Adding details with multiliners

Coloring a Bug
A few weeks ago I had a chance to color a few projects, one of which was the Medusa which I already showed you. The other project I finished was this giant Green Nymph Stick Insect illustration I drew.

The real bug belongs to someone here in our offices, and as soon as he showed it to me, I told him I wanted to draw it. (This post is getting an advanced label because of all the colors and details I drew in.)

I started by looking at the original photo and drawing it in pencil, then inking over it with a 0.1 mm multiliner. Then I photocopied the outline onto our nice, Sketchbook paper (full sheets that are not bound in a book are from our new Art Paper Pack).


The photograph is pretty dull, and I figured  it wouldn't hurt to brighten up the colors a bit, so I chose to color it with a base of YG01. Then, I layered on YG03 and YG61, looking at the color placement on the photograph. However, the photo looks like a dry, dead bug, and I wanted this bug to look a bit more alive, so I rounded my blending a bit more to make it look less flat.

To dull the colors slightly I added whisks of YG91, and deepened shadows with G94, G17, and G28. To really darken shadow areas, I pulled in E49 in the darkest shadow areas.

You'll notice the bottom wings are a slightly different color. I colored those wings with a base of E70 and hints of E74.  I smoothed it out with E21, and added the lighter greens to the wingtips.


The darker, orange/browns you see in the veins and on the little spikey bits, I colored with YR27.To make the wings look a bit more transparent, I used the colorless blender to fade them out, and wash out the colors a bit.

Then, although it doesn't show up as well in the original photo, I wanted the wings to look even more transparent, so I lightly drew in where the legs would be, if they were visible. I kept these colors lighter than the greens I used on the legs, and I made the edges soft so it really looks like they are peeking through the wings.

At this point, I really like how the bug is coming along.  To keep my colors consistent on the legs, I colored each pair individually, instead of coloring all 6 legs at the same time.

In the photo, the two large back legs have a totally different tonal quality, but I chose to color them more balanced, just changing the lighting on each leg slightly. Then they match better.

Here is a photo of the stack of colors I used for coloring the bug. Because I drew the bug so large, I have plenty of room to use all these beautiful colors. I love having lots of room for tiny details!

Adding detail with a gray multiliner
The last detail that I really wanted to work in were the beautiful veins on each wing. I didn't want to draw them in with a black pen, as that would have overwhelmed the drawing. But, I also needed to draw them in something that wouldn't run, should I decide later to add more marker details. That ruled out colored pencils. So, I worked with one of our new Warm Gray multiliners.

You can see in this close up how detailed I can get with the 0.1mm Warm gray. I love it! It doesn't overwhelm the colors underneath, merely accents it. On the top wings, where I colored it the lightest, I added fewer veins, I more gave it the suggestion of veins. This heightens the feel of a highlight.

Here is the final bug, complete with Opaque White highlights added to the wings for details (Opaque white with the super-fine brush). I hope you enjoyed this illustration process and got some ideas for your own work.

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving Week!

Helpful Color Chart

Isolating Colors Chart
I hope you are having a great week! I was coloring a tutorial image for Tracing Memories outline, and I realized that a trick I use with attendees should probably be added to my blog.

An old trick artists use when they want to figure out what color something is, they isolate that color by looking through a card with a hole cut out of it. Then they can compare that one spot with the colors they are working with.

I know some people have taken their large Copic color charts and done something similar so they could identify color matches, by punching a small hole in each swatch. But, those charts are kinda small, and I don't have a long-arm small hole-punch. So, I made a special color chart that I wanted to share.

To make this easier for the class I'm working with, I created this helpful chart for 36 colors per half-page (72 colors per printout). This is set up so that you can punch the holes with a standard, single hole-punch.

To use this chart, right-click on the image and download it. Then, simply print it on your favorite marker paper and color in each rectangle with the colors you have. Write the color number next to it. Punch each hole. Then, line up the colored page with the area you are trying to color-match.

