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:
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| Front of page Back of page |
Ended up as a bleedthrumanade that looks like this:
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| 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.
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:
Stamp Pad ink: Colorbox Cranberry
Primascolor Verithin Colored Pencils-Canary Yellow, Lemon Yellow, Apple Green, Peacock Blue, Light Peach, Ultramarine
Pentel White Gel Pen
Back of page:
Viva Las Vegastamps! used:
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
