Glamorous Skin and Hair!

Hello Everyone and welcome back to another Copic Oz Tutorial!  Today I'm using this GORGEOUS new Flourishes set called Glamour Girls which is perfect for practicing your skin and hair techniques!  Join me as I walk through step by step how to colour this fabulous girl with your Copic Markers!

Stamp your image in Memento Tuxedo Black onto X-press It Blending Card and then lay down a base colour of E000 for her skin.

 

Next I've decided that the light source is coming from the right hand side and added some shading with E01.

 

Lightly blend with E000 and then deepened the shading with E11.

 

Lightly blend with E01 and then add a little E93, I find this warms her up a little.

Lightly blend with E11 and E01 and E000.  Now I want to deepen that shadow area, which means cooling down the shadow with a darker and usually bluish based colour.  You could use BV00 or BV02, however I've chosen E70 for this image.  You don't need to add a lot, so use a light hand!

You can see she now has more contrast and visual interest.  Lightly blend by using the next lightest colours until you are happy with the result!  At this stage you may think she looks a little dark, but wait until you finish colouring the rest of the image!

Next I'm going to colour her hair, giving her golden brown locks! Lay down a base colour of YR21.

Next add some E33 where the shadows would be, in this case on either side of her curls.

 

Next, deepen the shadows of her hair with E37, you don't need much so remember to have a light hand!

Lightly blend with your previous two colours until you are happy with the results and finish colouring your image in the colours of your choice!  Here's a tip for the hat - did you notice the original stamping was a little patchy?  To fix this, I've coloured in the hat with C7 Copic and voila - now it is perfectly black!  :)

 Then, make your card!  :)

 

I hope you've enjoyed today's tutorial, thanks for visiting and happy colouring!!

Kathy

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Using Molotow Paint Markers with Copic On Journal Page

Hi All -  many Copic users often want to know whether they can use Copics with other mediums – the answer to that is YES (but its important that you understand how to use other mediums so you don’t damage your Copic). One of my favourite mediums is the Molotow One4All Paint Markers.

The One4All is a versatile acrylic based paint marker, which has a highly pigmented, solvent-free, hybrid-paint and just like the Copic Markers they are refillable and the nibs can be replaced.

So a few important things to note when combining your Copic Markers with other mediums, especially paints.  

• The nibs on Copic Markers are porous - this allows the ink to flow out of the nib - this also means that other mediums can be sucked into the nib like a sponge. Particularly harmful to the nibs are acrylic paints, chalky substances and glitter particles.  
• On sealed or glossy surfaces your Copics will appear several shades lighter than they do on paper (as they can't be absorbed) so always choose a colour several shades darker than you would normally use.

To be able to use your Copic Markers with mixed media, you will need to do one of following things:

1.  Apply the Copics first BEFORE paint, pencil or any other mediums, so they won't become clogged.  Works best when only adding small amounts of paint marker.
2. Have a few Copics that you use ONLY for mixed media work, and understand the nib may become blocked by repeated use over paint and you accept that you will need to periodically replace the nib.
3. Apply the Copic marker AFTER all other mediums and AFTER you have sealed the page with a gloss sealant.  This is my favourite, it allows for a translucent glaze of colour and is a lot like working with Copics on acetate.  For hard lines apply colour direct from fine or chisel tip, for softer lines I like to use either my Copic Blender to apply the colour or the brush tip on the marker (layering light next to dark until colour fades away) - think 'fade to white' technique when applying like this.

Now before I show you my Molotow One4All  and Copic journal page, I thought I'd show you a few examples where I have used the Molotow markers with Copic Markers on cards, for those of you who aren't journalers.

Adding the glint of reflective light into the eyes of your Copic Coloured images,
I've used the White 1mm Molotow for this.

Adding reflections to shiny objects ie: Glass, metal, water
I've used the White 1mm Molotow for this.

Stamp Flourishes Orchids stamp onto vellum using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Flip image over and colour reverse side with Molotow Markers (let dry), I used 4mm white and 2mm Grasshopper.
Then flip and colour stamped side using Copic Markers, I used: G48, R81, RV55, Y32 & Y35.
This really makes the image pop on printed or coloured card, and I love the way you can see the background designs through the vellum.

Now for something a little more involved, this is the most beautiful way I know to combine Molotow One4All Paint markers and Copics, while keeping your Copics safe from paint.    I have used:

• Molotow Paint Markers: 201 Lilac Pastel, 010 Lobster, 161 Shock Blue Middle223 Metallic Black, 160 Signal White (extra Fine) & 180 Signal Black (extra fine)
• Copic Markers: E47, Bv13, Copic Colorless Blender, B91, B95 & B99
• Atyou Spica: Clear and Turquoise
• Gloss Varnish or Sealer

Technique

Glue paper, tissue etc onto journal page and coat with Matt Medium, when dry, draw image in pencil.

