Coloring Stamps help!
 

Hi!

I am relatively new to stamping and need of some help. How do you all get your colored stamped images to look so great?

I stamp an image and use my SU markers. However, I am just not very stasfied with the final outcome. Is there some special technique to this or is it better to use watercolor pencils or something else to color in images.

Thanks

A lot of people on here use copic markers to colour their images. You can also use the "gamsol technique" using orderless mineral spirits and pencil crayons (most people like prisma). Then there's watercolour pencils. There's a lot of inforamtion on the boards about the techniques.

I use Stampin' Up! Markers. If you use an aqua painter and watercolor paper, you get great results.

Check out Julie's tutorial.

Another thing I do is scribble on a stamp box with the marker, then pick up the color with an Aqua Painter or blender pen and then watercolor.

With either technique, you can add more color if you need to, or blend colors. And with the watercolor paper, you can "take off" color with the aqua painter.

I found out that the regular Crayola markers ($8 for set of 48 ) work pretty well with aquapainter..like watercolors.. :)

Good idea, I have some sharpie markers that I think I will try. :)

I don't think the Sharpies would work with aquabrush. Crayola markers are waterbased (look for Washable on the package), Sharpies are not. For coloring with Sharpies look at this great tutorial:
http:////www.splitcoaststampers.com/...d.php?t=357037

Yes, to all of the above, but the paper and stamping ink makes a big difference.

I use either Neenah cs or Georgia Pacific cs (Walmart). There is cs sold by Stamping up that is good too~I don't recall the name of it.

Ink~it depends on what you're coloring with. Yes, the combo of these 2 does make a difference.

Ginger

If you want to just ease into this without having to spend too much money, you could buy a set of the Bic Color Collections set. It's about $14 on Amazon w/ free shipping if your total is $25. If you want to try blending techniques or watercoloring, then try Prismas. Just buy a few and try it out and see how you like it.

Thank you alicaz. :)

what kink of ink do you use to stamp the image that wont bleed when you start "blending"... thanks for your help!!!

if your using stampin up markers and blending pen what ink would you use? thanks

If you are using colored pencils, probably any good ink will do. If you are using alcohol based markers, like Copics, Bics, Spectrum Noir, many people use Memento ink.

Here is a great thread with info about coloring with alcohol based markers like Copics. The first post has lots of beginner info.

//www.splitcoaststampers.com/forums/tool-product-talk-f128/copic-faq-t475727.html

Here is a good video about using the Stampin up markers:

No Copics No Problem - ON VIDEO!! - Paper Pleasing Ideas

Coloring takes lots of practice - don't be afraid to just play and play, until you figure out what works for you.

While I love Stampin Up markers, they are not artist quality and do no color well. Copic markers or Prisma colored pencils are the best.

This is the best advice. Anything we do takes a combination of talent, practice, and determination.

Keep trying, use different methods, and don't be too hard on yourself.

Here is a link to a very famous artist who makes "masterpiece" art using only Crayola crayons!

Don Marco - The Master Crayon Artist

This is a suggestion when working with alcohol markers that someone taught me years ago. Smear the marker around in the well of a paint pallet then pick up as much as you want with a blender pen to put on the image. I started with Tombow and Marvy and Dove blenders. None of the markers out there "blend" well enough for my liking without leaving a line. With a little practice you can build up layers of color to the intensity you desire.

I always go back over an area I've colored (with markers) with the lightest shade of that family I have. It helps to smooth out any lines. I also chose colors that match my papers. The image really pops more then!

Copics! I love my copic markers. They're great alcohol markers, but they have a big draw back....PRICE! Copics are quite expensive and keep going up do to importing and the USD being low to the YEN. You could get the Ciao as they are cheaper, or you could get Prismacolor alcohol markers. The key to blending is really having multiple shades of one color and blending: LIGHT-MED-DARK-MED-LIGHT. You know, if you're not sure what to do you can get a few alcohol markers and try them. You could get Ultra-Fine Bics, Gina K uses them sometimes. Gina K: Alcohol Markers on a Budget. I hope this helps you.


God Bless!

this web site has a sale on copic markers...i was checking out the tim Holtz items and came across them... just in case you might be interested...dont want to jump into the copic markers river just yet... :)

lol i guess it would help to put the web address... Search: copic: A Cherry On Top

Another good place to buy Copics is Blick Art Materials. Copic Sketch Markers. I bought most of mine here. They're currently running a coupon code for 15% off of $99 and free shipping. If you're willing to spend 100 bucks! (We all know it wouldn't be hard....) Lol! Remember, you don't have to get Sketch. The Ciaos are only $3.59 compared to $5.49.


God Bless!

I take my blender pen and touch it lightly to my SU marker. Then I use the blender pen for coloring. I also use my SU ink pans in a similar way by inking the cover and picking up ink with my blender pen. I never had good luck with the aquapainter. Hopefully using a blender pen with your SU markers will help without having to spend money on new markers!

If you want to try alcohol markers, I'd really recommend you look into the Spectrum Noir markers. They're much less expensive, especially if you have a JA nearby that carries them and get them with a coupon. I've bought mine in sets of six colors that match well for $7 per set. Much better than $6 per marker with Copics. You can get them for about $8 a set from Dick Blick, too.

just got SN last week and still playing with them. Decided against Copics for several reasons. Having fun with Tim's Distress markers and love the Prismacolor and Gamsol. Got them at a craft show at half price because the tin case had been damaged. Nothing wrong with the markers.

Practice!
 

Be compassionate with yourself. The only way I got over my third grade fear of coloring was to practice. I threw away so many attempts until finally the skill, still embryonic, developed. It was and still is so much fun. However, I still reserve the right to toss the attempt and start again.

This is excellent advice. I don't know why we tend to be so hard on ourselves, and expect so much.

If you think about it, no one would ever learn to walk, if babies gave up the first time they fell down.:)

We all start off here in papercrafting as toddlers, and get better as we get more practice.:)

I am going to try this tomorrow! How fun! I love my aqua painter but if I could use my SU markers and not let them go to waste, what a great idea that would be! Thank you for sharing!:D

I tried the technique using the Su markers directly on the watercolor paper with the aquapainter, I'm terrible at that! I even made sure I had the heavyweight paper. :( I tried coloring in 6 images and they didn't get any better... :(

lol...sooooo glad i'm not the only one who cant seem to get it right.... I guess we just need to keep on trying!!!!

There's a stamper on here whose name I'm sure would be familiar to you as one whose art everyone greatly admires. Yet she has said, "I'm no good at coloring, so I just don't do it anymore."

What? An "artist" who can't color? Isn't coloring kindergarten stuff?

Which is only to say, plenty of great cardmakers here don't color worth a darn, don't enjoy doing it, and gave up trying to fuse the right paper, the right coloring tools, the right inks, and the right stamps. So don't beat yourself to death if you eventually land in that camp. Plenty of us are here enjoying cardmaking anyway. (Not all musicians are great at playing the piano!)