Coloring large areas, Part 4-Removing Streaks

To conclude coloring large areas for a while, let's combine a couple of the techniques I talked about last week. Remember, as you find things that work, WRITE IT DOWN with an example so you don't forget.

When you are coloring a large area that is already streaky, your best bet to fix it is to color over it. However, if the area is already dry you may still see streaks unless you are smooth an even and soak the paper extra well.

On areas that are already colored and dry, remember this when coloring over it.

• If you use the same color your picture will get one shade darker

• If you color over it with the colorless blender it will get lighter

• If you color it with a color from a different family the tone will change (this might be a good thing if your original color just wasn't quite what you need).

• If you use a color that is one or two shades LIGHTER than the original color, then it will smooth out to being very close to the color you desire

If you look at these examples you can see exactly what I'm referring to. The streaky E31 just looks bad, but I have to very carefully choose the right color to get it to look correct but not too light or dark. Notice how by adding E40, while it's close to E31, it's not the same color family, and therefor adds some gray. E30, by being a shade lighter in the color family keeps the blob similar in feel without getting too dark.

Here is a larger example of this in progress. Notice how the streaky background has darker edges in a grayish BG. My overall color is BG11 though, so I'm going to color over the whole thing with a nice juicy BG10. I color very slowly and soak the paper even more than regular since I need to blend my ugly streaks in. Yes, the picture got darker, but unless I add blender in, this is the lightest shade in this blending family.

After I layered on the BG10, I came back, touched up the darker BG93 (I didn't mind that the edges got darker). Now my whole picture looks nice and smooth, no streaks.

Amateurs vs. Professionals
I like to say, the only difference between Amateurs and Professionals is how well they hide their mistakes. Other people say "They're not mistakes, just opportunities."

My last example today is the last resort. If you just can't get rid of the streaks, then hide them in other ways. Make a mottled background like you see here by dotting on some color. Or, I showed how you can make a neat pattern by soaking an old, nasty rag in blender and dabbing it on. Either way is great for covering up the pesky streaks. I think I like this background a lot. Have a great day!