December 14, 2010 at 3:40 PM A PHOTO TUTORIAL...
that is picture-heavy, and explanation light.
But if a picture really is worth 1,000 words - this post will be worth about 28,000 of 'em! YIKES! But I've had several requests for this. So today when I needed a break from my holiday to-do list, I sat down and colored and photographed the steps.
Take a deep breath, grab a cup of coffee, this might take awhile !
DISCLAIMER #1 - all of these step-by-step pictures were taken inside. Under my standard issue desk lamp next to an open window. The colors are a tad intense in the pictures, because of the corrected white balance. And you'll notice that the colors change from picture to picture - has to do with the sunlight and the tree outside my window. So don't panic when one picture looks a tad duller than the next - it's all about lighting. The final picture is taken outside and I would say that represents the true colors!
DISCLAIMER #2 - this is how I color stamped images with Copic markers. There are no rules for using Copics. There is no wrong way or right way, this is just how I do it. Take it for what it's worth - I'm always practicing, always learning, and always researching. If you've got tips or hints or tricks - I for one would love to hear them!
;)
I used the cute I Heart Sweaters image from The Greeting Farm. I stamped this little argyle-wearing guy onto Neenah paper with Tuxedo Black Memento ink. Memento ink is the only ink I'll stamp with, when I'm going to use Copics over the top. And Neenah paper is a must-have in my opinion. Best paper I've found, best price here at Scrapy Land and such a bright white color. LOVE the stuff!
If my stamped image is a person, I always start with the face. Realistically I think it's because if I mess the face up, I haven't wasted an entire colored image. But I do also think that a finished face helps me color the rest of the image. It sort of starts the attitude or character of the person...
;)
E00 Skin White, colored in a single layer over the entire face. {OOPS - I forgot his ears - LOL!} Remember, alcohol ink gets darker the more layers you add. So for this first layer try and not color over any areas twice.
;)
E21 Baby Skin Pink as a shadow, under his hairline and down his jawline. Also right under his cuffs on his hands. {I still haven't noticed his ears!}
;)
E00 to now blend the two colors together. Using small circular motions blend the darker colored shadow into the lighter highlights and toward the center of his face. {EARS Susan!}
;)
E02 Fruit Pink for some rosy winter cheeks. Very light, just one quick circular layer. {HELLO!}
;)
E00 again to blend that rosy color around. Lots of tiny circles around the edges of the color, pulling the darker color into the rest of the face. {I guess no one can hear me!! HAHA!}
Now, let's move onto the hair...
;)
He's going to be a brunette, so with E33 Sand I quickly color one light layer over his entire head. You can see that my E33 is starting to dry up - STREAKS! - time to refill this one! {FINALLY, I noticed his nekkid ears, poor little guy. They got touched up with E00 and E21!}
;)
Grabbing E35 Chamois I trace over the hair lines that the stamp provided. But if they weren't there I would have just drawn in some "strands" of hair to act as shadows.
;)
Back to my lightest color, E33 {which I've refilled!}, I blend these colors together. Still trying to do it with just one pass of the ink pen, and one additional layer. I don't want to build up any more dark colors until I have my final shadow color in place.
;)
The darkest color I'll be using for his hair is E37 Sepia. Tracing over just the tips of his hair, the ends of shadows that are already there and the very top of his head.
;)
Now going back to the middle color, E35, I blend those together. Not a lot of blending is necessary in this step with these 2 colors. I just tapped around the darkest E37 and smooshed the edges together to "erase" the harsh lines.
Time to dress this boy...
;)
For jeans I always go to these colors. Personal preference I guess, or lazy, haha. Call it what you will! I started with B93 Crockery, in one layer over the entire area. Remember, one layer.
;)
Since this is a small area, I'm only going to go straight to my darkest color B97 Night Blue. I add this in along the seams and the cuffs - basically the bottom half of his pants.
;)
Now instead of grabbing the lightest, I go in the middle. Using B95 Light Grayish Cobalt I blend the light and dark areas together, with little circular motions. I tried not to go over the lightest area with this pen, I just tried to keep this ink right in the middle.
I think all sweaters should be lime green, and this one is going to be bright...
;)
This is one of my newest YGs and I love it. YG00 Mimosa gets colored over his entire sweater.
;)
Here's where I went to grab a Diet Pepsi and let the dogs out, so I forgot to take a picture of a step. {Darn dogs!} But the argyle diamonds on the left and the right are YG03 Yellow Green and the center diamond is YG06 Yellowish Green. I wasn't too concerned about being perfect in this step, because since it's a sweater he's wearing I figured a little "fuzziness" would look okay.
;)
I reached for YG00 again and just blended everything together, in small sections at a time. Trying to just pull the argyle color into the base color a tiny bit. For that fuzzy mohair look!
;)
The boy needed a red scarf, so his sweater got a bit of red accents too. R39 Garnet gets swiped onto the bottom edge of his scarf, and along the fold lines the stamp provided. For the centers of the argyle I just tipped the very tip of the brush into the shape. Red is an intense color and it didn't take much to fill in the space.
;)
{WOWZA - forgot to white balance this shot - YIKES!} I only planned on using two colors for his scarf. Because it's a small area and also because I'm still perfecting my reds technique. Less is usually more, when working with red. You can ALWAYS add another layer, but toning it down is very difficult. So R35 Coral filled in the rest of the area, dragging the dark red into it and smoothing the entire space out.
;)
Just need to touch his boots with some E37, the darkest color that I used on his hair. Leaving just a little space for a highlight color.
;)
E33 fills in the rest of his boots - and other than the slightly overexposed color here, we're almost done!
;)
I cut out my little sweater-wearer, and I cut him out with the blades of my scissors touching the black stamped line. I didn't want any white paper showing. Now, don't roll your eyes at me yet - because I have a trick to share. Grab the lightest color of every color grouping you just used, in my case YG00, R35, E33, E00 and B93 and after your image is cut out edge the paper with your lightest color. Meaning - hold the edge of your brush tip up and run it along your cut edge. Using the right color for whatever area you're in. A lot of people have told me they grab a black pen to try and do this and it will not work. The paper will soak up that black ink and bleed into your beautifully color image. But if you use E00 to edge color around his face - it won't matter if the ink bleeds.
Try this trick - it totally helps hide imperfections in our cut lines. If a little bit of white is still showing - this trick covers it up. I use it all the time - and now you know! {wink, wink}
So here's my final fist full of Copics...
;)
Three of every color, except the reds. And I threw in the Colorless Blender because I thought I might need it.
Now let's whip up a quick background for our lime green lovin' guy...
;)
I took an extra hunk of Neenah paper and cut it to 4" x 5.25". That's a .25" smaller than an A2, 4.25"x 5.5. With a couple of post-it notes, I tore a swoopy border and stuck them down. If you tear through the sticky edge it works perfectly! Then with Distress Ink in Tumbled Glass and a Inkssentials Blending Tool I swirled on some color. Making sure to go OVER the torn edge of the post-it notes. I'm also working on the smooth side of a Scor-Mat - it's perfect to use with this technique because your blending tool won't encounter any friction!
;)
Peel up your post-it notes and VOILA! - you have the beginning of a beautiful card background!
But how about some dimension?
;)
Take one of your torn post-it notes and now just tip it left and right, inking lightly over the edge each time with Colorbox Gray Whale ink and another blending tool pad. You can see the edge of the blue post-it note in the very bottom left hand corner. Instant snowdrifts!
;)
I ran the entire piece through my Epic Six with the QK Snowflakes Embossing folder covering just the top edge. I just wanted the "blue sky" to be snowflakey! {The QK folder is out of stock, but the Sizzix two-pack is available today!}
;)
A couple of pop-dots behind my colored image, a die-cut sentiment from the Jolly Holiday Gift Set, and two white dots from my Uniball Signo pen for this little guys eyes and this card was done!
WHEW! Hope you made it to the end intact! If you have any questions about Copics, post-it-notes or embossing folders, please leave a comment below and I'll get back to you with a comment-answer!
Reader Comments (44)
:D
Loved the distressed background, so easy but yet so beautiful!! The snow "layers" were just perfect!
BUT my dear Suz, you must learn that VIOLA is a girlsname {which btw should have been Viggos name if he'd been a girl ;-) } and your Ta-da word is spelled VOILÀ, LOL
KRAM from a snowy Sweden <3
That card is so darling - have had my eyes on that stamp set, now I definitely have to get it. Your enabling and stamping talents are amazing! Gail
Off to correct my typo!
Gail - glad my oversight was such a riveting experience - I was laughing myself when I noticed it. But then later last night I thought "heck, they could have been earmuffs - right?"!!!!
Thanks ladies - so glad you enjoyed the little post-it-snow-drift trick. It's an easy one for sure, but a good one none-the-less. Also can be used for sand, grass, and water - just change the colors!
:D
Will be using the post it note trick....and the snowy hills look real...amazing.
Thanks for the great ideas Susan. You do ROCK the Blog!!
BEAUTIFUL work as usual!!!!
wtg girl!
blessings
Valerie, sorry sweetie but this card already went postal. Maybe the next one can head your way! LOL
:D
Karen
Susan thanks for the inspiration and your beautiful card. I really love your winter background; neet trick with the post-it. I will surely try this too.
Wish you all the best for the holidays!
Joanne
Thanks so much,
Karen
Not sure if this is where to leave the copic tips but here goes... I actually have two favourite copic tips:
The first tip is using the colourless blender pen to make patterns. for example, I would colour in the shirt of the little boy and on the argyle section, do little polka dots with the colourless blender pen. The colour fades where the blender pen is dotted and you get a great pattern.
The other copic tip is using the markers to make coordinating embellishments. So if I need pink ribbon, rather than trying to find a pink ribbon that matches, I would take a white satin ribbon, and do a pink copic stripe down the middle, or dots etc, so that I have ribbon to match.