HAPPY NEW YEAR PEEPS!! Its 2015 and I already feel lazy XD. To celebrate the new year, I've coloured a couple of butterflies with the new year numbers. Here are the steps.
Draw the numbers on the butterfly wings. Use a 2B pencil to trace the
outlines of the numbers. Make it as large as possible so that colouring
them is easier later. 
Final view of the butterflies before colouring.
To make it stand out, I chosen dark colours, so that the contrast in colours is more pronounced and beautiful. The colours I chose are black, blue and purple. 
Start by colouring the edges of the wings black. Make sure to have some form of protection for your table surface, such as newspaper. Here, I'm using an old rag as cover.
Next, dip a different brush (if you have one) in blue. If you do not have a different brush, make sure the black coloured brush you are using has been thoroughly cleaned. Colour the inner edges of the wings on the border, but NOT touching the numbers.
Similarly, repeat the steps using the purple colour. Remember to use a clean brush. Colour right to the edges of the numbers, but do not colour the number itself.
Your work should look something like this at the 1/2 way point.
Next, colour the numbers using a bright colour. I chose to use lime green as the colour for the numbers. Using a clean brush, fill in the blank spaces. Be careful not to let the purple and green colours touch each other. Its ok to leave a small blank space in between. It will be filled in later with a "special effect" :D
Using a wet brush (wet only, no colour on it), "draw" the green paint away from the centre towards the purple parts of the wing. This makes the butterfly look more natural and less like a man made product. It also gives your butterfly an "edgy" look.
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Here are both the butterflies done with a layer of shellac sprayed onto them.
HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! Keep watch for my next big project, the Koi fish from Avatar : The Last Airbender.