As you can see from this close-up of the dog photo, the grass is somewhere between G28 and G99. So, when I go to color, I will use a mix of those two colors. I actually want the grass a little lighter, so I threw some G24 into the picture first, then scribbled in G28 and G99.

For the lighter gray on the dog, my color guide told me that C2 is a good match. This is a really handy quick reference, especially if you have a hard time matching colors to the Copic color spectrum, or if you only have a limited range of colors and have a hard time figuring out which will match the best.

Here is the finished picture. I colored him with G24, G28, G99, YG11, YG13, YG17, G02, E33, E27, E49, 100, C2, C5, R85, and B41. instead of worrying about keeping the daisies white while coloring, I went back after I was done coloring and added them back in using Copic Opaque White. The original photo was taken by Chelsea Lowery, of her big dog, Rupert. He's such a cutie!

Texture Techniques, Part 2, Sweater

Textured Sweater
I hope everyone had a good weekend. I wanted to share part 2 and 3 of the sweater cat post from last Friday. If you haven't downloaded it and colored it yet, please do, and practice along!

This next step is all about technique. Many of the techniques I use depend on how I am holding my marker.

I started with the same base color of G12 that I worked with on Friday's examples. For coloring large areas like the base green, I work with the brush end of the marker, coloring using the side of the brush.

Next, I add details in the shadows, using my slightly darker green, YG17. For these details, I hold the marker straight up and down, using only the finest tip of the nib. When you push straight down, you will get dots of varying sizes (see diagram). Don't worry about damaging the nib, it will bounce right back to shape.

Use the very tip of the marker and scribble in the texture, leaving plenty of areas that are not blended. Go ahead and add some dots of color as well.

As you can see from this close up, my scribbling is very irregular, but, it goes from darker and dense, to light and sparse. This is the technique you need to practice: Scribbling in shadows that appear to get lighter and darker, simply by how much ink you add.

Notice that on the lighter end, instead of scribbles I move more to individual dots. This color is layered over a lighter color on the cat's sweater, so those dots floating in open space won't look as strange.

On the original cat image, you will see that I give the suggestion of where to put the shadows through the dots that are already drawn in. For simplicity, the light is above the cat, so you are adding shadows on the underside of the image.

If you want softer color variation, work while the base color is wet and the two colors will soften together a bit more. If you want stronger contrast, work while the base color is dry. On the ribbed edges of the sweater, I did not scribble, rather, I colored in the direction of the ribbing.

Next, I add a darker layer of green scribbles/dots. NO BLENDING! Resist the urge to go back and blend the colors together.

Here I added G28 as my darker green. I use a lot less dark green, and I make sure that plenty of the lighter green shows through. Again, on the ribbing, color smoothly, in the direction of the ribbing grain. We are only adding the dotted sweater texture to the main area of the sweater.

Look closely at my pattern diagram in the corner. I am adding so little dark that I never really scribble, I simply dot it in, over the top of the middle green, again, getting lighter as you work into the highlights on the sweater.

At this point, you can make a decision- too much or too little texture? If you feel that the texture is too harsh, then you can add more texture to blend.

To soften edges without blending, take your lightest color, in this case G12, and heavily dot it over the entire sweater. Do NOT color in circles and blend, as this would destroy all your careful texture. All we want to do is soften edges. By dotting on the lightest color, it softens a little bit, without washing out the full texture.

Look closely at this final sweater sample. Compare the before and after. You need to make sure that the dots are really juicy for it to move colors around.

This is also a time when you can add a subtle tone of another color. For instance, you are trying to match a particular green paper with your coloring. However, the sweater needs to be a hint more gray or yellow green. At this point, dot in some of whatever color it needs, be it a pale gray or a more yellow.

Here is the final sweater, colored with texture, instead of using the colorless blender to add texture. Later I'll show you a method for coloring the fur with texture as well.
 

Matching Coloring

I was making a stack of thank you cards, and I had a wonderful polka-dot green paper that I really wanted to use. However, I also wanted to use a cute teddy-bear image, and I wanted to keep the bear brown.

Today I wanted to step you through my coloring process to find the matching colors to make my project work.

