When I got asked to do a mountain, I got super excited. This plays off a little concept from yesterday with the snow piles and expands on the concept of using the sky into defining parts of the page.
I loved this request so much that I might do another variation of it in this coloring technique that is a little more detailed for a scene that continues to visit using the sky as part of the details and shadows, while also exploring some of the surroundings further down the mountain.
Mountain Coloring Tutorial
Something not on the card for this technique is my white acrylic and the white charcoal that got used as a bonus at the end. My acrylic is low, which is why you saw it hiccup yesterday with the snow tutorial.
I also haven't done the gel pen trick yet for helping my pens to have a steady flow, so you saw me take a risk with the acrylic in the video today. I say it worked out!
Tools Used
Today's mountain coloring tutorial used:
- Honolulu B old codes of MG0303, V330, V050, and BG5.
- Pandafly Dark Purple Charcoal
- A Sakura White Gel Pen
- Artistro White Medium Tip
- Bonus: Pandafly White Charcoal
Mountain Coloring Tutorial Video
This video actually took me about 14 minutes to make (but sped up to less than a minute), and I spent a good chunk of time using MG030 at the start.
Mountain Coloring Tutorial Step-By-Step
One of the questions I can see right away is how I decided on my shadows. Honestly, sketching some of the ragged edges in at the start told me what I was working around and allowed me to build in the character from there.
I recommend staring at a blank mountain landscape, defining your peak with a light pencil or a thin micron pen.
Step 1: Start with MG030 for the sky.
Step 2: Add some gel pen to create an undertone of highlights for edges.
Step 3: Using MG030, still, define some of the shadows on the mountain.
Step 4: Still using Mg030, go back over some spots to define even more depth.
Step 5: Use V330 over some of the details. I am doing just some splashes of color here and there to darken spots.
Step 6: Same thing with V050, but sparingly. I do a faint outline along some of the more dominant edges.
Step 7: BG05 sparingly for a little character to the mountain shadows.
Step 8: A dark purple charcoal pencil to help give texture and further define the edges and shadows.
Step 9: A white gel pen or acrylic for highlights.
Step 10: Charcoal again, anything else to preference for shadows for contrast. In the video, I was defining more of the base when I revisited it.
Step 11: MG030 back over some of the white acrylic splatter for dimension.
Step 12: BONUS As a bonus, you can add a white charcoal along the top to create the illusion of snow in the wind.
And that is everything for today! I am planning to revisit the mountain coloring tutorial to show a more expanded view and a different time of day, but before I do, I want to touch on some lessons with folliage.