Thomas Kincade & Detailed Stamps Tutorial

Hi everyone! Carousel Rubber Stamps, my local stamp store here in Halifax that I will be instructing at, has begun carrying Thomas Kincade stamps. I think they are so beautiful yet can be intimidating to work with, so thought I would create a tutorial. There is a lot of information here so I will just get right to it. Please note that while this tutorial is specifically for how to work with Thomas Kincade stamps it can also apply to any highly detailed landscape stamp. An example of such a stamp would be Impression Obsession's Colonial Spring.

What are Thomas Kincade stamps?

Thomas Kincade is a popular American artist who has made millions by licensing his name to reproductions of his quaint images on almost anything you can think of. The newest venture is on stamps made and distributed by Cornish Heritage Farms.   Kincade's artistic style is Gainsborough meets Monet, resulting in idyllic city street, landscape and cottage scenes done in saturated pastels.  The images amazingly mimic glowing light even when stamped in only one color of ink (he is known as the "painter of light") .  The colorized image that tops every mounted stamp is the perfect reference when coloring the images. Without this one could easily get lost in the detail of the stamp during the coloring process.

These images are intimidating to a lot of people - they seem too complicated and hard to color. They aren't at all. With a little planning and foresight you can easily overcome these mental obstacles. Several factors are to be considered before you start.

How much time do you want to put into your card?  A simply stamped image can be made in a lot less time than a penciled or watercolor version, and can still look just as lovely and elegant. Don't think that you have to color the image to get the best results.

Do you want a monochromatic look? Darker ink colors will be best in this case, but that does not limit you to black or coffee colors. Navy, burgundy or a dark green like Versa Fine Olympia Green is quite beautiful.

In the photo of the stamp Foxglove Cottage to the left, I used the same kind of ink for both images (VersaFine Black Onyx). I applied more ink and more pressure to the darker image. If you want to color the image, add a lighter coat of ink or stamp off a bit of ink if you can do it evenly.

What kind of paper will you be using? Brayered Spectrum ink on glossy cardstock is great if you want to play into the use of light in the images, but any kind of paper can be used. More importantly is using the right ink for the right paper.

What ink is best to use? This depends on the technique you wish to achieve and the paper you intend to use. I have used four different inks on ivory cardstock in the picture above as a reference. I really like the look of a dark, juicy ink on such cardstock. Keep in mind I apply more ink to the images when I am not going to color the images in. I stamp the ink pad directly onto the image as the image rests rubber side up on the table, stamp on a cushioned surface and then apply even pressure with my finger, moving over the wood and lift. Because of the cushioned surface I do not have a problem with the stamp moving as I do this and smearing the ink.

To know which ink to use with what paper or technique, you need to know a bit about ink. Dye inks are thinner, sheerer and dry more quickly than pigment inks. They are not a good choice for vellum. Pigment inks are thicker, more opaque and take longer to dry. They are better with thicker,  more porous types of paper. A hybrid ink, my favorite choice, will be the most versatile. It combines the best of both types of ink. You get great, crisp color that dries much faster than pigment inks.

Be sure to use a waterproof ink if you plan to use watercolor pencils or crayons. My favorite waterproof ink is Ancient Page.

One more tip - I like to use a raised "cushy" ink pad when inking up large detailed stamps such as these. The cushioned pad presses in to the stamp easier, inking it up better.

My favorite inks to use on cardstock: (Stampin' Up! or Papertrey Select).

• Brilliance Pigment Ink in Graphite Black 
• VersaFine Fast Dry Pigment Ink in Onxy Black or Olympia Green (water resistant only)
• Ancient Page Waterproof Dye Coal Black
• Palette Hybrid Noir

My favorites on vellum or glossy:

• Brilliance Graphite Black

My favorites for a monochromatic look (no coloring after inking):

• Ranger Distress Dye Ink in any of the darker colors such as Vintage Photo or Fired Brick. Distress Ink is nice for this look as it is sheer yet vivid and picks up detail well.  It says it is a dye ink but it behaves like a hybrid to me.
• Stampin' Up Classic Inks - another sheer yet vivid dye ink.
• Spectrum Ink pads - lovely when used with a brayer.

What kind of technique will you be using?

Just a few techniques that work well with these stamps:

• Cracked Glass - the vintage nature and texture of this technique are perfect for Kincade stamps.
• Embossing -  If you plan to emboss the image I recommend using a detailed embossing powder so that you do not lose the fine detail of the stamp.
• Bouncing Brayer - playing with the light and use of color is fantastic.
• Popping Pastels - using VersaMark and highlighting with chalks.
• Pencils & Gamsol

Coloring: How do I capture the luminous light of the painting? Practice practice practice. Look at the sky, other paintings, the stamp itself for inspiration on shadow and light. I use pencils blended by artist grade Odorless Mineral Spirit used in the brightest, most vivid areas (the flowers or the flame of the candlelight, for example), and Pebbles Shimmering Chalks in the glowing, diffused light areas.

