No-Line Watercoloring with Gelatos
Happy Saturday crafters, it’s Nina-Marie here with you! Today I have a no-line watercolor video to share, featuring products from Faber Castell.
Did you know that Faber Castell is one of the oldest industrial companies in the world? Since 1761 they have been creating art products that we all love and enjoy using. Pretty cool, huh? In the card you see here, I’ve used their gelato pigment sticks to watercolor the floral images from Concord & 9th’s Hello Lovely stamp set.
I did use the no-line coloring technique with this card, but remember that you can always use a darker ink color if you don’t feel comfortable with “no-line”. However, no-line watercoloring is really easy when you use the Barely Beige ink from Simon Says Stamp. This ink was intentionally created for this technique and it is a real game-changer.
The way Simon’s inks are formulated, the lines do not disappear when a pigment is applied over top of them. Instead, the ink becomes a more darker version of the medium that was applied over it. So in the case of the leaves for instance: the lines were originally a light brown. After applying the gelato coloring over top, the lines of the leaves are now a darker tint of the green that was applied.
This same principle will be the same for no matter which type of wet coloring medium you choose to work with (such as markers or watercolors). Here’s a look at the watercoloring in progress; this photo was taken when I was about halfway done. Not all of the watercolor layers have been painted on yet and there is no background coloring.
As I watercolored this entire image, I left the paper in my MISTI stamping tool. Normally for a piece like this, I would have taped it to a mini hard board. But because I wanted to be able to stamp back over top of the image later on, I did not remove the paper from the MISTI. The MISTI doubles nicely as a work surface!
Now you may be thinking, but how can I paint with the gelatos? Don’t let the stick of pigment deter you from giving them a try. There are many different ways you can use these pigment sticks for more than just swiping color across a paper. My favorite way to use them is by making my own little color swatches on paper and picking up the color from these swatches.
By simply scribbling a generous little spot of pigment onto some scraps of watercolor paper, you can take a damp brush and pick up as much or as little pigment as you’d like.
The gelatos reactivate beautifully with water, so you can get quite a bit of use out of these color spots. I was able to paint this entire card with the first scribbles of gelatos that I had put down and still had pigment left on the paper. I saved those to use for future projects.
Another way you could pick up the gelatos is by scribbling them onto a hard painting palette or piece of plastic packaging. But I find I get more concentrated amounts of pigment by scribbling onto watercolor paper.
All in all, I put a few layers of watercolor on each image, simply because I love the layered look. You can add as little or as many layers of gelato watercolor onto your images. Just remember – as with any watercolor paint – let the layers dry between applications. Otherwise you will end up with paper piling.
After the watercoloring was finished, I die cut the panel with one of our new Wonky Stitched Rectangles dies and stamped a sentiment from Hero Art’s You Are Loved stamp set. The sentiment was stamped in our Simon Dark Chocolate ink.
Since I planned on letting the watercoloring have the limelight, I mounted the panel onto a simple Neenah Desert Storm card base and then covered over the yellow splatters (part of the stamped Hello Lovely image) with Tonic Studios’ Limoncello Jewel Drops.
I hope today’s post and video proves helpful to you in doing some watercoloring with gelatos! Bear in mind that you can do many other techniques with this medium and I can’t wait to share more ideas with you using this product!
Thanks so much for visiting with me today, and be sure to stop back on Monday for more inspiration from me!
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Such a great tip!. I love my Faber castell gelatos, but never thought of using them for detail work. Thank you!!
Lovely! Love that pale beige ink for the base image.
Great card. Wonderful colored with the gelatos. And I like the wonky rectangles dies!!!
Love the gelatos and how you used them on your card.
You have chosen the most beautiful colors for this project! Stunning. I will try this technique! Thank you for the inspiration.
thanks Nina for sharing your beautiful card with us and sharing so many useful tips on water coloring:)
This card is so pretty. Thanks for the video have a ? About the gelato why do you put it on water color paper instead of a smooth surface to paint with
Hey Norinem! I find I get more concentrated amounts of pigment by scribbling onto watercolor paper. You can of course put them on a smooth surface, but I found that I had to reapply the Gelatos more often on the smooth surface.
Oooh, soooo pretty! And I have some gelatos just begging to be used. Thanks for the inspiration!