Finding Colors that match
The first problem I had was that my patterned paper did not have an exact color match with any Copic colors on my hand-drawn chart. I found that it was very close to BG72, but it needed to be a hair brighter, not lighter, simply more vibrant. To accomplish this, I chose another color that was very close to the paper tone, G12. G12 is a brighter, light green. As a base to the BG72 it would help pull down the grayness, but still retain the greenish cast that I needed.

When you are having trouble finding an exact color match, try the closed color, and see what it needs to change it. If it is too dull, layer a more vibrant tone. If your color needs more yellow, don't reach for a bright yellow, try a base of a subtle, but close yellow. Many times it will take two or even three colors blended to make the right mix.

I was going to be printing the sentiment, so I chose that color a little differently. I pulled out a color chart that I had printed from the same printer. I matched the patterned paper to the closest color from my printout, then I chose that color as my text color.

Matching the Bear
I really wanted a brown bear, and have the turquoise as my accent color. I like to work with one dominant color and two accent colors.

My other challenge, was that I had to make a few of these cards, so I wanted to keep the color spectrum simple, and one that I could easily color a bunch of without taking too much time. I like challenging myself by working with a simple color palette, and an image like this bear does not need a whole lot of colors.



I wanted a fairly neutral brown, so I decided to work with the E30/E40's families. I started with a base of E30.

Then, I blended in E44. Those are the only two browns I used on the bear. After I had blended in the E44, I let the bear dry thoroughly, and I went back and darkened the deepest shadows with the E44. I added the cast shadows on his arms, on his legs, and from the flower. These needed to be crisp on the edges, and for crisp edges, let your base colors dry.

However, these colors were flat, and did not match my paper or chosen accent colors at all. So, my next step was to pull out the G12 I liked. I lightly brushed the G12 over the brown bear, starting in the shadows and feathering over the light areas. I did not blend. Here it may look kind of odd, but remember, this bear will be sitting on greenish paper.

In real life, if this teddy bear were actually sitting on the greenish patterned paper, then any light that hit the green paper would reflect back onto his fur, with a bit of a greenish tone to it. Lightly adding the G12 allows me to pull the bear into the background a bit more, and suggests reflected light from the paper.


Last, I colored the patches with a base of G12 and BG72 for the shadows. The flower is colored with E04 and the E44.

Not shown: I used a gold Spica glitter pen to add my darkest shadows on the brown fur areas, and a silver glitter pen along the edges of the turquoise

I added extra reflection on his nose and the flower with a dab of Copic Opaque White.

Here are the final, very simple cards. Look at how the green, while strange on the bear by itself, now pulls the bear into the paper nicely.
















I think the cards are done. I may add a small accent under each sentiment, but at this point I am happy stopping. Now I get the fun of writing some thank yous!

Note that I only used 5 colors: E30, E44, E04, G12, and BG72. Accent with Opaque white, and two glitter pens. Now that is an easy image! Coloring didn't take very long, maybe 5 min. per image... which is what you want when making many cards. Paper is from Recollections Charming Paper Pad. I drew the bear with a 0.1mm Multiliner, then scanned it and printed it as needed. The bear is popped up with our X-press It Foam tape. I used Neenah Classic crest cardstock as a base, since it is slightly warmer than the Blending Card I usually color on for card projects.

Spring Pink Flamingo

Happy Springtime!
The other day my husband was joking about putting out a pink flamingo among our bulbs that are starting to sprout. While I didn't want one in my yard, it got me to thinking about drawing one, so today I am giving you your very own free digi pink flamingo, and some tips about coloring it.

Please enjoy this image for your own personal use, and not for publication. You are welcome to upload finished images to the Copic Facebook page :)

Green and Blue
This image has a beautiful row of tulips, and a lot of blue sky visible between the flowers. However, many of you who know me know that I am impatient and always looking for a faster/easier way of coloring. I wanted the sky to fade behind the flowers, but I didn't want to take the time to be picky about coloring the sky perfectly.

