What’s a Good Blending Combination for Copic YG99?
I’ve colored with Copic Markers professionally for almost 30 years. Yes, I know more than a few blending combinations for a deep, dark, pine green.
But I’m always a little sad when someone asks me for a marker recipe.
Copic Markers can do so much more than blending!
To be honest, blending combos are the least of what we do.
Today, let’s look at Copic Marker YG99 Marine Green from the artist’s perspective— how do I use this chartreuse marker in my classes and in my artwork?
Let’s get past the basic blending and find out how this marker really performs.
“Sleighbell” is an original line drawing by the author, Amy Shulke. This project is available as an advanced online class here using Copic Marker and Derwent Lightfast or Prismacolor Premier colored pencil.
Copic Marker YG99 Marine Green is a murky, desaturated pine green color which is really useful for realistic botanicals and landscapes. It’s a dark staining color which doesn’t always blend easily so we don’t recommend it for beginners but encourage you to make it part of your first expansion set, once you’re adept at blending.
Copic YG99 Marine green is the color of shady pine trees
When you close your eyes and imagine a forest or jungle, I’m sure you’re picturing YG99 in the deep parts of the shadows.
YG99 Marine Green is a bit of an ugly duckling. By itself, it’s a bit homely but when used on trees and flowers, this color really shines.
Leaves colored with YG99 are a beautiful counterpoint to brightly colored flower blossoms.
In the advanced level Sleigh Bell class project shown here, I’ve used YG99 and YG94 to create the pine needles. The two deep greens nicely compliment each other and the murkiness of the green helps the red cranberries pop forward.
About the Color Family:
With Copic Markers, there are two green families. The G greens tend to lean towards blue while the YG greens are warmer with more yellow in the mix.
YG is the color designation for a mixed-ink formula of yellow inks plus green inks, hence the “YG” designation.
About the Ink Group:
YG99 is part of the “Ninety” group of YG markers— the first number in the ID code tells you the group number. In general, Copics which start with 9 tend to be muddy and slightly dirty. We call this “desaturation” and for realistic coloring, we want to use lots of desaturated color.
Learn more about the Copic Numbering system in my article at MarkerNovice.com here.
About the Color Value:
The second number in the code YG99 is a 9. This tells you that YG99 is the darkest of the Ninety group (nine is the darkest while 0 is the lightest).
Copic makes a nice group YG-Ninety markers which all work really well together— YG99, YG97, YG95, YG93, and YG91.
The only problem I have with the family is that colorless blender tends to bleach green inks, so YG93 and YG91 look a bit odd and unmatched due to their high colorless blender content.
Copics with a last number higher than 7 tend to be a bit harder to blend with other markers. The darker the ink, the more potent it is; the more potent the color, the more it wants to stain the paper. We’ll talk more about this high number issue later in this article. For now, keep in mind that YG99 won’t smooth and blend as easily as a lighter green like YG95 or YG63.
YG99 is a finicky blender. It really needs the right companion colors to behave well.
Despite the fact that YG99 is a stubborn blending marker, we still highly recommend this marker… maybe not for beginners but the color is an important one for realistic coloring and should be added to your collection sooner than later.
About the Name:
YG99 is deep jungle green with strong golden or brown notes to it. When people hear the name “Marine Green”, I’m sure they think ocean marinas and seascapes.
On the contrary, Marine Green is named after the deep khaki greens used for military fatigues and this color is also found in their camouflage uniforms.
Semper Fi!
Copic names don’t always make sense but if you think past the obvious, Marine Green is the perfect name.
Is Copic YG99 Ink Lightfast?
Does it fade quickly? Can it be erased? Does it shatter? Does the cap color match the ink color?
I’ve tested YG99 ink to help you better predict how this ink will behave during use.
See the test results for:
Lightfastness
Layering
Color Build-up
Dilution
Value
Cap Accuracy
Behavior upon contact with Colorless Blender
MarkerNovice.com is the sister site to VanillaArts.com where I offer reliable information for Copic Marker beginners.
The Copics Uncapped series by Amy Shulke at MarkerNovice.com tests each marker for lightfastness, value, and various traits. You’ll color better with YG99 when you understand how it behaves and what to expect.
How do I use Copic YG99 Marine Green in Classes and Projects?
