Monthly Coloring Series - October 2019

Welcome to the October project of the 2019 - 2020 Coloring Series! To read the introduction post for this series, click HERE. To see all the coloring series projects, click HERE. 

I am sorry to be a little late with this month's tutorial. My husband and I sneaked away for a few days, which put me behind in my coloring! We did not get a chance to go away for our wedding anniversary (32 years!) in September, so the little weekend vacation last week was squeezed in as a substitute!

Cute jack-o-lanterns are on the menu for this month's coloring project! Rather than carved pumpkins, these little guys are painted pumpkins! Aren't they adorable?! 

I pulled out some wonderful orange and yellow markers and pencils to give these guys a nice harvest glow!

I chose the Painting Pumpkins digital stamp set from Power Poppy. This set has THREE different pumpkin images, plus four sentiments! Plus you also get the no-line versions! That is a steal for $6. 

To get started this month, I printed out a few images and sentiments onto white cardstock at 5" x 7" size (roughly). I was not sure which image to color, and in fact I did color on more than one before I made my final choice! 

That is the beauty of digital images. You can print them as many times as you wish! You can add sentiments, create your own sentiments, and even create your own scenes just like masking with traditional stamps! 

Follow the directions in the first post of the series to pick your paper, colors, and so forth. Since this image is called Painting Pumpkins, you can pretty much choose any colors you wish! I chose traditional fall colors, with a few pops of contrasting color.

I was unsure which medium I wanted to use this month, markers or pencils. The pumpkin on the top image is colored with Copic markers. The pumpkin and the lettering on the bottom image is colored with Prismacolor colored pencils. 

I ended up combining both mediums to get the depth of color I wanted. It is totally acceptable to lay down a base layer of markers, and then color over them with pencils! 

Pumpkins, bow, oak leaves:
Copic: W5 Warm Gray 5, E15 Dark Suntan, YR18 Sanguine, YR15 Pumpkin Yellow, Y35 Maize
Prismacolor: PC944 Terra Cotta, PC1032 Pumpkin Orange, PC1002 Yellowed Orange, PC917 Sunburst Yellow, PC916 Canary Yellow, PC938 White, PC935 Black

When I begin a project, I always choose one main item to color first. If I am coloring flowers, I often color all the leaves first. If I am coloring a busy image, I choose to color the focal image first.

For this picture, I started with the pumpkins. Using the colors listed above, I colored the pumpkins by putting down the layers of marker first, then going back and adding shadow and highlight with the pencils. Someone once said to use the right tool for the job...in this case BOTH markers and pencils are the right tools. 

I colored all the pumpkins, and then used a black pencil to go over the faces where any of the lighter pencil spilled over. I also used a white pen to add the highlight to the larger pumpkin's eyes. (I am not sure why the other two dudes did not get a white highlight...)

Stems:
Copic: YG97 Spanish Olive, E44 Clay, YG91 Putty
Prismacolor: PC946 Dark Brown, PC941 Light Umber, PC989 Chartreuse

I know some of you will want to know about light source. I don't really pay too much attention, because in real life, light comes from all around and hits objects on many surfaces. The strongest light is coming from the front right of the image, but there are other areas where light is hitting, and things have highlight and shadow depending on their placement next to each other. Also, pumpkins are an odd shape with lumps and bumps that catch the light.

Once all the pumpkins were colored, I needed to add some contrasting color. I never want to add to many colors or the project will start to look like a pen factory spit up on it! Since orange and blue are contrasting colors I chose a bright aqua blue for the pumpkin stand, the little paint pot, and also the water jar and pitcher.

I then chose green for some of the leaves as green and orange are both primary colors, and when pumpkins are growing, they have green leaves and stems!

I also chose brown for the paint brushes and the acorns because brown is a neutral. For the bow and the remaining leaves I used the same colors as I used for the pumpkins. Repeating the same colors across the image gives it cohesion. I repeated the main colors for the little paint pots - orange, black, aqua.

Repeating colors in different sections of an image keeps the image from turning "cartoon-y" or looking like a clown party is happening! If I had added a red pitcher or a pink bow they would have stood out and clashed with the rest of the image. 

A side note about the acorns. To get the dull color I was after, I first gave them a wash of the BG05. Adding blue or gray under-painting to your image can give you shadow and depth when you layer other colors on top. The white dots on the acorn caps were added with a white gel pen.

Paint pots and brushes, acorns:
Copic: E27 Milk Chocolate, E25 Caribe Cocoa, E23 Hazelnut, E44 Clay, YG91 Putty, 100 Black, C9 Cool Gray 9, C7 Cool Gray 7, BG07 Petroleum Blue, BG05 Holiday Blue, BG02 New Blue, YR09 Chinese Orange, YR07 Cadmium Orange, YR68 Orange, Y21 Buttercup Yellow, Y32 Cashmere, E50 Eggshell
Prismacolor: PC942 Yellow Ochre, PC941 Light Umber, PC905 Aquamarine, PC921 Vermilion

Note: Older Copic E27 markers were called "Africano." E27 is now called called "Milk Chocolate." It is the same color, just with an updated name.

Green Leaves:
Copic: G28 Ocean Green, YG17 Grass Green, YG23 New Leaf
Prismacolor: PC935 Black, PC109 Prussian Green, PC989 Chartreuse, PC916 Canary Yellow

Pitcher, water jar:
Copic: C00 Cool Gray 0, C1 Cool Gray 1, BG07 Petroleum Blue, BG05 Holiday Blue, BG02 New Blue, BG000 Pale Aqua, BG0000 Snow Green
Prismacolor: PC935 Black, PC936 White, PC992 Light Aqua, PC905 Aquamarine

I used a selection of light to dark orange and yellow pencils to color the sentiment. I blended the color together with the lightest color. 

It is hard to see the background in the photo, but there is a colored pencil background. Once I had all the layers of color added, I "washed" over it with Gamsol blending solution and a blending stump. 

Background:
Prismacolor: PC938 White,  PC1077 Blender, PC289 Grey Green Light, PC1086 Sky Blue Light, PC1060 20% Cool Grey, PC1050 10% Warm Grey, PC1051 20% Warm Grey, PC1052 30% Warm Grey, PC1054 50% Warm Grey, PC1056 70% Warm Grey

I made a card with some black cardstock. The card is 6 3/4" tall and 8 1/4" wide. I added a bit of printed paper and triple matted the image. Using a layering tool makes it easy to add layers without measuring. I use THIS tool from WRMK. 

I added a bow and some flowers to the "dead space" on the right side of the image. I wish I hadn't, but it is hot glued on there...so it's staying! I also added a few enamel dots to look like paint spills. 

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you are inspired to color something!

Digital images: Power Poppy Painting Pumpkins
Cardstock: Hammermill 100# Digital Color Copy; Spectrum Ginger Snap, Caribbean; WorldWin Black
Printed paper: Authentique Twilight
Markers: Copic (see list above)
Pencils: Prismacolor (see list above)
Gel pen: Sakura Gelly Roll White
Blending solution: Gamsol
Enamel dots: Eyelet Outlet white (colored with BG07), Whimsy Stamps orange, Echo Park Travelers Notebook black
Flowers: Prima
Brad: stash
Ribbon: Really Reasonable Ribbon Tangerine Satin, Turquoise Organza Satin
Tools: We R Memory Keepers Guide Layers
Adhesive: ATG tape, Scor-tape, hot glue