Final

I tried putting white highlights in his eyes with white out. That crap never works. So I had to go in and try retouch some stuff.
Well there you have it. Now back to animating.

Blue Nose

I always bugger up Stimpy's nose. I can never get the right kind of blue out of a marker.
The names of the colors and the colors on the label tend to lie about what color the ink actually is. COLOR TIP: Don't be influenced by the names of colors on your paints, markers, crayons - whatever. Test each color first and judge it by your eye and taste.
I have the worst luck in finding good light blue markers. Stimpy's nose is mainly a "middle blue" - a blue that is neither tinted with red, nor green. But most of the light blue markers I can find are either light turquoise (blue with yellow) or light blue-violet.
-I put my base color down first -the lightest blue I can find.
Then I find the closest thing I can to a "middle blue" that is neither dark, light, nor tinted to the red or yellow. Unfortunately, the one I used is slightly tinted to violet - or purple. I use the pointy part of the tip to draw lines around the borders of the other colors. (If I used the wide part of the tip, it would likely bleed into the lines and make a Godawful mess)
Then I use the broad flat tip to fill in between the edges. I have to go over the whole area in circles a few times to tamp down the streaks.
It still ends up kind of blotchy, but that's what I get for using markers instead of learning to paint like a real artist. I left a strip of the light blue at the bottom of his nose to make an underlit effect.
Now here comes my theory again about how to make colors look rich and deep -as opposed to monochromatic. Since the middle shade of his nose is a neutral blue (pure with no red or yellow tint) then I will make the shadows and highlights in opposite tints,
I went over the highlight at the top of his nose in a light turquoise (blue with yellow tint)

and then did the opposite for the underlit part of his nose. There I am tinting it towards purple (blue with some red in it)
Now, after I did all this and not got exactly the blue I wanted, I found a perfect middle blue - a prismacolor called - "true blue".
And I found an even nicer one by Copic - the super expensive brand. But too late!
I continue to go over the underlit part with purple tinted blues out of sheer frustration while I try to figure out what to do next.

Next: Coloring the areas that use "neutral colors". -or colors from nature.

Naked Colors

I separate my flesh colors into 2 groups:
1) Pinkish flesh colors. -for people who sunburn easily
2) Yellowish flesh colors. - for people who tan easily
Ren is basically a naked Mediterranean man. he always has a slight tan.
I start with an orangey brown color for shaded areas.
Then I use "buff" to do his lighter areas.
I do his main color fill with "Light Sand".
Next: Stimpy's Blue Nose

Marker Posters - Coloring - Fills

I don't enjoy coloring as much as inking. Especially doing the large flat color fill areas.
I dread Stimpy the most because he has large areas of red to fill and I can never find a marker that looks like Stimpy's shade of red. Coloring takes patience and really taxes the ADHD. I try to break up the process by using more than one red and taking breaks between each step.
I have my reds loosely sorted by:

1) Warm reds - middle reds and reds mixed with yellows and browns.
2) Hot reds - Reds mixed with a bit of blue - magentas, wines, burgundies etc.
I usually try to put a light pink highlight around Stimpy's RIM. It doesn't always work though, because the darker reds bleed into them.
Then I take the middle red and draw a ragged line along that rim.
I fill in the red. This is where I find out that I didn't make his outline dark enough, which means I'll have to go back and re-ink parts of it. I never learn.
For the tongues I use very light warm and hot pinks as a base.
Using the 2 different tints of red gives the picture look more depth. If I was to only use one kind of pink and just darker and lighter shades of it, it would end up looking monochromatic - which deadens the picture.
Same theories for Ren's eyes.
I gradually darken the pinks stroke by stroke.
Next: The Art Of Naked Colors:

Inking a Marker Card

I've been animating on the computer for so long now that I was fearing I would forget what paper pencils and markers were. I had to do a poster for someone so thought I'd share the process step by step with the rest of you cavemen who still draw with your hands and primitive utensils.
First, I rough out the drawing very lightly with a colerase pencil. I use red for Ren and Stimpy because most of their colors are warm and the red and brown markers will blend well with them.
I use Tombow brush pens to ink with. They have a nice soft feel and you can do thick and thin lines with them. I keep them organized by color families. Grays in one rubbermaid container, reds, magentas, browns and yellows (hot colors) in another, blues, greens and violets in another. I always keep a rubber squeak toy handy to give me comfort. Diet coke is essential to keep the synapses firing.
I work left to right because I am right handed. I don't want my hand to pass over the freshly wet colors and accidentally smudge them. I start with the heavy outlines first. Generally the largest forms have the thickest outlines.
I also kind of stick to related colors - I'll do the warm colors first because Ren and Stimpy are mostly warm colors.
I buggered up a line around Stimpy's eye mask so I just spread the red. Buggering up is an ongoing hazard that is harder to fix with traditional tools than on the computer. I find myself wanting to click the undo button but there isn't one so instead I curse myself.
Once the big forms are inked I start in on the secondary forms - eyes, mouths, tongues etc. Their outlines are slightly thinner than the heads and bodies.
When doing eyes, it's important to KEEP THEM ALIVE. I don't want to draw perfect ovals for either the eyes or the pupils. I also don't want to draw the eyes or pupils perfectly parallel to each other. That would be a sin against biological organization.

I try to keep all the shapes and forms flowing and organic.
When a marker starts to dry out, I try to take advantage of it by getting a soft dry brush sort of effect.
Uh oh! I buggered up the line around Stimpy's nostril. In order to get the smoothest possible lines I have to draw them fast. The danger there is overshooting where the 2 ends connect. If I draw the lines more conservatively and slower to make the connection, then the lines get wigglier.
To keep the fart gas bubble looking ethereal, I don't connect all the lines.
Don't forget the extra chunks that bring authenticity to your farts.
I use slightly different colored inks for some details. It helps to bring depth and believability to the personalities of the fingernails.
To give a sense of weight to the forms, I like to make the lines under them a bit thicker and darker. It makes you feel the gravity tugging at your crotches.
I draw the lettering fast to keep it alive and not wiggly. I don't worry if it isn't perfectly on top of the rough pencils.
The last inking step: I add some little touches of detail here and there. I don't want to do too much because I still want the drawing to feel like a cartoon and not overly rendered.
The details - like wrinkles, are thinner - but they still should wrap around the forms they help describe. I have to be careful that I don't just have magical floating lines flying around on top of the characters. Each wrinkle has a purpose and direction.

Once the inking is finished, I read a comic book on the pot and wait for the ink to dry. Then I come back refreshed and ready to erase all the pencil lines.
I like these types of erasers. They don't smudge and they get rid of most of the pencil. I remember in school the art teachers always gave you those gray putty like erasers like you got in the Jon Gnagy kits. I think it was to make you feel superior to your less artistic friends but I hated them. They just make a mess and collect filth and hairs and loose teeth. Nasty little balls of crud.

You can eat the little eraser turds but I don't recommend it. I take the drawing outside and replenish the earth with them. The cats think I am giving them their daily fix of catnip. When they find out it's not, they smack my ankles with their little poo bespeckled paws. That's the thanks I get for feeding them.

Here it is all clean and ready to color.
I'll do another post about coloring.

Oh and thanks to the latest students and contributors. I hope you find some of these things useful.