Wednesday Trends - Coloring With Copic Markers

Hi everyone! Happy Wednesday! Welcome to this week's installment of Wednesday Trends!! I wanted to share a quick tutorial with you of how I color with Copic Markers. They are all the rage in the stamping world and I must admit, I find it VERY hard to make a card without them!

**Disclaimer** I am not Copic Certified (I am going in March!!!) and this is just how I choose to color...I know there are several different techniques out there and there are some FABULOUS video tutorials out there that have really helped me!! Enjoy! **

For my sample (finished card is all the way at the end), I used one of my favorite TSG sets, Slow & Steady! The snails in this set are SO fun to color!!! Two of THE most important things to remember when coloring with Copics...the basics, paper and ink! I use Memento Tuxedo Black for all my stamping when I am coloring with Copics. You don't have to wait after you stamp and you don't have to heat set. I like to keep it simple! For paper, I use Choice Snow White or Choice Buttercream, but there are many many options out there. SU! paper doesn't work as it has a coating and you will not get a good result using it.

Step 1: Stamp your image and add the first coat of color. In this example I used R20, Y21 and G12.

Step 2. Determine where you want your shading. I almost always shade the right side on an image. I added a darker color of each of the three colors I used on the right sides. In this example I used R21, YR12 and G14.

Step 3. Add a darker shading color but do not cover all of the first shading you did in Step 2 above. In this example I used R22, YR65 and G03.

Step 4. Using the original colors you used to put down the base coat, blend your colors together to blend in the lines of the added colors. Use small circular strokes to blend. In this example I used my three original colors, R20, Y21 and G12.

Step 5. After I am done shading, I often add a highlight to the left side with a white gel pen, as seen in this example.

Step 6. Use your 0 Colorless Blender and touch up around the images to remove any ink that doesn't belong there. Add shadowing around your image. I prefer the Warm Grays for doing this, and I used W0, W1 and W2 here.

Once you are happy with your image, create a card around it!!! For a bit of pop I added some Stardust Stickles to the snail's antenna and the green portion of the shell!

I hope you enjoyed my mini tutorial, and if you haven't tried Copic Markers yet, I hope I have inspired you to try them out!!

Jodi