Creating Concrete and Grass Background

The super sweet and fabulous MazKenzie has provided another awesome tutorial for us today on how to create concrete sidewalks and grass!

MacKenzie Bruckler

Blog: Midnight Scramper

Today I thought I'd share a simple tutorial on how I drew the sidewalk and grass on the card below. Using a Copic multi-liner pen and a straight edge, draw in a sidewalk.

Continue until your sidewalk is the size you want it.
Here's what mine looked like when I was done.
Start with a Copic C7 and go around all the edges.
(I use the chisel tip for all of these steps)

Next, blend in C5 around the edges.
Finally, fill in with C3.

Easy-Peasy!


I usually like to add a little grass also.
To do that, I make a thick line with the chisel tip of YG17.
(This will help avoid white spaces in between your blades of grass)
Choose a darker shade of green, and make small strokes with the brush tip.

Then fill in with various shades to finish off.
Here's what my finished image looks like.

I really hope this was helpful! Give it a try!
Thanks for stopping by.

Images by Pink Cat Studio

Kim's ~ Grass Colouring Tutorial

Hi well here it is... my step by step on how I colour my grass... Hope it inspires....

First I stamp my image then cut out the desired shape, it's so much easier for me to re stamp then recolour an image if I didn't cut it properly, also it's easy to realign the die on the image to ink the border edge.

I have coloured the main figure with copics and given a soft shadow around the edge of her...*Skin: E000, E00, 11, 13 & R20, Hair: E50, 51, 31, Outfit: R22, 24, B91, 95, E41, and a little colourless blender!!!

Here are the varying greens I've chosen but by no means do you have to use these as any greens will work, I have a light, medium, darker and the darkest for shadows. The yellow will be the flowers but again any colour which suits your project will work!

I start by colouring my grass area, you can have this any size, maybe a mound, or small grassy verge... I have used YG93 and just coloured... you really don't need to be neat with this bit as it's going to be covered with LOTS of grass!!!

Next colour I've used YG17, now just flick starting at the bottom of your blade of grass flick the pen up, it will naturally tapper for you and try not to go straight up either and few stray directions make a more realistic grassy look!

I have covered the whole base colour with YG17 blades of grass, notice I have flicked a few strand directly over her shoes and trouser hem! This gives a more earthed impression of her standing in the grass instead of on top! You won't want any on the tops of her trousers though (unless the grass is super long and tall).

Right my next colour YG67 is a darker tone of green and this will give depth to the finished look... simply follow the previous grass flicking instruction with this colour, you will not need to cover as much area so you won't cover over the lighter blades. To really ground her I have taken my darkest tone BG96 and dotted around the base of her shoes and continued out a little to create a shadow!

The flowers are so fun... using Y08 dot directly onto the grass, hold the tip there for a little bit, the green will bleed out and the yellow will remain... continue this all over it is a very random colouring!

Don't forget the top of the flowers too, you won't need to hold the tip there this time as there is no colour to move. In fact a very gentle dab will produce a lovely tiny dot.

Ooh finished, just check now if I think there's enough shadow and contrast maybe add a little more to the shadow under her feet. You might have noticed I didn't need to use one of the colours I originally chose.

This is where I will replace the nestability die and blend a little distress ink to the edges.

Here is the image placed on the card front!!!

Supplies: Patterned Paper: Echo Park - Sweet Summertime Collection Kit;

Stamps: SCACD: Go Green; little suzanne(from the last release);

Ink: Memento: black; Copic: markers*; Distress inks: antique linen;

Dies: Spellbinders nestabilties: circles; MS: butterfly punch;

Other: Flat Backed Pearls - 3mm - Golden Yellow; Flat Backed Pearls - 8mm - white; brad; scallop scissors; stitch tracer; 3D foam;

Thanks so much for visiting today, hope you get the chance to be creative with your copics, BiG HuGs Kim :)