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Grayscale Coloring
​Techniques BLOG

TIPS, TECHNIQUES & TUTORIALS

Grayscale Coloring Tutorial: Step-by-Step to Realistic Results

5/17/2017

 
Picture
Colorist: Jones Flores
Coloring Book: Beautiful Creatures
Grayscale coloring pages provide you with a wonderful template for achieving an incredibly realistic result. In this tutorial, Jones Flores will show us step-by-step how she achieves such a truly realistic result. Below you will find two versions of the video tutorial:
  1. Speed Coloring Version: for those that want to get a quicker overview of the method.
  2. Full Length Version: for those that wish to watch every step in great detail.

In addition, you will find the steps written out in this blog post as well as provided as a downloadable document so that you can print it out and have it handy as you follow along with the tutorial. That way you don't have to keep pausing the video to write down color numbers! 

Iguana Video Tutorial: SPEED COLORING Version

Length: 21 minutes

Iguana Video Tutorial: FULL LENGTH Version

Length: 3 hours 50 minutes

Step-by-Step Instructions & Materials Needed

The materials needed and the step-by-step instructions are all written below in this blog post. You can also download & print the file below for easy reference when watching the video tutorial. 
beautiful_creatures_-_iguana_step-by-step_instructions.pdf
File Size: 78 kb
File Type: pdf
Download File

Materials Needed

Prismacolor Premiers (for background)
  • Black
  • Olive Green
  • Dark Green
  • Apple Green
 
Faber Castell Polychromos (for iguana & tree branch)
  • Walnut Brown 9201-177
  • Raw Umber 9201-180
  • Naples Yellow 9201-185
  • Olive Green Yellowish 9201-175
  • Light Green 9201-171
  • Juniper Green 9201-165
  • White 9201-101
  • Cold Grey II 9201-231
  • Warm Grey II 9201-271
  • Black 9201-199
 
Gray and Brown ink pens (0.3mm)
Rotting Isograph Pen White Ink for highlights
Petroleum Jelly
Small paintbrush for blending

Step-by-Step Coloring Instructions


​Color the Background 

1st Layer
MEDIUM: Black (Prismacolor Premier)
METHOD: Apply first layer on darkest grayscale areas. Apply in circular motion or create small ovals (very lightly) - this helps for smooth blending.
*TIP: Avoid up & down or back & forth motion that creates harsh edges.
 
2nd Layer
MEDIUM: Olive Green (Prismacolor Premier)
METHOD: Apply on medium gray areas in small ovals and very lightly. This is building the color depth and contrast.
*TIP: Avoid up & down or back & forth motion that creates harsh edges.
 
3rd & 4th Layer
MEDIUM: Black & Dark Green (Prismacolor Premier)
METHOD: Apply to any medium & dark grayscale areas that were missed as well as on top of existing layers. Apply in small ovals & very lightly. Apply as many layers as possible.
*TIP: Work one layer at a time on an area at a time. Remember that colored pencil is a very slow medium & if you wish to have a realistic result, take your time.
 

Light Grayscale Areas
MEDIUM: Apple Green (Prismacolor Premier)
METHOD: Apply in small ovals and very lightly in the light grayscale areas. Go over the dark layers you applied for a smoother transition.
 
More Layers
MEDIUM: Black, Olive Green and Dark Green
METHOD: Create more layers to build that black background.
 
Blending
MEDIUM: Petroleum Jelly & a paintbrush
METHOD: Dab the paintbrush into a very small amount of Petroleum Jelly. Use a tissue paper to wipe off the excess amount. Apply on one area at a time & also in a circular motion to push the pigments of the color into those tiny spaces that colored pencils aren't able to reach.
 
Color the Iguana
 
Step 1: Outlining the scales
MEDIUM: Gray Ink Pen 0.3mm
METHOD: Thin lines following the details of the scales before applying the layers of colored pencils.
 
Step 2: First Layer of Color
MEDIUM: Faber Castell Polychromos pencils
  • Light Gray Area - Light Green 9201-171
  • Medium Gray Area - Juniper Green 9201-165
  • Dark Gray Area - Black 9201-199
  • Lightest Gray Area - White 9201-101
METHOD: Layers of the light greens, cold greys & white on the tail, belly, throat & side of the head.
 
Step 3: Blending (Testing)*
MEDIUM: Comparing Petroleum Jelly & Turpentine
METHOD: Apply with a small paintbrush.

*TESTING to see if there is a difference between the two blending mediums.
*DIFFERENCE: Turpentine applied & dries faster than Petroleum Jelly but can be challenging to control. Petroleum Jelly can blend smoothly & easier to control.

​TIPS: Do not apply Petroleum Jelly on areas without multiple layers. Wait for the Petroleum Jelly/Turpentine to dry before adding another layer of colored pencils otherwise you will damage/flatten the tooth of the paper.

