Tools On My Desk: Best Coloring Surfaces (Get better Copic Marker blends using the right board!)
I don’t want to ruin my desk!
It sounds like a good idea. You’re blending with Copic Markers. You don’t want them to bleed-though and leave ink on the table below, so you slide a sheet of scrap paper underneath your paper.
It’s supposed to absorb the excess ink right? Except that’s the exact opposite of what you should be doing.
The Vanilla Team shares their favorite non-porous coloring surfaces that will help make blending a breeze!
Student Success: Kathy Adds Realism by Coloring Larger Images (Copic Marker, Colored Pencil)
“I want my coloring to look absolutely realistic!”
You’ve taken lots of coloring classes and you’ve colored tons of stamped images. You’re even being very careful to avoid the cutesy classes— no googley-eyed bunnies or smiling toaster classes for you.
You want to color with realism. So why isn’t it happening? Why does everything you color still look cartoonish?
Colored Pencil: Do You Have Time & Patience for Slow Coloring? (plus Tips for Efficient Coloring)
Colored pencil is slow!
The sharp point on a colored pencil is teeny-tiny. If that’s not bad enough, colored pencil painting requires many layers for vibrancy. It takes forever to complete even a small pencil project!
Do you have the time for colored pencil? Do you have the patience?
I picked up my first artist grade colored pencil in the fall of 1984 and I’m still working with them today. That’s decades of working at a turtle’s pace.
How have I survived this long without going crazy?
Hmmmm… How about if I share some efficiency tips that I’ve picked up over the years?
Tools On My Desk: Stretch Your Copic Marker Budget by Shading with Underpaint Colors
Underpaint to Save Money?
Underpainting eliminates single-use markers, allowing you to buy 2-marker blending combinations instead of trios.
By using the same gray, violet, or even blue marker to shade everything from yellow to purple, you save money by eliminating the darkest marker from every trio!
Today, let’s look at the Vanilla Team’s favorite all-purpose underpainting markers— what they use them for and why you might find it handy too.