Testing Papers for Blending

When colouring with Copic Markers, it is important to consider which type of paper to use.  Just as the type of ink can make an impact on your project, so too can paper. You can colour on different types of paper, however you will get vastly different results so it's always good to test your papers before you work on your final project.

Materials
Copic Markers
Copic Multiliner
X-press It Blending Card
Computer Paper
Glossy Photo Paper
Vellum

Step 1 - Testing X-press It Blending Card
Draw a circle with Copic Multiliner and colour in B00 (or the lighter of two blending colours). A good paper should not have any colour moving outside of the lines.

Step 2 - Testing X-press It Blending Card
Flick B02 inwards from one side of the circle (or the darker of two blending colours)

Step 3 - Testing X-press It Blending Card
Where the two colours meet, lightly blend with B00 (or the lighter of two blending colours). A good paper should allow the colours to blend easily together.

Step 4 - Testing X-press It Blending Card
Place the chisel end of the Colourless Blender (0) in the centre of your circle for a few seconds. The result should be a rectangular shape that shows that the colour is moving and look lighter than its surrounds.

Step 5 - Testing Vellum
Vellum is a non-absorbent paper, the colours will look much lighter when applied. The colours will also lift off when changing colours so be careful and scribble excess colour off your nibs. The Colourless Blender will completely remove the colour underneath rather than move the colour.

Step 6 - Testing Glossy Photo Paper
Glossy Photo Paper is also non-absorbent, although the colours look darker than on vellum. Colours will not blend as well as an absorbent paper and the Colourless Blender does not work very effectively.

Step 7 - Testing Computer Paper
Computer Paper is a thin absorbent paper and after laying down the colours, you may find ink seeping outside the lines as this paper oversoaks quickly. Use a lighter hand when colouring on Computer Paper.


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Testing Inks

When creating a project with Copic, one of the most important things to consider is the type of ink you use for your line work. Because there are so many ink formulations, it is always a good idea to test your ink before you commit to using it on a project.

Materials
Copic Marker
Copic Multiliner
Ballpoint Pen
Memento Ink
StazOn Ink
X-press It Blending Card

Step 1 - Testing Copic Multiliners:
Draw a line with a Copic Multiliner onto X-press It Blending Card and place a light coloured Copic Marker next to, but not on, the line.

Step 2 - Testing Copic Multiliners:

Over soak the paper and make the Copic ink move over the line drawn with a Multiliner. A good ink, like the Copic Multiliner will not move or bleed.

Step 3 - Testing Ball Point Pens:
Repeat the first two steps using a bad ink, such as a ballpoint pen, will move when using the testing ink steps as outlined above.

Step 4 - Testing Memento Ink: 

When stamping, or using another ink type, use the same procedure. Stamp the image, place the Copic Marker next to, but not on the line and oversoak the paper. Memento Ink as used in this picture will not move and therefore is a good ink to use with Copic Markers.

Stamped Image by Power Poppy

Step 5 Testing Stayzon Ink: 

Stamp an image in Stazon Ink and oversoak the paper following the above steps. This will result in the ink moving. StazOn Ink is a solvent ink and is not suitable to use with Copic Markers as they are alcohol ink.

Stamped Image by Power Poppy.

Post by Kathy Jones

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Going Green!

Hello Everyone!! Today's tutorial is looking at greens - in particular colouring leaves! Anyone who has followed my work would know how much I love colouring floral images, so of course leaves are an essential piece of this. So let's have a look and see how today's image came together......

Start by stamping your image - I've used Simply Camellias by Power Poppy - in Memento Tuxedo Black onto X-press It Blending Card.

In the Copic family there is a huge selection of greens to choose!  Whether you want soft spring greens, deep greens, bold and bright greens or muted grey-greens, you will find a great combination to suit your project.  Today I've used what would probably be my favourite green combination - G40, G43, G46, G99.  I just love the hues of this combo!

Lay down the base colour of G40.....

Then add some detail using the next darkest colour, in this case G43, particularly along the veins of the leaves......

Deepen the shadow areas with G46 (make sure you get on the underside of the leaves that would be blocked from the light)......

Go back with your next lightest colour (G43) and flick out from where you've added the G46.....

Then lightly go back with G40 (your lightest colour) over the edges of your previously coloured parts.  You don't have to colour over the entire leaf, the parts that you leave will stay light which will give you more contrast and interest.  You can repeat these last two steps until you are happy with the result.

When you blend with your lighter colours, you sometimes loose the depth from your darkest colour, so go back to add the contrast - I like to use G99 to really add some interest.

Then to make your leaves look a little less 'perfect' add a touch of E21 to parts of the leaves (it doesn't have to be much).  I really like the effect this gives.

Finish colouring your image in your preferred colours!!

I've used......
Flower - R00, R11, R12, R14, Y17
Bowl - C1, B0000, B000
Leaves - G40, G43, G46, G99, E21

Create your card!  You can find more details about how I made the card itself on my blog.

Hope you've enjoyed today's tutorial and you're inspired to colour some beautiful foliage yourself!!
Happy colouring
Kathy

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Saturated Canary Hair Tutorial

Hello Everyone!  Welcome back to another Copic Oz tutorial!  Today I'm colouring this super cute Saturated Canary image called Little Loves and focusing on colouring her hair.  There are many ways to colour hair and an infinite number of Copic colour combos that you can use.  Some images have lots of lines to follow to guide you to where shading should be, others have wide open spaces for you to play in.  Some people blend the hair so it's flatter and others use lots of fine details to give a more textured appearance.  So lets have a look at what I've done with Little Loves for this tutorial.

