Watercolouring

Using watercolouring techniques to colour in your stamped images is a very popular way to add colour and enables you to effectively shade in an image.  There are a variety of techniques for achieving a watercolour effect on your stamped images.

Materials

There are many different types and brands of watercolour pencils (and crayons) available on the market and on this website.  A standard packet of 12 colours is good to start with, however if you are intending on doing a lot of watercolouring, then I recommend a 24 + range as they give you a range of colours and shading options.  There are some markers coming out on the market which when water is added to them they blend like the watercolour pencils (or crayons).

 The type of paper you use is extremely important as well.  If you use standard cardstock, there is a tendency that the card will warp, and if you make it overwet then the card tends to come off and make little clumps.  The best medium to use is a proper watercolour paper which will hold more water and keep the image wet for longer.  If your paper has warped, place it under something heavy to flatten it out.  This is done best as soon as it has been coloured as it dries flatter.

 The type of ink that you use is also extremely important.  NEVER use a dye based ink as this will react with the water and run (unless this is an effect you are wishing to achieve.)  I prefer the Graphite Black Brilliance Pad by Tsukineko.  It is a glycerine based archival ink that will not “run” when watercoloured if given a few minutes to dry completely.  Alternatively you can heat emboss and image for water fastness.

 Lastly you will need a waterbrush to activate the pigements in the pencils.  You can use a normal fine tip paintbrush with a glass of water, or alternatively there are some fantastic aquaflow brushes on the market which have a reservoir of water inside them which you gently squeeze out as needed.  Another product which you can use is a blender pen (Dove, Tomobow etc) – however these become rather expensive to use if you do a lot of watercolouring. 

  
Watercolouring Tips

1)     Always work from light to dark

2)     If you have started colouring the image, do not move onto an adjacent section unless the section next to it has dried – or you may have some unintended blending.

3)     Always remember to brush off the colour you have been using before moving onto the next colour so you don’t contaminate the colours.

4)     Have Fun!

 Technique 1:  Colouring in the Image

1)     Stamp your image onto your preferred piece of cardstock/watercolour paper and leave to dry for a few minutes.

2)     Colour in your stamped image very lightly with your watercolour pencils.  To make a section darker – either use another shade, or go over the area a few times.  Try not to use a pointy pencil as it may make it more difficult to blend the colours.  It doesn’t need to be super neat as the water will “dissolve” the pencil colouring.

3)     When you have finished pencil colouring the image, go over it again with a wet brush, blending the colours together.

I prefer to use this method as it eliminates the “double colouring” of the first technique. 

1)     Stamp your image onto your preferred piece of cardstock/watercolour paper and leave to dry for a few minutes.

2)     Choose the colours you want to use to colour in the images.  On a scrap piece of paper scribble blocks of colour.

3)     With a wet brush, pick up the colour from the paper and then “paint” your stamped image.  You can change the intensity of the colour with the amount of water which you use – less water more intense colour, more water the more pale it will be.

4)     Where you wish to blend colours, “paint” over that section with just water, then add the colour.

5)     In sections where there is a large space to colour with the same colour, go over it first with a wet brush and then spread the colour.

 
I find that using this technique the card gets a lot wetter than the first technique, but I like it as it leads to a good blending of colours.

 Technique 3

1)     Stamp your image onto your preferred piece of cardstock/watercolour paper and leave to dry for a few minutes.

2)     This technique is very similar to Technique 2, but instead of scribbling the colour onto the paper, you pick up the colour by placing the tip of the brush onto the end of the pencil/crayon/marker and then “paint” the stamped image.

 Technique 4

This technique uses a dye ink pad for the colours.

1)     Stamp your image onto your preferred piece of cardstock/watercolour paper and leave to dry for a few minutes.

2)     Using your dye pad, place a little of the ink onto the lid of the container (either by gently pressing the lid down, or making a small swipe onto the lid.

3)     Pick up the colour for the lid with your brush and “paint” the stamped image.