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For watercolor pencils, I like to put the tip of my water brush right to the tip of the pencil to pick up the color. I feel like I have more control that way and use a lighter touch.
For fast coloring, I like to use Prismacolor or Koh-i-noor (there are lots of good brand choices in this area, you might want to check out the "Tool & Product Talk" forum) colored pencil (not watercolor) with paper blending stumps and odorless mineral spirits (some people will use baby oil or Goo Gone, too!). I use a brand "Gamsol" which I've purchased online at Inky Antics and it comes in a handy bottle with a dauber top.
When coloring this way, I color in a circular motion, laying down the pencil pigment in the shadow areas or around the edges. Then using the blending stump with solvent applied, again in a circular motion "push" or blend the pigment into the white areas. It's a simple way to get nice variation in shade, and leave a little very pale in the center for dimension.
Also, if you have reinkers, you can put a drop on a palette and use that with a waterbrush/paintbrush too! I love using Distress Inks for this. I also will dip the brush right onto the ink pad.
Those are my top 3 :^) . Hope you discover a method that you love!
Splitcoast Dirty Dozen Alumni Creative Crew SU Design Team Alumni
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I prefer watercolor paper, aquapainters, and either SU ink or the watercolor crayons. I have the best luck with those two things. The watercolor paper really is key for me! Oh and sometimes I use the markers with the aquapainters to blend as well, sometimes I feel like the ink pads turn funny colors when I blend....
When I first started stamping many years ago, I was into the chalks. I still use them sometimes, but lately I have been using my copics (still learning on how to use them!) colored pencils are great, I enjoy using them and blending with them. Colored pencils are als so easy to work with! You can purchase decent pencils at AC Moore & Joanns using your coupon, that really helps bringing the cost down. I have the prisma colored pencils and am looking into purchasing the Derwent pencils. The last couple days I have been reading posts' on here in regards to those pencils. I want to try the colorsoft and the inktense ones.
Good luck and enjoy whatever you choose to color with!
Oh wow, so many things! I have tried the mineral spirits and colored pencils, that was a bit complicated for me. I have kooh-i-noor pencils and love those. I am going to get some watercolor pencils tomorrow as AC Moore has a 50% off coupon for tomorrow only.
Vic where do you find the blender pen at Michael's for the colored pencils?
Thank you Vic for the tutorial, I am off to check it out! Thank you again ladies so much!!
I found the blender pen with the colored pencils. It's their brand - Recollections. It has a fine & broad tip. I think it was $3.99 but I used a coupon.
Cassandra, if they have the Derwent watercolor pencils, I'd recommend those - they're my favorite! You can use a blender pen with watercolor pencils too...
Hi Nancy! Thanks so much! Is the inktense similar to the prismas because I have alot of those? I'm out of town right now and cant wait ti go home to play!
With that being said, Nancy go color!!!
P.S. this has definitely been a great topic. I do have a question though, I currently have blender pens, ( SU & a dove) I know the gamsol works similar to the pens. How does it come? In a bottle, and how do you use it?
Is the inktense similar to the prismas because I have alot of those?
They're quite different, actually! The Prismacolor pencils are wax-based, and the Inktense pencils are ink-based - they can be blended with OMS or water (much more vivid results with water) and are permanent after blending. I use mine more as a watercolor medium. Attached is a piece I was working on this weekend, using Inktense pencils and blending with a water brush... sorry for the bad cell phone picture!
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I currently have blender pens, ( SU & a dove) I know the gamsol works similar to the pens. How does it come? In a bottle, and how do you use it?
The blending solution in blender pens contains a binder and is more for use in applying chalks, and blending water-soluble mediums such as inks and watercolor pencils (they work great with Inktense too). Mineral Spirits (Gamsol being one brand name) are a type of solvent that breaks down the pigment in oil/wax based mediums and allows that pigment to be blended. Other solvents that can be used for blending are Goo-Gone, 90% alcohol, and mineral/baby oil... I'm sure there are others that have been tried as well. You can also use a blender pen (ie. Copic, Touch Twin, etc) to blend pencils - really handy for traveling!
