Bleedthrumanade with Butterflies and Grottos!

Got lemons?  Make lemonade!
Got the dreaded alcohol marker bleedthru?  Make bleedthrumanade!

Alcohol markers are notorious for bleeding through paper and leaving color on the back of the page.  I decided a while back that this could be a good thing.  I color the front of the page with markers, and then add art of some kind (usually Zentangle®).  When I'm done, I flip the page and make art using the color shows through on the back.

Today, I'm going to share how a bleedthrumanade that started like this:

Front of page                              Back of page

Ended up as a bleedthrumanade that looks like this:

Front-Sunshine & butterflies in the Morning Dew   /Back-Underground Grotto

To get the grayscale bleedthrumanade colorbase

Front of page: I colored the entire page with various Spectrum Noir alcohol markers in Ice Grey colors, and then created streaks by running the blender pen vertically down the page.  At this point, I turned the page, and started working on the back.

Back of page: No further marker color was added.  I stamped my Sabal pattern image three times without re-inking.  The first image was very clear, the second just above it was faded, and the third image at the top barely showed.  Using a Micron Pigma pen, I darkened the corners of the first image, and drew lines to change the second image into a whole new pattern.  I did linework all around the stamped images, and added shading.   This resulted in the Grayscale picture-front & back--that you see at the beginning of this post.

Adding Color

Front of page: For the front, I was looking for a contrast in lighting.  The idea I had in mind was the morning sun evaporating the morning dew.  I chose thin-tipped, hard pointed colored pencils to get a lighter tinted color and chose Distress markers for the deeper sunlit colors.

I colored the entire page with the pencils, then I stamped my Butterfly collage image twice without re-inking.  I didn't want the complete image in either case.  I used Distress markers to deepen the colors on and around the Butterfly image and to eliminate the square edges.  When I was satisfied, I used the white Pentel gel pen to break up the second image--I only wanted it to add a little texture and give the feeling of light refraction.  I used the white gel pen to add the dewdrop bubbles.  The last step was to use the Distress markers to deepen the color on the dewdrops.

Back of page:  On the back, I wanted a different lighting effect--the dim lighting you might find in an underground grotto, where the sun merely glances off the surfaces.  I chose colored pencils with soft, deeply pigmented points to color the page. Then I used the Black Soot Distress Marker to re-darken some of the lines and shadowed areas.

The Black & Gray colorbase gave me tinted shades to work with and a sense of shadows and forms in the background.  This was an experiment from start to finish, and I think I'll be repeating this process.  

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Supplies

Both Front & Back

Stillman & Birn Epsilon Series Sketchbook

Spectrum Noir Cool Greys Marker set

Spectrum Noir Blender pen

Front of page:

Viva Las Vegastamps! used:

      Butterfly Collage-Item 16099

Stamp Pad ink: Colorbox Cranberry

Primascolor Verithin Colored Pencils-Canary Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Apple Green, Peacock Blue, Light Peach, Ultramarine

Tim Holtz Distress Markers-Fired Brick, Barn Door, Dried Marigold, Crushed Olive, Scattered Straw, Tumbled Glass, Broken China

Pentel White Gel Pen

Back of page:

Viva Las Vegastamps! used:

      Sabal pattern from Plate 1427

Stamp Pad ink: Memories Dye Ink Black

Micron Pigma Pen .05

Lyra Rembrandt Colored Pencils-Pale Geranium Lake, Lemon Cadmium, Apple Green, Light Blue

Tim Holtz Distress Markers-Black Soot