A sturdy foundation for brown

Real shade is not darker color, real shade is desaturated color.

To create the desaturated colors that Copic Marker does not make, Vanilla Arts Company teaches Online Workshops and Livestream Coloring Challenges using the underpainting method. Students learn to layer colors realistically rather than blend.

Underpainting creates natural colors found in everyday life.

Pencil Shavings

Elena’s Advice:

When I sit down to create a new Vanilla Undercover, I swatch a lot of combinations until I see something that matches the photograph but that also pleases me.

Today I didn’t like any of my combinations. Brown has a way of easily getting out of hand, we go darker than we need to. It’s a hard color to judge.

In frustration, I took a break— a long break. While I was gone, guess who visited?

The Copic Fairy!

Yep, she’s a sneaky little one. The Copic Fairy visits your projects when you’re not looking, sometimes hours later. She smooths out your blends and makes mistakes look better than you thought.

This time, the fairy lightened my brown! This combination looked far too dark for a pencil shavings at first, but give it time to dry and mellow out.

Be careful with E30. At Vanilla Arts, we call colors like E30 a “Super Eater”. Markers ending with one or more zeros have a high amount of colorless blender in the formula. They’re muscular inks, despite the pale appearance. If you over-do the E30, it will eat away your previous beautiful layers, lightening the color more than you expect but also sometimes damaging the smoothness or leaving dry-lines.. Use just enough E30 to get it wet, don’t over-ink the paper!

Brown Workshops & Digital Stamps

Vanilla Arts Company - Seashell Trio

Vanilla Arts Company - Robin's Nest

Violeta Ink - Online Coloring Classes

Further Reading:

Improve your Coloring: Add Life & Zest to your Neutral Colors

Back to Basics : Learning From Color Exercises (No Matter Your Skill Level)

Improve Your Copic Marker Projects : Balance Your Colors

Looking for More Underpainting Combinations?

Elena Cazares is a Vanilla Arts student with beautiful sense of color and style. She is a hurricane of positive creative energy.

Elena runs Violeta-Ink.com, an online boutique shop specializing in Copic Markers, refills, and coloring accessories. Join Elena’s Copic Facebook group here for news and updates.