Copic Various Inks

Goodmorning Copic fans, today we are looking at Copic Various Inks.  Various Ink refills are part of what make the Copic system truly amazing. All 358 marker colors have a matching bottle of ink. Each bottle will fill a dry marker up to 15 times, depending on the style of marker. Each bottle of ink has a built in dropper tip for simple application. The airtight inner seal prevents the alcohol ink from drying out for many years.  Now while it's true their intended purpose is to refill your markers (Kathy discussed this in the last post),  they are an amazing art supply all by themselves, incredibly versatile and perfect for creating alcohol ink based art projects.  Today we are looking at using Copic Various inks in 2 different ways, allowing you to incorporate more inky fun into your cards, pages, canvas or scrapbooking layouts.

Materials

• Copic Various Inks: V15, BV04, RV19, V06, R35, RV32, Y38, YR04 & YG01
• Copic Colorless Blender
• Copic Multi Liner in 0.3 & 0.5
• X-Press It Mixed Media Journal
• Kirarina Wink Pens - Precious Set 
• Chromacryl Gesso
• Paint Palette, brush & mister

Instructions

Step 1

Begin by preparing a page in your X-Press It Mixed Media Journal with gesso.  If you would like a white background paint the page with white gesso, if you would like a coloured background, then add a few drops of Various Ink to your gesso to create a tint.  Wait for the gesso to dry before moving to step 2.  Painting the page with gesso seals the paper and will allow the Various ink to move around more.  This example uses YG01 and Y38 to tint the gesso.

Step 2

Add one drop of Various Ink onto your background, because the paper has been sealed, the ink will spread and wick forming a circular shape.  This example uses R35 as the first colour.  For larger circles add a second or even a third drop of ink.  One drop goes quite a long way.

Step 3

To create some variation add a single drop of Various Ink - Colorless Blender to the center of each circle.  This will create a paler area in the middle.

Step 4

To create a more interesting looking circle add a single drop of a different colour to the center.  This example uses Y38.  You may notice that a single drop of any colour travels almost the same distance over the gesso!

Step 5

To create smaller circles, add 3 drops of colour and 2 drops of Colorless blender to a plastic surface, mix together and apply using an old paint brush.  Adding a smaller amount of liquid/ink results in a smaller circle!  You can use the brush to create smaller flowers, flower centers or add little drops of colour to the background.

Repeat Steps 2-5 using a variety of Copic Various Ink colours, until you have almost covered your background.  This example uses: V15, BV04, RV19, V06, R35, RV32, Y38 & YR04

Step 6

Add a little Various Ink - Colorless Blender to a small mister and lightly spray the Colorless Blender from a distance of about 15cm over your circles - this will create random spots and create pattern and interest.

Step 7

Use black Copic Multi Liners 0.3 & 0.5 to add a doodled designs and embellish your circles.  I made my circles look like flowers by adding lines to resemble petals.

Step 8

Use Kirarina Wink pens from the Precious Metals set to add touches of pearl and metal to your design - once dry you can draw over the ink with your Copic Multi Liners for extra detail.  I love how these look over the Copic Various Inks - it really brings the page to life.

This is some of the ink pattern and doodling up close - the Various Inks give the most amazing concentrated colour to your projects.

and the finished project looks like this, a little wild and chaotic, but so much fun to create.

So grab your Various Inks and use them on your next project - they're not just great for refilling your markers, but are fabulous all on their own.

Back with more next month,

KatePin It

Mail Art Made Easy with Copics

Hello gorgeous Copic Oz fans, today I'm going to show you how to create a beautiful piece of mail art that's almost too pretty to send!  This is a great way to create custom envelopes and really impress your postie, plus it's a simple way to reuse some of your own art to make something new.  If you don't want to make your own, there are an amazing array of beautiful stencils and masks on the market these days and this technique is versatile enough to look amazing with most of them.

