Confession: As An Artist, I've Always Been Terrified Of Using Color In My Work - But THIS Might Make Me Change My Mind...

I primarily work in pen and ink. There have been times I dared to bring some sepia tones into my work (oh SAY it ain't SO!)

But that's as far as I would go.

Until recently.

I make coloring books. And as I've learned, it's hard to sell coloring books when all you do is share the black and white versions of your work. You need to share examples of your work with a pop of chromatic flair. (sigh) SO, I swallowed my pride and decided to bite the bullet. Crayon. Whatever.

These were done in Photoshop, and it required some help from those more chromatically skilled than I, but still, what color can do to my black an white illustrations completely blew my mind. I might be a convert here, folks.

So here's my panda illustration in its original state:

Aaaand with some color:

My phoenix illustration before:

And after:

And finally, the beetle (which is my favorite):

And in Technicolor:

I might just have to get me some watercolors and Copic markers. Cuz dayum.