03 March 2021

Using Copic Coloring to Fake the Look of Fireweed

I think we've all spent some time going down rabbit holes, in pursuit of a certain type of stamp.  I've done it on any number of occasions, but this was a hole I had no luck going down.  I was in search of a Fireweed stamp, Fireweed being a type of wildflower here in Alaska.  It's called fireweed, as it's touted as the first flower to return after a wildfire.  It also grows like a weed once it's established.
 

Most of the fireweed stamps I found were not what I was looking for.  They were mostly small stamps with a sketched style to them.  Not something that would pop on a card front, let alone could I have much luck coloring them.  I gave up my search and decided to dig through my own stash.  I pulled out my retired set of Fresh Flowers by Clearly Besotted and started experimenting with color combos to see if I could get what I wanted.  


I stamped my flower onto a white panel and used some Worn Lipstick Distress Ink to create a bit of a glow around the blossom area.  Then I pulled some Copic markers and did a bit of tone on tone coloring.  I also selected dark enough greens, that I wouldn't end up with a weird shade of brown where the green would be at the top of the flower stem.  


I experimented with using just RV13 and RV14 on the first two attempts, then I added in a bit of V01 on the third one, but I really feel like the fourth card was the money color.  
 

The fourth one was a three-color blend of RV13, RV14, and V12.  I completed each card with a sentiment and then added the finishing touch of white dots in the center of each blossom.  While this isn't a perfect fireweed replica, I think this idea passes as an arty rendition.  Here's a photo of the real flower for comparison.


What's your vote?  Does it pass for fireweed?

No comments:

Post a Comment