At last…the long awaited Dutch bunny portrait I sneak-peeked a few weeks back! I’ve saved him for a special bloghop – my friend Jessica Frost Ballas is celebrating 10k subscribers by gathering up a lot of giveaways! Stay tuned for info below in this post about that, and the supplies are at the end of the post 🙂
The Hello Bunny stamp is one of the “Big and Bold” series from Colorado Craft Company – it’s just the head so I show you how to add the body too, it’s super easy! (Note that the dies cut out the head, not the body, of course.)
Video
This card can be colored in a lot of other mediums too, not just Copics!
The crazy cutting out of the ears might have been confusing – I wanted a straight edge *inside* the width of the ears so they’d stick out. An xacto knife could do this but…after a college accident while prepping my senior show, my thumb throbs when I even think of an xacto blade. LOL! Yes, still have the scar! So I used my trimmer, carefully stopping before cutting all the way to the ears, fussy cutting the tops of the ears. For the TOP horizontal bit, I made a slice into the ears (no crying was heard!) so I could “bend” them against the blade and cut into only the white paper portion. Again, a knife might be less confusing but….that thumb!
The yellow border was cut just a little bigger than the white section so it stuck out a little, then popped onto the card base.
Video Hop
Giveaway info: Over $800 in prizes to be won! Viewers must comment on videos before 11:59PM ET on April 8th for a chance to win ; the more videos you comment on, the better the chances! Winners will be announced on Jessica’s blog and YouTube channel on April 9th. GOOD LUCK!
If you’re still scrolling you just might be a bunny person. I’m just gonna make that guess. So guess what I have for you? All. My. Bunnies. In one place! Click here or on the pic to see ’em. You’re welcome!
Supplies
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
What inks are good for no-line coloring? Well there are of course many. But I have a favorite, and if you haven’t figured it out yet – it’s a hybrid ink that’ll work for a bunch of mediums. But to be sure I did a watercolor test too – and confirmed what was a gut feeling I had already.
Supplies for this project are linked at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.
It’s the middle of March…are the birds singing at your house yet!?? I heard one this weekend and my heart was SO happy! Whether or not our feathered friends have returned where you live – these new Dear Friend Robin stamps from Colorado Craft Company are going to bring some sunshine inside!
Video:
This Copic card uses the no-line ink; I think Copic is probably the best medium for fully hiding the lines – but on nice BIG images like this. When it comes to tiny images, the Copic nib is too fat. Pair that with colored pencil or a regular #2 to tidy up tiny spots. ALSO – don’t forget to decorate inside the card like this!
On the left is the watercolor painted over the Pumice Stone distress ink. It muddied up some of the colors a bit – and as you saw in the video, it didn’t stamp evenly, which led to some of the leaves having harsher dark spots too. The one on the right uses the no line ink…much cleaner. I knew this intuitively, but it’s always good to test and confirm what I think will happen.
More new goodies from CCC
Not included in the video – the colored pencil (Polychromos) version…all inks will work great with pencil. If using pigment inks just be sure they’re good and dry. And that robin’s nest stamp? Oh wow. It took a while to color, but it’s stunning! If you don’t want to color it, just stamp it in a soft ink and just color the eggs.
Here’s me coloring the nest – I used a yellowish brown first to flood the whole nest area using Gamsol and a blending stump, then layered different browns to get the depth with negative coloring around each of the little twigs. Ok not each one. I gave up on following the outlines. LOL! You can see a Reel of it on Instagram later on today!
More from this release
You knew I’d be coloring up daffodils right? ha! I love going up to the flower fields in spring to photograph and paint – so I made my own scene! I added a little bit of rocks to the right of the stamped image using a fountain pen with waterproof ink, then the fields and farm buildings too.
Rose Cross is a pretty stamp designed by Australia’s own Sandra Herrgott of Tiny Sparrow Designs! (Her Etsy store and Facebook page are wonderful to go see!) This stamp is just a weeee bit large for an A2 card – it does fit, but without “air” around it like I felt it needed, so I went for a 5″ x 7″ card. I stamped it a second time and cut out the flowers, and a third to cut out and pop the butterflies. And….GLITTER! Yes yes I know. It’s everywhere. HA!
Clean Heart is one of the bookmark stamps…I did a simple watercolor wash over embossed stamps, then painted another layer inside the images. The text is embossed on heavyweight vellum – I tucked it between layers to secure it.
Be Still, another bookmark set, again with embossing and a watercolor wash. Easy peasy!
Hello Bunny will be a tutorial coming up in a week or two once I can get it edited and ready 🙂
Giveaway!
I’m excited to be able to GIVE AWAY two stamp sets each from this new release to three lucky people! Leave a comment here about HOW YOUR STUDIO/WORKSPACE LOOKS TODAY by midnight on the 18th! I actually was brave enough to post GAH video of mine HERE yesterday if you wanna feel better about yours! ha!
I’ll announce winners on Friday the 19th on my blog so be sure to pop back here to see if you won! Also – if you want to be sure you get notified, scroll down just a little farther on this post and subscribe so you’ll get Friday’s post delivered by email!
Supplies
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
More bunnies! This time a little unexpected fun – using Art Impressions watercolor stamps….with Copics! NOTE: DO NOT COLOR ON STAMPS WITH COPICS. Just need to shout that at the top here.
