New Challenge at Aurora Wings

Our new challenge starts today at Aurora Wings and I'd say for some (like me!) it may be quite the challenging one. It's a Sketch Challenge (EEK!) and here it is.  WARNING:  I'm afraid this might me a really chatty post for all kinds of reasons, so grab a cuppa (or ignore me all together and just look at the pretty pix).

Now fortunately I've been playing in a sketch challenge fairly regularly to overcome my fears and also get the hang of not necessarily following the sketch to the letter. (Yeah, I'm sort of a "play by the rules" kind of gal.)  However, I knew I wanted to use the gorgeous new Crimson Blossoms (available HERE on Etsy and HERE in the AW Digi Shop) and exactly the papers I wanted to use, so a pretty literal interpretation of the sketch was in order.  

Three of the 4 patterns I used came from the Bo Bunny Serenade 6x6 collection, and because the green prints from that stack were either too dark, or the pattern scale was off, I chose a scrap from my desk that filled the bill.  I was particularly thrilled with the dark background with the corner details that provides not only a dramatic base for the design, but also filled two of the corners without confusing the sketch too much.  It also provided a nice color scheme for Crimson Blossoms.  Although I had already planned to do the poppies in red, the gold worked well for her ear wing.

The only down side is that the paper is 6x6" which meant the image was going to have to be pretty darn small to fit everything in. Crimson Blossoms was printed to fit in a circle with only a 3 1/2" diameter.  EIYIYI!

This closeup shows my first step in completing the coloring and done totally with Copics.  At this size there were some areas I was unsure of.  Sometimes it's hard to tell with a fabulous flowing design like this just exactly what is what, so I find no shame in referring to the artist's colored version, or to those of the Design or Showcase Teams. That's what they're there for, inspiration, and often times clarification of a particularly detailed image.  I do admit I had to color in stages because at this size my eyes got a little buggy after awhile. I actually recommend it, because stepping away from your work gives you a fresh eye to fine tune your coloring. I also often take pix along the way to see how certain colors photograph (especially purples) so I can adjust if necessary.  

In this first shot though, I thought was done, but when I went to watermark and saw it in a huge size in my photo editing program, there were areas I'd missed, or needed more blending, or additional shading, so it was back to the drawing board.

This is the "after", which may not look that much different in this size, but after blending a bit and cleaning up some areas, I went in with some Prismacolor pencils for a little more shading and filling in gaps where I was afraid of bleeding from markers.  Make sure you're DONE with your markers before pulling out your pencils or you may end up ruining your tip.

Here is the finished Crimson Blossoms finally cut out with a Spellbinders Circle and lightly inked with Brushed Corduroy Distress while still in the die.  The red Lacy Circle really set her off, don'tcha think?

Here's the dimensional shot. Dimension?  Yeah, I thought one of the ways to personalize a sketch was to add some dimension so I've popped four of the layers, the floral mat (cut with Spellbinder's Deckle Rectangles, BTW), the striped piece, the Lacy Rectangle and Crimson Blossoms.  I've also used several colors of foam in black, sort of a dark beige and red.  I make my own by buying sheets of fun foam in a number of colors and apply 3" 3M transfer tape to both sides in strips so I can cut any size and shape I want.  I also find that it disappears when viewing your project from the side, especially if you choose the color of the bottom layer for your foam when popping.

So there ya go.  Hope you will visit the Challenge Blog and see my Aurora teamies' lovely takes on our sketch and join the fun.

And by the way, this coupon is good through the end of TODAY at both the AW Etsy Shop and AW.com.

There are now 2 Exclusives available at the AW Digi shop at Aurora Wings.com that you won't want to miss.

Here's how to keep up with all that's happening at Aurora Wings.

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I'm entering this in the DL.Art March Linky Challenge, the DL.Art Thankful Thursday Flowers Challenge, Simon Says Monday Layer it Up, TTRCD Week of March 14th AG, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #54 AG, Classic Design Team Open March, World Wide Design Team Open #120, Inspiration Destination #123 AG, the Outlawz PAM AG challenge, Glitter and Sparkle #231 AG, Crafty Creations #337 AG and Come and Get it AG.