Copic Question
 

Hi
I have a bunch of Copics but am having a hard time with hair! What Copic color do you use for blondes, brunettes, & red heads? Thanks in advance for your help.
Have a great day, Jodi

I've been wondering the same thing???

subscribing cause I'd like to know too!

Arrrgggghhh! You would ask that and I would see it right as I'm leaving work for the day.

Think of some other color combos and I'll post tomorrow a good assortment, along with examples.

It's so hard to say what a good, generic blond, brunette, etc. is. Here are a few color combos- I tried to find a stamp of someone with hair, but I own only 1!!! Can you believe that? I love the Hanna stamps and the Bella stamps, but do I own one, NOPE. :(

So, you get autumn leaves. This swatch is stamped with the new Memento ink by Tsukineko, which won't be available until May or so. I love this ink!!! I don't have to heat set it or anything with Copic Markers.

This is only one swatch- look in my gallery for more color combos.

Thanks! That really helped and your colors are perfect hair colors! I can't believe you don't have any bellas or hannas-you must be good at self control-unlike me. ( :
Thanks again, Jodi

Thanks so much! This is very helpful

I use sepia and light carmel for burnettes. Burnt umber is a reddish brown, so thats good for redheads...and I use cadium yellow and any light yellow for blondes.

I like Y15 and Y23 for blondes and A27 or E37 for brunettes, YR21 is good for a reddish blonde color.

help with blending
 

I definitely need help with blending. When I use the colorless blender it removes ink and leaves a definite color difference between the two colors I was trying to blend.

I cannot seem to get the effect that "ilikemarkers" shows on her autumn leaves in a previous post. Do you lay down the light color first, then the darker and try to blend out with the darker marker? Or vice versa or what?

I'm still new to Copic's but I seem to have a definite line between the two colors and using either the light or the dark to blend isn't quite working for me.

If there is a question about paper and ink I use the GP 110# white and Brillance or Adirondack ink so it shouldn't be a paper or ink problem. No, I'm sure it's a user problem.....

Any advice or links to good tutorials about blending would be great! Thanks.

Blending with Copics-

This is how I did the leaves. Start with the lighter color and evenly cover the paper. Flip the paper over- if it looks even from the back then you're doing ok. If it looks uneven then saturate it some more. While it's still damp add your darker color on the top, then go back over the edges with the lighter color. Repeat this a few times to get an even blend. Soon the harsh edges will wash out.

Colors that are super different are harder to blend.

The colorless blender is for adding highlights or fading a color (pale ones work best) to the white of the paper. If you have two colors next to each other and you use the bender over them hoping to blend them it just won't work. All it does is lighten them. Us the blender as a special effects tool to add lighter areas.

there's a good quick tutorial at debbie olson's blog-
http://debbiedesigns.typepad.com/mus...ves-a-hoo.html

Thank you SO much! I played around last night coloring three separate horse images and after many layers of color did achieve what I liked on one of them. I didn't realize how saturated it may need to be, etc.
Thanks also for the link to Debbie's blog tutorial. I'm off to check it out now.
BTW, I think you have an awesome job. How many people can say they color for a living?
~Sue

Thank you so much for your kind thoughts! I wish all I had to do was color...coloring is only part of my job. Sadly, spreadsheets and reports sneak into my coloring time way too often, and I always have graphics I need to get done. :)

YEAH!!
 

I know...just teasing about coloring all the time. Bummer that jobs have to have the necessary, but real, aspects to them.
Thanks again for your help. I've been practicing and I'm loving these markers!!
Sue

I'm so glad they're working for you now! Once you get over the initial learning curve it becomes much easier.

Thanks for posting the colors and info on coloring!

I've found I really like using YR21 Cream for blonde hair.
E09 Burnt Sienna makes for a gorgeous auburn bombshell! ;)

And, like Marianne sezzzzz, soon as Memento Ink hits the shelves, I am stockin' up, baby! Woo HOO!!! :-D

I color kind of backwards and it works for me. I use the darker color first around the lines of the hair, then fill in with a lighter color and then take a very light color (like skin white) and go over the whole thing to blend it all. Here is my Hanna Gallery. If I get a chance I will go down and look at the actual colors I typically use after my girls go to sleep tonight. I also remove a bit of the color with the blender around the interior lines that are meant for shading.

So far I've only made my gals brunettes so I've been using E35 and E37. I've only got Ciaos so those are my fave colors. They are pretty close in color so I don't even feel the need to blend them out.

Maybe so, but she (ilikemarkers) has ALL the Copics, don't you, Marianne?!! :D

I'm so new to this forum I have no idea if I'm even responding properly. Learned last night on the web about some of the suggestions you made. Thanks for your response.

Nope. I don't have all the colors- maybe 150, but a lot of mine are duplicates.
However, when I'm at work I can BORROW most of the colors. I "borrow" markers all the time.;) The ones at work are full, my set at home badly needs to be refilled as my DH frequently tells me.

