I was taught to use colored pencils while in college. I can still hear Dr. B saying, “no tree is just one shade of green, you must layer colors, don't give me coloring book pages.” I don't have a lot of drawing talent. I can draw, but it's nothing special and I really don't love it, so rubber stamp art suits me well.
Coloring rubber stamps presents some challenges, like size and the fact that the image is already drawn and stamped in one color. A popular approach among stampers is to use Gamsol to pull color from one part of the image to other, leaving some white to serve as the light source. This kind of contradicts what I was taught, because there is little or no layering of colors. I continue to struggle with applying a light source in a stamped image, and try to learn new things that help me improve. I find it hard to leave a bit of white for the highlight when I'm layering multiple colors in the small space that a stamp image provides. I watched three colored pencil videos this weekend. They each have a slightly different approach.
One uses a bit of pencil, no layering of colors which allows for a lot of white for the light source. Inky Antics
The next one uses a couple colors, a bit more pencil on the paper, which still allows for a bit of white for the light source. Gina K
The last one uses multiple pencil colors layering them for vibrant colors.. Instead of leaving white for the light source, the lightest color in the layers is the light source. Hero Arts
The last one is more like what I do, and what I admire in other people's work. I really like the vibrancy and depth that layering colors provides. I now know that I can't leave white paper for the light. I'll continue to use a lighter shade, white, or subtractive color with an eraser.
So, now I'll focus on WHERE to put the highlights! I was discussing this with my friend Dina Kowal, and she shared her general rules on shading from her blog:
Shaded areas:
areas that appear to be further away or curving away
areas that are lower
areas that appear to be behind something else
Highlighted areas:
areas that appear to be closer or curving toward me
areas that are higher
areas that appear to be in front of something else
areas that appear to be further away or curving away
areas that are lower
areas that appear to be behind something else
Highlighted areas:
areas that appear to be closer or curving toward me
areas that are higher
areas that appear to be in front of something else
