and how you can even mix the colours as in the last one using blue and pink to create purple, gorgeous!
In the craft world at the moment, colouring in is a big trend, its gives us that feeling of a simpler time, when you were little and would sit with a colouring book for hours, it’s so soothing to use your stamps and spend a few hours just colouring them in ready to use on cards and craft projects.
Here I’ve used one of the very popular ‘Magnolia’ images of a little girls and coloured with my Coloursofts.
by adding the blush to her cheeks using the Red pencil very softly; I then add shading to her face using the Orange and Rust colours before using the Orange pencil very lightly to blend over the whole face, using circular motions to blend the colours as I go.
The face looks a little orange at this point as if my Magnolia has been fake tanned! So I blend the White pencil over the whole face, this tones the colour down, blends all the colours together perfectly (using a lighter colour over the whole area gives it a lovely shiny finish) and used more firmly in area of light, i.e. her nose and forehead gives a highlight to her face.
With the hand I don’t colour the whole hand, just the shading, I then use the White pencil to blend the pigment out over the white area to show where the highlights will fall – the pigment is so soft that you can use a white pencil to move the pigment around a little bit and blend outwards – just remember to scribble on some scrap paper between uses so you don’t contaminate your colours!
After colouring her hair and dress I use a soft cloth to gently buff over the surface to finish the blending and make sure there is no stray pigment. I then use the Burnisher pencil (sold separately) very gently over the top to give the image a shiny finish.
Here is the finished card.
And some more cards made using stamped images with my Coloursoft pencils.
Bear in mind I’ve only used a set of 12 to do these images, with all 72 colours you could create even more detailed images – the possibilities are endless!
My top tips!
- Start with the darker areas and use your lighter colours to blend into and over them so there are no harsh lines
- Make use of the White pencil – it really is a fantastic tool for blending and moving pigment around as well as for creating highlights
- Blend blend blend! Make sure you keep a soft cloth, blending stump or some kitchen roll next to you as you work
- For animals and surfaces with texture don’t use the Burnisher, the texture of the pencils makes them look almost fluffy and more realistic (as you can see from the chicks on my step by step card)
- Keep your pencils and paper clean of pigment, dust the image lightly as you go to remove stray pigment and clean the tips of your pencils by scribbling on some scrap paper so you don’t muddy your colours
- Keep a light pressure – you can always add colour and build up but its much harder to take it away and tone it down
- Keep practising – there are NO mistakes in crafting only experiments!
Have fun!
Thanks so much to Sarah for her fantastic post on just how easy it is to incorporate colour into your crafting projects!
For more information on Sarah Hurley visit her website www.sarahhurley.com
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