Many of you, in coloring this image, might start by coloring the leaves with YG05, as shown in A. However, that would be tedious once I went in and tried to blend out my pale blue sky.

So, I started by coloring the sky, as shown in figure B. I colored with my BG10 and blended it all pretty with my colorless blender, without worrying about the leaves, since there is blue in green. The BG10 is so pale I knew that it wouldn't really affect the bright green that will go over it. See how much quicker coloring is, once I didn't worry about the leaves? I tried to keep the bulb tops white, as those will be pink and the BG10 would not make the pink look as pretty.

Next, I colored my basic flat colors. I started with RV52 for my base pinks, YG05 for the leaves, N7 for the black beak, and E13 with E44 spotted on for the ground.

Then, I went back and added my first level of blending. What a difference it makes! I added RV55 to all the light pink areas. Then, I added YG63 to the vibrant green.

For my final layer of contrast, I added RV66 to the pinks, and a hint of Opaque white to the highlights on the plastic flamingo. I darkened the contrast on the leaves with G46. I also dotted in a few more spots of color into the ground with YG61 and some more E44.

Overall, a very simple image, and coloring was really quick (scanning and writing the tutorial took a lot longer than coloring the image!) I hope you have as fun and easy a time coloring it as I did.

On Thursday I have a great announcement, so stay tuned!

New 12 colors artwork

I promised last week when I posted the new 12 colors that I would show the artwork I drew for the new colors. I just finished coloring it, so I figured I would share, before I forget which colors I used.

Drawing the Marker Set
For this illustration, I was having a hard time getting the angles right on the marker set, so I created a guide in Adobe Illustrator to draw from. On something angular like a set of markers, this works well.

I don't like using rulers when I draw, since the computer does it better anyways, so rather than sketching this by hand and messing with a ruler or straight edge, I drew it all on the computer, scaled it to the size I needed, then used this as the base for my drawing.

I sketched it with my light table, using a o.o3mm multiliner onto nice paper. Then I scanned the drawing in and cleaned up the lines slightly. I printed it out onto thin, nice paper. I prefer coloring larger pictures on thin paper, as it uses less ink. This final artwork is about 7"x7"
I colored the final with T2, T4, T6, BG93, BG90, BG58, B000, B00, E81, E84, E89, E04, R56, V20, V22, V25, BV35, RV52, G43, G46, YR30, YR27.

For those of you who are starting to notice shadows, pay attention to the B00 and BG93 that I threw into the shadows. I did this to liven up the shadows and liven up the artwork. Note that I also added YR30 and B00 into the highlights. I added the rough sketchy lines in the background to liven those areas up as well. You probably don't notice much of this at first, but it helps to add variety to the whole. I did very little blending on this illustration, except for the purple/gray marker label, and even then I tried to keep it sketchy.

Again, new colors should be available in February, so get ready!

New Year Rabbits

2011 is the Year of the Rabbit, and so I wanted to share with you a piece of art that I made to celebrate the New Year.
New Year Rabbits
At first glance you may think "No way could I color that image! It's way too complex!" I beg to differ. You could color this image, you just have to work at it, piece by piece, rather than getting overwhelmed by the whole. Someone once said, the way to eat an elephant is one bite at a time. So, let's look at the rabbits, and tackle them, step by step.

When coloring a tricky image that you might mess up on, color the hardest part first. That way, if you really mess up, you won't have to go back and color the rest of the picture again. Remember, the only thing you're wasting is a piece of paper, so don't be afraid to experiment!

I started by drawing lightly with a pencil the main scene, then I traced the pencil work with Copic Multiliners using a TracePad light table. I photocopied the line work so I could color it many different ways. Here is one of my colored versions. I used about 30 different markers on this illustration, which I forgot to write down, but I will mention as many colors as I remember. Also, I did not take step-by-step scans as I went along, so I'm just going to explain how I colored each section. Click on the image to enlarge it.

Here is my cute little rabbit family, waiting under the umbrella during a shower of blossoms.

There are a few details I want you to notice. On the rabbits, you can see that I used a Warm gray color range, however, I accented this with a hint of E31 in the shadows. The Copic warm grays are very brownish, and throwing in a hint of a very pale brown really brings out the brown tones even more.

