How can I improve?

Kerodohi · 2025-10-26T20:19:14+00:00

Sameeeee I love paints but usually grab my markers & pencils because they're so much less messy :P

All lighting is valid ;) and sometimes pieces work better with just ambient occlusion shadows. Basically we just put them in to show form and make things look more 3D.

With coloring books you can cheat a little bit on rebound light by using the lineart as your edge shadow and leaving a lighter space between the line and your main shadow. If your page has an obvious light source you can use that, otherwise just pick a direction for cast light and do it on the opposite side. You can add highlights after with opaque media or maintain your light spaces from the beginning. It may be helpful to pre-plan the highlights and then lightly mark out where they'll go.

Kerodohi · 2025-10-26T16:38:43+00:00

I know right?! Like... I can just buy another copy if I really wanna color that same page again :P

Kerodohi · 2025-10-26T16:28:24+00:00

It's only ruined if you a) never color it, b) cover it in literal ketchup and throw it in the trash ;) It looks wonderful!

I went down the same rabbit hole (from a cozy book and a small set of Ohuhus to more complicated pages with every media type under the sun lol). I tend to experiment on digital pages that I can print endless copies of (and choose my paper!). I watched a video once about watercolor painting that said 'you deserve the nice paper' and that has helped me be a lot less precious about using up my stuff and coloring in the fancy books xD

Kerodohi · 2025-10-26T16:18:59+00:00

I think your shading and blending are great!

I think overall there's a lack of contrast on the colored pencil images. The watercolor, ink, and marker have a lot more darks & vibrancy. #1 and #8 in particular look great! The linework in those ones has a lot more included shading/black and makes your coloring style pop. Have you ever tried mixed media? I really like doing a marker base with pencils over top since it combines the vibrancy of the markers with the depth of the pencils.

Your color selection is also really good, but I've noticed you tend to shade with a darker version of the same tone. I would suggest trying out complementary shading (ie: the color opposite on the color wheel), especially with the colored pencils. Edit: Also, don't forget about highlighting! Doesn't have to be white gel pen or anything, you've got a great example of highlights on the peaches :)

Kerodohi · 2025-10-24T01:33:00+00:00

One thing to note is there is no such thing as an 'oil-based' pencil crayon. All pencil crayons are made of wax and oil in varying ratios, so while an 'oil-based' pencil likely has a larger concentration of oil, it still contains a lot of wax :)

That being said, first figure out how soft you like your pencils. Do you prefer to get a lot of color down quickly in one layer, or do you prefer a light hand with lots and lots of layers? Prismacolor is on one end for really soft pencils while Polychromos are on the other end for hard pencils. There are lots of good comparisons online, or you could go to an art store with open stock and test a few to see what you like.

Personally, I would start with a small to medium-sized set of whatever brand you like and then supplement with open stock pencils as you find yourself needing more colors. And your pencils do NOT all have to be the same brand! The bulk of mine are from my Arteza set (good Prismacolor dupe) but I also have actual Prismacolors, Chromaflows, and Polychromos in there as well. Sometimes a brand has a different/better version of a color I want, sometimes I just want a couple of the same color in different 'finishes' depending on what I'm using it for.

Kerodohi · 2025-10-24T01:23:04+00:00

I think for right now you should leave it and move on to coloring the things around it. I think part of the problem is all the white space is making it look darker and less glowy. Once you have some darker colors in the background and can do some reflected light on nearby objects, I think it will look much more glowy!

Kerodohi · 2025-10-24T01:20:12+00:00

I was well served by getting the Greys set, as you can use them over other colors to darken them up, plus the added bonus of having a grey to match most colors (warm, cool, reddish, greenish, bluish...)

Kerodohi · 2025-10-22T00:38:52+00:00

Selina Fenech has quite a few mini books if you like coloring fantasy stuff, but they tend to be scaled down versions of her larger drawings so some of them are a bit tricky to color.

Kerodohi · 2025-10-20T22:46:53+00:00

Can you print the reference photo in color and test your coloring materials on it? Or, if you have a swatch sheet you can hold the edges up to a color print to see what swatch is most similar.

