Do you want to play a game?

“Okay class, pick up your R35 and we will color the tail of this ribbon. Start where I’m showing you here and color all the way down to end…”

That’s how Copic Marker and even some colored pencil classes work, right? If you do exactly what the teacher does, you’ll end up with something amazing. And it works…

Kinda.

You walk away with a very pretty project. Your Christmas scene looks just as cute as the instructor’s. Your ribbon is smooth, your ornaments look shiny and the box looks perfectly dimensional… maybe even realistic.

But it’s temporary.

Later— days or months later at home, you use a slightly different stamp. Maybe it’s a stack of birthday presents. A puppy with a satin bow around his neck. Or perhaps it’s the same kind of ornament but this time it’s hanging on a tree.

And you’re lost.

But wait, you already colored the bow, box, and ornaments in class. You have the pretty project to prove it. But now when you’re on your own at home, you have no idea how to do it again.

Why?

Because the class wasn’t really a class.

The instructor led you on a merry game of Follow the Leader.

How do I know?

Because the teacher never asked you the most important question:

What do you see?

Class versus demonstration

This is why I make a very clear distinction between coloring classes and coloring demonstrations.

A demo is when someone shows you how they did something.

Step one: do this. Step two: do that.

A class is different. It’s when an instructor breaks down the process into more than just what to do. They explain why they’re using this approach. They show you alternative methods. They detail troublesome areas which will require extra thought and attention.

And most importantly, an educational instructor will pull out real life objects or photograph references and ask:

What do you see?

You can not learn to color with realism until you learn to see realism.

A class is where you learn to make independent coloring decisions based upon what you observe.

Monkey-See Monkey-Do?

Actually yes.

Look, I’m sure there are lots of gift coloring tutorials out there.

Here’s a box. We shade this side and then we shade that side.

But why shade the side? Why not shade the top?

If you don’t understand why, you’re going to feel lost trying to color a gift box on your own. Especially when your box is a little different than the example box.

And I know, there are a lot of little tricks or rules out there. Many of you have this one memorized:

If the sun is coming from the upper right corner— then shade the box on the lower left side.

But one rule doesn’t work for everything.

There are times when the one rule looks wrong!

Because the one rule is wrong more times than not.

There is no rule for my gift box here. The stripes on my box go dark, light, dark, and light again.

Huh?

Look closely at what’s happening on the front edge of this wrapping paper. As the top white stripes get closer to going over the edge and down the left front side, the stripes break the normal shading rules. Look at how the color changes as the stripe goes over the fold. The stripes go dark, light, dark, then light again!

The same thing is happening to the extreme on the corners of the ribbon.

Have you ever seen that in a tutorial?

No? Well it happens in real life all the time! Under certain lighting conditions with objects that have some sheen or pearlescence…

But sheesh, you don’t need a rule to tell you this anyway.

Not if you have a photo reference to work with!

What do you see?

I see color that darkens on the bend but carries a bright highlight at the point.

And a good instructor teaches you to see it too.

Want to read more?

Join me for Marker Painting Workshops

Online coloring classes- not demonstrations

Satin Gift originally ran as part of my Marker Painting Basics series at Patreon in December 2016.

This amazing class has been unavailable until now!

Learn how to use your observational skills to incorporate realistic detail, accurate edges, and lifelike highlights.

More Festive Coloring:

Cool Peppermint, Candlelight, Red Bird, Hudson the Bear, Cheers and now Satin Gift all work hand in hand to help you develop bold and vibrant colors.

Hudson the Bear is beginner level class that covers the concept of flow, understanding the flow of objects helps direct your flick strokes to maximize realism in your projects.

Cool Peppermint is an intermediate level introduction to universal shading for depth.

Candlelight is an intermediate level class that helps you create soft glows and lens flares for candles, lanterns, flashlights, lightbulbs, and even the moon!

Red Bird is an intermediate level class that teaches you how to add realism to bird stamps.

Cheers is an intermediate level class that teaches you how, and how not to approach glass objects in your stamp images so you can create realistic glass.

And now Satin Gift helps you learn how to use your observational skills to incorporate realistic detail, accurate edges, and lifelike highlights.

If winter is your favorite season, you’ll want to color the whole collection!

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. Each Workshop details a new method for enhancing realism, depth, and dimension.

Every 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 FOREVER 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 “Satin Gift”:

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