Odorless mineral spirits (OMS) come in a bottle (you can purchase them in an art store, or in the paint section at stores like Walmart). For blending, most people use paper stumps, which are a pencil-shaped tool made of compressed paper. The stump is dipped in the mineral spirits, then rubbed over your colored area in a circular motion to break down and move the pigment. There are tutorials in the resources section that can give you more of an idea. I've heard of people filling their blender pens with mineral spirits, but I haven't tried it myself.
And attached is a closeup of an earlier example using the Inktense pencils. The distinction is that once it's dry, you can add color and your first layer maintains its integrity so you get that nice effect of color on color. Does that make any sense? They really have a great watercolor look.
For inexpensive, I would definitely go with Prismacolor Pencils and odorless mineral spirits with a blending stump. They usually come out with such a beautiful result, and they cost only a fraction of what markers would cost these days.
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Hi Dina! Thank-you so much for your answers and you knowledge! You have been most helpful. I guess I will need to look into the gamsol or the oms! The pic of you Irises turned out beautifully, great coloring job!
Have been contemplating about buying Neon II but it's just so expensive.
Got me curious... what is this? (* waves HI to Singapore! *)
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Hi Dina! Thank-you so much for your answers and your knowledge! You have been most helpful. I guess I will need to look into the gamsol or the oms! The pic of you Irises turned out beautifully, great coloring job!
Until I can get my hands on the zig clean color real brush markers, I picked up a pack of recollections water brush pens. I'm not exactly sure how to use them since there were no instructions, by I'm trying....
Forgot to mention that the recollections set I bought was only 2.99 since I had a 40% off coupon!
now that is definitely a bargain well, I would guess you could scribble some ink with the brush end of the marker onto a craft mat or a clear block then use your watercolor brush to pick up the color ( to soften it)
Dina...I'm wondering if she meant Caran d'Ache Neocolor II wax pastels? http://www.amazon.com/Caran-dAche-Cl.../dp/B000YIMXMG
They would fit her description. I haven't used them, but have heard good things about them.
I'm sure you're right, Diane... I've heard good things about them too, but truthfully I haven't used the Derwent Artbars Lydia made me buy, so I'm not even going to click on your link... LALALALALALAAAAAAAA!!
I use Spectrum Noir markers, Distress Markers, Prismacolor Pencils and Stablio Fineliners. I also use chalks and Twinkling H20s.
I noticed that too! Funny how trends change, and others still stay in!
I use Copics and most recently watercolor mediums: Zig CC Brush Markers, SN Aqua Markers, Peerless watercolors, Distress Markers/Ink Pads, reg watercolor paints, and sometimes Twinkling H20s. I rarely use my color pencils or watercolor pencils. The others seem easier for me and I like the smooth result. Yet oddly enough, I love the unpredictability of watercolors, no two are ever alike and it's that unique quality about the medium that just fascinates me!
In the vein of multi-tasking your supplies...if you have distress ink pads and plop them on your craft mat, you can pick up the ink on a waterbrush. Any water based ink pad would work like this. Now they have the distress pens if one wanted that. (since there was the inexpensive aspect to the Q too)
The original Q (I thought) was applying color direct to the stamp?
I am collecting Tombows as I can with sales and coupons. I think that is what I would use for direct to stamp coloring.
I like the dewents and inktense too. Nice to know I can use goo gone! This may be 3 years old but there is a lot here I didnt know
I also use the fine point Sharpies which you can get in big batches, and they are blendable up to a point. Not as well as say a Copic/Tombow. I saw a vid on it and now I cant find it. If I do, I'll link it. I like them for fine, detail coloring. I would NOT do this direct to stamp though-just to paper.
What do you use to color?
