Colouring Light Skin

This week I would like to share with you my Colour Combinations for Colouring Light Skin.

Last week Mandi showed you how to colour Dark Skin and using the same principals of colouring, here are a few of my favourite skin tone shades.There is so many different colour combinations  that you can use , so it really comes down to a matter of choice and likes.

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My tip for the week is to make yourself a Colour Swatch Book and add in all your favourite colour combinations, This will be a handy resource for you to refer back to.

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So lets start colouring.......

                  Step 1. - Take your first lightest colour of the combination of colours you have chosen, in this case I'm using E00 and colour in the whole face area.

                Step 2. - Now taking your medium colour marker E02, come in from the sides of the face where you think the shadows and darker areas would be and feather in towards the middle of the face.

                   Step 3. -   I now like to add my colour to the cheeks by touching my E00 marker to my R20 marker.

     Step 4. - Then taking my lightest marker E00 again, I then blend all the colours. 


I have includes a few samples of  coloured faces showing the different skin tones I like to use. I hope this has helped you , so have fun and remember to experiment and if you find some fabulous colour combinations I would love to see them,

Take care, Debra xxxx

Colouring Dark Skin

So many people ask me in my classes "How do I colour dark skin?" .... followed by "And what is a good colour combination for a darker skin tone?"

Well, the short answer is that I find I colour dark skin the same way that I colour light skin tones!

That is:
Step 1: I like to always start colouring with the lightest colour in my colour combination
Step 2: I then add my next darkest colour to my first
Step 3: I go back to my lightest shade to blend the colours ... and so on.

Where it becomes a little more tricky is what is a great colour combination to use for darker skin.

Here are a few samples that I have coloured using a variety of colour combos...all of which I think work pretty well!

*All colour combos are noted on the side of the CC Design Image.

Here is a really cute little boy that I found and thought that darker skin would suit him perfectly!
For his skin I used E25 + E27 + E29 ... which is my personal favourite combination!

I hope that helps to answer your dark skin tone questions.
You can also check out I Like Markers. Marianne has a really great post on different skin tones!

Happy Colouring .... Mandi xxx

Feathering Technique

Welcome to another tutorial here on the CopicOz Blog!  Today we are looking at the Feathering technique, what it is, why you would want to use it and how to do it!!  Some say this is the trickiest technique that you can do with Copics, but personally this is one of my favourites!

The reason that you would use this technique is if you want to have two colours from different colour families that have to merge into each other.  Imagine the colours of an iris or a pansy - blending the colours from a deep purple into a bright yellow!  This effect is also wonderful for getting the variegating look for fairy wings or dresses. Trying to do this with the blending on paper technique would result in a bit of a mess.  You don't have to only use this technique with different colour families, you can also use it for example to have a deep green blend into a light green for the same wonderful effect!!

Today I'm using this sweet CC Designs Image with Copics Y21 and YG11.  These are two easy colours to use for this technique and if you are struggling with colours while feathering, try picking two lighter colours that end in the same number - in this case they both end in a 1.

To get the best result with your feathering is to use the SIDE of your brush, not the tip and to give a sideways flicking motion like the top image above.  The second one is the way you would normally do a tick (like you were marking an exam) --- this is NOT the way to feather.  Also notice that the flick gets lighter at the end as you lift the marker off the paper.

I've started by using the YG11 Marker and flicking up from the bottom of the dress.  Notice how far I have flicked up!  You will get a much better result if you feather about 2/3rds of the way into the image you wish to colour.  The biggest problem people have with this technique is that they stop in the middle - your colours won't blend properly if they stop in the middle!  Also notice that you are not seeing solid streaky lines because I have not used the tip of the brush!

Next do the same flicking motion using the Y21 marker in the opposite direction and notice that once again I am flicking approximately 2/3rds of the way through the dress.  Keep doing this in both the green and yellow until you get the look you want!

