Look at what I found today!



And, this one too!



Aren't these little distressed cans just adorable!!!??!!!
A whole set of 120 Prismacolor Pencils fits perfectly inside.

I got them at Hobby Lobby on clearance. I needed them for some classes I have coming up on Prismacolor Pencils and Odorless Mineral Spirits. And, guess what I did? I bought them all. They had five left.  I only needed two so guess who gets the other three? YOU! Leave a comment here on this post and I will draw three names on Friday morning and announce the winners right here.

I've been asked a few questions recently about Prismacolor pencils and Odorless mineral spirits. I do have a video tutorial out there but I did an up close photo tutorial for you and I think this will help take some of the mystery out of this technique.

What to use:

First of all, I used to love only the blending stumps made in Tawain. They've always been much softer than the ones made in China. I could never really get the ones from China to work well for me. A few months ago, I was able to get my hands on some Creative Mark Blending stumps, (made in China.) These things rock! I immediately got them in my store and we sell them online in packs of 6. They are truly the best.

People have asked me if I like Gamsol or Odorless Mineral Spirits. Let's clear up the mystery here. Gamsol is Odorless Mineral Spirits. It is an artist grade product and "Gamsol" is a brand name. It's like asking, "Do you like Kleenex or Tissues?" Same thing, just one is a brand name.

We have our own Gina K. Designs artist grade Odorless Mineral Spirits. I love our product!! I think it's the best.

The pencils I use are Prismacolor pencils but you can use other brands, even Crayola. Don't use watercolor pencils for this technique. They are more like dried watercolor paint, not waxy pencils. You won't get the results you want. You need wax in your pencil in order for this to work well. Prismacolor pencils will give you the most vivid color.

To begin, I stamped my image using black Stazon Ink. It's my favorite ink for this technique.



I took a deep grey pencil and colored just along the inside of the bird.



Then, using a pink pencil and a deep yellow pencil, I colored around the baby and the bird's bill. I colored the baby's face with a peach pencil.



Then, I dipped my blending stump into my odorless mineral spirits and began to work the color in a circular motion toward the center of the different parts of the stork. Here I am showing you the wing.  Do you see how I left the center white? This is what gives you the depth- by shading the color down to nothing.



Another thing I like to do is work a little color outside of the picture to make it pop. I did that here with the pink part of the baby.



See how that pops more than the stork? So, I went back and did the stork and his yellow bill. I dragged a little of my grey around his bill too. Do you see how working that color toward the center but not filling in the whole thing actually creates so much depth in your picture.



And here is my finished card.



Card details:
Stamps- Gina K. Designs How Sweet it is stamps, (Diabetes stamp set)
Ink- Stazon
Paper- Bazzill textured card stock, K & Co. Patterned paper
Ribbon- Bazzill
Other: Corner punch by EK Success, Brad and sequins by Queen & Co., Prismacolor Pencils and Gina K. Designs artist grade odorless mineral spirits, Stickles in Crystal for the baby.

I hope this tutorial helped take some of the mystery out of this Pencil Technique.

Don't forget to drop a comment here to win one of those cute tin buckets to hold your colored pencils! I'll announce the three winners here on Friday!

Have a great one!

Hugs,
Gina K.