Color Theory for Markers & Pencils: Dimensional Pink Petals (Demo - Episode 6)

Use color theory to select realistic pink alcohol marker blending combinations. Free lessons at YouTube. Illustrator Amy Shulke demos a marker selection process using references and desaturation. | VanillaArts.com | Realism with Copic Markers
 

Color Theory for Soft Pink Alcohol Markers

Episode 6 - Pink Dogwood Petals Demonstration

Pink is probably the most popular blend in coloring; we see pink projects everywhere.

And yet so few people can color soft pink images with realism.

Are you one of them?

You try to color light pink with Copic Markers but as soon as you start to shade with a medium or dark pink…

Well, there goes the light pink idea. Let’s pretend we wanted to color dark pink, okay?

Stop ruining soft baby pinks with hot pink and disco magenta alcohol markers.

Shading pink is easier than you think.

All you need is a little color theory to help it happen.

 
 

Resources & Learning Aids

 
Use color theory to color realistic pink alcohol marker blending combinations. Free lesson at YouTube. Illustrator Amy Shulke colors a pink dogwood using complementary desaturation. | VanillaArts.com | Realism with Copic Markers
 

FREE video at YouTube

In this episode, Amy colors a pale pink dogwood blossom using the colors we selected in Episode 5: Pink Swatching. Amy shows you how to shade and desaturate using complementary green.

Supplies and colors are listed at the bottom of this page

Did you miss Episode 5? watch it here:

 

Amy’s 4x4 Dogwood Blossom

TIP: Pink is lighter than you think

Keep in mind that instinctually, you will reach for darker pink markers than you see in the photo reference. Step it down a bit, especially if you’re trying to color baby pink!

TIP: R markers are not pink, they’re light red

You can get away with using something like R20 instead of pink for a while but the light R markers look very warm and almost flesh-toned. R markers work fine for balloons or birthday cake but can be a problem when coloring flowers— Pale R flowers can look like lips or other unmentionables.

 

Purchase the Kit

Color along with Amy - Spring 2023 Color Theory kit

Files for THREE months of YouTube lessons: March, April, and May.

Easy PDF digital downloads include:

  • 3 flower blossom PNG digital stamps—

    • Daffodil (episode 2)

    • Lily of the Valley (episode 4)

    • Dogwood (episode 6)

  • 3 PDF worksheets (March, April, May) targeting specific colors from the photo reference

  • Amy’s PDF Copic color wheel

 

Free Photo Reference

Our dogwood photo reference provides lots of pink inspiration.

References are important because you can’t color realistic pink until you can see realistic pink.

Download the free photo reference from Pixabay here.

 

Color Like an Artist

Vanilla Beans is a weekly Saturday newsletter full of coloring tips and articles about developing your artistry.

Announcements and video notifications are also sent to this mailing list. Click to subscribe.

 
 
 

Beginner level. Click above for more info.

 

Color with Pink

Designed for large scale, realistic coloring. Amy’s illustrations are drawn with minimal texture marks or decorations to let your marker art shine.

 

Take a Class

Amy has classes featuring yellow and yellow coloring technique

Or focus on blending skills

 

More About Pink Markers

We test Copic inks. See results here.

Copic underpaint blending recipes.

Copic project palettes using color theory.

 
 

Supply List

 
 
Use color theory to color realistic pink alcohol marker blending combinations. Free lesson at YouTube. Illustrator Amy Shulke colors a pink dogwood using complementary desaturation. | VanillaArts.com | Realism with Copic Markers