Color Me Digital

It's Ron with another tutorial! Let's talk about coloring stamps digitally.

I gotta tell ya, I'm not really into coloring stamps for paper crafting. I've seen some beautiful coloring work done by folks, but it's really not my thing. But I've found that I don't mind using my mouse as a crayon!

It's really quite simple to do if you remember a few basic rules. If you've ever used the printed transparencies that have come in some past kits and you've painted them from the back to color in the designs, you're already well on your way to understanding how to color digital stamps.

Let's get started…

1. Create a new file to work in. Give it a white background. That will make it easier to see what you're doing.

2. Choose a stamp image to color. I'm using the boots from the Tour of Duty Digital Collection.

3. Drag a copy of the image onto your new file and resize it so that it's large enough to work on. You can always resize it later.

4. Plan your course of action. We'll be working from front to back - coloring the smaller areas first and then moving to the larger areas. For the boots, I'll do the metal eyelets and hooks, then the laces and the soles, and finally the boots themselves.

5. Create a new layer beneath the stamp layer. We're going to keep each color in a separate layer. This way, if you mess something up, you only have to redo a single layer.

6. Choose a hard-edged brush, adjusting the size of the brush to fit the area that you're working in.

7. Pick your color and start filling in the parts. Take your time. Enjoy the process.

 8. When you're ready for the next part, create a new layer beneath the layer you just worked on, pick your color, resize your brush as needed and color away!

9. Keep adding more colors/layers until you're happy!

I added a bit of gray 'shadow' under my boots - it helps 'ground' them, making them seem less like they were 'floating' in space.

That's all there is to it. Really simple, right?

Go try some digital coloring and create something wonderful with your results!