Supplies for this project are linked at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.
Video
You might start looking at a lot of your dies differently…..I already am!
The bunnies are colored first on one piece of paper, and fussy cut to layer in front of the arbor.
The airbrushing of a soft cloudy background can be substituted with some light inking; but if you’re planning to pull the sticky arbor back up, don’t press hard. You could alternatively trace around the die, but remember those lines will not be covered – so you may need to erase some lines.
This sentiment cracks me up….especially on such a sweet card! heehee!
Supplies
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
Art Impressions Stamps: Watercolor Bunnies EH – AI
Ready to go to school? Today I’m answering a question that I get a lot: what’s saturation and why should I care? I’ll give you the Copic numbering system application – some swatches – and a scene incorporating saturation levels! Let’s get rolling!
Supplies for this project are linked at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.
First: the Copic numbering system. There’s a letter, and that’s pretty obvious it’s the color family name. R for Red, B for Blue, etc. But the numbers are not PAIRS of numbers, they each mean something separately.
The first digit is for saturation. Low numbers (0,1,2) are high in saturation, very bright. High numbers (7,8,9) are low in saturation, they’re grayed out.
The second digit is for light/dark level. The 0,1,2 in this case mean it’s a light hue. The 7,8,9 means it’s a dark color.
Therefore there’s no “B Twelve” – it’s a 1 for saturation level, and 2 for lightness. There’s no “Y Seventeen” – it’s a “Y One Seven.” One for saturation, 7 for darkness. So if you’ve ever wondered why I speak their names that way – now ya know!
If you’d like to color some swatch sheets yourself, order up a set of free charts HERE.
Video
While blues can mix with other colors to make a beautiful scene, I’m going to keep this at all blues. Well except for one gray that I turned into a blue later. But I’ll be using 3 saturation levels to accomplish this scene:
A foreground is (in general) more saturated than a background. In this card, the foreground is not the *most* intense colors because the lighting is in the *middle* of the scene, so I used the B3 familiy. If the light source were behind the viewer (over your shoulder shining on the subject, that would not be the case.
The background is in the B9s – to push it further away by using more greyish colors. When looking off into the distance there are particles in the air between you and the subject – that’s why distant objects look pale or greyish sometimes.
The midground is where the light source is – so it’s brightest, using the B0 family.
Supplies
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
Last year I discussed the Pantone color of 2020, Classic Blue – and have had a few requests to make a tradition of it. So let’s do it!
In 2021, it’s actually TWO colors: Ultimate Grey and Illuminating Yellow. On their website one of the things they have for sale is some swag – so I ordered a Cortado cup – it’ll be a nice little water cup for painting in 2021!
Supplies for this project are linked at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.
Video
The video has three parts: 1) coloring the chart (download here), 2) coloring an image from Three Room Studios, and 3) looking at a few sample cards, also pictured later in this post!
I’ve made a chart for you to download HERE– it’s 2 pages, one has my numbers on it, the other is blank. That way if you want to try to match a different medium like colored pencils, you can add those yourself.
Color harmony examples
To use harmonies the way they’re shown at Pantone, use the colors in different quantities – usually 3 or 4, though I tried using all 6 where possible on these sample cards. The tone of a piece will change dramatically based on which color takes up the most real estate, and what colors are next to each other.
The yellow background is the largest color percentage – and it definitely pulls your attention! The girl’s pink clothing is pretty important here, as the color is so much darker than what’s around it.
The mood is more peaceful with the deep grey background this time – and the yellow chair draws the eye right away. Polkadots on these two, by the way, are the green, and the tan color was replaced with skin and hair colors.
The background is the tan color, and it’s right next to the yellow – almost hiding the yellow outfit as they’re right next to each other. To make the corduroy fabric on the chair, use a white pen, let it dry, then go over it with Copics.
The pink is adapted to have two tones – the airbrushed one is lighter, carpet darker. This and the grey chair surround the shock of the yellow outfit, which pops against all those colors!
Supplies
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Another episode in things-I-haven’t-tried-in-a-while – an easel card! There’s coloring techniques for the colorists, and a card-construction for those who don’t!
Supplies for this project are linked at the end of this post. Compensated affiliate links may be used at no cost to you.
Video
So far I’ve been using watercolors and pencils for all my Anita Jeram stamps – it’s time to give them some Copic love!
Here are the colors I used….
If your clouds come out perfect, go ahead and stop at this point! If not – add some branches hanging down. Be careful not to get too symmetrical… Mother Nature doesn’t do symmetry much!
Easel card measurements
Whatever size of the card – first score the card as normal. In this case, 5-1/2″. then divide the front half of the card in half and score that – in this case 2-3/4″…then attach the card front on the bottom half only of the front. Add a crossbar so the easel has something to lean on to stand up. Include a sticky note with how to display the card – “Lean the front of the card HERE” with an arrow pointing to the right spot – if it’s going to someone who doesn’t know what an easel card is!
Supplies
Some product may be provided by manufacturers for review and use. Compensated affiliate links are here at no cost to you. If you choose to shop using my EH (Ellen Hutson) links, please accept cookies on that site in order to retain the link to my blog, or that compensation does not happen for me. I appreciate your support of my work with your purchases! Full affiliate and product disclosure | My trusted partners in art
Lots of Love by Anita Jeram, Colorado Craft Company
