Sunday, July 08, 2012

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.  

Be sure to check out the VLVS! July Newsletter for Product highlights, discounts and new releases!

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
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

3 comments:

Bette Abdu said...

Thanks for sharing the process you used to create these amazing pieces. You make it seem so 'doable' and including the products you used is very helpful too.
Best regards
Bette Abdu

Sandra Strait said...

Thank you Bette!

Anonymous said...

This is an awesome piece. I'm gonna give the tutorial a whirl. I'll let ya know.