Inspire Me Monday - Mixed Media

Hello Everyone! How are you today? I am back for another Inspire Me Monday installment. My name is Kathy Racoosin and I am always delighted to be back on the Power Poppy blog. 

I am not sure if you have heard of "The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge". If you have heard about it .... a big yah hoo from me lol. If you haven't you can click here for more info.  This current challenge is right in the middle of the 30 days and it's a great time to jump in and give it a try. 

One of the great things about the challenge is that there isn't that "pressure" to finish a card and to color just for the joy of coloring. That brings me to today ... I have been gone since Wednesday and have been coloring on the road. Usually it's not a challenge for me but, I have been finding myself with dark hotel rooms & barley a surface to create on. 

We just got home late Sunday night and I scattered my packed supplies on the kitchen table to do this post. (I usually always pack some Zig watercolor markers, a few stamps, ink, paper, sharpie, gel pen & colored pencils.)

I find it easier to start with the background. (The lily was stamped with Ranger Archival Jet Black Ink on Tim Holtz watercolor paper) 

First I scribble the marker around a portion of the flower then ...

 I wet my brush and paper to pull the color down working in sections on my paper. This jumbo Tiger Lily has always been a favorite of mine and it's fantastic to stamp and make shaped cards like I did in this post. 

Pink was my choice to start with ... so I added a purple watercolor marker to the Tiger Lily trying to keep some white areas on each petal. (the other lily's I will finish on another day)

To be honest this is looking flat without any pizazz don't you think? It's ok to be honest because I happen to agree with you. This is where the mixed media comes into play. 

Mixing different mediums on your coloring adds so much in my book. Doing this adds interest plus dimension with only three essential tools ... a white gel pen, a fine tip sharpie marker & a black colored pencil. 

 I like to point out that you don't need to know where the light source is coming from (unless that's important to you) I have heard many times that so many of you worry about the light source and where to place the darker areas on your images. You can still get dimension and interest with no stress.

 Adding some shading with a black pencil to the lines that intersect ... will really enhance your coloring with barely any effort I promise. I like to refer to this as coloring the "nooks and crannies"  The petals with the arrows are the areas that I darkened with the black pencil using a light hand and not pressing hard with my pencil. 

 


I thought a side by side might be helpful to see the difference and how adding few touches to your coloring makes a difference.

Pick up some pencils and a white gel pen to add a few highlights and see how it works for you. Thanks for your visit to day and I hope to see what you are coloring during the challenge. If you are sharing use the hashtag #thedailymarker30day so I can find your work on IG. Click here to find other ways to share. Have a great start to your week!

Hugs, Kathy

A Special Note from Marcella... 

I am offering the Tiger Lily XL for $13.99 this week only! SAVE $4 OFF RETAIL

And...

Use code 30DAYCOLORING during your checkout at powerpoppy.com to receive 30% OFF all digital stamp sets — now through the end of the Daily Marker Coloring Challenge!

Inspire Me Monday - Watercoloring on the go

Hello all, I am so happy to be back for another Inspire Me Monday. Currently I am in the middle of a 30 day coloring challenge so I thought it would be fun to share how I work on the go. (more on the challenge at the end of this post)

 Planning ahead for a road trip can fun and easy when you have an empty antique crate and a car with spare room. Deciding if I wanted to pack Copics or watercolor markers was the hardest part. I settled on my Tombow watercolor markers & Spectrum Noir sparkle watercolor pens. A towel, collapsable paint cup, brushes, foam tape, watercolor paper, a few colored pencils, ink and stamps were some of the supplies I packed plus my essentials.

My essentials are a mini misti, fine tip sharpie marker, white gel pen, scissors, glossy accents, ink, paper, stamps and a coloring medium. 

I was hoping you might want to see my antique crate before I painted it.

I measured and cut part of a box for the bottom of the crate and painted everything with a can of graffiti paint. I love to mix antiques in my studio because they add character and warmth to my space.

When everyone was settled in and watching a movie I was able to do my coloring in for the day. 

  

When you watercolor do you always have a towel on hand? I do and I love how colorful it becomes the more I use it... this particular towel I have had for over a year? Above the towel I used a stamp storage pocket to scribble the watercolor marker on. Using my brush I would pick up the color from the stamp storage pocket mixed with a little water and then paint on my stamped image.

 *next time I will remember to pack a palette* 

Ahhh Marcy's illustrations are such a joy to color and the details are always spectacular. 

On a later date I will add some white gel pen accents and create a card with my watercolored images. 

Here is a close up of the bouquet. It's hard to tell but, I colored, cut and popped a flower for the center. Later I will cut around the blue line on the image out and pop it on a card. 

I hope you will consider traveling with a few supplies and I hope you see how wonderful it is to color on the go. 

*If I was flying I would take everything mentioned with a few less watercolor markers and put everything in a tote. No matter where I go I always have coloring supplies with me. *

Today is day 14. of the “The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge". This is a good time to jump in if you are new to the challenge, love to color or if you just want to get your feet wet and give the 30 day coloring challenge a try. The idea is to color something daily with any medium. Just five minutes, that’s it. I keep hearing how relaxing it is to color and instead of making a full card. The 30 day challenge is really about carving out a little time your day for something that makes you happy. (You are free to jump in and out as time permits). Basically it’s any thing goes challenge and whatever you feel inspired to do. If you want to hear more click here. 

Wishing a colorful week & thanks to Power Poppy for letting me share my coloring on the go with you today. Thanks, Kathy :)