black on white lighthouse scene

I was supposed to be packing yesterday...

But I had this idea that I had to get out on paper. You know how it is. ;) Art Impressions' monthly contest challenge this time is "Black and White." I love their challenges - always thought-provoking and lots of fun. I knew I wanted to use the lighthouse stamp and do some kind of scene. I did this black on white version first, then did a white on black - I'll share that one tomorrow.

Looking at an image in terms of black and white gives you a whole new perspective on light and shading. Really interesting exercise if you're interested in stretching your coloring skills. If you try it, post a link so I can see! I may do some more just for fun......we'll see!

I think the only ink used on here is Adirondack Pitch Black - I stamped the image using that, and also used a water brush and blender pen to pick up ink from the lid of the inkpad. After I got all the ink in, I used a black colored pencil to sketch in deeper shading in a few areas. I masked off the light beam first, using a piece of cardstock I folded and cut free hand. I used a scalloped circle punch as a mask to do the clouds (Pitch Black ink applied with a stipple brush), and the birds are hand-drawn.

The background paper is by Amy Tanabe, her Navy Fall collection at http://www.scrapartist.com/. I hope it was ok to make the paper black and white... Saying is part of the verse stamp shown, and I inked the individual words with a marker and positioned them with my Stamp-a-ma-jig. Love that thing!