I’m a big fan of using desaturated greens in floral images because nature is far more muddy greens than bright brilliant greens.
So since I color a lot of flowers and I teach a lot of floral classes, you’ll see YG99 in many Vanilla class projects and kits. Welcome Home, Expressive Sunflowers, and Sleigh Bell are just a few.
As I mentioned earlier, the lighter colors in the YG-Ninety family look a bit bleached, like they’ve sat too long in the sun. For this reason, I tend to add more yellowy yellow greens to YG99 and YG95 rather than use 93 & 91.
I love to underpaint YG markers with violet. V17 underneath YG99 always makes me smile.
Remember, I specialize in realistic coloring which means I tend to choose the most organic and natural looking colors possible. Violet under green sounds weird but it perfectly creates the color one step darker than YG99 which Copic does not make.
Read More:
Click to visit articles about greenery and floral coloring
How to Blend with Copic YG99
Here are a few sample blends using YG99 Marine Green.
Blending combinations for Copic Marker YG99 Marine Green.
In the Self Blending swatch, I’ve created 3 layers of YG99. The darker left side is three coats of ink, the middle mid-tone is two layers, and the far right is one layer of ink.
People don’t often think about blending a marker with itself but self-blending always creates the easiest gradient possible and a self combination always looks smooth.
I’ve sampled two natural blending groups for you. Actually, because they don’t make a YG-Ninety marker darker than YG99, I had to fake the second natural blending grop.
A natural blending combination is 2-3 markers which all share the same first number.
The Natural Blend starts with YG99 and moves to YG97 and YG95. This combination looks exactly like a green olive color versus the self blending swatch feels cooler. YG95 adds a burst of warmth.
The Almost Natural Blend uses BV25 to add a darker value to the combination. This would be a great beginner blend— it was easy and I really like the look of it. I’ll have to remember this one for a class someday.
The last swatch is my favorite. I love using complementary colors to add shade to objects and while it works when mixing watercolor on a palette or layering colored pencils, it doesn’t always work in Copic. V17 gives that warm reddish feeling I’m looking for but blending seamlessly. An RV marker would be harder to blend smoothly.
Tips for blending YG99:
Note: YG99 is a staining color and it can be difficult to blend smoothly. This isn’t a beginner marker.
YG99 has a tendency to look oily when you layer it too much. Stick to one coat and don’t try to reblend using YG99. If you have to fix something, use the other colors in the blending combination.
I like to jump from YG99 to YG95 but it can be a challenge to smooth YG99 fully this way. If you’re having difficulty, add YG97.
Think of YG99 as deathly allergic to colorless blender. YG inks tend to be unstable and YG99 is perhaps the most unstable of them all. Even the colorless blender in YG93 can do major damage if it touches YG99. Exercise caution when reblending and if you’re coloring something very pale which touches an area of YG99.
Don’t have YG99 in your Copic Marker collection? We suggest these substitutions. They’re close in value and hue and could pass for Marine Green in blending combinations.
Marker substitutes for Copic YG99
For the most part, Copic does a good job of not releasing markers which are too similar to existing colors.
But when you make 358 markers, there’s bound to be some overlap.
Are there similar colors YG99 and can they be used as substitutes?
Yes… and no.
Here I’m showing you the two closest greens to YG99 Marine Green (the top swatch).
G99 Olive is strikingly similar to YG99. It’s a bit cooler which is to be expected because YG markers have more yellow ink in their formula while G markers have more blue ink.
Side by side, you can see the difference between YG99 and G99 but inside blending combinations, I was unable to tell which 99 was used.
BG99 is one step cooler than G99. You can definitely tell the difference between YG99 and BG99 in swatches but again, in actual blending combinations, the differences are very subtle.
Shade and Highlight Suggestions for YG99 Marine Green
If you’ve read many articles here at VanillaArts.com or taken any of my classes, you know I teach an underpainting method.
In underpainting, we choose opposite colors on the color wheel to add the realistic murkiness found in real-life shade. We “desaturate” with complementary colors. Read more in my article series here.
We shade Copic Marker YG99 Marine Green with colored pencils ranging from dark warm purple to indigo blue. We highlight it with soft greens, pale blues, or even white.
