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Can anyone tell me how the cards she does turn out so vivid?? Is there a special technique she uses. I did pm her but I am impatient for an answer. Her work is awesome!!! Thanks
I use reinkers to paint with. They are wonderful to work with mixed with water. You can get anything from a light watery color to deep and vibrant. This is one of the cheapest color sources you can buy. I use my reinkers every day in the lid of my ink pads. I have not even used 1/5 of a botthe of any color I have. It lasts forever as it is so concentrated. I highly suggest to anyone wanting to watercolor to give them a try. Start with 10 of your favorite colors to see how you like them or just buy one family box of colors. Get your self a couple of good watercolor brushes, some stazon and some watercolor paper and your are good to go. Hint... You will not get the vibrant colors and shadowing on regular cardstock that you can with watercolor paper. That is not to say that you can't watercolor on the cardstock....just that you cannot build and layer colors well and don't get the same effect. I hope this helps.
Kittie - thanks so much for sharing the info on the reinkers. I've started to collect them but had only really thought I'd use them to reink my pads. I just got the watercolor paper recently so now I'll try your method. Great idea on the stazon too!
Christine
Thanks for the replies, and a special thankyou to Kittie for the information. I am going to try this, though I'm sure I won't be able to compete with her talent!!!!!!!
Thanks for the replies, and a special thankyou to Kittie for the information. I am going to try this, though I'm sure I won't be able to compete with her talent!!!!!!!
Peg, we are not competing on this site. We are all enjoying each other's growth and accomplishments. Bring em' on!
Ooh yes, Kittie's cards are to die for! Thank you, Kittie for all your info. Are you using pigment or dye based re-inkers? I don't have any, and very few ink pads, therefore, I'm trying to buy what I will get good use of. TIA!!
__________________ StormyElf'd '07Humble Ink Smears If at first you don't succeed, talk to God! Then, go put on your big girl panties!
Ooh yes, Kittie's cards are to die for! Thank you, Kittie for all your info. Are you using pigment or dye based re-inkers? I don't have any, and very few ink pads, therefore, I'm trying to buy what I will get good use of. TIA!!
Oh Kitty - you are absolutely the BEST. I can't wait, when I'm browsing the gallery, to see your name! Thank you so much for your sharing and techniques. I'm really a big fan of yours!!!!
Linda from PA
Omgosh, this gal has quite the reputation!! A little over a week ago another gal was giving me some ideas, and said to check out some of Kitty's cards, and now she's got a thread all her own. After going through her gallery, I can definitely see why, beautiful cards!!
Thank you so much for sharing your technique, Kittie! I've been CASEing you forever, but my cards never quite turn out the same! LOL I'm definitely going to try the reinkers!
kittie do you always use brushes??/ i heard of some people using "paper" stumps. do you recommend them???
I always use watercolor brushes and reinkers with water to paint. People using the stumps are using gamsol and prismacolor pencils. That is a lovely technique also. Just not my best work. I hope this helps.
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just wanted to say that Kittie your talent is so genuine and your work is totally awesome... I love to look at your cards...you inspire me... thanks for sharing so freely
Kittie, could you go into a little more detail about how you use the re-inkers with water? Do you mix the water and ink together to create "paint"? I'd so appreciate it as I think your cards are stunning!
Thanks ~
Add me to the Kittie fan club. LOVE, LOVE her cards. If mine looked half as good my family would freak out!!! Thanks, Kittie, for sharing all your cards with us!!!
__________________ "The earth laughs with flowers" Ralph Waldo Emerson
Kittie, could you go into a little more detail about how you use the re-inkers with water? Do you mix the water and ink together to create "paint"? I'd so appreciate it as I think your cards are stunning!
Thanks ~
Sorry this has taken me so long to get to. My husband has ben in the hospital and is now home mending. I did a search this morning and found this thread. I'd be happy to answer any questions that I can.
I mix reinkers with water right in the lid of my ink pads. You don't have to do that, of course, but if you don't use your whole mixture, it will be there in the lid for the next time. You can easily mix a small dot of ink in a little watercolor palette or even a plastic or styrofoam plate. It doesn't matter. The key to using reinkers is that they are a very condensed. It doesn't take much. I have not even come close to using 1/5 of any bottle that I have and I color with them all the time. Reinkers are a great value as they just seem to last and last.
I put the ink down in one corner of the lid and then add the water away from that area. Then I just barely dip my brush into the ink and take it over to the water and mix. I keep adding ink until I get the consistancy that I want. Here is a word of warning. The ink is so concentrated that you need to water it down lots to get it to actually match the color you may be going for. Example: I have used Regal Rose ink and not gotten it watered down enough and have had to match it to Real Red cardstock instead of Regal Rose when layering it or placing it on a card. Just remember that you can water the ink down lots to get to the color you want. To me the advantage of using reinkers is the vivid colors you get when painting. They add so much to the image. I can barely stand to use my Watercolor Wonder Crayons now that I have gotten so spoiled by the vividness of reinkers.
Another helpful hint when using reinkers or watercoloring with any medium is to allow drying between layers of color. If you lay down a very light color in paint you need to allow the image to dry before laying any shading with darker ink or it will just run and not give you what you want. Layering color is how you show "life" in your image. If you need hints as to where you want to add shading, just go for the little marks on your image. Look at this example I put down a light shade of ink on both animals, let it dry and then used a little darker shade to go over the lines, tails, whiskers, etc of each animal to add life to the scene. I actually used the darker ink on a rather dry brush and sort of scruffed it on the areas to look more like fur. If you play with your brushes and color with all types of wetness levels, etc you can get a feel for what you want to do. The only way to learn to do this is to do it and not be afraid to throw stuff away. Repitition and practice is how you learn. Also, *you* know what you want your image to look like so you just have to work at it until you get it. You are your own authority on *what you like*. There are no rights or wrongs in this. Go for what *you* like. If you love what someone else has done, print it out and set it in front of you at your work table and try to duplicate it. It will help you learn.
Please feel free to ask questions. Write me if you need to. I am happy to help. I have had so much help from so many wonderful people on this site. I love this communtiy!!!
Kittie!
Thanks so much for your reply. Such generosity!
I'm sorry to hear about your husband and wish him a speedy recovery.
I so appreciate your response and thanks so much for taking the time to give us such detail about how you create such BEAUTIFUL images. As you can see, you have quite a fan club here :p and deservedly so!
Thanks again and now I'm off to play!
Cards by Kittie747
Question for Kitty ~