Wowzers, this looks absolutely stunning! Thanks so much for sharing!
This is so inspiring. Thanks for sharing and putting in all the work to make a video for everyone to see and learn.
So soft and pretty. New product to me.
Beautiful :-)
Gorgeous card Nina! Try as I might, I just can’t seem to master no-line coloring. I guess I need more practice!
Nina, it is SO NICE to see you using Faber Castell products! I LOOOVE THEM!!! AND I also LOVE this image! I have YET to get many of the FC products & this image but, you did a BEAUTIFUL JOB on this card!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST LOVELY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ;)
Great video…Love everything you used and great tips! With all the great inks that have come on the market, I’ve forgotten Gelato’s. Thanks so much for sharing with us!
Beautiful coloring Nina! And thanks so so much for doing this video. I bought some gelatos to try out quite a while ago & really didn’t quite know what to do with them!! I am definitely going to try some coloring with them real soon!!
Absolutely gorgeous! Love the stamp and the coloring!
Fabulous tips Nina-Marie! Thank you for the video!
Thank you for introducing me to something new to me.
Great card! I have gelatos, but have not had the chance to play with them yet.
Beautiful card. I have never done no line coloring but would love to try it.
Beautiful card! Thanks for the step by step instructions.
Very pretty card. Thanks for sharing. I am going to get my gelatos out and try this.
Absolutely GORGEOUS! THANKS FOR THE VIDEO!
I’ve had the gelatos for several years
but haven’t done a thing with them.
Glad to get some techniques for
coloring with them. I’ve been
thinking I wanted to get them
out and see what I could do.
You’ve given me the incentive to
do that.
Beautiful card.
thanks for sharing.
Gorgeous! I never thought to watercolor with gelato! Love this technique. Thanks for sharing.
Beautiful card. Thank you so much for including the video, I am learning so much from you.
Beautiful vibrant colors
Lovely card. Never heard of gelatos, but would like to try them someday.
Beautiful card. I have never used gelatos and your video shared some great information. Thanks!!
Beautiful card.
Beautiful card!! Thanks for the new technique to try – it looks amazing!
Enjoyed your wonderful video! I have had gelatos for years, but didn’t quite know how to use them. Thanks for sharing.
I like how you combine the gelatos with the colored pencils. I will get my gelatos out too.
Beautiful job. I typically do not like no-line coloring at all, but this might make me feel differently. Really nice!
Gorgeous card! Love all the techniques you shared—so clear to understand with the wonderful video! Have to get my gelatos out and play!
I cannot believe your FABULOUS INSTRUCTIONS came out today on my e-mail. It was just yesterday I had taken my GELATOS out and tried to do something with them. NO GO AND I PUT AWAY AGAIN. I have had these for years! ! Will order the Biege stamp pad as soon as it is back in stock and try again. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THESE INSTRUCTIONS!
Gorgeous card. I love it!
Absolutely gorgeous! Another great way to use my Gelatos. Thanks for the info on the ink as well. I’d never heard about it before.
Yay! This takes some stress away from using gelatos … I still don’t feel comfortable with them, but this will help a lot :) THANK YOU!! And, beautiful card!
gorgeous card :) beautiful colors of the pretty flowers. Thanks for sharing tips about adding extra details to painted flowers, will have to try it soon.
I love these gelatos tutorials! So beautiful and inspiring!
Simply elegant! Beautifully done! Thanks so much for the inspiration! ❤️
Oh just beautiful! ?You have inspired me to get out my Gelatos! Thanks
I never use my Gelatos, but now I want to try some watercoloring–thank you for the inspiration! Had no idea it would work to scribble them on scrap paper. I tried to use an acrylic block which was not very successful, so that tip I really needed!
I’ve never thought of using my gelatos this way. Thanks for this great video.
Oh Nina-Marie your card is gorgeous!! Thank you for the great gelato tips! I didn’t realize they had different types.
WOW this card is so gorgeous!!!
Beautiful. Love how you used the Gelatos to watercolor and I will have to check out the Barely Beige ink.
WHat a lovely creation … and thank you so much for taking the time to make the how to video … I have so many gelatos and your video inspired me to give them some creative love!!!