Autumn is on its way! - and that makes me so happy since autumn is my favourite time of the year with its bright and earthy colors everywhere and cozy afternoons with a hot chocolate in my hands while the rain clatters against the windows.

Best season to spend your free time being creative and breathe new life into Ohuhu’s free downloadable, autumn-themed coloring pages! :-)

For this reason, Ohuhu asked me to create a coloring Step-by-Step for their blog page showing the countless color combinations the new Oahu 320-Colors Set has to offer!

No sooner said than done: In this Coloring Step-by-Step, you’ll get a detailed instruction on how to color this Pumpkin Flower Bouquet with the new Oahu 320-Colors Set. 

I’m Tina aka jonajpeg and I’m a freelance artist based in Germany. I love to draw manga/anime inspired characters and teach how to draw and color with markers on my Instagram & YouTube Channel. 

Before we dive into each step, let’s take a look at the art supplies I’m using:

- Ohuhu Marker Pad (19,3 x 25,4cm)

- Ohuhu Alcohol-Based Markers (Oahu 320-Colors Set)

- Optional: Wax-based colored pencils or Ohuhu Fine Line Drawing Pens

Now we’re prepared with all art supplies laid aside and are good to go. Let’s start with the first step of today’s coloring guide:

1. Preparation - before you start coloring

1.1. Prepare your lineart ‘Pumpkin-Flower-Bouquet’

First of all, I kindly ask you to download the coloring page I mentioned :-)

Therefore follow the steps on the next picture. Feel free to download every lineart piece you like including the ‘Pumpkin Flower Bouquet’, which should be printed on marker paper afterwards.

1.2. Choose a color scheme

On the internet, you will find many beautiful color palettes, which you can apply to your illustration. Try to search on google or pinterest for inspiration!

Based on these color palettes I’m going to choose some possible marker combinations and test them on sketching paper.

To get an even better idea of how the colors are looking combined with each other you can print out this free ‘Color Scheme Test Sheet’. Note all markers you used for each combination and decide easily, which you like the most.

In the following pictures, you can see how I tried different color palettes and which markers I used for them. 

I really fell in love with the colors of the last try, so I decided to go with them! You can find a detailed overview in the following chapter.

1.3. Choose colors for light & shadow

As shown in the picture above, I not only searched for the overall color palette and base colors, but also for shadow & light tones to create better contrast and a more realistic look. For every base color, you should end up with at least one darker tone and one lighter tone.

Here you can find all colors I used for the Pumpkin Flower Bouquet:

RG080, RG040, R247, R278, E190, E180, E364, R468, R186, E183, E191, WG140, E195, YG100, E289, G536, E679, E399, YR295, Y291, Y195, G391

2. Coloring Process: Step by step

2.1. Starting with the lightest colors

Grapes (E182 Y291 Y195 0)

With alcohol markers, I recommend to always start with the lightest parts of your drawing. In my case, these are the grapes. With the markers Y291 (shadow), Y195 (base), and the blender in my hand I start to color the shadow areas of the grapes. Put down the first layer of Y291, then blend with Y195. I also leave some space on some single grapes which are on top, where I then blend from Y195 to white with the colorless blender.

I’m only coloring three to four single grapes at once, so the ink is still wet on the paper. With this technique, you’ll get a much better blend.

After coloring all grapes I’m putting down a second layer to darken the shadows even more with E182 and improve the blending with Y195.

Pumpkin (YR295 E191 E399 E190)

Now it’s time for the pumpkin! In the first step, I’m going to set the base gradient with YR295 and E191. With YR295 I fill the bottom and the top area of the pumpkin while leaving space in the middle of it. To connect both areas I’m using E191. 

For a smooth blend, it’s important to keep the paper wet by ‘flooding’ the area with ink and work with multiple layers. So I’m taking YR295 again and applying more color on the wet paper very quickly to then blending another time with E191.

Since you have to keep the areas you’re working on very wet, I recommend to color each section of the pumpkin one after the other.

