Coloring on Black Cardstock

A friend over at Rubberstamp Chat started a thread/list of techniques that can be done with black cardstock recently.  I had seen articles about using white or other very light colored pencils as a base that you then color over using the actual color you want in stamp magazines a few years ago and have even seen it talked about in non stamping colored pencil how to books.  According to the books even dark colors that would usually disappear on the black cardstock will show up this way.  I mentioned the technique which of course then resulted in a request for the above example.

As you can see not only do the colors you try to color with but the quality of the pencils can make a difference as well.  You can however use even cheap (Crayola) or a mid range priced (EKS-E K Success) pencils to enhance your stamped image.

After making the example chart I decided to make a card with this technique and my Prisma pencils.  I stamped my images in white ink and let them dry completely, do not emboss your images.  After the images are dry go over everything with a white pencil, redrawing all lines and filling in with white where needed.  You will notice that I did not fill in the flower petals and leaves on this example completely.  I wanted to keep the spiral detail of the stamp image and coloring in the whole thing would have resulted in solid petals and leaves instead. 

I selected this flower image so you could see the difference the white pencil underneath made.  It also is a reminder to think ahead before you color everything in white, don't get carried away and lose the detail of your image. 

You can really see the difference the white makes on the leaves and grass.  I used darker colors for both of those and without the white underneath the greens really do dissappear.

One other trick I learned recently.  If you place a textured surface underneath your cardstock when coloring in, you can get some wonderful results.  Not only can it emboss the paper but the color you use "skips" across the surface instead of filling in completely.  If you want to get the texture without the embossed effect then use the side of the pencil and a very light touch instead.  You will still get the appearance of texture without pressing in the surface of your paper.  I hope on the picture below you can see not only the bumps but the flecks of turquoise on the dragon flies wings where it colored only the raised parts of the wings.

Here is the finished card:

The flower is from DMD-Creativity Inc and the dragonfly is from Beeswax.  The bright happy colors I used help balance out the darkness of the black cardstock.  I smile and think Spring whenever I look at this card.  Hope you give coloring on dark cardstock a try and be sure to let me know what you think once you have. 

Have a great day!!