When I travel I limit myself to 24 or 36 colors. I've had to be creative with my coloring sometimes, but it's amazing how much color range you can get from just a small assortment. Using just a few makes you want to go and get more colors though.

So when you travel, are there ones you always take? Do you have any "hints" about how to mix colors when you only have a limited amount? You work for Copic, correct? Do they ever offer classes in WA?
Thanks, Jodi

I used to have my favs that I always traveled with, but then I found that all my pictures looked the same each time. BORING.

Now I specifically mix up my palette- as a rule of thumb I take 2 markers from each color family, keeping a 3 or 4 digit difference on the last number but keeping the letter and first number the same. I always bring 3 grays because I can shade down any other color with grays, usually cool grays 'cause I like blue-grays. If I knew I'd be working on something with a more earthy feel then I'd bring warm grays.
I always bring a really pale blue or blue-green (B000 or BG10) for skies.
I don't usually bring black- it is one of my least-used colors.

Thanks for that great info. It makes sense! I also don't seem to have a need for black! Nothing you can really do with it-maybe make grey.:)
Thanks, Jodi

I do this a lot, too, on small areas. For simplicity I tell people to always use lightest first, but it doesn't really make too much of a difference, it's just harder to go lighter if you start out too dark.

Sometime this spring there will be a Copic Certification session in Seattle. This is open to teachers and store owners. I don't have a date exactly yet, but you can get more info at www.copicmarker.com

Hi
I am coming up with a problem and thought I might get some answers from people in this thread. I have E55-Light Carmel and whenever I color something and saturate it the color ends up "separating" and I get a large pale blue area? Any idea why? Could it be that I have a defective pen? It is fairly new, so it doesn't need more ink. If just color over it once-not a problem but then the color isn't as rich. Any ideas? All would be appreciated.
Thanks, Jodi

OH...
 

thank you for all this information. I'm hoping to get started with these soon....


I too am going to subscribe to the post to hear what all the wisdom that you guys have to share!

Thanks-

Ginger

OH...
 

thank you for all this information. I'm hoping to get started with these soon....


I too am going to subscribe to the post to hear what all the wisdom that you guys have to share!

Thanks-

Ginger

What about florida???

I've had this problem when I try using rubbing alcohol over our markers- the dyes are separating (Copics are Ethanol based, not true alcohol, so alcohol and hand sanitizer react with the markers for neat effects, but it also messes with the dyes). What paper are you on? There might be a coating or clay in the paper that is reacting with the pen. Do you have something absorbent underneath- like scratch paper? If you don't then the marker could be reacting with the table surface.

I've got an E55 in my hand, and when I first apply it thick and heavy to cardstock you can see hints of the blue/gray dye, but when it dries it looks even and a general middle brown color. Watercolor paper looks the same. Kinda dull blue-brown until it dries completely, then it is an even brown.

Subscribing--I am so glad to have discovered this thread because I want to get better with my copics. Any good tips for coloring larger areas such as a sky?

Great thread!! Thanks for all the great info-I'm just a beginner with my Copics and find that the more I practice, and read, the better I'm getting with my coloring. I can never have enough tips for Copic coloring. Thanks again so much!

Thanks for this info, I am using PTI white cardstock. I wish that were my problem. I end up with a greyish/blue down the middle of my colored paper, as if the color seperated. But the back of the paper looks "perfect" like the color I would expect it to look like. Hmmmm. I have not used scratch paper underneath. Do you think that one marker would have an adverse reaction to my table but not others? I did try it a couple of times and both times it came out like that. Also, if I just do one coat-it is fine.

I am also wondering if there is a way to "dry it out" and then get a refiller and refill? Or would it be best to get a new marker. I have had this one for quite awhile-just haven't used it so I am not sure if I would be able to exchange it.

Thanks again for any help you can give, Jodi

to color larger areas like sky you can "pre soak" the paper with blender and then lay your color down- this will keep it smoother and paler. OR you just have to be super careful and color in circles,really soaking the paper, keeping all your edges wet so you don't get streaks.

When you presoak the paper for larger areas, do you soak the entire area, or do you break it down into smaller areas at a time. Thanks for your help!

It's not your marker, it's the paper. HOWEVER, on cardstock I went back over my E55 blob and the pale blue stuck to the paper, the brownish dye moved around. Same with regular copier paper. Looks strange. My E55 is almost new, so it doesn't need to be refilled. The next shade up or down looks fine, so I think it happens to be that the dyes to get that exact shade of brown don't like cardstock and they don't blend at the same rate as each other. I'll pass this on to Japan.

It depends on the area. Most of the time though I soak the whole thing and color quickly while it's still wet. then it gives me the softest color. Anywhere you stop you will get an edge, and that's what you don't want.

If you color first with the blue then go over it with the blender it will soften and lighten colors as well, though again, don't stop in the middle or you'll get a streak.