Ducklins digital stamp

Materials:
Ryman Paper
Image is available as a digital stamp @ Art by Barb
Spectrum Noir colour pencils.
Faber Castrell colour pencils.
Copics for the hair.
A promarker for the sun.
Whilte gel pen to add highlights.


I haven't compiled a list of colour combinations because I like to encourage you to experiment with what you already have and not get too hung up on having the exact colour match and run out to buy them. Being there and done that! If you have a different brand, it's ok to use them. I think most people can guess the colours I have used from the picture, blues for the water, greens for the greenery and so on.  I pick out any green that comes to hand first, and it doesn't matter which shade with pencils as we are going to do a final blend and will merge together all the colours.

Tip: Pencils are less likely to break if you change hands and turn the sharpener and not the pencil. It works!

Happy colouring,
Barbara

Festive Greet coloured

Materials:
Spectrum Noir Pencils
Image available as a digital stamp @ Art by Barb
Ryman paper

I used SN pencils (no markers) and not too much blending for the foreground. I wanted to create an evening snowy sky and a soft look for the foreground. My thinking was that I could add more shadow to the snow if I was to create a dark sky and the snow falling would show better.
Although, the darker the sky got, the more I worried for the child...sure that child should be tucked up in bed at that time of night!!!

The sky was easy to do, I just scribbled across the page with pinks, purples and light blues until it blended itself. Used a really dark blue and black to add depth and interest. I was going to do the falling snow with white acrylic paint, but my daughter had used it and put it some place other than where I usually keep it (kids for you!) she was out and about, so had to use a gel pen, which worked!

I used a light blue and lilac for the ground snow, never used a lilac before to add shade but it worked really well.

The rest is self explanatory I think, the usual skin tones, browns for the fence and tree. Lilac and greys for the hat, jumper and pet. Pale yellows and a touch of light brown for the moon.

And that's all she wrote.

Image is available as a digital stamp @ Art by Barb and we also have a few free image that you're welcome to download and colour.

Thank you,
Barbara

New digi Release

I have released two new digital stamps, which are only available over at my FB group, Art by Barb. The group is running a colouring challenge at the moment and I am so impressed by the high level of creativity demonstrated by my members in their card making, So, I was inspired to create full scene digital stamps to go hand in hand with your advanced creativity and colouring.

Ducklins

Festive Greet

We also have free images and sentiments over at Art by Barb

Come and join in our friendly community.

Thank you,

Barbara

How to become a confident hair colourist in just 10 years!

The most common question that I'm asked on social media is " how do you colour hair like that?" I'm not going to lie, hair is hard to colour, It takes practise to get it to look somewhat right. So, I thought I'd share some tips about how I learned myself to colour hair in 10 years, (you read that right, it didn't happen over night)

The first image I coloured was a Tilda stamp, the finished colouring was flat and lifeless. I was so disappointed with myself, but posted the pic online anyway, along with a negative status. A lady answered with encouragement to keep going (at this point I was ready to throw in the towel) for some reason I decided to carry on.

I was inspired to learn how to colour by other online colourists that were further a long the line of their colouring experience. I wanted to be as good as them and be able to add depth of colour in order to bring an image to life. So when you read or are told not to compare, well my advice is do compare and use the comparison to be inspired by those colourist and remember they are only further along the road than you, it's up to you to catch up with practise and the desire to become a better colourist.

Don't get hung up on techniques. Colourist develop their style over many, many years. In my experience it is so difficult as a beginner to master their technique straightaway, All I seemed to do was set myself up for a fall, which filled me with too much frustration. Eventually I came to accept that I was at the early stage and needed to give myself the time to learn and develop my own style.

Tips:
Watch youtube vids, especially colouring hair with coloured pencils. In my opinion these ones will help you to achieve a better understanding of the flow of hair and how to define hair.

To help define strands and sections of hair use a coloured pencil after using markers. Markers and pencils work so well together and you'll be happier with the end result.

Practise is important to build up muscle memory, the more practise you do, the more the mind remembers the action and if you keep practising, one day you'll have a Eureka moment and think "By jove, I think I've got it!"

More importantly enjoy the process. I learned to relax about it. Keep a folder of all your coloured images. Use the images to chart your journey. By looking back at how far you've come as a colourist, you'll be able to judge how far you can progress as a colourist. And those colourists that you compare yourself with today, you'll think I got there, I'm as good, if not better! You'll be searching for your next colourist candidate to be inspired by....Happy colouring

Join me at Art by Barb group, where you can collect this free image and sentiments. Ask me and my members for helpful advice and tips about colouring. Come Join in the fun!