You Will Need:

• Copic markers:  Y06, BV11, B02, BG05 & RV06
• Copic Various Ink: Colorless Blender
• Copic Multi Liners: 0.3 & 0.5
• AtYou Spica: Turquoise, Clear and Pink
• Fab Scraps Stencil: Stars
• X-Press It: Blending Card and Mask It film
• Mini Mister bottle filled with Colorless Blender
• Black acrylic paint or gesso

Instructions

You can watch this being created on our YouTube channel or follow the instructions below.

Step 1: Gather some bright colour Copic markers, your favourite paper and Mask It film.
Fold card to create envelope.

Step 2: Cut a speech bubble shape out of Mask It film and adhere to envelope.

Step 3: Using an Airbrush add BV11

Step 4: Add Y06

Step 5: Then add B02

Step 6: Add RV06

Step 7: Finally add BG05 to cover any remaining white areas.

Step 8: Lay star stencil over envelope and spritz with Colorless Blender, allow to dry.

Step 9: Draw design onto Mask It film (if drawing your own design make sure to

REVERSE it so your design turns out the correct way), cut out and apply to envelope.

Paint over envelope with black gesso or acrylic paint.

Step 10: Allow paint to dry for approximately 2 minutes and then carefully remove mask.

You will notice there are a few areas that need a little smoothing or filling in.

Step 11:  Use Copic Multi Liners and Spica pens to fill in gaps, decorate and address envelope.

Once all the edges are smoothed and a little extra colour added, your unique mail art envelope is complete and will look something like this.

I'd love to see if you create any mail art with your Copic markers, please share your art on the Copic Australia Facebook page.

Back with more soon,
Kate

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Texture for Australia Day

Hello Everyone!  Can you believe January is nearly over --- that means back to school time for Aussie kids and of course AUSTRALIA DAY!  Do you have something special you like to do to celebrate our National Day?  Go to the beach, BBQ with friends, family or neighbours or perhaps you have the Australian Open Tennis or the Tri-Series Cricket in your sights?  I'm sure one thing we all agree on is that the kangaroo is an iconic Aussie animal!  In preparation and celebration for Australia Day, I've been using this sweet CandiBeans image called G'day Izzy to create a textured kangaroo.

I've started by stamping G'day Izzy in Memento Tuxedo Black onto X-press It Blending Card.

Next I've coloured the Kangaroo with E11, E13, E15, E17 for a reddish-brown kanga.  I have coloured her a bit darker as you get better results if the colours are darker.

Note:  Only colour the part of the image that you want to texture!!  If you colour everything you have to be super careful that it's not all textured and we don't want Izzy to have a fuzzy face now do we!!

Take a Colorless Blender Various Ink refill and a piece of old toweling (such as an old washer), add a little blender solution to the washer (but not TOO much!).

Gently dab the damp cloth to the image where you want the texture to be.  Don't hold it there too long or the texture will be much stronger and spread further giving a whole different look - feel free to experiment on a swatch sample, but don't risk it on your image!

If you do happen to leave the cloth on there a tad too long, don't fret; simply colour your image again with your Copic Markers to smooth it out and try again.

NOTE: Colorless Blender Markers and Solution are colour MOVERS, so don't be surprised if some of your colouring happens to move outside the lines after you use this technique.  Simply tidy it up by using your Colorless Blender to push the colour back inside the line.  :)

Finish colouring your image!  I've used mostly Greens and Golds since they are very Australian!  :)
Hat/Stump - E30, E31, E33, E35, Y11, Y15, YR24, G40, G43
Dress/Shoes - Y11, Y15, Y17, YG11, YG13, YG17
Skin - E000, E01, E11
Hair - YR21, E33, E35, YR24
Grass - G40, G43, G46, E11

Make your card and send it to someone and make their Australia Day one to celebrate!

Happy Colouring
Kathy  :) Pin It

Copic Journal Cover

Hi again - today's project has quite a few steps but the results make it completely worthwhile!  Now a few of you may be familiar with the work of amazing  Polish artist Anna Dabrowska - better known as Finnabair, well today I am taking inspiration from Finnabair's unique complex style and creating a cover for my new Copic Journal.

