Discovering Hope Scripture Art: What to Use

I used Prismacolor Premier pencils first in this Psalm 51 Scripture art, and then added a silver metallic gel pen on “clean” and “God,” a green pen on “right spirit,” and a red pen around the outside of the heart.

Many people are asking what to use to color the gorgeous Scripture art that Karla Dornacher created for Discovering Hope in the Psalms. I’ve followed the advice of Karla and other artists on what to buy, and I like the results.

Karla recommends the Prismacolor Premier Soft-core Pencils 72-count. These run around $25 today. You can get as many as 150, or as few as 24. Prices change often, especially before Christmas. I started with 24 and mixed colors (the lavender in the Psalm 51 Scripture art is a mix of pink and blue). Later I bought a bigger set–no more mixing required. The light grays and multiple blues in the Psalm 23 Scripture art are from the new set and weren’t possible in the small set.

Karla offers a terrific free color chart here: www.karladornacher.com/free-colored-pencil-color-chart-and-coloring-tips. I started out keeping a color chart at the back of my book, but when I bought more pencils, I downloaded and used her chart. I love it.

The pencils require a pencil sharpener made for soft cores. A sharpener that holds the shavings and has two hole sizes runs about $5 (I could find only two packs when I wrote this). Many sellers bundle the pencils with an eraser and sharpener, but the bundles often aren’t a good deal. Plus, sometimes they combine Premier pencils with Scholar sharpeners, and vice-versa. (The Prismacolor Scholar pencils have a harder core.)

There’s also a nice Prismacolor 7-piece Accessory Kit. This includes a small sharpener, two erasers, a colorless blender, a solvent blender, an ebony pencil, and a pencil extender. It’s usually under $7. Note that color pencil marks can’t be fully erased, so use erasers to lighten marks. The colorless blender allows you to put down one or more colors lightly and then blend them so that the color goes into the little valleys in the paper. The solvent blender dissolves pencil marks so they look like watercolors (see the water on the Psalm 23 picture).

I used a solvent blender on the water in this Psalm 23 Scripture art. Gel pens outline “Lord” and “my Shepherd.” Everything else is Prismacolor Premier pencils.

Coloring over the words in Scripture art washes them out, but you can use gel pens to trace the words and make them stand out again. You can see what I mean in the Psalm 23 picture, where I left most of the words muted so they looked like they were part of the water and grass. I bought 100 GelWriter gel pens at Costco before Christmas and like them. Many are metallic and glitter–see the Psalm 51 picture. They’re running $30-$40 on Amazon, but 140 Smart Color gel pens are $20 today. I haven’t tried them, but the reviews look good. Be sure to let the page dry when you use these.

Or you can go over the words with Pigma Micron pens. This set has 6 colors for $11. I use them in my Bible because they don’t bleed. Karla uses the black ones for outlining her illustrations.

For applying watercolors, water brush pens are easy to use. A set of 3 are about $9. The brushes work with watercolor pans, watercolor pencils, and inks. Use as little water as possible to keep the paper from warping.

For instructions and ideas, the book, Complete Guide to Bible Journaling, features Karla Dornacher and other Christian artists. It has lots of examples of Scripture art, art and words to trace, and stickers. Finally, the book’s website has lots of links to free tutorials: www.DiscoveringHopeInThePsalms.com/Extras.

So what are your favorite supplies for Scripture art? Comment below and share photos in the Facebook group, Discovering Hope in the Psalms.