Tutorial - Colouring Smooth Sand

Hello everyone! It's Delphine here today to share a little tutorial on how to colour smooth sand. Sometimes I like adding little dots to sand to create texture but I also really like smooth sand, creating texture just by simply blending, which is what I am showing you today.

To colour sand, I usually use either the E30s (E30 to E35) or the E40s, which I have chosen for today's post. I'm only using E40, 41, 42, 43 here and the image I'm using is The Beach digi stamp by Make It Crafty.

Step 1

Start with your darkest colour - E43 - and create small horizontal ripples with your marker. Put some E43 near the edge of the water which will be darker due to the sand being wet there.

Step 2

Take your next lightest colour - E42 - and go over the ripples you have created, making them a little bit larger and longer.

Step 3

Take your next colour - E41 - and again, go over what you have previously done and widen the areas you have already created. Colour following the direction of the ripples, making horizontal sweeping strokes. Make sure you leave some white "stripes", which will help give more depth to your sand.

Step 4

Now take your lightest marker - E40 - and lightly fill the spaces you have left white, always colouring following the direction of the ripples. 

If you think your sand is not dark enough or if you want more contrast, you can repeat the 4 steps once, going again from dark to light.

Next colour, the rest of your background.

And finish your card in a way that you like :) Here, I have added a cute character by CC Designs, called Swiss Pixie Summer and created a frame with my By DIEzyne Big Stiched Rectangles.

Skin: E000, 00, 01, 13, 71

Hair: B12, T5, 7, 9

Hairband: V09, 15, 17

Swimsuit: RV06, 09, V09, 15, 17, Y35
Shells: R00, 02, Y02, 21, 26, 28

Sand: E40, 41, 42, 43

Sea: B04, BG07, 45, 57, 75

Palm Trees: B96, 99, G94, E29

Sky: BG000, V000

Thank you very much for your visit, have a great weekend! Hugs,

Delphine xx