Apply One4All Paint from 2mm markers in the following method - apply paint directly to image, while wet, smear with finger to create softer effects and translucent layers of colour.  
NB: This won't work on unsealed paper.

Continue to apply colour with this method until the image is coloured to your satisfaction - mine looks like this.

Using 1mm Signal Black Molotow, add detail and outline to the image.

Use 1mm Signal White Molotow marker to add highlights (eg: to the eyes)

Add shading, a hint of glitter with Atyou Spica pens and a quote using Molotow 2mm and 1mm paint markers on the facing page.  Seal with a gloss varnish.

Add Copic Markers over the top of the gloss varnish (this forms a layer like plastic, protecting your markers from whatever is underneath), apply the darker marker first and blend out with either lighter colours of Copic marker or your Colorless Blender.  
Once all my Copic layers have been applied, my finished page looks like this, much deeper colour.

Now it's really difficult to show the amazingly gorgeous glaze effect achieved from the Copic Markers, but I'll try - compare the before and after photos.

Before


After

and closer, you can see each individual layer - even the tissue underneath.  Honestly you will have to try this yourself to see how amazing it looks!

I hope this has given you a few ideas about how you can use your Copics and Molotow paint markers together,

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A Faux Living Card

Hello Everyone!!  Today I have something a little different for you.  How many of you have seen a Living Card?  They are the cards you can buy at a florist complete with a living plant/flowers inside.  They look something like this....

Now I don't know about you, but in my house, plants have a very short life span!  So, I thought, how could we make a FAUX Living Card?  That was it would last for and be enjoyed for a lot longer!  :)

I decided to use the Flourishes' Hollyhocks stamp set and picked out the Copic colours that I thought would work well.  (Hollyhocks is a new stamp set available through X-press Graph-x, contact them for details!!)

I had a look at the image I was planning to colour and stamped it three times in Memento Tuxedo Black onto X-press It Blending Card.

The first image I've coloured the top of the image in full detail.  The bottom I've I've only applied the base colour because this will be covered by other layers.  This way if there are any parts peeking out from underneath the layers it won't be noticeable, but you aren't spending a lot of time or ink colouring it either.

For the second image, I've coloured only the bottom part of the image.

For the third image, I've only coloured small parts that look like they would be in the foreground - for example the flowers that are in front of others.

Next I cut out my three images.  You don't have to cut out your base image, but I had a plan for mine and did so - which is a LOT of fussy cutting!  The second image is all one piece and the third image is in six pieces.  It's really important that you cut the layer pieces close - you don't want those white lines around them!

Add some X-press It High Tac Foam Mounting Tape to the backs of each piece (except your base image).  I like the High Tac because it really holds the pieces where you want them to be.

Take your second image with the foam tape attached and place it over your base piece.  Make sure you line it up well so that you can't see the image underneath!

Then attach all your individual pieces, also on foam tape and carefully attach them, once again covering the image underneath.

So now that your image is full of dimension, how can we make this into a Faux Living Card?

Take a piece of card, scoring it twice in the middle to create a wide spine.  I've made this one to fit the die cuts from Spellbinders Elegant Labels Four dies.  I've cut white with these dies to create a beautiful frame and background for the Hollyhocks.

The sentiment is also from Hollyhocks stamp set and I've cut it out using the die from Spellbinders 5x7 Detailed Scallops, airbrushing the middle using R81 Copic.

And there you are!!  Your very own Faux Living Card, one that will not die and your recipient will treasure forever!

The Copic Colours used in today's Faux Living Card Tutorial are.....

Leaves - G40, G43, G46, G94, C5
Dark Pink Hollyhocks - R81, R83, R85, R89
Purple Hollyhocks - B60, B63, B69, B37
Light Pink Hollyhocks - RV00, RV52, RV55

Hope you've enjoyed today's tutorial! 
Happy Colouring!
Kathy

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Copic Art Journaling #3: Learning to doodle

Hi All - it's my turn to share some more ideas with you all to use in your Copic Art Journal, and this week I'm hoping to inspire you to try your hand at doodling.. 

There are many types of doodling, there is the increasingly popular Zentangling, there is tangling, there is Stentangling, and there are doodles - Phew no wonder people get confused!  Today I am talking about simple doodling, this is often quick, fun and once you begin it's difficult to stop.
Whether you know it or not, most of us doodle without even realising it.  It can be as simple or as fancy as you like, the doodle itself can be the art or it can compliment the art. My job today is to give you some ideas so you can begin to incorporate these little drawings into your Copic Art Journal - or any art.

