Monday

Coloring Tips and Tricks with Amy Shulke


If you've been a Power Poppy fan for long, you know that even Power Poppy's larger images have tiny details. It's just the beauty of Marcella's illustrations. Well, if you've sat back and scratched your head wondering how to do these little details justice, we're sharing some wonderful tips from the professional colorista Amy Shulke from VanillaArts.com.

To get started, let's just take a gander at her finished project using Power Poppy's Berry It digital stamp set. Try not to let your jaw hit the floor please. It hurts. Don't ask me how I know. 


Take it away, Amy! 

Tip 1: There's nothing wrong with finding a good set of leaf markers and sticking to them. Using the same greens on most projects has benefits. First, you'll learn that combo really well and blend it like a pro. Second, you can combine your images for collages or framed sets and they'll magically match. And third, card makers can stock up on decorative papers to match the green combo.


Tip 2: Real life is often far more interesting than your imagination. If you asked me to "color some blackberries", I'd likely color them all the same. But with a photo reference, I find a wild assortment of colors. References don't just help you color with realism, they also keep you from defaulting to boring assumptions.


Tip 3: Highlights are not as white as you think! Real highlights are usually a few shades lighter than the base color (called the local color). I caution students not to over-highlight their objects and that doesn't just mean adding too much highlight, it also means using a color that is too white.


Tip 4: "Color Kissing" is my term for sharing colors from one object to another. The green leaves get a kiss of red and violet, the berries get kisses of green... color kissing adds cohesiveness but it also adds an artistic flair.



Thank you so much Amy for sharing your little tidbits and your beautiful colored up blackberries! Keep in mind folks, last weekend was the Livestream class where folks got to watch Amy color LIVE on her private tutorial channel. The good news? If you like what you see above, you can still take the class! Amy will have this coloring session in her archives until February 2019. Just click HERE to learn how to get in on the action.

Meantime, I'll see you back here tomorrow when we throw up some more Creative Confetti to get that mojo a flowing with a fun new weekly challenge! Remember, if your name is randomly drawn at the end of the month, you win a $25 gift code to the Power Poppy Shop. Enter as many times as you like as well to up your chances...

Until then!
~Julie 


10 comments:

SD pooja said...

Thank you Amy for sharing these very useful tips ! Never thought of adding purple to greens but I can see the difference it makes.

Cordine said...

it was an awesome livestream from Amy! again i learned a lot!

petra,s cards said...

wauwww this is sooo beautiful stunning collouring
hugs petra

Amy Shulke said...

Definitely try it! It's very impressive looking and yet silly-simple!

Amy Shulke said...

I'm so glad you enjoyed it, Cordine! I can't wait to see how everyone's tri-colored berries turn out!

Amy Shulke said...

Thanks, Petra!

Katy McGloin said...

I love this image and cannot wait to try it myself using Amy's wonderful tips! Although I missed most of the first session, it's so nice to know that I have lots of time to access the video. Thanks so much for sharing the information!!

Nora Noll said...

WOW!! I love how you used the colored pencils for the highlights!! I am going to have to try this!!

Barb said...

This post makes me so very happy! I have the pleasure of being one of Amy's students and I watched her color this gorgeous berry image on Saturday. I was mesmerized and in awe of Amy's smooth, witty and informative teaching style. I gleaned so many nuggets of information along the way and it's nice to have the video archived for so many months,that way I can go back and view it over and over until I grasp all of the concepts. I'm telling you, Marcella and Amy together are quite a dynamic duo and I am super excited to see what they do next!

Jan said...

The berries look real. They almost can jump right off the page or I could eat them.
I love Blackberries, Yum