Scribbling texture
I started by laying my W0 and W1 over all the brown areas, then scribbled in the darker tones. Scribbling gave me the slight furry texture, without having to worry about using a rag soaked in blender and messing up the background area. When I had finished adding darker colors, I went back and scribbled in with the light color. This subtly washed the tones together, making them softer and less harsh.

This scribbling is the same process I used on the bushes in the background, and also on the umbrella (discussed below). The ground was simply the same tones used in the rabbits dotted onto the pebbled path. The rocks were scribbled mostly with cool grays, then I dabbed on my blender to add texture.

To get the white tail and bellies on the rabbits to stand out more, I shaded them with Cool Grays. Notice how white the little bunny's tail looks, even though it is in the shadow and is colored gray. Then I threw in a hint of RV00 and RV21 to the ears.

Umbrella
The most tricky area on this image was actually NOT the bunnies, they are merely the focal point. The trickiest area is the shading on the umbrella. I can't tell you how many times I went over the umbrella to get the shadows correct.

When working on shadows, start light! I would carefully layer colors darker and darker to finally build up the tone I wanted. I had to be careful not to go too dark, as I didn't want to lose the color of the umbrella.

I used a wide range of V's, BV's and grays to build up the tone on the umbrella. Then, I used the same brown and gray families from the bunnies to color the wood on the umbrella. I used a gray multiliner to scribble a pattern onto the umbrella, then I dotted on pale blues, yellows, greens, and browns. From a distance, this looks like a complex pattern, but up close, you can see that it really is just scribbles and dots. The reason I used the gray multiliner was because it would remain crisp, no matter which colors I layered over the top.

Choices in shading
Notice the shadow on the ground. Where the shadow is close to objects- like the bunnies or the handle, I made it crisp and dark. However, I did not want the focus to go to my shadows, so I trailed them off, and faded them. This gives the illusion of bright sunlight (crisp dark shadows) but the viewer is not distracted by too much shadow. This was my own artistic choice, where I followed rules of shadows...up to a point. Then I chose to ignore them for the sake of my work.

Last, I picked out the highlights on the eyes and made the handle of the umbrella shiny with some Opaque white and a very fine paintbrush. My finished work is about 9" by 6 1/2" and took a couple hours to color.

Feather Blending, again

I had a great time at the Manga demo in Portland this weekend, and I had a chance to color this wizard picture I had drawn years ago. It's always fun to re-visit old images and color them with fresh eyes. I like this version a lot better than the version I colored oh so long ago.

Just to give you an idea of scale, these large manga pieces that I occasionally show are full-page sized, they are not small pictures, and are made for my example book. If you ever meet me at a show, bug me to let you look through my example books- it's fun to see bigger work sometimes, and see how I use techniques on a large scale.

You'll note in this picture how I show distance by making things in the back blueish. I know I've explained the blue-things-far-away before, but it never hurts to talk about how to make it look correct in a finished piece.

Feather Blending - Purple Mountain Majesties
I wanted to use this piece as an example of good feather blending. I've talked about feather blending a few times before (1, 2) but it never hurts to review.

Many of the Intermediate Applications I received I have had to turn down because they did not show proper feather blending. To me, this means I must not be explaining it well enough. This is a tricky concept, so it's getting an advanced label. What really makes it tricky is the amount of practice you need in order to find good color combos and time it takes to figure out the proper technique.

If you look at the mountains in the background, you'll see that they blend from blue, to purple, to warm gray. Blue and Warm Gray are opposites, in that Warm Gray is brownish toned and Blues and Blue violets are far away from them on the color wheel.

I started the mountains by coloring with B41. I stroke from the top of each peak, down to the base, flowing in the direction of the mountain. I am lifting up at the end of each stroke so that I have less ink at the base and more at the peak. As you can see from the third peak, I apply lots of very light layers to achieve the look I'm going for. I did criss-cross my strokes slightly for a proper feather, but I am consistent with the base feathered and the top of the peak dark.