So now we've done two different colours, lets try using two colours from the same colour family.  I've added YG63 to my Rosalie's socks using the same feathering motion that I used on her dress.

Once again I've added the YG11, this time to the top of the socks, creating the feathered look using two quite different greens.  Just remember to feather 2/3rds of the way on the image you're colouring and to use the side of your brush, lifting at the end of the flicking motion and this will help you create a smooth feathering blend.  Have a try yourself and leave a comment with a link to your blog so we can see the creations you make using the Feathering Technique!!!!

Hugs
Kathy  :)

Colouring Embellishments with Copic Markers

Have you ever got to the end of a creation and found you don’t have the right coloured embellishments to match.Nothing you have in your stash seems to match the colour shade you need.

*If that has happened  to you, then you need look no further than your COPIC MARKERS.*

It’s really is amazing what you can colour with Copic Markers, Brads, Ribbon, Pearls, Rhinestones, Thread, Flowers, Plastic, and Lace ….. Just about anything!
 Because Copics are Alcohol based they are permanent on most surfaces therefore making them a wonderful tool to change the colour of anything you want.
Below is a few embellishments I have coloured to show you how easy it is to change the colour and to have the embellishments match my papers. I have included in the pictures the original colour of the embellishments and then the Copic Marker coloured one's.

Copic Colour Markers used were RV09,RV06,RV02 and were coloured using 2 different techniques, the Chisel end of my Copic Marker and the Copic ABS 1( airbrush system used with compressor) to show you how easy it is to create your own!
You will never need to buy coloured embellishments again as I prefer to buy plain embellishments and customize them to suit the project I'm working on at the time.

All of the Flowers below started from White and then where coloured using the Markers above.The  large white silk flower was airbrushed and the smaller flowers have been coloured with the chisel end of the Markers.The rhinestones in the centre were coloured to match my flowers also.

Colouring Metal gives you a Bright and Vibrant Embellishment,- a little trick to remember is when colouring metal always choose a Copic marker a few shades darker then the colour you want.

The embellishments below were coloured using my ABS 1 with Compressor and gave a perfect, flawless colour change.

Metal Buckle

 

Metal Ornate shape

 

 Metal Dragonfly

 White Satin Ribbon-

 Coloured with the Chisel end of my marker straight onto to the white ribbon. You can change the colour of any ribbon as seen below . I used the same RV09 Marker to colour each of them

Beaded Ribbon was coloured using my ABS 1 with Compressor. This gave a fabulous even colouring all over and the results were perfect.

 Here is the Final result- A card using all the embellishments that I coloured above plus a few extras as well, the butterfly and the clear plastic word sentiment.

Thanks for Stopping by and I hope the information above will inspire you to customize your own Embellishments, Debra.xxx   

UNDERSTANDING THE COPIC COLOUR SYSTEM & HOW TO PICK BLENDING COLOURS!

As a Copic user it is so important to understand how the Copic Colour System works, as it forms the basis of all natural blending groups.

A great companion to help you understand the system and correctly pick your colours is the Copic Colour Wheel. You can download your own copy HERE!

Now lets see how it works! Lets take B95 as an example!

Each marker has Letters and Numbers on it .... this is what they mean!

So to pick colours that will blend well together it is best to keep the Colour Family/Letter, and the first digit the same. Then vary the last digit by 2-5 numbers!

Enter The Colour Wheel!

If we find B95 on the wheel and move along the same band on the wheel we can clearly see that the highlight for B95 is B93 and the shadow colour is B97. So now we know that B93, B95 and B97 will blend together perfectly.

You can also add more colours to make your blend smoother eg B91, B93, B95, B97, B99...just as I have used in my card of this beautiful CC Design Swiss Pixie Gretel.


So remember, for seamless blending, pick the colour you want to use, find it on the colour wheel, move around the same band on the wheel to find it's natural blending families!

Now you try it...and show me what you have blended!

Happy Colouring...Mandi xxx