Stamp the image in Memento ink onto X-press It Blending Card (I've used Tuxedo Black)

Have a look at your image and see where the shadows/highlights would be, for example, hair is always darker at the parts/crown of the hair, on the underside of the hair close to the head, on the inside of plats and underside of curls.  Look at the curve of the hair and follow the lines when you colour.  Here I've used another image to show the direction I'm going to add the colours.

Add your lightest colour, flicking it in.  (For more information on flicking/feathering and using the tips of your markers, check out THIS Tutorial.)  I've used E11 for my base colour.

Next add your next darkest colour - in this case E13 and follow the lines of the colour you've already laid down, just don't go quite as far as you did with the first layer.  Use the tip of your maker when you flick, you should have a finer line which ends in a point.

Add your next darkest colour - in this case E15.  Once again use your tips to flick, following the lines of the colours already laid down, just not as far as the previous colour.

Then use your darkest colour - here I've used E18, flicking in using the tips and not going as far as the previous colour.

Now we are going to go over the lines again, but going lighter.  Here I'm using E15 over the E18 and dragging the colour out still using the tips.  With hair, you don't follow the traditional blending, rather adding many layers of colour of the other for a textured appearance.

Again, use the next lightest colour (here E13) to go over the previous colour and drag those lines out.

Use your lightest colour (here E11) to go over the previous colour and fill in those spaces.  You can leave white space for your highlights to add interest and contrast.

Sometimes you'll lose some of the contrast from the darkest colour after adding all the extra layers, so just go back and darken those areas until you are happy with the result.

Finish colouring your image in your preferred colours!

Hair - E11, E13, E15, E18

Skin - E000, E00, E01, E04, E11, E21, R20

Dress/Eyes - G20, G21, G94, G99

Lips - R20, R22

Butterfly - YR00, YR12, YR16, YR18

 Why not try different colour combinations and have some fun!  Make some cards or projects, or simply make it into a resource for your technique journal!

Hope you've enjoyed today's tutorial!  Happy Colouring!Pin It

Lunch Notes

Hello Everyone and welcome back to another Copic Oz tutorial!  If you've been browsing around Pinterest, you may have come across handmade Lunch Notes - little messages for your kids when they open their lunch boxes (or perhaps your hubby??).  Since I have 3 kids of my own and two still in Primary School (I've been told by the High Schooler, under NO circumstances am I to slip one of these in his lunch box) that I would have a go making these myself!

I've grabbed the Sassy Succulents stamp set by Power Poppy, a Memento Ink Pad, X-press It Mask It and X-press It Blending Card.

I wanted to overlay the images and Mask It is perfect for the task!  A great way to create a mask that you can use over and over is to stamp the image you want to mask onto X-press It Blending Card, then remove the backing sheet and place the Mask It over the top.

While the Mask It is over the top, use a pair of sharp scissors to fussy cut very close to the edges.

Next stamp the same image onto another piece of Blending Card and then peel off the Mask It shape and place it over the top.

Ink up the other stamp you want to use and stamp it over the top of the Mask It covered image.

Peel off the Mask It to reveal the images.

Colour your image!  I've used a variety of colours......
Large Cactus - G12, G24, G28
Large Pot - E93, E95, E97, E99
Small Cactus - YG21, YG93, YG97
Small Pot - B00, B12, E93
Pebbles - C1, C3, YG93, E93, 0

Why not use the tips in last month's tutorial about shadows and note how the pot in front has left a cast shadow on the one behind!

 Cut the card to size and either write a message to your sweetie or use a suitable sentiment stamp.  I really like this sentiment in the Sassy Succulents set and thought it would be perfect to remind a child that they are perfect the way they are!  You could simply mat this with a piece of coloured cardstock, but if you can frame it with a pretty diecut.....why not use it!

I hope you've enjoyed today's tutorial and why not surprise those you love and leave them a little message in their lunches - I bet you'll make their day!

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Let's Talk Shadows

Hello Everyone and welcome to another Copic Oz Tutorial!  Today I thought we'd have a look at shadows, in particular Cast Shadows!  What are Cast Shadows?  Cast Shadows are the crisp, non-blended shadows that occur when an object blocks the light source.  These shadows are like shape it comes from - for example, walk outside on a bright sunny day and look for your shadow.....this is your cast shadow!  These shadows are darkest near the object and lighten as it moves further away.

Let's have a look at creating cast shadows.  Stamp an image that you like!  I have used Power Poppy's Lavender stamp set and stamped the bucket of lavender several times to make a sample sheet.  (You could also do this in your sample book/X-press It Blending Journal and keep it for future reference!)

First step before you start to colour is to decide on where your light source is coming from!  An easy way to do this is to draw some lines on a piece of acetate and lay it over your image.  Remember the angle doesn't have to be sharp or high.

Once I've decided on where my light source is coming from I've coloured the first bucket.  For this image I've made the light source come from the front side and used Copic E93, E95, E97, E99, E19 to colour the bucket.

Change the light source for each image and colour them all!

Now imagine that if the light is coming from one side and the bucket is blocking the light to create a cast shadow, then the shadow will fall on the opposite side.  A lot of people like to colour images with a front/centre light source (see the first bucket), however you really won't see the shadow from that angle as it will fall directly behind and out of view of the reader.  Also note that if the shadow is high over head then the shadow will be shorter, if the light source is lower, you'll get a longer shadow.  Once again, think of walking outside, in the middle of the day your shadow is very close to your feet, later in the day it will stretch out in front or behind you.

Colour all your shadows paying attention to your light source.

I hope you've enjoyed today's tutorial and have some fun creating cast shadows on your own creative projects.  Why not leave a comment on this post with a link?  We'd love to see what you create!!

Happy Colouring!
Kathy  :)Pin It