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

Inspire Me Monday Creative Stamping with Kathy Racoosin

Hello Friends, My name is Kathy Racoosin from The Daily Marker. How are you? I am excited to be up on the blog today for another Inspire Me Monday post.

Today I am hoping I can get you to think out of the box with some stamping in multiples so to speak. Let me just say this is an unfinished piece and that's ok too. When you are creating something to eventually frame, it should take more time.

Don't get me wrong I am excited to finish this piece and I only wish there was more time in the day but, I would bet we all feel that way.

If you take the same stamp --- in this case, the flower and foliage from the stamp set Amaryllis Bliss -- and stamp it several times you can really create a unique piece. Stamping an image off of the paper gives your project a neat graphic look like I did here with the leaves.

My favorite "no-line" ink is the amalgam ink from Gina K. Designs. I did use the large Memory Misti to create this, but it's not necessary. Once the ink was dry, I used some Tombow watercolor markers to paint the background first.

This is a little set up I have in my family room. I was using the lily as my color inspiration.

In this photo, I am adding the first layer of color with the grey.

Often, my coloring goal is to color something white or to leave it basically white like the lily is but, I always end up adding more color! I do love that adding the brown really makes the flower pop.

Hopefully, today's post will give you another way to look at your stamps and give you permission to give yourself grace and time when coloring.

Thanks for your visit today and have a good week! 

Hugs, 

Kathy

Inspire Me Monday with Kathy Racoosin

Hello Friends! Welcome to another Inspire Me Monday. My name is Kathy Racoosin from The Daily Marker and I am super excited to share with you today. 

Today I hope to inspire you grab a pencil and alter one of your stamps for a new look literally drawing a few lines. I am inking up this beautiful Amaryllis Bliss. 

Even though this is a holiday flower I love the wide open spaces on the petals for watercoloring. Tombow markers are super easy to watercolor with and awesome for on the go watercoloring. 

Gina K. Designs amalgam ink is great for "no line" watercoloring plus the ink can be used for alcohol markers. 

This card is pretty tall and narrow measuring at a pretty solid 10 inches. 

The paper that I prefer is cold pressed and 140 lbs . I love the texture of cold pressed paper instead of the hot pressed that is smooth and no texture. 

Cut your watercolor paper to it's desired size. Draw two lines from the top of the flower. If your lines are crooked that can be even better ... more natural so don't worry about how your lines might look. 

Sketch a vase and stamp the sentiment inside the vase. Stamp a leaf onto your stem. 

Start watercoloring on one of the flowers that doesn't stand out as much. I like to think of it as a warm up. Be sure to leave some areas white without any color. 

Start with a first layer of color and once it's all dry add another layer color on top of the first layer. 

To make the smaller flowers stand out I used some dark grey on the parts of the flowers that touch the main center flower. 

You can see how intense the color can be when you add a second layer. When I travel and talk about my coloring tips this is my mantra. 

Don't worry about what direction the light is coming from because that is to stressful. If you create a darker area and a lighter area on each petal or stem etc. that will please the eye and your coloring will look great. I like to say that I am faking it because I really don't know where the light is coming from but, it looks pretty good because I have those light and dark areas. Does that make sense? I sure hope so! 

Let's bring back the joy of coloring or painting. Step outside of your comfort zone and draw a stem for a tall and dramatic card. Don't be afraid to add those dark areas because that will really enhance your coloring. 

Thanks for your visit today and have a great week! Hugs, Kathy Racoosin

Inspire Me Monday: Watercolor Tips & Tricks

Hello all! Kathy here from The Daily Marker bringing you another edition of Inspire Me Monday! Are you one of those crafters who enjoys watercoloring or are you one that tries, always wishing for better results? If you said the latter, maybe a few of these tips can work for you? 

I am the kind of crafter who loves to color when I am traveling and it just so happens I'm away for the weekend with some friends. I packed some minimal supplies to lighten my load, but I had enough to be able to share some tips and tricks with you all.

It’s no secret that I love Power Poppy’s extra large flowers so I packed this beautiful flower from the Chrysanthemum XL set. Also, did you see it's on sale right now? 

My Mini MISTI is usually always in my bag but, this time, I forgot it! So, to try to get a great impression with this large stamp, I ended up placing my paper (Fabriano 140lb. extra white cold pressed) on top of the flower to stamp it and that worked fairly well.

To prep my paints, I wet my desired colors and put some in the palette. By adding more water and really diluting the paints, you get a nice wash and I think it’s easier to paint this way. 

I love the details in this flower, but let's be real, it does take time to color this beautiful illustration! That's why using a simple watercolor was a must for me. Alternating the shades of red and purple was easy and appealing to the eye.

Creating in this way is super easy to do while you are chatting with friends. Another tip? Adding a wash of a darker color can really make these blooms pop, see?

I think the wash really works well since there is so much color variation on each petal.

Once my background was painted and dry, I used a sharpie marker to outline each and every petal. Of course, this isn’t necessary but, I believe the effort is worth it.

To give the petals just a little more pop, I decided to accent them thanks to a little white gel pen.
Outlining an image and adding white gel pen will make your colored images pop. I encourage you to stamp an image twice and practice on the spare image to see if this might work for you!

And what you see above is my final colored image. When I get home, it will be easy to add a sentiment for someone special. 

