Fun fact about me is that I’m obsessed with the outer space. I would spend hours reading about scientific discoveries and wondering whether there’s intelligent life out there. I’ve used this inspiration for the newest coloring tutorial. Read on to learn how to create a galaxy themed background for your coloring pages.
Supplies you’ll need
I’ve used the Everblend Art Markers from Arteza and I can recommend them with my whole heart. They come in many colors and with a blender, the colors mix wonderfully and they are extremely affordable for the high quality. Seriously, it’s a steal! Of course, you can use any alcohol-based markers for this technique, such as Copic Markers or Promarkers. You’ll need at least 5 colors and a blender (colorless marker).
You’ll also need white acrylic paint and a tiny brush for the stars. You could use a white gel pen instead, but I love the texture that acrylic paint created on the paper.
Last, but not least – you’ll need your coloring page! For this tutorial, I’m using this postcard with a floral map of the United States.
First layer
Pick your two darkest colors and create a single layer of ink in two opposite corners. You only need a single layer of ink. Don’t worry if the color doesn’t blend smoothly right away. We’ll work on that later. 🙂
The colors I used are:
Arteza A8272 Denim Blue
Arteza A8273 Royal Purple
Add brighter colors
Going from the darkest to brightest color, work your way into the middle of the coloring page. Make sure there’s at least a small overlap between the colors, but don’t scrub the first layer with the next marker. Again, don’t worry about the blending just yet. Thin layers will do just fine.
I used the following colors for this step:
Arteza A8274 Sapphire Blue
Arteza A8276 Carolina Blue
Arteza A8275 Lavender
Arteza A884 Lilac
Arteza A881 Violet
Start Blending
It’s time for the magical Blender marker! Before you start blending, you’ll need to understand how the blend actually happens. You see, when ink meets moisture it starts wandering. You can observe this happening when you pour a little ink into a glass of water. It starts spreading in slow, dance-like motion. The same thing happens on paper, except it’s an even slower process, because there’s less moisture and so the ink travels slower.
When you keep all of that in mind, you’ll quickly understand that blending markers isn’t about rubbing the paper with the marker tips. All you need to do is apply moisture to the paper and the ink particles will start dancing with each other and moving on their own.
In the above example, I drew one invisible layer over the previous colorful layers and let the card sit for a few minutes. Can you see the colors mixing with each other already? Repeat the process until you’re happy with the blend. Add another layer with the blender, let it sit, add another layer and so on.
It’s also a good moment to add more ink where it’s needed. I decided to make the background much darker, which made the white map really pop.
Add stars
Finally, it’s time to paint the stars onto the sky. Use a thin brush to make tiny paint dots all over the place. Keep in mind that real stars aren’t spaced evenly across the sky. Vary star sizes and spacing for a more realistic look.
That’s it! By now, your coloring page should have the most amazing galaxy-themed background. Do you have any questions? Pop them in the comments box below or click on the chat icon. I’ll be more than happy to answer them for you. 🙂
Happy Coloring!
Anna