Warm up a Cool Gray with Copic Markers

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 using the underpainting method. Students learn to layer colors realistically rather than blend.

Underpainting creates natural colors found in everyday life.

Snowball

Elena’s Advice:

Why does Amy keep asking me to color snow?

I’m in Texas. Snow, especially the kind that hangs around for weeks (months? years?) is not really my specialty.

So I’m secretly pretending this is cotton. I know it says snowball here but I’m thinking cottonball. Don’t tell Amy.

To color this cottonball, I see both warm and cool grays in the photo reference. But the problem is, the warm gray isn’t warm enough to use a W marker.

I think the Warm Gray Copics look a bit greenish if I’m being honest.

Greenish cottonballs are NOT good!

I messed around with the Neutral grays for a while. Then it hit me, why not color the bluish cool grays that I see but use the underpaint to warm them in just a few areas?

Bingo! A blend of warm and cool grays, all with a simple range of markers. C grays for the cool zones and a barely there R marker in the warmer spots.

Cs plus red ink, the perfect cotton combination!

Gray Workshops

Vanilla Arts Company - Silvered Pumpkins

Vanilla Arts Company - Red Bird

Vanilla Arts Company - Guarded Heart

Vanilla Stamp Shop - Snowman Supplies

Further Reading:

The Problem of Pink: Why Copic Blending Trios Let You Down

Doughnut Stack - Underpainting for Realism, Coloring with Accuracy

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 and coloring accessories. Join Elena’s Copic Facebook group here for the latest coloring news and Copic Marker updates.