Thanks for stopping by! If you haven't delved into watercolor, maybe some of these tips will help bring out the best in your watercolored images. I hope you give these tricks a try! 

Have a great week and I will see you next year! Wishing you Happy Holidays and Happy New Year! 

Hugs, Kathy

Inspire Me Monday New Tip and Big Announcement and SALE

Hello! How are you all today? My name is Kathy Racoosin from The Daily Marker. If you are following along with "The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge" it's Day 18. 

Oh my, how times flies. 

If you are wondering what The Daily Marker 30 Day Coloring Challenge is or if you have questions you can refer to this post.

For the "Inspire Me" post today I am doing some watercoloring for the 30 day challenge. During my coloring process I discovered a fun new tip that I can't wait to share with you. I guess you could call it a happy accident. 

I inked up this absolutely beautiful flower called, "Poppy XL" set and I love every one of these XL flowers in this series. Here is the Dahlia XL (plus the new coordinating die) , Tiger Lily XL and the Poppy die cut. LOVE what you can do with these XL flowers & I will tell you it makes watercoloring easier with more petal space.

The way I  choose the colors for a flower is by mood or feeling and what color am I in mood to use. I haven't used purples in awhile so that's what I settled on. 

I just searched the web for Poppy's and discovered there is a range of colors and a purple poppy too. 

We are away for Father's Day weekend so my supplies were limited. My NEW TIP IS ... to use an ink that is NOT for watercoloring. You can see what happens in the video that I took with my phone. 

If you used an ink that is not intended for water it blurs and can smudge. You can make that blur work to your favor. The areas with more detail in the illustration become a darker grey when you add water. Those illustration details lines blur beautifully and add a shadow naturally.  

When my painting was completely dry I added a few accents lines to the nooks and crannies. I also added circles white a white gel pne to define the center.  The area in the middle with a fine tip sharpie.

Adding white accent dots around the center of the flower adds that little extra. When the white dots are dry I like to add a tiny black dot on top. Dots on dots lol :)

When I was watercoloring with the distress ink I didn't worry about the turnout and chose to focus on the pleasure of the painting. It was deliberate to leave some white areas on the petals. . Remember to enjoy the process and hopefully you will give me tip a try and see if you like the results. 

Have a great day and keep on coloring. 

Hugs, Kathy

P.S. CHECK OUT THIS GRAPHIC ISN'T IT A BEAUTY? BUT, PLEASE READ ALL THE DETAILS in this POST! SOOO exciting and such a great opportunity to build an art wall.  

Get 25% OFF Power Poppy Clear and Digital Stamps — now through the end of the month. Unlimited uses — so if we add a stamp you just have to have, you can come back and get it on sale! 

The only exclusion are images from the Creative + Curious Collection, but all other PREMIUM stamps are available for 25% off retail. 

Enter code COLORINGCHALLENGE at checkout

We have added ELEVEN new sets to powerpoppy.com. 

View updated available digi stamp sets in our Digital Blitz HERE

For one example... you can get Dahlia Digi (a downloadable version of Dahlia XL) on sale for 25% off with sale code. 

From old favorites to newer images, all with freshly designed sentiments — these sets are ready to be downloaded and colored up by creative crafters like you! 

The Bloomies and Instant Gardeners are sharing cards to show you the designs you can grab during the Digital Blitz release.... check them out for AWESOME PEEKS!

Jessie Banks
Stacy Morgan 
Julie Koerber

Cindy Lawrence

Allison Cope

Kathy Jones

Tosha Leyendekker

Elizabeth Zaffarano

Christine Okken

Barbara Walker

Thank you! ~marcella 

Make A Big Impact with a Small Change

Hello  ... Hello!  How are you today? My name is Kathy from The Daily Marker and I am happy when I get to guest on the Power Poppy blog. I also LOVE to color and my belief is that if you make a small change in your coloring you can really enhance what you have colored. 

This might be one of my all time favorite Power Poppy images and I just swoon every time I look at this illustration from Marcella. The Cup of Columbine is available now as a digital print and  the end of April a rubber stamp!  

Check out my video to see how I enhanced my watercoloring by "filling in the nooks and crannies"

Full disclosure ... even tho flowers are my favorite thing to color my flower knowledge isn't that good.  When you look at the way I colored these Columbines  you might understand why I interpreted the Columbines a different way with a lot of green leaves instead of petals I wanted to go with the flo of my coloring and restrained from looking up the Columbine to see what was petal vs leaf.

This is how my image was progressing. I happened to be in the Bahamas when I watercolored this using Tombow watercolor markers. Each day I colored a portion of the image and adding layers of color with the markers. 

This is when I finished the watercoloring part and before I "enhanced" this by filling in those teeny tiny little areas.

Does this help having it super zoomed in? This are what I call the "nooks & crannies". Basically it's where the lines intersect. I also like to add a nick in the leaves and I love to add a few thorns on some of the stems. 

The berries were so small that I didn't bother with them but, looking up close I think I will add a line of white gel pen. 

Ninety percent of the time fill in these tiny areas after I color but, I thought maybe seeing it this way would help. 

I am convinced that filling in "nooks & crannies" you can really make your coloring pop and I hope after today's post that you just might agree. Thanks for your visit today and have a good start to your week. Hugs, Kathy