How do I make the colors on the bright, vivid areas pop?

• More concentrated color methods such as glaze pen over pencil (that is how I got the red flowers to pop in the Colonial Spring card I made in the first paragraph of this post). Not recommended for the light in the windows or areas where you want to graduate color.
• Twinkling H20s are fabulous as well as you can make the paint thick or thin and the color sheer or opaque just by adding subtracting water. They are luminous and perfect!
• alcohol or water based markers - wonderful for bright bursts of color, for example the light in cottage windows
• brightly colored chalks applied with VersaMark marker in key places
• watercolor pencils or crayons
• Stampin' Up classic ink and an aqua pen

Here is a closeup: I colored in with pencils, broad strokes starting with light colors, adding dark and becoming more specific with color slowly. This is a lazy man's way of coloring quickly. If I were to color each tiny thing in the picture one at a time it would take a lot longer. I then softened with Gamsol and highlighted with Shimmering Chalks. The Shimmering chalks were used to get the pink and blue sunset  in the sky.

What is nice about these stamps is the fact that there is so much shading - this can help you to know where to put darker color. Another shading benefit: when you add light color over a large area, the inked shading can make one color look like two or more.

Chalk is great for coloring large areas quickly. For concentrated bursts of color and sparkle I added touches of Copic Spica marker here and there - usually where you see small silver glittery particles. It was my first time coloring these so I was not perfect but there you go. 

Designing a card: The images are so detailed and intricate that less is more when it comes to paper and embellishments. You want to keep your amazingly detailed image as the focus. I find textured solid cardstocks plays quite well with the image. A subtle patterned paper or background stamp can work as well as long as the image is allowed to be the star in the design. Here I embossed Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip cardstock with a Cuttlebug embossing folder then added some sheen with Bazzill Bling Sugar Daddy textured cardstock as a base.

I hope you found this tutorial helpful. If you have any questions at all please post them here rather than e-mailing me as I am having problems with my e-mail. I will edit this post to answer questions.

If you happen to be in the Halifax area, Carousel Rubber Stamps will be teaching classes on Thomas Kincade stamps in February and March. I hope you can join us.

Happy stamping!

Stamps: Thomas Kincade Foxglove Cottage made by Cornish Heritage Farms

Paper: Bazzill Bling Sugar Daddy and textured green (name unknown); Stampin' Up! Chocolate Chip and Ivory

Ink: VersaFine Olympia Green

Accessories: Pop up glue dots; Cuttlebug Embossing Folder; Faber-Castel Pencils and Gamsol, Copic Spica markers; Stampin' Up! Satin Ribbon; Stampin' Up! Hodgepodge Hardware; Pebbles Shimmer Chalk

Comments

[Weng]

Hi. You really have a great ideas. Great work too! Hope you can post something with a wedding theme. I wanted to make wedding invitations as a gift for my sister. My idea is to have a wedding invitation that will look realistic. Not just having plain texts on it which is very common as we all know. Ideally I wanted to make a pop-up card with the blend of your craft (I really like how you blend colors). Hope you can help me on this one. Thank you.

[Dianne Henry]

This card is stunning,you did a beatiful job on making it so real.I did not know that Thomas Kincade makes stamps.Thank you for sharing this outstanding card.

[Sallie Hayes]

Wonderful tutorial! Your help was clearly stated and easy to understand. Good job.

[Nancy Grant]

Great tutorial. I was given a Kincade stamp and have been terrified to use it.

Thank you!

[Delia]

THanks Suzy for all your advise, I can't wait to try.

[Jen]

Wow! This was an awesome tutorial. Thanks so much for putting so much work into this and sharing it with us!!!

[Kim]

Oh man, that's alot of colouring!! What a beautiful stamp!

[SeattleStamper]

Great toutorial, thank you for the detailed info!

[Ellie Augustin]

Suzy you always amaze me and once again you have! but girl I'm still scared of those stamps! lol I'll let you keep make beautiful cards for now! lol ((HUGS))

[Beth]

This is a wonderful tutorial- both well-written and on a topic that is so... beneficial! Can't wait to try some of your suggestions! Thanks!

[laura]

great tutorial

[suzanne]

Thanks! This was a fantastic tutorial. I've wondered about how to color these very detail stamped images and also how to get a nice image from them. Now I am more informed! I like the cracked glass idea. I may need to try it.

[Mel]

Coolest tutorial ever. You covered so much! Thanks for sharing it, :0) Mel

[Patty]

What a fantastic tutorial. Thanks for taking the time to help de-mystify the art of Thomas Kincade stamps. I can't wait to order some!

[PAT DADISMAN]

I have admired the Thomas Kincade stamps for a long time. Your very informative tutorial is just what I need before I make some purchases! Thanks so much for sharing!