Inspire Me Monday - No-line Coloring with Clear and Digital Stamps

Hello and good morning! I hope you have been enjoying Part I of the Quiet Christmas Release! It is high time we were all coloring up our images for Christmas cards...because time is rolling along! Soon we will be too late to get our cards in the mail...and by "we" I mean ME!

I wanted to share with you how to create some cards using a technique that is commonly called "no-line" coloring, but which is in reality "gray-line" coloring! Essentially you are creating a stamped image with pale line art, so that when you color the image the line art seems to disappear or fade into the background. This can give you a softer colored image or even mimic a painting.

You can try this technique with BOTH clear stamps and with digital stamps!

To use your clear stamps you will need ink that is pale in color, for example gray or tan. You can also use other ink colors if they make sense for your project. I have even used a pale pink!

 

You will also need to make sure that your ink and your paper are compatible with your coloring medium. Since I wanted to color with Copic markers, I chose an ink and a white cardstock that both work well with Copics. 

I stamped this cute stocking from the Poinsettia stamp set onto white cardstock using Memento London Fog ink.

You simply color your image in the same manner that you would use with black line art! It's that simple! I know that it seems scary to color over very pale lines, especially with dark markers. You can always start by using a darker gray ink, going paler as you gain more confidence.

Another option is to use colored pencils or watercolors, which can be a bit more forgiving than Copic markers. I did add some colored pencil details here, but the image was colored with Copics first.

 

I used some white gouache paint to make the dots on the stocking and on the background. The background is also laid down with Copic markers.

Use your image to create a card for your Christmas card stash!

If you would rather try this technique with digital images, that is easy to do as well.

Many of the Power Poppy digital stamp sets (such as this Garden Stocking image) come with a "no-line" version which prints out in grayscale. Check your digital files for a "no-line version included" message. You just print these images normally.

However, if you have a digital stamp set that does not include a no-line version, you can convert it in a program such as Photoshop Elements. Follow these steps:

1. Click on FILE, NEW, BLANK and make sure that the Background Contents selection is set to TRANSPARENT. Set your other settings in the box and click OK.

2. Click on FILE, PLACE and choose the image file you wish to use. It will "pop" onto your new transparent background. Size the image as desired. Here you can see that I placed the regular black line image onto my transparent background.

3. Select the image, then click on the MAGIC WAND tool, and select the white background of the image. Press DELETE. (You may have to simplify the Smart Layer first, but just say OK and press DELETE a second time.)

The white background will be erased, which allows you to now change the opacity of the image, meaning you can change the black line art to gray!

4. Click SELECT and then DESELECT. (For some reason, if I skip this step, I have some issues, so I just do this out of habit.)

5. With the Select tool, select the image (click on it) and then select the OPACITY slider in the right toolbar. Change the OPACITY to about 30%. Then print as normal. 

The image on the print screen above is a pale gray rather than black! You can experiment with various opacity settings to get the look you desire.

I printed the grayscale image onto Copic friendly cardstock and colored it. The only thing to note is that you need to make sure your printer ink is compatible with your coloring medium. Not all printers are friendly with Copic markers! I use an Epson Eco Tank (ET-3700) and it works perfectly with Copics.

The soft gray line art gives this stocking image a soft, vintage feel. I created the background with Distress Inks to match the soft look I was going for.

I hope you feel inspired to try a gray line coloring project! And look at me...TWO more cards for my stash! 

Thanks for stopping by! 

Gloria 

For more details on supplies used for these projects, please click HERE.