Do you want to play a game? “Okay class, pick up your R35 and we will color the tail of this ribbon.” That’s how Copic and even some colored pencil classes work, right? If you do exactly what the teacher does, you’ll end up with something amazing. And it works… Kinda. You walk away with a very pretty project. Your Christmas scene looks just as cute as the instructor’s. Your ribbon is smooth, your ornaments look shiny and the box looks perfectly dimensional… maybe even realistic.
Elena Cazares teaches bright cheerful images using Copic Markers and colored pencils lessons at CraftsforPaws.com. Like Vanilla Arts classes, Elena’s class projects are too large for cards. Join us for the next episode in her Spotlight series making cards from big bold projects. Spotlight Cards let your coloring take center stage rather than the fancy papers, complex layout, or purchased ephemera normally used in cardmaking.
What did you think when you first saw the Indian Maize project here?
All those Copic Markers on each little kernel? And then she added colored pencil over the top of each one? I’ll bet it took weeks to color!
Weeks? Really?
I’ve noticed over the years, some very experienced Copic Marker fans add lots of extra steps to the coloring process that don’t really pay off in the end.
A lot of people make dimensional coloring harder than it has to be.
Do you?
It doesn’t have to be so hard!
Folks, I’ve seen a ton of Colored Pencil on kraft paper tutorials and videos. Ugh, they make my heart sink.
Have you ever tried this?
Because seriously, once you spend 15 minutes coloring everything white, you’ve got no tooth left over then to add all the brilliant color!
If you basecoat in white, you’re saying goodbye to any shot you have at realism.
