Copic Journals

Copic journals - where do I begin??  When people talk about Copic Journals they are often discussing different things without even knowing it, from now on I will be calling mine by the following names:

• Copic Art Journal - a visual art journal or diary in which Copic Markers are used, and
• Copic Colour Journal - which records colour combinations, ideas on colouring, techniques and often a printed chart with purchased/wanted marker colours.

Now these could be combined into the one book but many people (myself included) have a separate book or journal for each of these purposes, mainly because my Copic Art Journal is a tiny bit messy - just a little bit.  Now on to a few examples...

Beginning a Copic Colour Journal
To start your own Copic Colour Journal the following items are essential:

• Copic Markers in assorted colours
• Copic suitable card (my all time favourite is X-Press It Blending Card A5 as it's already cut to perfect journal size and works so beautifully when blending)
• Copic Multi-liners in assorted thicknesses
• Digital or rubber stamps
  

For my Copic Colour Journal I purchased 3 packets of  X-Press It Blending Card (A5 size) and some matt board/book board and took these to the local print shop where I had them bound with spiral binding into a neat little book.  I split the book into sections - colour chart/list, colour combos, colouring ideas (hair, water etc) and lastly techniques.  You can see a few photos of my Copic Colour Journal below, of course you can put anything you like in yours!

 I have several pages with combos for flowers.

 A page listing the colours I have, and those I need.

A quick list of some techniques I've seen used - I should have made this section larger!

 Plus a section at the back for techniques I've created or am working on.

Beginning a Copic Art Journal
I created my Copic Art Journal in just the same way as my Colour Journal, but without any sections. To start your own Copic Art Journal the following items are useful:

• Copic Markers in assorted colours
• Copic suitable card - X-Press It Blending Card
• Copic Multi-liners in assorted thicknesses
• Molotow Paint Marker - these are amazing white paint markers
• AtYou Spica pens in assorted colours
• anything else you like to use - fancy papers, paints, pencils etc.

The rest of this post refers to creating in my Copic Art Journal.  This is one of my art journal pages and this particular page was created and coloured using all Copics.  YES this did take a while to finish and not all of my pages in here are like this, but I wanted to play with my Copics and this is the result.

Copic Colours used on 'K' page:

• N3, N5, N9, Black 100, 
• YR15, YR27, 
• V01, V12, V15, V17, V28
• BG 01, 05, 07, 09, 11, 53, 57
• B 01, 02, 04, 06 18, 21, 23, 24, 37
• YG 03, 05, 07, 17
• AtYou Spica: Lilac, Pink, Clear and Lavender

In my Copic Art Journal I'm not interested in perfect blending, I just want to lay colour down FAST - so I use the following technique to quickly get colour on the page, have it still look blended and get a nice amount of shadow - all achieved as quickly as possible.  This is basically blending colours using 'flicking'.

Draw image using Copic Multiliner pens and choose colour palette.  For my journals I use 2 or 3 colours from a blending family (eg: V15 & V17) and then a marker which is roughly 12 higher on the colour chart in this instance V28 for shadows and depth.

Lay down the mid tone first - V17, starting from darkest edge and 'flicking' towards lightest area.

Add your palest colour - V15, starting from about halfway up the V17 you already coloured and 'flicking' towards the lightest area.

Add your darkest colour - V28, colouring over the previous layer of V17.

Add the second layer of V17 and colour over most of the previous layer of V15 (keep the top edge light and wispy so that some of the V15 peeks through.

Add another layer of V15 - going over the edge of the V17 and flicking further into the centre of the lightest area - this will help to blend the V17 and V15.

Flicking from top down, fill the rest of the lightest area with V15 - keep flicks light and wispy so as not to end up with a flat colour.

I've used this same technique to create all the elements of the 'K' Art Journal page, as this flick colouring technique is relatively quick and gives great blended results, perfect for pages, but you can use this same technique to colour images.

If you look closely at the flower petals, circles or green flower stalk you can see the 'flicks'

I used a little more care on the 'K' as it was a larger area and I wanted to make sure I had a nice graded blend.

Challenges when using Copics in journals

• The markers bleed through the card, so you get colour on the reverse side of page. 
  They sure do, I cover my reverse pages with pretty paper, gesso, cut out images or I just stick another layer of clean paper over the back and keep colouring. 
• They don't perform well in journals with watercolour card or normal (non copic safe) card.
  I remedy this by colouring my image on copic safe card (X-Press It Blending Card) and then gluing my image into my journal.
• Colouring a whole page with Copic Markers uses a lot of ink.
  While this page did take a while to colour and I'm sure it used a bit of ink, not all my pages are 100% coloured with Copic markers, sometimes I only colour my main image, sometimes it's just doodling or colouring text, I often then add spray inks, ink from ink pads, paints, paper, pencil etc - while Copic Markers may not perform well on non copic safe card, all those other yummy mediums perform just fine on X-Press It Blending Card!

