Hi all, it's Debbie here today with some hints and tips for colouring up an image in monochromatic tones. I've used World Traveler Luka and had planned to do him in either greyscale or sepia tones but decided to amp up the fun and do him in teal tones instead - I hope you like him. One thing to remember is that whatever tones you used the concepts are the same - it's all about using shades of colour to highlight each area of your image.
While I am using Copics here the principles would be the same for whatever colouring medium you prefer to use.
When I colour I usually start with the face and usually use pale tones - so I chose to use B0000, B000, B00 - layering up light through to dark. I also like to add a slight blush to faces so I popped some R00 onto his cheeks and blended it in using my B0000 to soften and add a slight blue tone to it.
My next job is to colour his hair - and I recommend using darker tones so it frames his face nicely. Here I've used BG49, BG45 and BG07.
HINT - all the way through this process check your colour charts first to make a selection and then try out your colours side by side on a scrap of blending paper to make sure they work together.
I find when I'm doing monochromatic images it's best to keep working close to your previously coloured area at the beginning. This helps to make sure your colours are working well together. Once you have a few different shades worked out you can then use them to move ahead.
My next job was his hat. Here I shaded the main part of the hat with BG45, BG11and B000. And for the dark trim I used BG78.
Onto the goggles - I used the colour from the hat trim (BG78) for the lenses - adding highlights using BG75 and BG72. Then a swipe of white for shine. To tie in the goggles to the more blue tones in the hat I did the rims in BG07. The straps were done with BG72 and for now the detailing was done with BG78 - I changed this up later.
Having used the BG78, BG75 and BG72 pens on the goggles I knew they worked with my colour scheme - so I used them again on his cravat and pants - using the darkest colour to add the stripes n his pants and shading with the lighter tones.
To bring the hat colour down into the main body of the image I used them on his jacket, adding some BG49 into the more shaded areas.At this stage I felt the hat and jacket were too bright so I went over both with BG70 just to tone them down a little - it's not much but it tied the whole colour scheme slightly closer together.
I then introduced a new colour shade into the vest by using B97, B95 and BG72. The detailing was done with BG78 again to keep that tone working throughout. The buttons were done in black.
All I had left to do was the watch, the strap on is pants and his boots. Using colours I'd used previously I finished him off. I then decided to add a touch more black to him and popped it into his goggles.
Watch - BG78 BG72, BG70
Strap - B97, 100
Boots - BG45, BG11, 100, B97, B95
You can see by replicating the colour shades throughout the image everything ties together nicely.
I hope you give this technique a go. Just remember to work within one colour palette and use depth of colour as your tool. Sadly I've been sick all week so didn't manage to get him onto a project for you in time for this tutorial - but check back in on next Monday's Inspiration post to see how I used him.
Until next time...
Happy Colouring
Debbie
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