Boy it’s been a hot minute since I’ve posted last.  Back-to-back secret projects will do that, unfortunately, so I’m gonna try popping in with the little things I work on around the big ones, when they’re ones I can’t share.

I’ve already shown a few coloring books from my collection, but those who follow me on Instagram or Twitter will have seen pages from others here and there.  This is the one I’ve just started: the Egyptian-themed page from Kerby Rosanes’ imagimorphia, the sequel to his incredible animorphia (which I also own and have sadly neglected).

Ignore the dark circle in the lower corner.  I forgot to take a pic of the page before beginning to color, so I had to photograph the smaller version from the hidden object answer key at the back of the book.

I’ve been using my Marco Raffiné colored pencils for this one.  I have been using my fineliners a TON lately, and wasn’t sure if I’d enjoy going back to colored pencils.  Plus, this book has all double-sided pages, and I was worried the markers would bleed through.

I did a little media test at the back of the book.  The first little dude was colored with Bic Mark-Its, the next with fluorescent Sargent Art gel markers, and the third with bronze Sharpie.  Fourth was the Marco Raffinés (I knew colored pencils wouldn’t show through but I wasn’t sure how they would take on the paper’s tooth.)  Also Marco Raffinés are oil-based cp and not wax-based like my other ones so I need to swatch those elsewhere sometime.  After the cp I have Stabilo 88 and Staedtler Triplus fineliners, then a Gelly Roll glitter pen, and finally a few assorted Gelly Roll and other-type metallic markers.  In the word box I tried out my Spectrum Noir alcohol markers even though I KNEW they’d bleed, and then I doodled a flower and word up above because that was in a white area on the reverse side and I wanted to see if anything would show through where there wasn’t a drawing.

I was so pleasantly surprised with this book!  Not only are there a crazy amount of pages, but almost nothing bled through.  I expected the alcohol markers so I ignored that, and since the Bics are alcohol-based as well I wasn’t surprised to see they’d also bled.  What really thrilled me is that none of the others did!  There’s a faint bit of ghosting from the fineliners but it’s mostly only visible in the white space area.  I think if I used them to color any image or sections that had a picture/patterning on the reverse, it wouldn’t even be noticeable.  Yay!

I was also really happy with how the Marco Raffinés took to the paper.  They don’t play nice at ALL with the paper of my swatch book (seen above, and again below), and it takes a lot of pressure to get any color to lay down.  In the book, however, I could apply the barest touch and get a sheer wash of color, and was able to layer nicely.  Double yay!

PS I’m storing my pencils in a case I ordered off eBay.  I saw them in a review video that Peta (La-Artestino) did and picked up a few to try out.  The largest size (4-zippers) holds 72 pencils which fits the full set of Marco Raffinés perfectly.  (PS if you’re into coloring at all do check out Peta’s blog and her videos, she’s incredible!).  I keep an eraser and blending tortillon inside, along with a sheet of watercolor paper with numbered swatches of the different colors so I don’t have to bring my swatch book around with me.  I only wish there was some type of pencil-shaped sharpener so I could keep one inside too!

Finally, here’s the coloring in progress, where I stopped at last night.  I started by lightly shading in the areas I wanted the darkest color, using my lighter blue and brown.  Then, starting with the head-piece and curved staff, so far, I went back in, applying a longer fade of each color, which I then darkened up in the shadows with a darker version of each color.

 

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