I hope this post has cleared up the difference between Copic Art Journals and Copic Colour Journals and maybe even inspired some of you to begin your own journal.  If you already have a Copic Journal (of either sort) we would love to see them.  If you feel like sharing please post a photo of your Copic Journal or favourite page/s onto the Copic Marker Australia Facebook page.

May your day sparkle,
KatePin It

Time to Layer!

Hello Everyone and welcome back to another Copic Oz tutorial!  Today it's all about layering....not layering colour, this time it's cutting and layering parts of images.  When I was a little girl I had paper dolls and I just loved them - doing all of this layering reminds me of those days long gone!  :)

Today I've used Artist Marci by La La Land Crafts and stamped it several times in Memento Tuxedo Black onto X-press It Blending Card.

For the first image, I've coloured only the easel and left Marci blank since I plan on popping her up on foam tape for dimension.

Next I've coloured various pieces on each image.  One has the face, hair, shirt, shorts and legs.  Another the paint jacket and head scarf.  For another one I've coloured the head scarf again because I couldn't decide which colour I preferred and also the paint palette.

Then I cut all the pieces out!

Then I've started layering the pieces - just like creating your own paper doll!  :)

Hmmmm.....maybe the scarf to match the jacket.....

Attach each layer using X-press It High Tack Foam Tape for some fabulous dimension!

And create your card!!

I hope you enjoyed today's tutorial - why not do some layering yourself and leave us a comment so we can see what you create!!!  :)

Happy Colouring!
Kathy

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Copic Backgrounds using Colorless Blender

I'm so excited to share my first post for Copic Oz with you all, my tutorial this week is on creating Copic Backgrounds.  Now any of you who already know me from my blog, know I LOVE backgrounds, I love making them, I love using them, I just love everything about them, so this topic was perfect for me.  My biggest problem was narrowing down what to show you all, there are just so many options, I decided to stick to backgrounds that use the Colorless Blending Fluid in some way - I hope you enjoy these and don't forget we would love to see how you use our ideas, so leave a link to your blog post in the comments section if you have used this technique on something you have created.

Grunge Splatter Background

For this technique you will need several colours of Various Ink, Colorless Blending Fluid, a mini mister, a non-stick craft sheet or waxed baking paper and glossy or coated cardstock.

Drip about 5 drops of each colour (I used V28, V06, V17) onto the craft sheet, making sure the droplets no not touch.

Add a little of the Colorless Blending Fluid to a mini mister, and spritz ink on craft sheet  - this is very important, if you forget to spritz you will end up with 'spots' of intense colour.  Spritzing ensures the colours move and blend a little.

Make sure you only spritz a little, add too much and your colours will be very pale.  As a rough guide - I used 4-5 pumps of the mini mister nozzle.

Place card glossy side down, onto the ink drops, then press down gently with fingers to make sure you have contact.   I like to then drag the card through the ink to pick up the colour.

 Turn card over to check the coverage you have achieved, you may like to leave the white areas, I prefer to keep swiping the card through the remaining ink until most of the white is covered.

 When your card looks something like this you are ready for the final step.

Spritz some of the Colorless Blending Fluid onto the tips of your fingers.

 Then 'flick' the blending fluid onto your card, the more fluid on your fingers the larger the droplets, for finer droplets either flick with more force or use less blending fluid.  I like to have a mix of large and fine droplets.  Wait about 1 minute for the pattern to fully develop before deciding if you want to add any more blending fluid.

I consider my background complete when it looks a bit like this. 

You could die cut this to use on a project, use it as a layer or even stamp directly onto this using an oil based ink pad like Archival ink, to create a simple but stunning card.  This technique can also be used on clear acetate for fabulous results and looks simply beautiful when used as an accent panel.

Now, my next background is fun - heaps of fun and there are so many ways you can adapt this idea, though you will need a Copic Airbrush. I currently use the X-Press It Air Compressor Auto - which I adore, though this technique will also work with any of the Copic Airbrush kits.

Stencil Background using the Copic Airbrush

For this technique you will need several colours of Copic Marker, Colorless Blending Fluid, a mini misting bottle, a Copic Airbrush, a stencil or template and X-Press It Blending Card.

