Colour?

Because I have now decided that my letters will be 3D and hand made, I have to now think about how the colour will be applied to each letter. 

The ideas that I have been thinking of are:

Rotoscoping the colour using the timeline,

Analogue, putting it on there by hand and filming.

Although It would be cleaner, and most probably quicker to use a digital method, I have the feeling that this might give the sting a less 'genuine' feel, and that is something that I want to avoid.

So, the option that I have left is to apply the colour by hand. Now, in what way?