Reds and Greens

Hello Everyone!  Welcome back to another Copic Oz Tutorial!  Today we are talking Reds and Greens and of course what could be more perfect for this theme at this time of year than holly?  Holly is a lot of fun to colour and you can get such fabulous effects by focusing on your contrast to really make your image POP!

Today I've used the Heaven and Nature Sing stamp set by Power Poppy and have stamped the image in Memento Tuxedo Black onto X-press It Blending Card.  My FAV reds are R32, R35, R37, R39!  A lot of people do struggle with reds, however I find these blend beautifully and I love the shades of these markers.  For greens - particularly for Christmas themed images - I always reach for G20, G21, G24, G28.  I love the contrast from pale green through to very deep green!

I've started with the holly leaves by laying down a base of G20

I've used the shading on the stamp as a guide to where to deepen the colour with G21

Deepen this shading again with G24

Then I've added the darkest colour (use a light hand), G28.  Remember you can always add a little bit more, it's much harder to lighten something that is too dark.

Lightly blend your colours, always using your NEXT lightest colour!  I blended a *little* bit of G24, then a *little* bit of G21 and finally some G20.  You don't have to go over all the leave, the parts that you leave will be lighter and be the highlight to contrast with your shadows.  If you want to deepen your shadow areas, add a little grey or a deep blue-green!

To make the berries luscious and pop of the page - I start with R32

Then darken with R35 - remember you don't have to add much and it's only on the edge.

For a little more contrast, add some R37

Now you could stay with these three colours and lightly blend to finish your berries - or you could darken them some more for greater contrast.  Below, I've left the bottom one with the above three colours, the middle berry I've added a little R39 and the top one I've added a touch of RV99 to really darken it up! 

It's up to you how bright or dark you want to go.....I decided to darken all mine!  :)

You don't have to stop your reds and greens there!  I've finished my image off with lighter reds for my peachy-toned flowers and different greens for their leaves.
Flowers - R11, R12, R14
Leaves - G40, G82, G85, E21 (for a slight browning effect)
Flower Centres - Y21, Y28

I hope you've enjoyed today's tutorial, thanks for popping by and if you are colouring Christmas themes right now, why not leave us a comment where we can find you!  We'd love to see what you create!
Happy Colouring!