Wednesday, September 4, 2013

My Secret to Blending

Thanks so much for your comments on yesterday's post.  They made me chuckle because I am the same way.

Yep, I saw all the little lovelies colored with Copics and I just had to give it a try.  I got a few, added some Sharpies and even tried Spectrum Noir markers.  They were all fun to play with but, sadly, not my thing.  My hands are no longer that steady and perfecting the techniques to use them correctly . . . well, it just didn't work out too well.

My favorite products to color with are my colored pencils and a couple more secret ingredients.  I must confess I have a lot of colored pencils.  The best hubby in the world got me the big set of Prismacolor colored pencils as a gift a few years ago.  I also have accumulated several other sets from different manufacturers--some metallic, some neon, some woodless, etc.  Yes, I still use them all but my go-to set is the Prismacolor ones.

My secrets to blending depend on the project, but the first one is to layer one shade over the other.  As for blending products, there are the Prismacolor Colorless Blender, any alcohol based colorless blender, and my favorite is:


Another name for that is Odorless Mineral Spirits and the popular brand name is Gamsol.  If you are going to give this a try, do not get the big gallon jug from the local department store.  Yes, it's cheaper and yes, it works, but it's definitely not odorless.  Also, since it is a solvent, you would have to find a small glass jar to store it in because it will eventually dissolve any plastic container you try to use.

Anyway, here are two cards I made using digital stamps I colored over the summer:



The digital stamps are from Dearie Dolls and since I did not plan out sizing and such, I used my shape cutters and thin dies to cut and mat the stamps.  Then designed the card later.

Tomorrow, I'll have a few more projects and secrets to share.

Until then, may your creative time be filled with bliss.

2 comments:

Esther W-B said...

Both cards are adorable! I've also used Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol and did find that they were easier to work with than Copic markers. I had a problem coloring small areas because the pencil points would get dull so quickly. I guess I'm too heavy handed, LOL.

Renae said...

I use color pencils too. I also have the blending agent, but don't know how to use it. How do you use it?