These are the basics that you will need to begin doodling in your Copic Art Journal:

• Copic Multi-Liners in a variety of sizes and colours 
• Set of Grey Copic Markers either: T0, T1, T3, T5 or N0, N1, N3, N5  for adding shadows
• XPressIt Blending Card or the XPress It Blending Journal
• Rubber stamps with an open design
• Stencils with an open design
• Your imagination!

WHAT TO DOODLE?

What is a doodle anyway?  Wikipedia defines a doodle as:  'an unfocused or unconscious drawing made while a person's attention is otherwise occupied. Doodles are simple drawings that can have concrete representational meaning or may just be abstract shapes.'

But where do you start - what should YOU doodle?  This is a tough one as doodling is very personal, I can tell you I love to doodle circles, lines and floral patterns - but these designs may not be interesting to you.  I sometimes doodle images, other times I just doodle shapes or patterns - it's all doodling.  The easiest thing to do is to look around you, can you see a pattern a shape that you like - then try doodling those or drawing them and doodling within those shapes.  It's much easier to do if you draw something you like.

Here are a few ideas, simple things I doodled with my 0.5 Copic Multi Liner while watching TV, see they don't have to be amazing!  If you need a bit more inspiration you can check out  my 'Doodles' Board over on Pinterest.  To find your doodles try drawing some squares (about 5cm x 5cm) and just draw little doodles within these, then use these on a larger scale.  These simple doodles, look more interesting when viewed as a whole and even better coloured with Copics!  The joy of doodles is that they can be as simple or as complex as you like.

This is where I got really excited about doodling, with a little colour and a bit of confidence, you can easily incorporate your doodling into whatever art or craft you already create, why not doodle on small pieces of card stock and turn these into the main element on a card, or bookmark or even framed art, or doodle designs around your photos on your scrapbook pages.  Once you begin the possibilities are endless.

WHERE AND HOW TO USE DOODLES?

Give these ideas a go.....

Doodle on Stamped Images

Using a Copic safe ink like Memento, stamp your image onto your card or journal.
Add doodle designs with Copic Multi Liners to part or all of your stamped image, here I've doodled designs onto Marci's Kimono to add a pattern.  Whether your image is stamped, collaged or drawn, this is a fun way to add a little whimsy to your art.  Try a doodle hair-do, or doodles on a dress, even a doodle body to draw attention to the focal image.

Use Stencils to create a doodle pattern

Using your Copic Multi Liner (I like Grey or Black) use a stencil to draw a pattern onto your card or journal.   Using the pen of your choice, fill in around the pattern or within the pattern (or both) with doodle designs.    Leave it as is or add colour if desired.   Use your doodled designs to decorate planners and diaries or filing folders.  I can't be the only person who still uses a diary or smash book!  Get to it and start dressing up your dividers with a doodle or two, come to think of it you could apply this to your files for work or home, address books, recipe cards etc.

Doodle Within or Around Letters or Images

Using your Copic Multi Liner draw bold a capital letter (or word) with space inside the letters to add doodling or colour.  Use your favourite supplies to add doodling either within the letters or around the letters, again coloured or uncoloured the choice is yours.  On a more manageable scale, this would make wonderfully fun and personal name tags or place tags for weddings and parties!

Doodle Within Shapes (or get fancy and have the doodle create the shape)

Here are 2 examples of what I mean:
1. Try drawing a heart (or a few) and adding doodling within or around the shape to embellish it, smaller shapes are best with single patterns, larger shapes can handle a few different patterns at once.  Now I chose a heart, you may prefer a flower, a circle, an animal - pick a shape and have a play.  You can use these simple doodles on cards or page backgrounds, and it's all drawn by you - so an original piece of doodle art! 

2.  Draw your heart in pencil and doodle around or within it, then rub out the pencil - your designs create the shape,  I really do love the Copic Multi Liners for this, the coloured ones in particular.   Now just a note here, if you draw over lead pencil with either Copic markers or Copic Multi Liners, then the pencil covered by the Copic will not erase - strange but true.

Doodle Backgrounds

Enhance your art by using doodles and doodle patterns in your backgrounds, a little or a lot it's up to you - just make sure you are using pens which won't bleed if you decide to colour over the top - I love the Copic Multi Liners for just this reason - they are life proof!  When you are feeling a bit more confident, try creating scenery with doodles or using doodles as your art.  Doodles aren't just 'unconscious drawing' anymore - they are now entering the realm of DOODLE ART.  

Face coloured with Copic markers, fine details added with coloured pencils,

 hair coloured with Silks - all doodling created using 0.3 & 0.5 black Copic Multi Liners.

Do you you remember the doodle right from the beginning of this post - the one I drew while watching TV?  This is what I used it for, I added a little stenciling, some gold foil, stamping, black paint and white Molotow marker and turned it into this, even the simplest doodle can turn into something special.

May your day sparkle and happy doodling,
Kate

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