1st Post for Kindred Stamps 2019!

A little dream of mine has come true.  I have been asked to be on the Kindred Design Team again.  

This stamp company is one of my all time favs.  And I was so excited when I got the email from owner Audra.  This made my 2018 Christmas I can tell you!

Today I am sharing a little tutorial on how to colour up the set

"The One With the Friend"

Over here in Australia we have the reruns on (conveniently for us) at our dinner time.  So not only did I love watching when it was new to air, now a whole new generation (my kids) are loving it.  

WARNING - this will be a long post as I will do a step by step on how I coloured this set.  

Over the next month I will be making a few different projects to show off its versatility.  

Let's get started. 

I always use my Copic sample book when choosing my colours for any project.  Not only does it show what colours I have in my collection but also the "in real life"sample of each colour.  They don't always match up to the colours on the pamphlet.  This is my MUST HAVE for all projects.  

Firstly I do the skin.  If you do the hair first you can sometimes pick up the darker colour from the hair and smudge into the skin so skin is always a first for me.  I used E30 E00 and R0000 over the top.  And for reference I done the same for all of them.  They all have that city tan....lol.  And the characters with their mouths open, I used C9 and R20 for the tongue. 

Second,  I start with hair.  I find sometimes (depending on my mood) the hardest part to do.  

First I use C5 in the part of the hair and where the shine in the hair will go. 

Then I go to the ends and use C9 using flicks.

Then I use C7 to blend from the darkest to lightest leaving a little of the C5 for the shine.  

Lips are R37 and the buttons on the top are C9

Pants I start with C9

Then I use C7 and finish with the highlight at the bottom of the pants with C5

Shoes are C7 and C5

Spatula is C5

And there you have our first character.  The Chef Acquaintance. 

Now onto character number 2.  The outfit colours I used were B23 B24 &B26

The hair I used four colours.  Firstly  I coloured the whole of the hair in E21.  This style of colouring is slightly different to others.  

Next I went to the darkest and used E27.  Mainly for the roots and shadows.

Fill in slightly with E25.  

Then I used E23 to fill in the rest.  I did slightly overdo this one but hair is fairly forgiving.

Then just add some more darker bits.  Really just play with it until you are happy.

The apron I used Y19 Y17 Y08.  

The cup was in R81 R83 R85and the tray was E35

Boots are C9 and C7

And there we have the Waitress/Fashion Acquaintance.  

The guitar is coloured with E08 E99 and E97.  Start at the darker end and work your way back to the light.  Her undershirt is B91.

I don't think I have ever shaded this hair in these colours before but I can say I was really happy with the results.  Starting with the lightest colour E41 to colour the hair part and highlights.  Then use the darkest to lightest E44 E43 E42.  

Skirt I base coloured with C0 and then added stripes with C3

I love the boots and jacket.  Again started with the darkest colour to the lightest colour.  

E23 E25 E27

And there we have the Hippy/wants to be a singer Acquaintance.  The girls are done!

Now onto to the boys.  To make the fun loving actor a little more versatile, I masked off the penguin.  Here is how I done it.  

Firstly I stamped the character onto some paper or cardstock.  Using the MISTI or similar tool is a must for this one, if you want to do multiple images.  

Then I cut out the part I actually want to keep.  Where the cut is on the side of the paper I used some sticky tape to keep the paper in exactly the right place.  

Place the paper back in the corner and it should be in the exact position you need it to be.  Ink your stamp and stamp it out.  

And voila!  You have a penguin-less character!  Now to draw in the missing pieces.  

What I did was to stamp out the image again on paper and turn it over.  Put a light source behind it and add your penguin-less character and line him up.  So really you are just mirror imaging your character in part.  I used a pencil to start with so if I made a mistake I could redo it.  I also coloured my image in first then drew over the lines with a fine tip black pen.  That way it didn't matter what kind of pen I used, it wouldn't smudge. 

His shirt was R14 R35 R27

Pants are just jeans coloured, B21 B24 B26

Shoes I went black C9 and C7

I find some of the characters have "challenging"hair lines...lol.  So it can be hard to colour.  But with this it wasn't too bad.  First done E74 on the fringe tip and highlights behind fringe.

Then went to the darkest colour E79

And blended from dark to the light with E77

Lastly I Went over the pencil with fine tip black marker.  Phew.  Was a little long winded but he is totally worth it! 

Next up comes the Paleontologist.
First step after skin is hair.  Start with C5 in the tip of the fringe and the highlights on the side.

Then back to the darkest which is C9

Then blend the two together with C7

Add a little more C5 to finish the blend

The shirt is B21 and then we start with the shadows on the suit with E43

Then blend out with E42

And finish with E41.  The tie is E43 with stripes of E25.  The shoe is E27

And finished off with E25

First thing I done was to draw in some extra lines on his shirt.  Sometimes I like that little bit of extra detail.

I started the hair with E74 on tips of fringe and and highlight areas.

Then work my way back with the darkest colour E79

Blend out with E77

And if need be a little E74 to finish the blend.  The pants I start with E43

Then work with E42

And finish with E41

Cardigan and shoes I start with E79

Then I coloured the stripes and shadowy areas with E77

Then finish with E74.  To give the burgandy hint in the stripes I added R56 over the top.  Breaks up the browns.  and finish the shoes off with E74.

I coloured these while away on holidays.  I had a nice break from colouring first (2 whole weeks!) then I could not wait to get back into it.

Here are my acquaintances on holiday with me beside the beach.  Nothing like a photoshoot with coloured paper....hahaha.  My daughter was horrified!!!!

Until next time!