Adding Texture with Alcohol Markers

I have a feeling the stamp set I used today is going to be one I reach for quite often. It is a wonderful masculine set with the some great sentiments that work great with it. The sentiments are also just ambiguous enough to be used for any occasion of holiday you need a masculine set for. The brand new “Fishing” set from Two Paper Divas is definitely a winner!

I created a scene (what’s new? LOL) with it. I wanted to add a bit of texture to my ground so it would resemble sand and using my alcohol markers (Dick Blick Studio Brush Markers) made it a cinch to be able to achieve my desired effect. I did just review the Brush Markers from Dick Blick. If you want to check that out head HERE. If you want to check out last week’s Two Paper Diva’s card where I also used these markers head HERE.

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I started with a white card stock panel that measured 4″ x 5 1/2″ in my MISTI. You really do not have to use the MISTI for your stamping, I just find it convenient and I use a lot less card stock with my mess ups. I first laid out the stamps I would be using from the set. I arranged them into a scene and knowing the hat would be the in the front I left it on my paper and picked it up with my lid. I stamped it in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink and then masked it with a mask I had created from Inkadinkado masking paper. I then positioned the tackle box next to the hat, making sure to place a corner over the hat mask to give the illusion the hat was resting on the tackle box. After inking up the stamp, again with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, I stamped it down onto the paper and masked it off as well. My final stamp was the fishing pole which I positioned to look as if it were behind the tackle box. Again, inking it up and stamping it down onto the paper.

I really suggest watching the video to get a better explanation and clearer picture of the masking process as I do it.

A few tips to help your masking go a bit smoother

1. Use tweezers to place and remove your masks. This will cut down smearing and also extend the life of your masks. Everytime you touch a mask with your fingers you transfer oils and any dirt, embossing powder, glitter that might be there as well.
2. Give your ink time to dry before removing your masks. Even dye ink does not dry “instantly”. It does dry quickly for sure, however on the masking paper it takes a bit of time. So just make sure to give a few minutes for all your ink to dry.
3. When cutting your masks, they don’t have to be perfect, however you do want to make sure that you cut at least to your stamped lines. Of course there are techniques where you can leave a white border and mask that way, but if that’s not the look you’re going for, try and cut all the white border off.
4. If you’re in a hurry only cut the portion of the mask you need. You don’t have to have masks for every stamp you have. And if you’re only going to need a portion of the image masked while doing your project you certainly don’t need to cut it all out.
5. SAVE YOUR MASKS. After all the work put into making a mask you should save them and continue to use them. I always make sure to adhere mine onto the back of the stamp sheet to protect them from dust, glitter, embossing powder, your get the idea!

With my main items from the scene stamped I came in with two dies to draw in more details using them as stencils. I used a micron pen and a hill border die to draw in a “beach and with the same micron pen and a scalloped border die I drew in waves. I had no trouble with my micron pens and alcohol markers, but you may want to test it yourself. I also used the micron pen to draw in some “hills” and “ridges” where items were placed in the sand.

I started my coloring with all of the stamped items. I kept them fairly simple with two to three colors on each item. I really didn’t give much thought to light sources, I just colored them in.

Then it was time to start coloring the sand. I started with a medium base layer of tan. I then came in and added some darker shading to where I had drawn in the hills and ridges and then blended out slightly with my beginning color. With shading done it was time to add some texture and make it look like real sand. I first came in with the darker marker and added dots to the entire beach sand, trying to really make them random. After the darker color I came in with a much lighter shade than my midtone color and added more dots. This will bleach out the color and make it appear as if there is reflections on the sand and also some “clear” and white pieces of sand mixed in. Finally I came in with a much darker color and also a black marker, very sparingly, again adding random dots.

The main thing you want to be sure of when adding the texture is that you make it completely random. Some of your dotting should be close together and some further apart. Some should be small, some medium, some larger. You get the idea! The more random you make it and the less thought you put into it, the more authentic it will look.

When I thought my sand looked right, I moved onto the waves. I used three colors of blue, a light, a medium, and a dark. I started with my darkest shade at the top of the waves and moved towards the lighter shade at the bottom. You could always flip this around and do it the opposite way, whatever you you think looks best.

I finished off the scene by adding a bit of very light blue and gray in upward flicks from the tops of the waves into the sky. This adds a bit of texture and color into the sky area, where it would otherwise be stark white.

I kept this card more “masculine” with a clean and simple feel so to finish it off I first stamped the sentiment “You can tackle anything.” from the set. I stamped using my MISTI so I wouldn’t mess up the panel I had just spent so much time coloring. The sentiment is a bit of a longer and straight one, so I wanted to be sure it was positioned just right above the water. I used black dye ink to stamp the sentiment. I then rounded the top right and bottom left corner on an A2 kraft top folding card base and also on the colored panel. Then I used some fun foam and double sided adhesive to adhere the colored panel onto the card base. And that finished off the card!

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I hope you too will pull out your alcohol markers, whatever brand they may be, and try adding some texture to your colored images. The sky is the limit and you really can’t go wrong!

If you’re interested in any of the supplies I used today they’re all linked below for your convenience! Thanks so much for stopping by! Happy Crafting!!

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“Fishing” Stamp Set – Two Paper Divas

Dick Blick Studio Brush Markers

InLinkz.com