Monthly Coloring Series - March

Hello, Readers and Colorists! I am back again with another coloring panel. I am having so much fun with these! It feeds something deep inside me! 

For those of you just joining me, I will be coloring one image each month, using the Power Poppy digital flower images, found HERE. If you missed any of the previous projects, see the links at the end of the post. I started the series in September 2018, and we will work forward until the last panel in August 2019...then see where to go from there! {wink} 

The March bouquet has been the most difficult one to color so far! Take a look!

First, I had no clue what most of these flowers were! Thankfully, they are listed on stamp set information! We have here an open Japanese-type Peony, Hydrangea petals, Oxalis (clover) leaves, and Clematis, plus Periwinkle vine. Well, golly! Once I had figured out which flower was which, I had to look at some images and decide on the colors. 

I have to say, the image was very difficult to color with so many different flowers, but also, so many different color schemes! Some of the reds and pinks wanted to bleed everywhere! I had a really hard time with the blends on the Clematis, but in the end, it turned out so nicely! I am really overjoyed with the end result!

The Luminous Bouquet digital stamp set I used for my March image is currently a $6 download, and comes with several lovely sentiments as well.

Using Adobe Illustrator, I created my panel at about 5 1/4" x 5 1/4". I sized the image at approximately 4 1/4" wide. I ended up having to size this guy a few times to make it all fit into my square die. I did not want to make it too small because it is very detailed.

The finished panel is 6 1/8" x 6 1/8". I have used a stitched square die to cut out the main image panel (which measures 5 1/4" x 5 1/4"). My plan is to display each monthly image at my desk, as shown below.

I am using "Great Vibes" as my font, which I sized at about 45pt. I printed the panel onto Hammermill 100# cardstock with my Epson ET-3700 using black ink. (So far, I have had excellent results using Copics with this printer ink and paper combination.)

My image is colored with a combination of Copic Markers and Prismacolor Pencils. I used a lot more pencil on this image than I normally do because I had such a hard time with the blends on the clematis. I also found that coloring the stamens of the peony worked better with pencil. 

I wanted the yellow and hot pink colors like this Lemon Bells Clematis, but it was not blending well with just the markers. I worked over the markers with pencils and achieved a result that, while not exactly like the real flowers, was pretty anyway!

Here are the color combinations I have used for the finished project (listed in this order: Copics, then Prismacolor Pencils by name):

Peony: R59, R29, R27, R24, R22 Y06, Y02, Y00; Pomegranate, Raspberry, Spanish Orange, Sunburst Yellow, Eggshell, Dahlia Purple
Hydrangea: B66, B63, B60, V12, Y38
Oxalis: YG17, YG03, V09, V05 RV66
Clematis: Y06, Y02, Y00, RV19, RV17, RV10, RV000; Process Red, Hot Pink, Decoy Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Spanish Orange, Eggshell, Dahlia Purple
Leaves: YG67, YG21, YG17, YG03
Background:BG000, BG0000

My cardstock panels are black, yellow, and red. I added some enamel dots for decoration. 

If you missed any projects click the month below. 

JANUARY

FEBRUARY

SEPTEMBER. 

OCTOBER.

NOVEMBER.

DECEMBER

Thanks for stopping by! I will have a new image Monday, April 1st!

Digital image: Power Poppy Luminous Bouquet
Cardstock: Hammermill 100# Digital Color Copy; WorldWin Papers Midnight, Light Berry Red, Yellow Cascata
Markers: Copic (see list above)
Pencils: Prismacolor (see list above)
Enamel dots: Echo Park Celebrate Easter, Whimsy Stamps, Prima Everyday Vintage
Die: Elizabeth Craft Designs Stitched Squares
Tools: We R Memory Keepers Guide Layers
Adhesive: ATG tape