Hi everyone, today I would like to show you how you can colour this fun Lili of the Valley digital image called “Me and My Pony” using the wonderful Spectrum Noir Illustrator Alcohol markers.
Step 1:
After printing the digital image on alcohol marker friendly paper and die cutting a rectangle shape around the image, stamp the sentiment underneath the image (this stamp is from Clearly Besotted called “Sweet Sentiments Plus” but you can use any sentiment stamp you have).
For stamping you can use the Spectrum Noir Alcohol-Proof Ink in “Noir Black”.
Step 2:
Start colouring the image: for the skin of the girl use Spectrum Noir Illustrator Markers in Linen and Silk. For the mane of the horse use Soft Brown, Tan and Black Brown. Because the mane are thicker hair make sure to draw in some lighter and some darker patches.
Step 3:
For the rest of the hair on the horse use Linen, Warm Beige and Soft Brown for the brown part and Brown Grey 2 for the white part, to create shadow (even if part of an image is white, like snow, there will still be parts in the shadow that are of a darker colour). For the brown part just colour evenly and in more layers, then create shadow with the darker colours. For the white part use the Brown Grey 2 only in the shadowed area’s.
Step 4:
Next colour the hair of the girl: use Soft Brown, Warm Beige, Tan and Black Brown and create patches like we did with the mane of the horse. Hair is always tricky but with some practising you should be fine. You can also see now that even though I used much of the same colours on all the brown parts of this image, they still all look slightly different. Even if you don’t have all the colours of alcohol markers yet, you can still colour an image nicely blending different colours together.
Step 5:
For the little mouse use Soft Brown and Brown Grey 2. For the red and green parts use Willow, Forest Green, Poppy and Pink Tint. For the apple I used all four colour in this tiny part of the image, blending together the Willow and Pink Tint colour until I liked what I had and only using the darker colours on the edges of the apple.
Step 6:
For the background wall and the wooden parts use Brown Grey 2, Soft Brown, Ice Grey 2 and Ice Grey 5. These parts of the image need to be coloured but I wanted the focus to be on the girl and the horse, so I kept them quite light in colour. By colouring the background darker the white part of the horse will also show up better. If you feel you added too much colour in any stage you can erase/mute a little of the colour by using the Blender marker.
Step 7:
Now only the clothes on the girl are left to colour: for the sweater use Blossom and Hot Pink for the pink parts and Willow and Forest Green on the green parts. For the brown part use any combination of lighter and a darker brown of the makers I used before.
You can find all the Illustrator markers here: https://www.crafterscompanion.eu/art-and-colouring/spectrum-noir/illustrator.html
Step 8:
This step is optional but I always like to add some highlights back in using a white gelly roll pen. If you don’t like this part then skip it. Be aware that when you colour over the gel pen again with the alcohol marker this can clog the marker, so always scribble of the marker on a scratch piece of paper when you do this.
Step 9:
To finish the card die cut a slightly larger mat from matching pink card stock and adhere both rectangle panels together using liquid glue. Then adhere this combination to a card base using one millimetre thick foam tape.
Detail picture:
And that’s it for today’s fun colouring project! I wish you a creative day!
