Power Poppy February Digital Release

Good morning, Coloring and Cardmaking Fans! Power Poppy has a NEW digital release to tempt you! 

With butterflies, anemones, and the gears of time, Time to Fly comes with three variations in the download: One as seen above, one with the butterfly wings much simplified, and one with more simple watch hands for a crisp look. 

Shimmering Flight contains a juicy stalk of hollyhocks, and nestled inside is a jewel where a dragonfly has landed. A second option has a wonderful turquoise-and-silver pendant in the style of Native American jewelry. This image comes both with and without the dragonfly. 

Each digital download comes with a few variations and all images are in both black and very light grey for “no-line” coloring.

I put on my Brave Girl pants and colored the Time to Fly image, printed in the pale gray, no-line version. I have never done a big piece like this in the no-line coloring style before! I used only colored pencils as well. No Copics this time!  

The finished piece is 8 7/8" x 6 5/8", which is a huge piece for me to color with pencil! I also used a new paper for this project. It was my first time coloring onto Bienfang Bristol Vellum cardstock (not translucent vellum, but vellum finish, which has a bit of tooth, but not too much). This cardstock has a rougher surface on one side, and a smoother surface on the other. 

A note about paper: I was finding that coloring on the smooth cardstock that I use for Copic markers was giving me a dull finish with pencils. Plus, I was not able to build up very many layers of color, which is important in colored pencil work. I am experimenting with various pencil-worthy papers at the moment, papers with more "tooth" but not too "toothy." 

This piece is colored on the Speedball Bienfang Bristol Vellum, which is about $9 for 20 sheets on Amazon. It is 146lb/238gsm, which is a really nice weight for card making or for framing a piece. 

I also have the Strathmore Bristol Vellum, which is also about $9 for 20 sheets, and 100lb/270gsm. The Strathmore won't go through my printer very well as it is VERY THICK card. 

You really do have to look at the paper in person, because the information is very confusing. I would think that the 146lb would be thicker than the 100lb, but the 100lb is more than twice as thick! The 238gsm vs 270gsm is quite a big difference in reality! GSM is an acronym standing for Grams per Square Meter. The higher the number, the "heavier" the paper. 

I have to confess that I struggled with the butterflies! I don't usually color bugs, birds, or other animals because it is very hard to make them look realistic. But, my goal for 2020 is to step out of my comfort zone with my art pieces! 

If you are wanting to print an image at this larger size, and try your hand with pencil coloring, try not to get overwhelmed by all the elements in the image. Pick one element at a time and focus on that. For example, I colored all the green leaves first, then moved on to the buds. I move around the image, coloring each similar item before moving on to the next. 

Keep your pencils sharpened to allow for the fine flicks in the flowers and to draw in the details needed. I don't blend with a colorless blender or a blending solution. I do pencil blending only. 

However, the clock face gave me a bit of trouble! The clock is printed at about 3" in diameter, and it was just not blending well. I finally had to get out the Gamsol blending solution and a blending stump and smooth it out! I really don't like doing that, but sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do!

Once I had the clock looking vintage-y, I went back in and added shadows. I used a sharp black pencil to add the numbers and other markings back to the clock. With the no-line coloring, you can often lose detail, so you need to add it back in.
I tried to make the gears look a bit rusty, which was fun, and uses a lot of different pencils! 

Here is a list of the colors I used. I used all Prismacolor Pencils (from the 150 set), plus one Arteza pencil (from the 120 set). 

• Leaves: Kelp Green, Prussian Green, True Green, Limepeel, Spring Green, Pale Sage
  
• Buds: Dark Green, Grass Green, Apple Green, Chartreuse, Pale Sage, Hot Pink
  
• Flowers: Arteza Pink Macaron, Hot Pink, Process Red, Mulberry, Chartreuse, Canary Yellow, Apple Green, Dark Green, White
  
• Branches: Beige, Light Umber, Dark Brown, Dark Green
  
• Blue Butterflies: Sky Blue Light, True Blue, Copenhagen  Blue, Indigo Blue, White, White Gel Pen
  
• Orange Butterflies: Poppy Red, Pale Vermilion, Orange, Salmon Pink, Canary Yellow
  
• Clock and Gears: Black, Dark Umber, Chocolate, Light Umber, Terra Cotta, Mineral Orange, Goldenrod, Sandbar Brown, Cream
  
• Shadows: 50% Cold Grey, 30% Cold Grey, 90% Warm Grey, 70% Warm Grey, Black

When coloring shadows and adding shading with the grey pencils, I choose warm grey or French grey for things that are alive and cold grey for inanimate objects.

My piece is all ready for framing! 

Thanks for joining me today! I hope you are inspired to color some images! Power Poppy has LOADS to choose from!

Digital Image: Power Poppy Time to Fly

Colored Pencils: Prismacolor, Arteza (listed above)

Cardstock: Speedball Bienfang Bristol Vellum, CutCardstock Squid Ink and Smoked Sea Salt

Enamel dots: Doodlebug Design, American Crafts

Adhesive: ATG tape