Part Two - Distress Inks Tutorial: Get Painting

So are you ready to paint?

 

You will need:  your stamped image, inks, brush, water, kitchen towel

 

First step, on a spare piece of paper of the same quality that you are stamping your image on, have a play, get used to how the brush and paint feel and behave.  Do this for as long as you like, you need to be comfortable with your materials.....

 

 

You can see here that I worked from left to right, the colour fading out as I dragged it across the paper.

 

Relax!  What is there to lose from having a go?  Nothing more than a piece of paper!  For this demo I am using Thomas from Lili Of The Valley and have stamped him in Memento Tuxedo Black onto Bristol Board.

 

First step, wet your brush.  You don't want it sodden so use a piece of kitchen towel to wipe your brush over if you have overloaded the water.  Have a little dabble in the paint, not too much mind!  I would suggest that you do one section of your image at a time but for the purposes of not overloading you with pictures I've done the whole of Thomas in one go ......... first step, add some of your base colour around the edges (I've used Tea Dye)

 

And this is where you need to be quick - rinse your brush in clean water, quick wipe on the kitchen paper and then with small circular motions, start to spread the colour from the outside edge in, letting it fade away as you work.

Well done!  Thomas looks a bit pale and under the weather doesn't he.  Time to add a bit more colour.  This time, using a damp brush (run it over the back of your hand if you're not sure how wet it is, you will soon feel it if there's too much water) dip back into your chosen colour and darken up the edges.  Do give some thought as to where your light source is coming from though - I usually try to get my images to be nose first into the light and therefore keep that area quite softly tinted.  So, for Thomas, the darker areas will be his bottom, the back of his leg, the back of his arm and around the side of his face.

Now he's got a bit of a rosy glow!  Try and remember at this stage the areas where you will want to add shadowing later.  Now, with a shade darker (I've used Brushed Cordouroy) darken up some of the edges even deeper.  Remember to keep blending with tiny circular brush movements.

I've also filled in Thomas' tabby stripes in the same colour as although I wanted a contrast with the Tea Dye, I didn't want it to be too startling.

Now, you can go in and fill in the detail, like his ears, the flowers and his envelope.  Remember to rinse your brush well between each colour change.  For his ears and nose I've used Tattered Rose, for the envelope Shabby Shutters and for the flowers a range of bright colours.

Not looking too bad is he?  Don't fret too much if you still have some hard, unblended, ink lines - with a clean damp brush and those little circular movements, you can soften these down no end. 

Now for the finishing touches, the shadowing.  Remember that at the beginning I suggested you keep in mind where your light is to be coming from?  This is where you need to know that!  I'll be the first one to put my hand up and admit that I still get carried away and put shadows in the oddest of places .......so, ready with some darker shades?  I've used Walnut Stain (a very dark brown and very scary the first time you use it), Frayed Burlap for a softer brown shadow, and Peeled Paint for the envelope.

Ta-dah!  And he's done.  Just put to one side and let him dry completely.

As I mentioned in Part One, this is by no means the correct way to use these inks - it is simply the way I use them.  Loads of you have been very generous with your praise on my colouring skills with the inks so I'd like to think I must be getting something right at last.

The most important thing of all?  Don't be afraid of making mistakes.  My first few efforts, although not completely terrible, were not that brilliant either!  It took me about half a dozen attempts before I felt comfortable with the way the inks behave (very differently to watercolour paints) and felt brave enough to start making cards with the images I had painted.

Why not set aside an afternoon, get the inks out, and have a play!  Enjoy!

Finally, I'd be really grateful if you would be kind enough to take a moment to leave me a comment, letting me know whether or not you found this tutorial to be helpful. 

Thanks!  Hugs, Sxx