Monthly Coloring Series - May

Hello, coloring fans! Welcome to May 1st. The older I get, the faster time flies! It seems like yesterday I was going in for major surgery, and suddenly over four months have passed! And it is time for the May coloring project! 

For those of you just joining me, I have been coloring one image each month, using the Power Poppy digital flower images, found HERE. If you missed any of the previous projects, click HERE or select the TAB at the top of the blog.

This project gave me fits! I had it all colored except the yellow roses...and the Y00 marker caused the printer ink to bleed! It was the only marker to do that, but what a mess! I had to print a number of test images to see what printer ink configuration would work best with that pesky marker! I think I may have to by a new marker or something! So strange that none of the other yellows acted up!

The Flower Bomb digital stamp set I used for my May image is currently a $6 download. This image is a pure dream to color! The roses can be any color under the sun, and the violets also come in a variety of colors from white to lavender to blue to pink.  

Using Adobe Illustrator, I created my panel at about 5 1/4" x 5 1/4". 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 the month word font, which I sized at about 45pt. I printed the panel onto Hammermill 100# cardstock with my Epson ET-3700 using black ink.

This is the first time I have had an issue with the printer ink bleeding! For this image I finally chose plain paper, standard-vivid quality, and printed in "color." That seemed to do the trick!

Every time I printed in grayscale, the Y00 marker would bleed! When I kicked the quality down one notch and changed to print in color, it worked better. I guess when I chose the higher quality with black only ink, the printer was putting down too much ink, causing the printer ink to smear. I even let this guy dry overnight, and still Y00 was a fussy pants! 

My image is colored with a combination of Copic Markers and Prismacolor Pencils. I first lay down the Copic markers, and then go back and add depth and highlight with the pencils. I finish with more highlights using a white pencil or a gel pen.

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

Roses: Y0000, Y00, Y11, Y13, Y15, BV20; Canary Yellow, Mineral Orange
Leaves: YG03, YG17, YG21 YG25, YG67
Violets: V09, V17, V22, V25; Black Grape, 90% Cool Grey
Violet centers: Y15, Y19, E19
Background: BG0000, BG000

My cardstock panels are black, purple, and pale yellow. I added a few enamel dots and glitter dots around the edges of the image.

We have June, July, and August to go! If you missed the other months...

I started this project series back in September 2018. If you missed any of the previous projects click the MONTHLY COLORING SERIES tab at the top of the blog.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Digital image: Power Poppy Flower Bomb
Cardstock: Hammermill 100# Digital Color Copy; purple and pale yellow (unknown)
Markers: Copic (see list above)
Pencils: Prismacolor (see list above)
Pen: Sakura Gelly Roll White
Enamel dots: Echo Park Celebrate Easter, Queen and Co. Jawbreakers Candy Shop
Glitter dots: Echo Park Let's Be Mermaids
Die: Elizabeth Craft Designs Stitched Squares
Adhesive: ATG tape