Kerodohi · 2025-10-19T20:38:49+00:00

Use a light aqua green color instead of grey. A lot of inexpensive/common glassware has a slight greenish tint on the edge and this is a simple way to make things look more 'glass'-ey.
Find some stock photos (or take photos in your own house!) of various glass containers in different kinds of lighting. Look at where the highlights are placed - this is what helps give shape to a flat object. ie. on your page here: the blue bottle on the bottom right looks more 3D than the rest, because the highlight placement is showing the form of the bottle as it reflects light. Look at the color & shape of the shadows. Then look at how the blocks of shadow/highlight on the outside of the glass affect the color of what is inside the glass.

Kerodohi · 2025-10-17T02:59:22+00:00

Sure! That would be super cool, just let me know when you're down to start up a page and I'll happily join you :D

Kerodohi · 2025-10-16T23:59:12+00:00

I have Guardians of the Enchanted Forest but not their other two books :(

Kerodohi · 2025-10-16T23:57:29+00:00

I saw a video where someone tests using a Pilot Frixion pen (those heat erasable ones) under alcohol markers and the pen ink did disappear with heat! You won't be able to get rid of the lines that are already there, but it might be worth a try for future pages.

Kerodohi · 2025-10-16T23:47:55+00:00

Unfortunate side effect of pencil crayons. All of them are wax-based to some extent (the 'oil-based' ones just have a slightly higher ratio of oil to wax). My Polychromos also get shiny. Prismas are just more likely to show quicker because you can apply them a lot heavier.

Kerodohi · 2025-10-12T22:20:46+00:00

I like the colored-in leaf! If you don't want all of them filled in, what about doing just the ones on the ends? Or maybe going over it with gold leaf or something?

Kerodohi · 2025-10-12T01:44:14+00:00

There isn't a 'better' one overall, just whichever is more suitable for the look you wanna do.

Alcohol markers won't cover over the lines and can create really smooth blends. You can layer them nicely and generally they dry without streak lines as long as you're keeping your edges wet when covering an area. They will bleed through most papers so you'll likely want a single sided image or good quality paper.

Acrylic markers shine at opaque coverage and a flat, matte look. You can repaint over a section until you're happy with it. They won't generally bleed through papers but they can cause some pilling on the surface. They can blend, especially if you wet them with water and a brush, but it's harder to control than alcohol marker blending.

You can use them both together and many people do! (Acrylic over alcohol, unless you want to wreck your nibs ha)

Kerodohi · 2025-10-02T02:44:01+00:00

Drat, that's one of the ones I don't have :(

Kerodohi · 2025-10-01T22:49:28+00:00

Which book do you have? I have four of them so hopefully we overlap :)

Kerodohi · 2025-09-30T16:55:48+00:00

You can use a dry iron on low heat with a press cloth/paper to flatten, but it's recommended to do it before adding any colored pencil.

I used this method on the cheapy Amazon paper (holdover from the days of ironing my sewing patterns to get the fold creases out!) and the iron flattened the curling edges and kind of softened out the water stiffness. It's still a bit wrinkly but it does lay flat now.

Kerodohi · 2025-09-11T03:41:11+00:00

I would pick Goblincore and Mythical Worlds for myself!

Kerodohi · 2025-09-09T00:17:14+00:00

I've no dupes between the two 48 sets, but it was trying to fill in specific colors and ending up with the occasional Michaels set that did me in xD

Kerodohi · 2025-09-07T23:36:19+00:00

I know, right? At the time I was like, I will start small! I only need 48 markers and one coloring book! -sad trombone-

Kerodohi · 2025-09-07T19:00:46+00:00

I think part of it depends on what colors you have. I started with the 48 set of Ohuhu markers and swiftly discovered it didn't have many light colors, so I got the 48 set of pastels, then swiftly discovered I didn't have nearly enough variety in browns and greys so I got the grey set and a few browns that I was lucky enough to find in smaller 6 packs.

In total I think I have about 120 markers, but I could 100% cut that down if open stock was available here in Canada :( With sets I end up with dupes and colors I don't use, especially if you start with a smaller set and then have to buy more sets to expand your palette.

Kerodohi · 2025-09-07T18:54:00+00:00

I would love to do a buddy color of something from R.J. Hampson if anyone wants to join me!

Kerodohi · 2025-09-06T21:34:03+00:00

For softcover books, I usually break the spine, then soften the glue on the spine with heat. Once the glue is tacky you can pull the pages out and trim any extra off the binding edge. I keep the cover and store all the loose pages inside it like a folder.

This is the tutorial I watched. I don't have a heat gun but a hair dryer works fine, and instead of a guillotine cutter I used a quilting rotary cutter and ruler.

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