50 State Quarters: Coloring Pages Using Flair Pens

I just finished two more coloring pages featuring the 50 State Quarters. I've previously shared the first four (Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, and Wisconsin) that I colored with Ohuhu Kaala markers and the next four (Connecticut, Idaho, Missouri, and Montana) where I used inks as a base and layered colored pencil on top. Can you guess what I used for the Indiana and Delaware coloring pages? 

If you guessed Flair pens, I'm impressed! (Affiliate link here and below.) Specifically, I used this 12-pack of 0.7 mm tip pens. 

I printed the images as 7" circles, which is a ridiculous amount of surface area to fill with a fine tip pen. If I'd colored them in using just the 0.7 mm pens, I would have: 

• run out of ink partway through and had to buy more pens
• wrecked my hand
• lost my mind

Instead, I took advantage of a fun characteristic of Flair pens: they are water-based. By using a moist brush, you can drag the pigment beyond the place where you colored. Look at the tires below. For each tire, I colored part of it solid black, then drew horizontal lines on the remainder. Then I used my brush to blend them out. You can see the difference between the ones I've moistened (left) and the ones I haven't (right). 

Compare the blue outline of Indiana above with the finished project. See the way I dragged the blue in toward the center? I did the same thing with the black outline around the entire design. I really like the effect. And this technique lets you add color to large areas and still save your pen, hand, and sanity. 

A few precautions before you try coloring pages with Flair pens and water. First, print or copy the image onto watercolor paper for the best results. I did a trial run using printer paper and, as expected, it was a disaster. I ended up using Neenah Bristol Vellum because it was the best option that works in my printer. It didn't allow for as much blending as a watercolor paper would, but it didn't fall apart like the printer paper. 

Second, expect to have a lot of drying time. You can't apply Flair pens over moist areas, plus if you moisten two adjacent colors at once, the colors will run. Instead, work on one section at a time and then wait for it to dry before going on to the next area. I worked on both Indiana and Delaware simultaneously so that one could dry while I was working on the other. 

 

To cover a large space with visible texture (like the grass on the Delaware quarter), you can draw lots of little lines. I wasn't consistent in blending it out, but it doesn't bother me that the grass looks inconsistent. What does bother me are the lines on the horse. The 12-pack of Flair pens doesn't have a brown, so I had to use the black pen in different ways on the horse, the tack, and the boot. I suppose I could have used the purple and embraced a horse of a different color. 

I'm looking forward to coloring my next batch of State Quarters using a different method. I've printed out the designs; now I just need to pick my next medium and get started!