 
Step 4: More Layers
MEDIUM: Faber Castell Polychromos
  • Medium Gray Area: Olive Green Yellowish 9201-175
  • Shadows: Cold Grey II 9201-231
METHOD: Layers of color with darker colors to build up the contrast.
 
Step 5: Outlining
MEDIUM: Gray Ink Pen 0.3mm
METHOD: Thin lines following the details of the scales and lines that need to be more prominent. This will provide nice crisp details.
 
Step 6: Detailing
MEDIUM: White Ink Rotring Isograph Pen
METHOD: Small dots on white spots of iguana.
 
Step 7: More Layers
MEDIUM: Faber Castell Polychromos
Previous colors outlined for the iguana
METHOD: Continue adding colored pencil layers (using colors from earlier) to continue building color and to finish out the layers for the iguana. Only the eye should be left to color.
 
Step 8: Blending
MEDIUM: Petroleum Jelly with a paintbrush
METHOD: Dab the paintbrush into a very small amount of Petroleum Jelly. Use a tissue paper to wipe off the excess amount. Apply on one area at a time and also in a circular motion to push the pigments of the color into those tiny spaces that colored pencils aren't able to reach.
 
Step 9: Color the Eye
MEDIUM: Faber Castell Polychromos
  • Naples Yellow 9201-185
  • Olive Green Yellowish 9201-175
  • Black 9201-199
METHOD: Color the iguana's eye using the gray as your guide (black over the darkest gray/black areas, yellow over the lightest areas and green over the medium grays).
 
Color the Branch
 
MEDIUM: Faber Castell Polychromos
  • Dark Gray Area: Black 9201-199
  • Medium Gray Area: Walnut Brown 9201-177
  • Light Gray Area: Raw Umber 9201-180
  • Lighter Gray Area: Warm Grey II 9201-271
METHOD:
  1. Apply lines for details & build up layers.
  2. Burnish with Warm Grey to blend the layers.
  3. Blend with Petroleum Jelly to smooth out some areas.
  4. Apply fewer lines & details on bottom parts to have all the focus on the face of the Iguana.
 
Entire Picture
 
Finishing
Go back over areas as needed to adjust contrast, deepen shadows and add some outlines and other details.

Upcoming Tutorials

Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to receive coloring tips to your inbox and to get notified when we schedule our next live tutorial or release a new recorded tutorial. 

More Video Tutorials

Tutorial & Color-Along #4: Flamingos
Tutorial & Color-Along #3: Lotus Flower Buds

Tutorial & Color-Along #2: a Grayscale Landscape
Tutorial & Color-Along #1: a Grayscale Cat
Coloring Water Drops
How to Paint a Sunset and Reflection
Layering and Burnishing
Painting Peony Buds with Acrylics
Using Prismacolor Premiers to Color Magnolia Tree Flowers
Using Soft Pastels Blended with Baby Oil to Color the Succulent
Teri
7/15/2017 11:22:33 am

Jones' full length color along tutorials (especially live ones) are the BEST! Am I the only one out here getting hungry for another?

Nicole Stocker link
7/15/2017 07:08:08 pm

We have a 3 part video series (coming out all at once) that will cover choosing your colors and the basics of grayscale coloring through two color-alongs. Specifically, it will be:
- Part 1: The 3-Tone Rule
- Part 2: Color-Along #1: the Bee from Beautiful Creatures
- Part 3: Color-Along #2: the Tulips from Beautiful Nature
The three part series will come with a practice coloring page that contains the 3-Tone Rule chart, the bee & the tulips so you can color along with Jones! I hope to make this "grayscale basics" series available within the next 2 weeks, 3 at the most! :)

Teri
7/15/2017 11:07:35 pm

Yay! I can't wait! I know it's going to be great. Thank you to you both for the wonderful teaching.

Teri

Evelyn
9/8/2017 10:34:05 am

Thank you so much for these tutorials! Your books, website and tutorials not only introduced me grayscale coloring, it made it possible for me to actually do it.

Nicole Stocker link
9/8/2017 12:14:49 pm

That is wonderful to hear! I'm so glad the tutorials have been helpful.

Evelyn Garavito
9/24/2017 04:28:52 am

Thank you so much for your amazing coloring books and these amazing tutorials. You have turned me into an artist. I do have one comment. Not many of us have or can afford the FC Polychromos but have been able to gift themselves with a decent size set of Prismacolors. I found that I did much better on the pictures where the tutorials give you Prismacolors alternatives. Can you provide the Prismacolors alternative going forward?

Nicole Stocker link
9/24/2017 06:46:07 am

It's so nice to hear that we have turned you into an artist! We will do our best to include the list of Prismacolor alternatives in future tutorials. In the meantime, here is a conversion chart for the most closely matched prismacolors and polychromos pencils, hopefully this will be helpful: http://www.colourwithclaire.com/latest/prismacolor-polychromos-colour-comparison-chart


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