5 Ways of Colouring - House Mouse

One Stamp Five Ways...

When I  first sat down to work with the House Mouse with the Humming Bird stamp (Stampendous) it was hard to decide what to use to colour this wonderful stamp.  It is a beautiful but it appears slightly tricky to colour image effectively.  Then it occurred to me, that I could use as many options as I could come up with to colour the image. 

The obvious starting point was my current favourite which is alcohol markers, my choice being Copic Markers.  I decided to also try out my distress markers, not a first choice because I find it more difficult to get the shading the way I want it with them.  Next, I decided to revert to  water colour paints which I used when I started card making first.  I also decided to try Twinkling H2Os.  The final choice was my newest acquisition, the Spectrum Noir pencils.

 

Using Copic Markers

When you decide to colour with copic markers it is essential that you choose an ink that won’t bleed with alcohol ink.  I used Memento Tuxedo Black.  It is also important to use paper that is suitable for alcohol ink.  The paper I choose today was only 70g which was a bit too light.

I love the finish I get with copics and as I have a very wide selection I didn’t find it hard to pick appropriate colours. I found it easy to shade with the copics but the  one drawback I noticed was that the tip of the copics was a little too big for the very fine stem on the flower.  My failing eyesight did not help here.

Overall, I would be happy to use copics to colour this stamp – as long as I wear my glasses and chose more appropriate card.
 

Copics used: B63, BV02, C1, E40, E41, G21, R000, R00, R11, R81, W1, W2, W3, W5, YG11, YG41.  

Tim Holtz Distress Markers

Because distressed markers are water based I chose to use Ranger Archival Ink in Black on watercolour cartridge card.
I always struggle to get an appropriate finish with my distress markers, usually due to choice of card. Ideally the card shouldn’t be smooth however if the card is buffed then I find it hard to get a clear image stamped.
It was easy enough to find appropriate colours for the image. I found it hard to apply the colour due to paper but once I swapped to a more absorbent card I achieved a better look. I did find that the colour was a little weak looking.
Overall, I would be content to use distress markers again with the stamp once I used appropriate paper.



Distressed markers used: Bundled sage, shabby shutters, victorian velvet, shaded lilac, spun sugar, dried marigold, old paper, pumice stone, brushed corduroy.

 

 Watercolour Paints

Again I chose to use Ranger Archival Ink in Black on watercolour cartridge card.

I first started colouring my stamped images using watercolour paints. I have the Winsor & Newtown 40 pan set which I find superb.

I find the major advantage of using watercolour paint is that you can mix colours on the pallet to achieve whatever colour you feel suitable. It is important though to choose appropriate paper to get a nice finish.

Overall, I would be enjoy colouring the image again with watercolour.

Spectrum Noir Pencils

I chose to use Ranger Archival Ink in as I find this ink provides a nice clear image suitable for the Spectrum Noir pencils.
Despite having all the Spectrum Noir pencils I found it difficult to choose appropriate colour pencils. The pencils are fairly nice to use, a major benefit being the ability to pare to a fine tip. If you go over the image with the Spectum Noir blending solution it becomes smoother and clears some of the lines from the pencils. I did find it frustrating that one of the pencils kept breaking (despite being careful never to drop) and as you can’t purchase single pencils it is impossible to replace. I was happy that I did achieve a strong colour finish.
Overall, I feel I would not automatically chose the Spectrum Noir for this type of image where I want specific colours for the flower and the bird.
 

Twinkling H2Os

Again I chose to use Ranger Archival Ink in Black on watercolour cartridge card.

I have a huge range of the H2Os and always enjoy looking for suitable colours. I found appropriate colours easy enough and using my normal watercolour brushes I enjoyed colouring in the images. I cheated a little on the mouse by painting in watercolour first and then applying ‘oyster’ H2O. I felt it was easier to achieve shading this way. I had also used watercolour to provide slight shading to the bird before applying the H2s but found that the H2O didn’t cover it as well as I hoped. I would not use the pre-watercolour shading next time.

Overall, I would be happy to use H2Os again but feel that it would be better to use along with the general watercolour pans . I felt that only H2Os provided too much shimmer or ‘twinkling’ . The bird and the flower looked well in the H2Os but I feel the mouse would be better in watercolour.