Water colouring a stamped image using the packing graphics for inspiration

Hi everyone last week I was very lucky to launch a 3 new sets of collage stamps for Nikky Hall of Polkadoodles on Hochanda - 3 different designs: Wings & ThingsQueen of Hearts plus Flower Collage - with smaller add on stamp sets. The designs are incredibly versatile and can used to be the focal point of your project, create impressive backgrounds or alternatively, just use a portion of the design. Each stamp set easily crosses over from journaling to card making, from mixed media to scrap booking or just being a piece of art in their own right.

Recently I was asked after the show how I chose the colours I wanted to use in my projects. Now there are a lot of answers I could give but the main thing I always say is look to the packaging. The coloured graphics used are a great source of inspiration, so with this in mind, I have created a quick tutorial using the coloured graphics from the Wings & Things Collage packaging ...


I have made a You Tube video explaining how I made the card (HERE & it's only 17 miniutes long) but I appreciate not everyone wants to look/listen/watch a video, so here's a quick(ish) description as to how I made the card.


After stamping the Wings & Things Collage stamp on to smooth water colour card, I gathered my Nuvo Aqua Flow pens together, using the product packaging/graphics as my guide. I began with the yellow and purple elements, moving on to the pink next.


Once all the main image parts were coloured, I looked at the background colours and began filling in those details, bleeding the colour outside the edges.


A quick blast of the heat gun to dry everything off, I decided to add shading using Nuvo water colour pencils. With the black pencil, I followed the outline and blended outwards with water. This created a shadow which was not too pronounced. For some of the shadow detail, I used the black first and then drew another line of colour - eg: green - blending the 2 together to create a darker tone. At all times, I followed the packaging graphics to ensure I was shading in the right places.


The sentiment is from the Polkadoodles Happy Birthday dies but I have only cut the 'Happy' part, (in white and black card) plus 3 butterflies from the Flowers & Butterfly stamp set, which coordinates with the Wings & Things Collage stamps. These were water coloured using the colours I had already used as my reference.


In order that the sentiment made a little more sense, I have stamped the 'Happy' and 'Birthday' from the Daisy Friends stamp set, cut them out and added to the card. Now my sentiment reads 'Happy, Happy Birthday' - much better ...!


A step by step as to how I completed this project can be found in the You Tube video HERE or alternatively, click on the photo below ... and I promise it's not a long video - only 17 minutes ...

 Water colouring a stamped image using packaging graphics for inspiration

I hope you enjoyed the project and fingers crossed it's helped you to decide which colours you might use first when you stamp a new stamp for the very first time.

Until next time,

Lou
x x x

SUPPLIES

I’m listing the products I used below to create my project. Click on the shop link/logo or photo to go directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you so much for your support!<

Comments

KarinsArtScrap said…
gorgeous stamp and card Lou great colours you have used

gr karin
Mrs A. said…
Great tutorial and your finished card looks lovely. Hugs Mrs A.
Jane Savage said…
Fantastic tutorial! That stamp is not as intimidating now...well almost! :)
Katie said…
Gorgeous card and colours
Terry said…
Hey there Lou, I absolutely love your creations, your fabulous coloring and the stamps and dies are so pretty, LOVE IT hun xxx thanks for sharing
ScrappyHorses said…
Hey Lou, came by to check out your blog and your beautiful artwork! Such a lovely card full of happy colors and summertime happiness!