Sketchbook Day 12 - colouring-in

I've always liked to 'colour-in' as a child - in those books of cute outline pics and as a teenager in those 'painting by numbers' kits (yes, I did do those!).These days, it's a pleasure to draw my own shapes and make my own colours to match what I see. Today I've used my Koh-i-Noor paint box which has brilliantly strong colours so it's easy to get a rich colour. They all look a bit dark in this photograph as I've been dabbing at different colour blocks to get 'just the right' colour and not cleaned them up yet. The different colours are then mixed in the shallow sections on the lid with a wet brush.

Although I didn't use it here, as I'm working at home, I have to show you my little collapsable water pot which is wonderful when using my paints  on my travels. Yes, it works and is water-tight!

TODAY'S TASK - is to colour in the background areas of your group of objects. (Tomorrow we add colour to the objects.) Make this a similar colour to your objects, it could be flat paper or undulating fabric, but advise that it should be plain rather than patterned.

Start by arranging a collection of your similarly coloured objects onto the coloured ground. Place a frame around this arrangement that is the same size or in proportion to your sketchbook page. I've used a double page spread here as my sketchbook is only A6 as you will need more area for this task.

TODAY'S TIPS - Lightly draw the outline of these shapes.

Mix just the right colour for the ground colour, noting if there are any slight variations due to well lit areas and shaded areas where the objects cast a shadow or where there is an undulation of the surface. Your explorations yesterday will have shown you what colours you need to mix this colour and what media you'd like to choose.

Colour-in around the outline of your objects. If you are using a wet medium, dab a darker colour to denote the shadow areas.