mermaid tails...
Hello my fabulous friends!
When I was little, my Grandparents owned a boat, and each summer we would spend a week at Lake Powell (in Southern Utah/Arizona). It is an absolutely beautiful place in the middle of the desert. I have so many wonderful memories there!
I remember laying down in the the cabin, in the bow (the front of the boat) and watching out the little porthole windows as we sped through the water. I loved watching the light dancing off the splashing water, and imagining that I lived in the water....
It's been years since I've had the opportunity to spend time on that lake... but working on today's project, let me relive some of those memories...
Today's La-La Land Crafts theme is "Lets be mermaids!"
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White
Stamps: LLLC Sassy Mermaid Molli, Jaws Because
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black
Coloring: Copics
Skin- C4, C1, C0, V000, R20, B000, BV23, BV25
Hair/starfish- RV10, RV32, RV34, V06, V28, BG49
Tail- B000, G00, BG34, BG15, BG49, B99, B97
Shells/fish- FY1, YR24, E19, FYR1
Water- B000, B00, B01, BG72, 0
Nets- E55, E57, E59
Other: Ranger Glossy Accents; wiggle eyes; pearls
I wanted to push myself, so I went with a fantasy skin and hair tones... I started by coloring the skin in gray scale (with pink cheeks), then added some B000 into the shadows, and did a light wash of V000 over all the skin.
The hair was done how I normally color hair... just with pinks and purples. I ended up adding some BG49 just into the deepest shadows because I wasn't getting enough contrast with the purples.
For the fish, I added some wiggle eyes... I think it gives them personality! LOL!
The bubbles were made by first making dots with the Clear Blender pen, then adding a bit of a shadow on the underside of each bubble... That wasn't really popping as much as I had hoped, so I added some Glossy Accents on top to give them a bit of dimension.
I wanted starfish, but didn't have a die for them... So I used the star from Stitched Elements, and added in some shading to give it the look of a more dimensional object. I decided to color them like the pinkish purple starfish that we get up here on the beaches of Western Washington.
A couple weeks ago, I posted an image on Instagram of a mermaid tail I was experimenting on. I was asked how I colored it..
So here's how...
I started by coloring it as I would color anything else... I like lots of contrast, so I went from a G00 to a B99... Then did a wash of B000 over top to bring it more into the teal tones rather than green tones.
Next, you will need some temporary adhesive spray and some tulle.
Cut a piece of tulle off, and spray it with the adhesive spray (this stuff is REALLY smelly, so I do this outside. I also like to spray into a cardboard box to keep the overspray from ruining anything important.)
For my spray, if you wait for the adhesive to dry, then it will just be a temporary bond.. so at this point, I set it aside until it was dry.
Next, you need to mask off anything you don't want to get scales on.. I was planning on cutting my mermaid out, so I only needed to protect the upper part of her body and hair... If you aren't going to cut it out, then you need to mask off all the white space around the tail.
Use an airbrush to spray a darker ink over your tail... This can be SCARY! Don't be afraid of it... Contrast it a good thing... I went darker with my Instagram tail, and I like it better.
When you remove the tulle, you end up with a light pattern that gives your mermaid some scale like texture! Also, because we did all the shading before hand, the tail still has dimension, and the scales seem to disappear as they fade into the darker areas (just like scales would on a real tail)
I hope this inspires you to dive in and create with some mermaids!!
See you soon!
~Kassi
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