HHC36 Use Up Those Scraps! Copic tip: Coloring an Elephant!

Today's challenge at High Hopes is hosted by our fab Diva Jeanne! She wants us to dive into our scrap heaps and pull out unused cardstock scraps to make our card/project! If you check out her creation for this challenge, you will see that it displays the stamps that are up for grabs in the weekly blog candy giveaway on the High Hopes Blog! To enter the contest, simply join in the challenge and link up a photo of your creation to the comment section on the High Hopes Blog under this week's challenge. Why not join in? You could have a chance to be a winner!
I stamped Elmer Elephant in Tsukeneko Tuxedo Black ink onto Canson Manga Drawing Pad paper and colored him in with Copics.

Tips on Coloring an Elephant:

Most people reach for grays when coloring an elephant. I don't. I find it gives the animal more life to give it a bit of color, and why not, we aren't exactly going for realism here! LOL
I was at African Lion Safari a few years ago, and remember noting how brown the elephants looked. I actually rode one with my daughter, and it was truly painful!! What hurt was their HAIR! It was like wire, and it was SHARP! And I was in shorts!! Weird, I know.
For Elmer himself, I used:
E70, 71, 74, 77, RV34, and C2 for his nails and C4 and 5 in the shadows on him.
On the ground and grass I used E21, 25, 33, G12 and YR24 and again, C4 and 5 in the shadows.
There is a stamp that says, "Thanks a ton" at High Hopes, but it was straight and I wanted mine to curve along the edge of the oval I used (found in my scrap heap!) and so I hand printed that.
For the highlights on his trunk, I waited til the ink was very dry (about fifteen minutes) and used the colorless blender to remove color. I just swiped it gently, using only the end of the brush tip (hold it straight up to get the thinnest stroke line) . Don't hold it down onto the paper for a long period of time or the solution will bleed out and cause a really thick line. I went over each line I wanted highlighted about three times till I was happy with how much color I had removed.
For most of the other highlights on him, I just avoided adding darker shades of the E70's grouping of colors I used. I think this is the most efficient way to highlight, esp. when you want a good blend and no lines of demarcation. Sometimes lines of demarcation are appropriate to have on your image, like for example on the trunk here, because I wanted them to suggest wrinkle lines, which are not blurred and blended but are more distinct.
Notice that sometimes there is a highlighted edge, even in the areas where there are very dark shadows. For example, the left side of his face, at the jaw line. This gives a more three D effect and makes an image pop!



Thanks for looking today, or should I say, thanks a TON for looking today!! ;-)
Happy Father's Day to any Dads reading this!!!!!!!!!!
God's richest blessings be yours today!!!!!!!!!!