Ghost Pumpkins is an original line art drawing by me, Amy Shulke of Vanilla Arts Company. I started this drawing in September 2021 but I've been sitting on the pumpkin reference photo for three years now, just waiting for the right time to introduce gentle coloring to my students.

The mouse was an afterthought and I tried very hard to include three mice rather than just one. It turns out, after years of living in the country and trapping mice in my kitchen, mice now give me the heebie-jeebies -- even when they're super cute and very fictional. I can deal with one mouse but three is a health hazard.

For Ghost Pumpkins, I'd like you to concentrate on building layers of soft color. Give yourself lots of time to leisurely work your way though the image. Even on the deep, dark background, more soft layers will look much better than fewer heavy applications.

Also be sure to note, I didn't use much black in this image. The basecoat for the background was actually a layer of Prussian Blue watercolor over a layer of Burnt Sienna. Sienna + deep blue = Payne's gray. Even the pencil work is a deep purple with Prussian blue over the top. You can see bits of black pencil where I had to push the background deeper.

Why make my own black? Because black absorbs light while layered black looks deeper and cavernous. And that's the point of the whole project, creating interesting colors rather than grabbing the first color you see in the photo.

This is artistry, not color by number.

Amy’s stamps are suitable for colored pencil, alcohol markers, pastels, watercolor....get creative!

Ghost Pumpkins was the October 2021 challenge project for our artistic coloring community, the Underpainters. For more information on the Underpainters and to subscribe visit: https://www.vanillaarts.com/underpainters

FILE CONTENTS:

• JPG digital stamp file of "Ghost Pumpkins”, high-res 300 ppi

• PNG digital stamp file of "Ghost Pumpkins", high-res 300 ppi

• PNG digital stamp file of "Ghost Pumpkins", high-res 300 ppi (black lines version)

• PDF easy-print option, prints one (1) "Ghost Pumpkins" image per page

*black line version included for tracing and/or adjusting the opacity to print in gray

Artistic Coloring Kit PDF including:

• Suggested Color Palette

• Photo Inspirations

• Greyscale Image

• Color Map of Amy’s Coloring Project

• Coloring Process Tips & Photo Collage

• Terms of Use Information

PLEASE NOTE: You will be emailed a link to access this digital stamp kit. LINK WILL EXPIRE 24 HOURS FROM PURCHASE TIME. Please save the file immediately. I also recommend saving a backup copy on an alternate drive or cloud system. Lastly, save your receipt.

DUE TO THE DIGITAL NATURE OF THIS PRODUCT, NO REFUNDS OR RETURNS ARE POSSIBLE.