You will need to gather some materials to embellish your journal cover: metal, plastics, embellishments, papers, lace, charms, wood, chipboard - whatever you would like to incorporate onto your design.  I am using my X-Press It Blending Journal, a variety of lace, Chromacryl white acrylic paint, chipboard shapes from FabScraps and a variety of brass charms and paper flowers.

**Normally it is recommended that you apply your Copics first BEFORE paint, pencil or any other mediums, so they won't become clogged. Before you start, you do need to be aware that when using your Copic Markers on some surfaces you need to understand the nib may become blocked by repeated use over paint and you accept that you will need to periodically replace the nib. It is a good idea to have a few Copics that you use ONLY for mixed media work.**

Paint the journal cover with the white Chromacryl acrylic paint - I used 2 coats allowing each to dry before continuing.  Once dry use the fabulous TripleTac glue from X-Press It to adhere your embellishments to the journal cover - allow this to dry thoroughly before continuing.  

This is what mine looks like.

Once dry cover everything with white Chromacryl paint and leave to dry.  You can add a little texture paste for extra interest at this point if you like.

Spray with your favourite sparkly sprays and let dry (this saves a little Copic ink as it adds a base layer of colour, it also adds a little bit of sparkle to the final project).  

Using a Copic airbrush spray BG34 over your cover to colour any light/white areas.

Spray YG25 to about 1/4 of the cover - this can either be randomly or you can choose to colour individual elements.

Still using your airbrush, add V04 to a few places and colour some of the elements eg: flowers or bird - this adds a beautiful contrast to the greens and blues

Add BG49 to darken the colours.

Now this is where things get really interesting!  Using the special properties of Copics and the Copic Blender you can achieve some exciting special effects.  

Before adding any final colours, use a stencil and the X-Press It Clear Gel Glue to apply a design to some of the areas without embellishment.  I also used the Clear Gel Glue to cover some individual elements to highlight them, leave this for several hours or until completely dry.

This results in gorgeous shiny areas (keep reading to see why this is an important step).

Spray BG09 around the edges of the cover - darkening the edges draws your eye to the more colourful area in the centre.  Go ahead and use your airbrush to spray right over the top of the glue design.

Add E47 to the edges and to some of the central designs, again this helps draw the eye.

The final colour E49 is only sprayed on to the very edges, and to the central frame - go ahead and spray this well, getting into all the nooks and crannies.

Use the Copic Blender for the next steps - the special effects!

Using the blender brush tip, remove the excess colour from the top of the gel glue elements (make sure to scribble to colour off your blender in between) - this will reveal the original colour underneath which is paler, creating patterns which POP!

Then use the chisel nib to remove colour from the highest points of some of the textured embellishments eg: frame, bird etc, this will reveal the colour underneath and leave yummy darker colour around it (using this flat nib ensures you only touch the very top of the design - resulting in a beautiful colour contrast - just don't press too hard!).

As a final step flick a little of the Copic Various Blending ink onto your project (I add a few drips onto my fingers and just flick this on) - this will add just a little more texture and interest to the final piece.

 Once all the colour is dry and you have finished removing colour using the Blender your project will look something like this up close, aren't those colours amazing - the Copic ink even blends and layers over paint!

and this is what my finished journal cover looks like....

Products used on this project:

• Copic Markers: BG09, BG34, BG49, V04, YG25, E47, E49 and Colorless Blender
• Copic Air Compressor
• Copic Colorless Blender Various Ink
• X-Press It: Blending Journal, Clear Gel Glue and TripleTac Glue
• Chromacryl White Acrylic Paint
• FabScraps chipboard shapes, lace, watch parts and other embellishments (metal and acrylic)
• Optional - your favourite sparkly spray as a base - for a matt finish omit this

I just love the amazingly vibrant results achieved with the Copics on this project and the special effects achieved with the Blender make it just that bit more special.  I hope this inspires you to have a go at this technique for yourself, I can promise it is loads of fun and the results as you can see are fairly impressive.

I'd love to hear what you think of my journal cover,  I'd also love to see how you've decorated your Copic Journal covers so why not post a photo of your decorated X-Press It Blending Journal over on the Copic Australia Facebook page.

Kate

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