After I underpaint and blend with Copics, I come back with colored pencils to boost the shade and add highlights. My pencils rarely match the Copics.
Shade suggestions for YG99 Marine Green:
Copic Underpaint— B95, B34, BV04, BV25, V17, V25, N5, or C5.
Prismacolor Pencil Overpaint: PC901 Indigo Blue, PC931 Dark Purple, or PC132 Dioxazine Purple.
Highlight suggestions for YG99 Marine Green:
Because YG99 is allergic to too much colorless blender in any marker formula, I prefer to highlight YG99 combinations with pencil rather than Copics.
Prismacolor Pencil Overpaint: PC 914 Cream, PC938 White, PC1023 Cloud Blue. PC1021 Jade Green, PC120 Sap Green Light, or PC1089 Pale Sage.
The most important tip for working with Copic YG99 Marine Green
And really, this advice holds true for working with any marker…
But it’s especially true with stubborn, staining, or darker markers.
There are all kinds of myths on the internet about Copic blending.
Some say blending is all about choosing the best color combination.
Our best tip for using Copic Marker YG99 Marine Green is to make sure that all markers with it in a blending combination are full and juicy. YG99 blends best and dries the smoothest when it has been given lots of moisture.
Some think you need the right blending technique.
And I watch far too many people try to forcefully smooth their blends by rubbing and scrubbing the paper with their markers.
Stop. Blending doesn’t have to be so hard.
Sure, some marker combinations blend easier than others and good technique makes blending more predictable.
But the biggest blending tip I can give you is to refill your darned markers.
You can’t get very far in a car without gas and you can’t blend without ink in your markers. And yet the vast majority of people are out there coloring with low-weight markers because they assume you don’t need to refill a Copic until it leaves pale streaky marks.
Blending is easy with a full, juicy marker.
And blending is nearly impossible when your markers are even a few tenths of a gram low.
YG99 Marine Green is a stubborn marker. If you’re trying to blend it with a half-empty marker, you’re always going to be frustrated.
Is Copic YG99 a Good Marker for Beginners?
I’ll be honest. I’m really debating this question.
On the one hand, YG99 is a dark, stubborn, and staining marker which tends to freak out a little if you color too close to it with any of the lighter markers.
It’s a finicky color. I’m not gonna lie about that.
And yet I really do think it’s an important color.
“Sleigh Bell” is an original line drawing by the author, Amy Shulke. This project is available as an advanced online class here using Copic Marker and Derwent Lightfast or Prismacolor Premier colored pencil.
YG99 is an essential color for realistic coloring.
So even though it’s not an easy marker, I still recommend making YG99 an early purchase.
While you’re learning and building a basic marker collection, I recommend using easier blending greens. My go-to starter green for beginners is a blend of YG17 and YG03. It blends like a dream because YG03 is one of the easiest blending markers Copic makes.
YG03 will blend with anything. Anything.
Later, after you’ve grown comfortable with the blending process and you’re starting to expand your marker collection…
If you’re intending to eventually color realistic botanicals, florals, landscapes, and food…
At that point, I highly recommend making YG99-97-95 your first natural greens purchase.
YG99 shouldn’t be the first green you purchase but it should be in your first expansion set as you grow your collection.
Read more about my starter set with tips for building your marker collection in my article here.
Learning Resources for Copic YG99 Marine Green
See YG99 in action:
Use our Vanilla Undercover swatches to add realistic depth and shade to your next coloring project.
We publish new swatches every Thursday.
Vanilla Undercover is sponsored by Violeta-Ink.com
Vanilla Arts Online Classes & Kits using YG99 or similar chartreuse color palettes:
(Click for more info)
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Class was recorded in October 2020 and featured a live student audience. Amy answers questions from the students and offers many tips for better colored pencil art.
“Sleigh Bell” is an advanced Marker Painting workshop by the author Amy Shulke at VanillaArts.com. Learn to color realistic highlights, shine, and reflection for the look of touchable metal objects.
Select supplies used in Sleigh Bell:
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Learn about YG99 Marine Green Copic Marker, everything you need to know about this deep yellow green alcohol ink plus tips, blending combinations, and how to shade or highlight the natural color. | VanillaArts.com | How to color with Copic Markers.
