No line colouring!

Hi there crafty friends!

I thought I'd try a technique that seems to be trending quite a bit recently,  it's called No Line Colouring.

Basically you stamp an image in very pale ink, then colour it in. When you've finished colouring, you can barely (or not at all) see the the stamping, so it looks like you've hand-drawn the image!

 I decided to try out using the Faber Castell Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils on a non-watercolour cardstock. I used Neenah Solar White cardstock, and only a TINY bit of water to blend the colours.  I stamped using the Faber Castell PITT® Artist Pen in Cold Grey III 232.

It was so simple! I just coloured the darkest (or with the heaviest pressure) around the outline of each part of the image (eg, her jumper/sweater, her boots, her skirt etc) and then with less pressure, I laid down a little colour to a section of that 'shape' or item, where the darkest shadowing would be.

Then, in the white/un-coloured part, I added a tiny amount of water with a waterbrush, to prepare the cardstock, as well as to give a nice free-formed watercolour effect. I then moved my waterbrush over the coloured area, and dragged it back out into the white.

This gives a really nice soft effect.

I find doing it this way (rather than just putting your waterbrush directly onto the coloured area and dragging it around onto the dry, white section of cardstock) gives a much prettier effect and it makes the colour (or pigment if you will), move much nicer.

See how soft and pretty it looks?! Having the water on the white/un-coloured part of the image-section first, puts the water in control.  It stops you from over-doing it or over-fussing with it.

Where the water wants to take the colour, it will!

 

For her hair I was a little more specific, I used the same technique as above, but then after it dried, I went back in with the darkest brown pencil and added in the strokes, so it was more sharply defined as her hair.

Here are the colours I used on her.
Hair: Faber Castell Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencil 187, 175, 176

Skin: Faber Castell Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencil 187, 176, 131 (blush on her cheeks) , 121 (lips).

Eyes: Faber Castell Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencil 166, 168, 175

Jumper/sweater: Faber Castell Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencil 105, 108 (arrow and cuffs), 121, 126

Skirt: Faber Castell Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencil 166,  168, 163

Boots: Faber Castell Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencil 166, 168, 176

Hat: Faber Castell Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencil 105, 115

Balloons: Faber Castell Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencil 143, 136

 

As you can see a lot of the colours were used on more than one area. I used similar greens in her eyes, as for her boots and skirt for example. This helps the entire finished image to look more cohesive and in place. If every item (her skirt, boots, hat, balloons etc) were all different colours, it would be too much for your eye to take in. This way I got a nice bright effect, where nothing is exactly the same, but it's nice and cohesive.

 

Here is my second card!

Instead of using the Faber Castell Art GRIP® Aquarelle Watercolor Pencils, I used the Faber Castell Art GRIP®  Pencils.

 

For her eyes, bow, and dress, I used the following colours: Faber Castell Art GRIP®  Pencils. 147, 154, 152, 143, in various pressures and different combinations. (more of a darker blue in the lower layer of her dress vs the lighter blue, more of the lighter blue in the top layer etc)

For her hair I used: Faber Castell Art GRIP®  Pencils 109, 187, 133

Her shoes: Faber Castell Art GRIP®  Pencils 187, 133

Her lips: Faber Castell Art GRIP®  Pencils121

Her socks/stockings: Faber Castell Art GRIP®  Pencils 119, 125, 133.

You can see each stroke of the pencil much more clearly in her hair with these pencils vs the Aquarelles.

As you can see, I leave the pencil 'stroke-marks' on my images. I dont overblend when I do pencil-colouring as I like it to look as though I've coloured it myself with pencils! (not machine coloured I mean). You are more than welcome to blend much more than I do if that's your preference!

Well that's it for today! I hope you liked my projects and give no-line colouring a go soon!

See you again soon!

Stamps are from Saturated Canary ("Thanks" and "Ellie's Birthday", cardstock is Neenah Solar White,  Background stamp on first card is Impression Obsession Herringbone with Faber Castell PITT Artist Big Brush®  Pen in Deep Scarlet Red 219.

 

Linda Trace I live in Melbourne, Australia. I've been crafting for a about four years but Ive always even interested in different kinds of craft!

I recently discovered mixed media crafts and I gotta say, I'm totally in love.

I am so very honoured and  excited to be a part of the Design Memory Craft Guest Design team!!

 

Comments

[leslie (crookedstamper)]

Very, very nice! I will have to try the "add water, then pull out the color" approach, as I tend to over-do the water. Thanks!

[Barb]

Linda!! These are so beautiful!! Your no-line coloring looks amazing! Nicely done! :)

[Wendy Goundrey]

What a great job you did using the no line colouring technique! The hair turned out amazing and your colour choices were spot on!

[Pat Zukowski-Address is 3000-35 st Ponoka AB T4J1A7]

Love the method and the finished product looks great.

[Karen G (Cardcrazed)]

Great cards Linda! I am going to have to try misting the paper before colouring and see if that helps with my shading issues.

[Denise]

I like it, have not tried yet, on my list of to do's.
thanks for sharing

[katie]

these are beautiful! I've never done this technique.