Colouring Images in Black and White by Jane Johnson

Good morning! Today I want to show you how to colour images in just black and white. This is very effective and looks tricky but is actually quite easy! For my tutorial I am using Copic markers to colour but the basic principal is the same whatever you use to colour with! Our current challenge at Whiff of Joy Challenges is to colour your image in just black and white so perhaps you would like to join in too!

First you need to decide where the light will be coming from in your picture. I have chosen to have the light coming from the left hand side of the image. You will then need to decide which pieces of clothing etc are going to be dark "colours" and which will be white or light "colours". I have coloured my image so that the apron is white, the trousers a dark colour and the top a paler colour. This helps you decide which grey shade to use as the darkest colour on each area. In the photo above I have added all my shadows using W7 for the darkest areas (trousers, shoes, hair and underside of umbrella) and W5 for the lighter areas (skin, top, and apron).

It is then just a case of adding the next shade lighter to each area, just like you would if you were colouring them in coloured ink. On the photo above I have added W3 over and beyond all the W5 areas on the skin, top and apron.

On the photo above you can see how I have now added further colour to the trousers, hair and umbrella using W5 over the top of the original W7 lines and working out from them, again, just as you would if you were using different colours.

I have finished the trousers and underside of the umbrella in this photo by using W3, my lightest shade for these areas. So, in all I have used W7, W5 and W3 on these dark areas.

Next I have used W1 to complete the lighter areas on the image - the top, skin, trouser turn ups and the top of the umbrella. So, in all I have used W5, W3 and W1 in these paler areas. Note that I have left some areas completely free of colour - the centre of her face, the tops of her hands and most of the apron - these are the highlights and will remain completely white.

Next, I use 00 (colourless blender) to blend where I have left the white areas so that the W1 lines fade into the white areas rather than harsh pen strokes.