After the base gradient is done and dried we can continue with adding a texture for a more realistic look. Therefore I grab the markers E399 and YR295. With circular movements, I’m applying blotches to imitate the surface property of a pumpkin with E399 and blend with YR295. In this situation I don’t want to achieve the perfect blend, instead, I wanted to end up with a ‘washed out’ look. 

After the ink was dried I decided to make another layer to darken the texture even more.

For the shadow areas, I used E190. I soften the edges by blending with YR295 to give them a blurry look.

I’ve documented these steps in the following video:

2.2. Continue with darker colors

Sunflowers (R247 R468 R186)

Sunflower petals have a certain structure. Since they’re very thin they bend and wrinkle. To imitate that look I start with the color R468 for the darkest parts and blend with R186. Keeping a balance between soft blendings and harsh edges is key here. I’m coloring petal after petal until all the sunflowers are colored. As the last step, I fill out the center with R247. 

Leaves (E679 E399 G391 / G536 YG100 G391)

Starting with the brown-reddish leaves. With E679 I start coloring the middle and continue with E399 for blending. Just before reaching the sunflowers, I continue coloring with G391. Before heading to the last step, which is adding texture, I darken the leaf tip with another layer of  E679.

Let’s grab the blender to create a stunning effect: Draw in the veins of the leaf with the fine nib. The more often you follow your first lines the lighter they become. But: Make sure to let your ink fully dry before you go in with the blender for a pin sharp look.

Repeat the process with the dark green leaves and the lighter ones.

In the following video you can see the last steps:

Bow (R193 R468 E183 E190)

The bow should be a little eyecatcher. That’s why I added a checked pattern to the base color R193. Vertical stripes with R468 and horizontal stripes with E183 combined with E190. Darken the spots where both stripes meet each other and you’ll have a perfect checked pattern!

Wooden Plate (E363 E180 WG140 0)

At first, I colored the light part of the plate with WG140. After coloring the bark to the outer edges with E363, I’m blending with E180 and WG140. With E363 and E180 I already indicate the structure surface of the bark and intensify it even more by adding stripes with the blender. I’ll add more details with Ohuhu Fine Line Drawing Pens and colored pencils later on. 

Barley (E195)  

Last but not least I colored the barley with E195. I’m only using this one marker as a base color to this point.

To create a more three dimensional look I’m going to darken all shadows with RG040 (medium shadows) and with RG080 (dark shadows) of the overall illustration.

2.3. Enhance lineart with colored pencils or fineliners

Since I’ve printed the lineart with a low opacity I’ve lost most of the silhouette of each prop. That’s why it’s necessary to enhance it with colored pencils or fineliners. If you like to use colored pencils, you may choose dark versions of each hue. This also allows you to fix sloppy blending or to correct points where you painted over borders.

You’ll get an even stronger look by using black fineliners. Actually, I’ve used fineliners on the bark and in the center of the sunflowers.   

Here you can see the before and after:

2.4. Add highlights with a white gel pen or colored pencil

As the last step for today’s coloring guide, we’re going to add highlights with a white gel pen or a white colored pencil. If you go with the colored pencil, make sure that it’s a waxed based one, otherwise, you won’t see any white on your markers.

I’ve added harsh highlights on the bow and the barley. Soft highlights for the center of the sunflowers, the grapes, and the pumpkin. Play with the pressure to get a smooth gleam or harsh edges.

Final Illustration

Are you ready to paint up your inspiration?

That’s it for today’s blog post! If you found this guide helpful, please let me know by leaving a comment below or liking this article :-)

If you're going to try this guide I’d love to see your version of my coloring page! Don’t forget to tag @jonajpeg and @ohuhuart, so we can both have a look!

To finish up I’d like to thank Ohuhu again for inviting me to share this guide with you. I’m a big fan of Ohuhu as a brand and their products and I hope I could pass my enthusiasm on to you guys!  

Cheers,

Tina aka jonajpeg