This is the first one of the sketchcards that I’ve tried to color, and I used a technique I haven’t tried before. I inked the image as I saw it, then I went back and colored it with watercolor pencils. After that, I grabbed the brush and some water and painted it in.
Here’s what it looks like without any digital darkening:
This technique was very interesting. The 140 lb. cold press paper that I use is very heavy, and has a rough texture. That’s not a big deal with the ink or the wet watercolors, since they are absorbed in well. By using the watercolor pencils though, the water didn’t penetrate all of the color, leaving a texture behind.
In this case, I think it adds to the image, but I can see on others that it might be too much. More experimenting needs to be done, I’m sure. Here’s a close-up of the strokes, the color and the texture:
I played with it a little in Photoshop too, and here’s the final digital edition. If you’re interested I’ll probably sell the original sketchcard as well. As always, let me know what you think:
