And for a very long time I resisted as the cost of a pen is quite a lot of money but I guess you get to a stage in your crafting life where you don't really need anymore ink, stamps or tools & actually buying a few Copic markers seems affordable/doable PLUS one of my local craft stores (Memory Crafts in Ellerslie, Auckland) advertised they now stock the whole range of Copic Sketch & Ciao markers & they were starting a 4 week introductory course ($60 for the 4 classes) plus you would need to purchase a small no. of markers for each class.
This seemed a fabulous offer & a good way to dip my toes in the water. The tutor is Linda Booker & she is an awesome teacher & so patient. So for 4 Saturdays I poddled off to Ellerslie & learnt the basics of Copic colouring.
These basics apply to ALL alcohol markers - you need an alcohol proof ink ie Memento & to get the best results you need blending card stock, in NZ we have access to XpressIt blending card which Memory Crafts also sells. Since my 4 week course I have discovered online card classes & digi stamps (but that will be another day's story or 2) & most printer ink is alcohol proof. Stazon is no good, as it is waterproof not alcohol proof.
Just a quick snap of the images I coloured over the 4 weeks, I also learnt to make brick walls using my Copic blender pen (which is not a blender pen at all but a bleach pen). The bottom picture is the 4 projects as made by Linda our tutor for reference. You can see the brick wall behind the crazy cats.
I must admit at the end of the 4 weeks, or if I'm honest at week one I was sold but I was still really bamboozled about what colours to buy as with a choice of 358 colours it's quite confusing to put it mildly.
I found this post by Jennifer McGuire really helpful which she published way back in 2010. Back then they only had 334 colours too. So I took Jennifer's advice for some favourite combos as she is one of those bloggers I have watched over the years & gone WOW at her colouring. Now my next dilemma was I could see all these fabulous blending templates on Pinterest & the one I liked the look of the most & thought would suit me the best was one from CopicOz who's blog has been incorporated into Copic Australia, which is a real shame as they had some fab stuff on it. Being the cheeky kiwi I am I contacted the blog creator directly & Kath very kindly sent me the templates which I printed out with a printer on XpressIt blending card stock. Some of Jennifer's colour combos I loved & some were OK.
I use this sheet so much I must actually make some more combos now I have more markers. It also helped me to practice my blending heaps.
My favourite colour combos: Listed lightest >> darkest
Red : R24, R46, R39
Yellow : Y11, Y15, Y19
Green : YG03, YG13, YG17 or/and YG21, YG25, YG17
Blue Green : BG10, BG11, BG13 (and maybe some darker shading with BG49)
Violet : V12, V15, V17
Pink : R81, R83, R85 - think crushed velvet - very scrummy
Peach : YR20, YR61, YR02
Blue : B02, B04, B06
Well that is a long enough post summarising my first 4 weeks of learning to colour. I'll be back with my next installment on learning to colour skin & hair next :)
✿ Karen ✿
