Inspire Me - Marker PLUS Pencils with Kathy Racoosin

Hello Friends, Welcome to another Inspire Me Monday. My name is Kathy Racoosin and my blog is The Daily Marker. If you don't know me I pretty much live to color. 

If you are a colored pencil person or a marker person .... today's post is for you. I want to share with you a few tips for using markers first and adding pencils after for some easy "no line coloring".

Today I am inking up this beautiful floral frame called, "Floribunda". The petals and leaves are nice and open for successful coloring. I always say, "Stamp choice is as important as song choice" If you watch any of those singing shows you know what I mean lol. 

If you choose a stamp to color that has tight areas and is really small (leaves, petals or whatever) I find it  harder to color and to get a nice gradient blend of color. For example, the large two flowers on this stamp are very easy to color because of the nice and open spaces on each petal. When I am choosing a stamp I want about 75% of the stamp to have nice and open areas to color or it's to frustrating and not easy on the eyes. The "daisies" on this stamp are smaller but, not difficult because the petals are nice and round. I was able to maintain a decorative white edge on each petal. 

That's why I say stamp choice is so important because it more pleasurable to color. Coloring is supposed to be relaxing. 

My favorite ink for "no line coloring" is Warm Glow because it's dark enough so I can see what I am coloring ... very important right! 

(This ink can be used for watercoloring or alcohol markers)

After stamping this beautiful floral frame color around the image with a marker and then fill in the rest of the background leaving some space in the center. Choose any light marker to soften the line of color in the center. (I used a blue and a very light green)

In the top part of the above photo is a portion of the background that is colored only with markers. 

Outlining the image with brown really defines my coloring and helps the image pop as you can see in the bottom half of the photo. It's amazing what adding the subtle color can do for the image. (I use a fine tip brown or sepia multiliner) 

Now the image is prepped and ready for a final layer of color with pencils!

The photo above left ... is my completed frame. On the right is before I added pencil detail. I also added some black marker in the "nooks and crannies" for more definition in my coloring. 

If you use only pencils I suggest adding a light layer of color first with a marker. Adding a first layer of color with a marker saves you so much time in the end. The Copic color E50 is one of those must have colors. You can see the warm glow come through on the flower petals and some of the leaves. 

A sharp pencil is a must if you want to color with a series of lines only. I resharpen my pencil many times for each petal or leaf. In this photo you can see how I used green and brown lines from the top of the petals down toward the center of the flower. IF your pencil is SHARP this technique works really well. If you pencil is NOT sharp it doesn't look so good. 

Keep mind the way you grip your pencil. Are you clutching it? Try to relax your hand and think about where you fingers are holding the pencil. If you hold your fingers further down the pencil ... like in the middle of the pencil ... that position forces you to have a lighter grip. 

My focus is to have a darker and lighter area on each petal but, I don't worry where the light is coming from. It's to stressful to worry about the light source. Just go for it :)

That's it for today's post and thank you for your visit today. I hoped you picked up a few tips for using your colored pencils or combining markers and pencils. Have a great week! Hugs, Kathy