March is an awesome month but it’s also awesome because there is a new release at Whimsy Stamps featuring two new Polka Dot Pal boy characters! For my sample today, I used Polka Dot Pals Raden, with a few elements from Polka Dot Pals Imogen, and Path in The Woods for the background.
I first colored the Path in the Woods so I could see how much green I could use on the rest of the image and not be too washed out. I settled for adding just a little green on the shirt to help harmonize the two images together.
The Path in the Woods by Dustin Pike is going to be an awesome stamp to use for many themes. Even though it took a while to color it with the dots method, I can’t wait to use it again.
I had tried to add Nivo Crystal Drops to the glasses but was a bit shy about how much I added so it didn’t go on as smooth as I had liked. Then I tried to speed up the drying time with the heat gun – and well, let’s say you don’t want to do that either unless you want a bubbled look. I smoothed it out as much as possible and that was that. Lesson learned.
Here you can see a side by side of the coloring on Polka Dot Pals Raden before and after. I added the glasses from the Polka Dot Pals Fern stamp. Then I colored in my own face without using an Add-on Face from another set.
The fallen tree log in this set has four different options for how you want the end of the stump to look like. I chose to go with the eyes and make the log hollowed out – who know what critters are lurking in there but I think Polka Dot Pals Raden is about to find out.
I wanted to show some of my past watercolor attempts which were from a few weeks ago. This one features Dragon Pull My Finger rubber stamp from Whimsy Stamps. I love the images by Dustin Pike and his dragons are so easy to color…even if it is with watercolors.
Colored with Karin Brushmarker Pro watercolors on Craft Perfect cold press 300gsm paper.
I would say I had some difficulty with the watercolors, paper, brush or something. As you can see on the hand and the lamp, I tried to blend too much on the paper and scrubbed the paper away. Overall, it was somewhat frustrating and I wanted it to be more defined. So I pulled out the colored pencils and did some touch up work.
Touch up with Polychromos colored pencils and a white gel pen.
I like this result much better and felt that I salvaged the image. I can still see where the blue brush marker was used to color the sky in the background so I’ve been watching out for that to avoid. In the before and after, I can definitely see a difference on the eyes, tummy and lamp.
Did you know? The Ostrich is a large flightless bird native to Africa and is the only living species of its family or its genus. The Ostrich is farmed around the world, particularly for its feathers, which are decorative and are also used as feather dusters. [Ostrich, Wikipedia.org]
Here’s another Dustin Pike dragon – with his teddy in hand, he looks ready for the first day of school. Must be Preschool. The challenge was to create a card or project based on the sketch provided and an anything goes challenge.
Did you know? “Invictus” is a 2009 biographical drama film based on events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, hosted in that country following the dismantling of apartheid and directed by Clint Eastwood. [Invictus, Wikipedia.org]
This digital stamp is actually a freebie created by Dustin Pike. Just passing along a great find – he has loads of fun images at Doodle Dragon Studios – and at a great price too! (Especially the “left over” 2009 images which are $30 for 233 images!) The challenge entered is to use a favorite stamp and summer theme.
Did you know? The Brandenburg Gate in Berlin, Germany, was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and built from 1788 to 1791. Shortly after the Thirty Years’ war and a century before the gate was constructed, Berlin was a small walled city within a star fort. Relative peace, a policy of religious tolerance, and status as capital of the Kingdom of Prussia facilitated the growth of the city. Today, the Brandenburge Gate is considered one of Europe’s most famous landmarks. [Brandenburg Gate, Wikipedia.org]
Sproatmeyer 