Aug 04 2008
Coloring Today — Pencil Over Ink
Coloring Today is short but I hope you’ll find it sweet. As I’ve mentioned before, there are so many ways to color an image and if you aren’t comfortable with one medium, perhaps you’ll find your niche with another.
This is pencil over ink, a very quick and easy process that produces nice results with a solid image on a dark background. It’s not a new technique but it’s a fun technique to revisit. While I’m sure many of you have already mastered this method, I imagine there are just as many new stampers who haven’t tried it yet.
Not much in the way of supplies are needed for pencil over ink. For the coloring of this card I used the few supplies pictured below:
- White pigment ink
- Lavender, violet and orange Prismacolor pencils
- Stardust Stickles (optional)
I like Prismacolor pencils because they’re soft and waxy and the color goes down very smoothly. The Metallic Art Pencils and Smooth Color Pencils that Stampin’ Up! sells are also very nice, though limited in colors.
Begin by stamping a solid image in white pigment ink on a dark background. Lots of drying time is required for pigment ink before you color the image. This can be accelerated by heating the image with a heat gun.
Color with pencils. I colored the petals with lavender and shaded with violet, no special blending required. The photo below shows where the darker color was added. I *sparkled* up the flower centers with Stardust Stickles
And that’s all there is to it! I white embossed a Hero Arts greeting and decided to make this a birthday card. The flowers are Stampin’ Up!’s retired Petal Prints.
The designer paper I used is BasicGray Scarlet’s Letter which is so gorgeous I feel absolutely ill when I cover it up. Cardstocks are Really Rust and Basic Black. I used white ribbon (Offray) and brads to lighten up the overall appearance of the card.
I’ve included a couple more photos of pencil over ink cards that I made in the past. The first card uses the Stampin’ Up! Garden Annuals wheel over Sahara Sand cardstock stamped with Linen in Sahara Sand. The background doesn’t have to be very dark for this coloring technique to be effective. It’s a great way to create your own designer paper.
The image on this card was stamped on velveteen, or sueded, paper. The odd angle of the photo was an attempt to clearly show the velveteen paper.
These SU! Best Blossoms flowers (retired) were colored with SU!’s Metallic Art Pencils. Another thing that’s pretty cool about this technique is that you can overlay images without masking. I stamped the leaves first, then stamped the flowers right over top of them. It was easy to see what was where and how to color it.
In case you’re wondering, the gold embossed Climbing Leaves background from CHF was done on regular Basic Black cardstock. The purple background is the Polished Stone technique, done on glossy cardstock. I did not use metallic ink, however, so no spray sealer was required.
There really are a lot of fun possibilities for this technique. I certainly enjoyed sharing these ideas with you! Enjoy your day!
So pretty Leslie, I haven’t done this for a long time!
These are all gorgeous!!! Your tutorial is so helpful, as always, and it’s great to be reminded of simple techniques I know I forget about!!! That 2nd card is very special to me and I still treausure it!!! And the colors, textures on the 3rd card are FABULOUS!!!! Wonderful post — thank you for taking so much time to help and inform all of us!!!
Thanks Leslie. I love your tutorial. What a beautiful card that looks like it took a lot longer than it did.
What a beautiful card! This is such a wonderful technique, and thanks for the previous tutorial. You are such an inspiration…every day! TFS!
Wow, that is a neat technique-new to me so thanks for sharing. I want to try this-I like the Prisma pencils so this will be a new way to use them….all gorgeous cards.
Bev J. (Maxell on SCS)
Thank you so much for this tutorial! I am still new to this, so I had never seen this technique before. Your cards are so phenomenal and I love your blog. Michele R.
Oh my gosh! These are absolutely stunning!!! WOW!!!!!
Thanks for showing how to do this neat technique. I’ve seen it done before, but not explained so well. Gorgeous cards, too!
WOW!! Love your card, can’t wait to try it!
These are all beautiful!!
Oh my gosh….I haven’t thought of that technique in so long! Thanks for the reminder, and those GORGEOUS cards!
Leslie, these designs are all so beautiful! Thank you for sharing your recipe. Your new banner is beautiful, is it a picture of a flower from your gorgeous garden?
Great little tutorial and wonderful examples!
I’ve never tried this technique!! I love the look it produces and your samples are wonderful. Thank you for sharing!
Thank you for your gorgeous examples of an easy coloring technique that I have not done in ages. I agree, prisma color pencils are the best and can be purchased at any craft or art supply store. TFS another awesome coloring technique and your stunning cards. My Leslie coloring file is growing
This is awesome. I can’t wait to try it. TFS!
Lovely work Leslie! I have yet to try this technique! Thanks for the nudge! Have a great day! Deb
So gorgeous! This may not be a new technique but I’ve never tried it, hope to give it a whirl sometime soon. Your tutorials are wonderful Leslie!!
These are all so gorgeous!! Love this technique and haven’t used it in so long. Thanks for bringing it back!!
I had never heard of this before, thanks for sharing it once again, very pretty effect!
What fantastic samples, Leslie! All gorgeous! I have actually never tried pencil over ink. I’ll have to add that to my list of things to try!
This is fab, i’ve never heard of this technique before!! I love your cards…thanks for sharing and for the tutorials
All 3 of your cards are gorgeous! I have never heard of this technique before either, so it was very interesting to hear how it’s done! Thanks for sharing!!
thanks for the technique, never heard of it and will def give it a try.
Do you have any more cards with this technique on so I can see them.
Di
Incredible, Leslie!! These are all so unique and beautiful. I love the deep colors you’ve achieved with this technique.
Your card is so beautiful (I love the colors and papers), and the technique sounds very cool! Thank you for all of the details!! All of your other cards are very gorgeous as well!!