Grayscale Coloring
Techniques BLOG
TIPS, TECHNIQUES & TUTORIALS
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:
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.
Materials Needed
Prismacolor Premiers (for background)
Faber Castell Polychromos (for iguana & tree branch)
Gray and Brown ink pens (0.3mm) Rotting Isograph Pen White Ink for highlights Petroleum Jelly Small paintbrush for blending Step-by-Step Coloring InstructionsColor 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
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
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
Color the Branch MEDIUM: Faber Castell Polychromos
Entire Picture Finishing Go back over areas as needed to adjust contrast, deepen shadows and add some outlines and other details. Upcoming Tutorials
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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? 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:
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.
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. 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? 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 Comments are closed.
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