Altenew Academy - Creative Coloring with Erum: Day 6

 Hello, crafty friends!  Happy Monday.  Today, I am sharing a card that I made for the day 6 lesson of Altenew Academy's Creative Coloring with Erum.  Better late, than never!  

This lesson was all about adding faux dimension to your image to create a one-layer card.  For those of you that don't know, watercoloring is my nemesis.  I try and fail repeatedly, but I am determined to learn. 

For this card, I stamped the outline image from Altenew's Fairy Tale Rose stamp set on my watercolor paper.  I used Versafine Black pigment ink so that the water would not cause it to smear.  

Once it was dry, I broke out my Altenew Woodless Watercolor Pencils for the first time to color my image.  Can I just say that these pencils are a dream?!  The pigments are so vibrant, and you only need to lay down the slightest amount of color.   For this project, I used Crimson, Heart Beat, and Fresh Lemon.  Working one petal at a time, I added just a small amount of pigment and then blended it out using a water brush.  I really struggle with controlling the amount of water, so I found that the water brush really helped. I squeezed a small amount of water out and tapped it off on the back of my hand and then painted over my petal.   Once, my petals were finished, I moved on to the leaves and stem, following the same process using Shadow Creek, Grass Fields, and Limeade.  Once my image was dry, I went back in and repeated the process where I thought more color was needed. 

When my panel was dry, I added a watercolor wash in Sea Glass to the background of the panel.  I was really nervous doing this, as I was afraid I would ruin my image, but it worked.  I chose to use the Aqua colors for my background, as blues are complimentary colors to the yellow.  This really allows the yellow shades to stand out.  Once that was dry, I masked my image and I laid down a stencil and using my ink-blending tool, I added Sea Glass and Ocean Waves inks over the stencil.  Once I was happy with the color that I laid down, I peeled off my stencil.  

Now for the REALLY scary part - adding the dimension to this panel that I worked so hard on using alcohol ink markers.  For this, I used two colors of gray - one light and one dark.  Starting with the lighter shade, I added tiny flicks of color around my image, heavier on the undersides of petals and leaves and in corners where a shadow would be.  Shadows and highlights are a real struggle for me - I never seem to know where to place them, so I fake it and stick to the general rule of under sides for shadows, and top sides for highlights. I worked in small areas and went back in and added the darker gray shade and then went back over it with the lighter shade to blend it together.  I ended up with a few shadows in the wrong places but, oh well!  

Once I was pleased with my shadows, I added some drops of water and set the panel aside to dry.  While I waited, I embossed my sentiment from the Altenew Storybook Sentiments stamp set on a strip of vellum.  Once the panel was dry, I placed the vellum where I wanted it, folded the ends over and adhered them to the back of the panel.   I then attached the panel to my card base.   Lastly, I added some clear sequins to the front of my card. 

I see all of my mistakes so clearly when I look at my card; however, I am very pleased with the result.  This card contains a lot of firsts for me - using the pencils, adding the watercolor background after creating the image, and stenciling over the image.   All of these were intimidating for me, but I am so glad that I powered through! 

Key Learnings:

• Use a very light hand to lay down the pigment with the watercolor pencils.  This will help avoid harsh lines or very vibrant colors (unless that is what you are trying to achieve).
• You can always add more color, but you can't take it away.

Products Used:

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• Recollectiond 110# Card Stock:  White
• Arches 300gsm/140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper
• Vellum
• Altenew Woodless Watercolor Pencils:  Crimson, Heart Beat, Fresh Lemon, Shadow Creek, Grass Fields, Limeade
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink:  Sea Glass, Ocean Waves
• Altenew Fairy Tale Rose Stamp Set
• Altenew Storybook Sentiments Stamp Set
• Stampin' Up Basic Masks
• Gold Embossing Powder
• Versafine Ink Pad:  Black
• Stampin' Blends (Light and Dark):  Smoky Slate
• Versamark Watermark Ink Pad
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Sequins
• Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool

Thank so much for stopping in!  Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts. 

Happy stamping!