Hello fellow colourists! This is my first Colour Along so please be gentle! I m using Prismacolor pencils and will list the pencil numbers in brackets throughout, but you can use whatever media you want. Things to note: I am not a professional artist, I colour out of the lines and my colouring is often rough and messy! This is why I show you the finished page first, because you may see the stepby-step photos and wonder how it ll ever look good! You are not forced to use the colours I use! Do your own thing if you wish, or copy it exactly as it is it s totally up to you Most importantly, have fun! And please show me on social media when you ve finished
This is the page I am colouring today. It is from a double page spread but can be coloured as a standalone. I may do the other side in the future if this Colour Along goes well. Firstly, take a dark cool grey (1065) and make a rough border around each stone. Take a lighter cool grey (1063) and blend the darker grey inward- but not all the way.
Take your lightest cool grey (1060) and blend the medium grey into the middle. Use your darkest grey (1065) to re-define the edges of the stones. Repeat this process on all visible stone. Take a light yellow (916) and colour the outer rim of the flames, using harder pressure in some areas and lighter in the others.
Take a dark red (924) and colour the tips of the flames. Use orange (921) to blend the red out and a little further down the flame. Use a dark yellow (1002) to blend the orange out and a little further down the flame.
Take a bright yellow (916) and blend the dark yellow out and further down the flame- but leave some white at the bottom. For the logs, start with a dark brown (946) and outline each log & the details in them. Next, use a lighter brown (945) to blend out the dark brown further into the log. (This tutorial is mostly about blending colours out with each other, so you ll get used to hearing this a lot!)
Take a shade lighter brown (943) and blend it all into the centre of each log. Use the darkest brown (946) to re-define the edges and details of the logs. Colour the metal spikes black. Colour a rough white band around the flames, then colour black around it.
Use the white or a blending pencil to merge the white into the black, giving the flames a glow. (You may need to keep sharpening/cleaning the white to make sure the glow doesn t turn black.) Use a very light brown or beige (1084) to colour the back board of the fire. Use a very dark grey (1056) to outline the stones. Use a white gel pen to add highlights to the spikes.
Colour the hearth in the same shade of beige (1084) and outline with the very dark grey (1056). Using a dark brown (1074) draw some rough cracks over the beige areas for a marble effect. Make them thicker in some areas and thinner in others. Colour some white patches around the cracks. Take a darker beige colour (941) and colour some more patches around the cracks where you haven t done the white.
Using a dark red (924), colour the bows roughly from the inside out. Use a lighter red (922) to blend it out to almost the edge. Use the two reds to colour the rest of the bow from the narrowest part (darkest) to the widest part (lightest). Use a very dark red (925) to colour the inner loops.
Use a white gel pen to draw some highlights on the bows (optional). Colour all bows on the picture this way. Colour the inner part of the leaves with a medium green (909). Use a lighter green (913) to blend out and colour the rest of the leaves. Do the same on all leaves in the picture- but not the holly! That s darker
Colour the centre of the holly leaves in a dark green (908). Colour the rest of the leaves in a khaki-type green (911). Draw a C on each berry with a reddish purple (925).
Use a slightly lighter shade (924) to finish off the berries and add a highlight with your white gel pen. Colour the flowers solidly with a dark red (924) and a green centre (913). Take a dark pink (994) and roughly colour the edges of the stocking and some of the details.
Using a lighter pink (929) to blend out the darker pink and colour the rest of the stocking. Do the same with two shades of blue on the other stocking (I used 904 & 903). For the candy cane candles, take a dark red (924) and roughly colour alternate stripes from the outside in. Use a lighter red (922) to fill in the white and blend the dark red.
Dot a bit of orange (1002) at the bottom of the candle flames. Use a light yellow (915) to colour the rest of the flame. Colour the presents solidly. Use a dark brown (946) to roughly colour the pot from the outside in.
Use a lighter brown (941) to fill in the rest of the pot, and colour the stripe orange (1002). Use a dark orange (918) to colour the bottom of the carrot. Use a lighter orange or yellow (1003) to colour the rest of the carrot.
Use a dark green (909) to solidly colour the carrot leaves. Use a medium blue (1027) to roughly colour the cup from the outside in. Use a lighter blue (904) to colour the rest in. Do the same with the plate.
Colour the cookies in solidly with a medium brown (941). Colour the robin solidly with a medium brown (943), a red for the breast (922) and an orange for the nose (1002). Take a light brown (943) and colour roughly from the outside of the basket inwards. Use a peach (927) to blend to the centre.
Colour the tealight in the same blue as the teacup (1027). Use a very dark brown (946) to roughly outline the skirting board. Use a reddish brown (943) to blend the dark brown into the centre. Using a fine black pen, draw lines from the skirting to the bottom of the page as floorboards.
Use a very dark brown (947) to roughly colour the top and bottom of the boards. Use a lighter brown (941) to blend out the dark brown and fill in the rest of the boards. Go over the black lines again if you need to. Use the black pen to draw some wonky swirls and lines on the floorboards to create a woodgrain effect.
Use whatever you like to colour the rug- I used a red sharpie and a metallic gold pen- I just couldn t face doing all those swirls with pencil! I coloured the wall with chalk pastels- a light yellow mixed with white that gets lighter towards the centre of the page. Colour your garland however you like- I used three Sharpie colours.
That s it! You made it! Hopefully you ve had lots of fun following this Colour Along- Please let me know how you got on! Type Colour with Claire into Facebook, Twitter or Instagram and you ll find me Thank you for reading this & see you soon on Colourwithclaire.com.