Wednesday, October 31, 2012

Quick Timelapse Coloring of our 'Santa' Line-Art Poster



It may just be Halloween, but we already have Christmas on the brain here at Stuff2Color. So we put together a quick timelapse video as I colored our line art poster "Santa". Check out this cool video as I try out some different marker brands, add some shading, and try to stay in the lines (too much pressure for me apparently). 

Please excuse the color of Santa's skin, I seem to have misplaced all flesh-toned shades. I then cut out the poster in preparation of decorating for my favorite holiday. So there you have it, Santa on Halloween... Only at Stuff2Color! 

Monday, October 29, 2012

Add Shading To Your Posters with These Easy Tips

Hello again! So last time we covered 2 color tricks to make your Stuff2Color poster pop. This time we'll learn how to create a 3-D look to make your poster pop off the page. So follow along with me as I color the giant line art poster "Country Bridge". We'll just focus on the bridge itself for now.

So the first thing to do when shading a poster is to figure out where the light is coming from. If its a scenery like this one and the sun isn't drawn in, I just put in my own imaginary sun to help guide my shading. In this case, the light is directly opposite of us, so the light would be hitting the other side of the bridge, leaving our visible side in shadow. Now grab three shades of brown, or whichever color you want to make the bridge. You'll need a light, medium, and dark pen, pencil, or crayon (hopefully you have a bunch of colored pencils or markers to choose three shades from).

Start by highlighting the pieces of wood that get the most sun with your lightest shade, in this case I highlighted the very tops of each board and the planks across the bridge since the sun would be shining right down on them.


Then I color my darkest brown where my darkest shadows will be, the wood facing away from the sun, as well as the posts hidden under the bridge (they won't be getting much sunlight at all).

Finally, I take my middle brown to color in the rest. This is for the wood that will be getting some sun, but not as much as our highlighted boards. And there you have your 3-dimensional bridge.

No shading on this one. Notice the difference!
Lets compare it to a bridge that I colored all in the same brown without shading....Not nearly as much fun to look at!

And now its time for your show-and-tell. I can't wait to see your 3-D masterpieces! And as always, feel free to ask any questions or bring up any topics you'd like to talk about in the comment section below. See ya soon!

Erin

Tuesday, October 23, 2012

Use These 2 Color Tricks To Make Your Poster Pop

Welcome back to our Stuff2Color blog! Hopefully you had a great weekend of coloring, I know I did. Looking around at all the beautiful colors of fall, I've really been enjoying putting these bright colors into my own Stuff2Color posters. Bright yellows, reds, greens galore got me thinking about why I choose which colors for each piece.  Isn't it amazing how certain colors can lead you to feel certain emotions, or how certain colors can draw your focus over other colors? Which brings me to our topic for today’s blog!

Trick #1:  Use Warm, Bright Colors
"Love Bus"
Some color choices can make an object pop out of your poster, or fall into the background. This is usually due to the “warmth” or “coolness” of a color.  Generally, warm colors like red and yellow draw your attention and can even amp up your energy, while cool colors like blue often fade away from notice. Check out the giant line art poster "Love Bus" here for an example of this. Reds, oranges, yellows, and even the bright green draw your eyes right? While the cool blues and purples fade into the background.


Trick #2: Use Opposite Colors            

Red is the opposite of Green
Blue is the opposite of Orange
Yellow is the opposite of Purple

When you use two opposite colors (known as "Complementary Colors) together, both colors pop out more brightly in contrast, grabbing your attention and boosting the energy of your poster. Looking at "Love Bus" again, you'll see that I used opposite colors in a couple places.  I feel that this makes the poster much more bright and energetic to view. What do you think?

So these are two tricks that are nice to have up your artistic sleeve. Now let me know how your coloring is going! Tell me below (in the comment section) some of your coloring tricks. Look forward to hearing from you!

Erin

Friday, October 19, 2012

Welcome to the New Stuff2Color Color Blog


Welcome to the new Stuff2Color blog! Now we all know that coloring these amazing fuzzy and line art posters is fun enough in itself, but I just wanted to reach out to all my fellow colorers (that’s a word, right?J) to create an online dialogue to share coloring tips, hear feedback, and  find out what your coloring styles and interests are. I've had the joy of coloring some of the new products for the Stuff2Color website and product labels, but I would love to get to know the people that are coloring right alongside me!

My name is Erin by the way, where are my manners?  I've had the great pleasure of working with Stuff2Color for several months now and have to admit that I’m still in awe of all their coloring selection. From crazy geometric patterns, fantasy creatures, beautiful landscapes, inspiring words, and every animal under the sun, I’m glad to say I won’t be out of coloring options anytime soon. I think it is fair to say, no matter your age or lifestyle, everyone should get to experience the joy, innocence, and beauty of coloring on a regular basis. And who can’t use a little more artwork for their walls to show off J

Night and Day

Over the next few weeks I’m going to discuss artsy topics such as how to use color and 3D shading in your posters, tips and tricks for using colored pencils and markers, etc. If you can think of any other topics related to coloring, our posters, or just want to chat with someone who shares your creative and artistic passions, I would love to hear from you!  And judging by some of the colored posters that have been submitted to Stuff2Color from amazing customers like you, I would love to hear all the tips and tricks that you’ve perfected as well!

Looking forward to getting to know you,

Erin