Wow, that is so complicated!

What did you think when you first saw the Indian Maize project here?

All those Copic Markers on each little kernel? And then she added colored pencil over the top of each one? I’ll bet it took weeks to color!

Weeks? Really?

I’ve noticed over the years, some very experienced Copic Marker fans add lots of extra steps to the coloring process that don’t really pay off in the end.

A lot of people make dimensional coloring harder than it has to be.

Do you?

Do you focus on blending combinations?

Most Copic colorers do.

You see the stamp image and immediately start to wonder “what blend would I use to color the corn husks?” and “what color combination would I use on the ribbon?”

The blending combo mindset is what leads to overly complicated coloring!

How so?

When you focus on color, you aren’t thinking about the overall illustration, the objects shown, or the shape of those objects. Instead, you’re zoning in on the smallest, most finicky detail of the coloring process- ink blends.

You can’t see the forest and it’s not because you’re looking at the trees. It’s worse than that, you can’t see the forest because you’re looking at flecks of tree bark under a microscope!

You’re missing the larger goal and making life harder in the process.

Join me for a Marker Painting Workshops

Online coloring classes

Amazing Maize originally ran as part of my Vanilla Livestream series at Patreon in October 2018.

This amazing class has been unavailable until now!

Learn how to use the universal shading technique to simplify the shading process on multi-colored objects without sacrificing realism and depth.

Baby Pumpkin, Candy Corn, Tonic, and now Amazing Maize all work hand in hand to help you develop bold and vibrant colors.

Baby Pumpkin is a beginner level introduction to paper staining for stubborn marker colors.

Candy Corn helps you understand opacity and luminance in your markers and colored pencils to get the glorious color you dream of.

Tonic covers glowing greens in a fun lesson on colorful texture.

And now Amazing Maize helps you effectively shade complicated objects with realism.

If autumn is your favorite season, you’ll want to color the whole collection.

Amazing Maize uses a beautiful digital stamp called Maize for Days from PowerPoppy.com

The best thing about Marker Painting Workshops?

Workshops are NON-SEQUENTIAL!

Learn to incorporate real artistry into your coloring projects, one concept at a time. Every Workshop details a new method for enhancing realism, depth, and dimension.

Each class stands on its own as independent learning. You don't have to take six of my other classes to understand this lesson.

All of my Workshop classes are ANYTIME ACCESS. Work at your own pace and repeat the project as many times as you'd like.

Come color with me. It's a ton of fun!

Select supplies used in “Amazing Maize”:

(contains affiliate links)

Vanilla Arts Company is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for use to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com.