 Start by airbrushing your palest colour (which in this case was YR09) onto the blending card - don't cover the card, just add colour in patches like I have.

Then add your deepest colour (R37) with the air brush, overlapping the colours a little - you should still have some white areas at this point.

Next add an intermediate tone (R17) again overlapping colours, this helps any visible lines or edges disappear.  You should still have a little white.

Finally add a bright, strong colour (RV09) filling in all remaining white areas and use this same colour to blend any lines, patches or edges between the other colours.  I know this is bright, but you will find that the brights and dark colours work best for this technique.

Fill a mini mister with  Colorless Blending Fluid and tape a stencil over your background, make sure your stencil or mask will not move about during this next step.

Carefully spritz the airbrushed card with the blending fluid - very lightly.  You can always go back and add more later, but if the liquid seeps underneath the stencil then your design will be ruined.  Lightly spritz, then wait for a minute to see if more blending fluid is needed, if it is, lightly spritz again.  Very rarely, will you need to spritz a piece more than twice.

 No need to wait, you can carefully remove your template from the card right now - and you will have a wonderful background with a pattern or design all in coordinating colours.

I'm hoping you have as much fun making these backgrounds as I did and that you have enjoyed my first post for Copic Oz.

Kate Pin It

Happy Valentines Day!

Happy Valentines day from the team at Copic Oz! Did you get any special surprises?!

Our friends over at X-Press It have a giveaway on their facebook page! They are giving away 100 X-Press It Glue Markers.

Head over to the X-Press It facebook page, like them, share the post with the same photo as above and leave them a comment telling them about what you love about The X-Press It range. 

You have until 11:59 pm AEST on Sunday Feb 17- Sorry, Australian Residents only- one Glue Marker per household.

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Stamping with Copic

Hello Everyone and welcome back to another Copic Oz Tutorial!  Today I'm going to be talking about stamping with Copic.  Many people think that Copics are for colouring images - which is true, but you can achieve other effects by using them direct to rubber!  Please note that I do say Rubber.....not clear or acrylic stamps - these techniques don't work with clear stamps!  Some people think that you can't do direct to rubber with Copics, but that isn't true!!  You just need to know how to use Copics which are alcohol based compared to the waterbased markers which people are more familiar with using on these techniques.

I've taken a BG18 Copic Sketch Marker and applied the ink direct to the rubber sentiment.  The ink WILL dry on the stamp.....this is normal!  :)  This sentiment stamp is from Butterfly Dreams by JustRite Papercraft.

Water based markers need to you 'huff' on them to reactivate the ink, this obviously won't work with Copics because they are alcohol based.  To 'reactivate' the ink on the stamp you need alcohol, so take your Colourless Blender (0) Marker and dampen an area of X-press It Blending Card big enough to stamp your sentiment on.

Stamp your sentiment onto the area dampened with the Colourless Blender!

You can follow the same procedure to make dual coloured sentiments (or use as many colours as you like)!!  This time I've coloured the word 'Happiness' in V09 and the rest of the sentiment with BG18.  Then once again I've dampened some X-press It Blending Card with the Colourless Blender and stamped the sentiment over the top!  The beauty of this technique is you can always make your sentiment the perfect colour match for any project you are making!

There is another way of using the direct to rubber technique!  This time I've taken the butterfly image stamp from the same stamp set and coloured it with R85, Y38 and N7.  Of course, like the sentiment, the ink has dried on the stamp however instead of dampening the card, I've used a Mist It filled with Colourless Blender Refill Ink to spritz it. 

Stamp the spritzed image onto blending card.  This will give you a softer effect much like a watercolour painting instead of the crisp look of the previous technique.

For a bit of fun I've also created the background for my card with a Copic Resist style technique!

Stamp the butterfly in VersaMark ink over a piece of white X-press It Blending Card and heat emboss with Clear Embossing Powder.  Let this cool before the next step.

I've used V09 and BG18 and an airbrush system to airbrush over the butterfly card.  Buff the excess ink off the embossed parts.  If it's a little stubborn, spritz a little Colourless Blender Refill Ink onto a baby wipe (not too much!!) and you'll see the white card show through the clear embossing powder.

Make sure you clean your stamps with Colourless Blender Refill or rubbing alcohol or hand sanitizer to get your stamps nice and clean for the next time you want to try this technique and don't forget to wipe any excess ink off your markers if they've picked up some colour left on the rubber by simply scribbling your markers onto scrap paper.  :) 

Have some fun creating your own background and using your Copics for Direct to Rubber technique and leave a comment here so we can see what you've made!  We'd love to see what you create!

Enjoy!
Kathy  :)

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