Next, I feathered in W3 from the bottom in exactly the same technique, this time, making the base dark and the feathering go back up into the mountain. I added lots of very light layers to achieve the proper blend. I think on the actual picture I used W2, not W3, but you get the idea.

You can see on the third peak how the layers blending more and more, and you notice the streaks less and less. Sometimes I'll come back with the blue and add another light layer after I added the second color, just to get it a little smoother.

Last, you'll notice on my final mountains that it has the pretty purple fade. After I was done feathering the blue and the gray I added a faint layer of BV31. How much is a matter of personal taste.

You can see from these mountains that the more you layer the pale purple over the whole area, the more it shows through. The third mountain is colored as if it is in front, but it looks like it has more shadow than the others, so it could have been colored as if it were in back simply by adding more BV31. The purple is strongest in the middle because there is the least amount of dye on that spot on the page. This gives the purple a place to fill in, if that makes any sense.

On the final mountains in the main picture I added a faint streak of BV23/BV25 to darken the shadows on the left side of each peak. This makes it look a little less flat, but not so much that it detracts from the main image.

I used too many random colors to list, but I did use one other technique, which you might not have noticed. On the rocks in the foreground I dampened my nasty rag and blotted off some browns and grays that were already on there. This added the hint of texture you see on the front rocks.

I hope this has inspired you to practice the feather blending again. This is tricky, but when done right, it looks really good. Have a great week!

New Products CHA Summer 2010, part 1

Finally! Here's the first sneak peek at the new releases for CHA Summer 2010. If you stop by our booth during the wholesale show, or the Splitcoaststampers booth during the Supershow you'll get a chance to use and see these fabulous new products.

X Press It Blending Card
This has us very excited! I mentioned a couple months ago that we recommend this paper to anyone living in Australia, and now it's coming to the United States!!

Why did Lori and I fall in love with this paper? Because it blends beautifully, it bleeds less than our old favorite, Neenah Classic Crest, and it has a nice, bright white color. If you have ever tried Bazzil Simply Smooth paper, the Blending Card is like a hybrid between Neenah and Bazzil.

This paper is now available for stores to purchase. It comes in a large pack with 125 sheets of letter sized paper. It is about 92 lb. paper- just a little heavier than the Neenah, but it is a much tighter grained paper, so it doesn't feel too thick.

If you look at this close up on the pink popsicle, you can see that the Neenah is a much softer paper, and it easily feathers if you don't let it dry a little between layering colors. This gets to be a big problem when you're working with intense reds and other dark colors.

The Blending Card, however, gives nice blends without bleeding and I don't have to wait or be careful! I love it! Because it is not as soft as the Neenah, it takes less ink to color on so your marker lasts longer before needing to be refilled.

Please stop by the booth to try it out, or, if you can't make it to the show, ask your favorite Copic supplier to bring some in for you. Trust me, you'll love it!

Coloring Grays more interesting
Something you may not notice on this final picture of the ant trying to run off with the popsicle is the subtle tones in the gray body.

I did not want the ant to feel too flat, so I started with a C5, a nice cool middle-dark gray. Then for accent I blended in some V17 as shadows. The purple is just barely visible within the grays (see the middle of each body section.

Then, I added faint reflections on the bottom of the ant by layering on some BG09. Why? Because the gray is blue-toned I can layer a purple (which has blue in it) and add contrasting accents with a Blue Green (which also has blue in it). Because Blue-Green is far away on a color wheel from Violet they have more contrast. However, the ant has a base gray, which brings both colors closer to each other in tone. So now, my gray has subtle tone and interest, even though it could have easily remained a plain gray.

This is a great way to add a hint of tone to a neutral image to make it coordinate with other elements in your composition. The subtle purple makes the ant match the pink popsicle a little more. OK, I need to get back to work. Stay tuned tomorrow for more sneaks from CHA!

Image: Life's a Picnic by Our Craft Lounge, X-Press It Blending Card. Colors used: RV02, RV06, C5, V17, BG09, C3, 0