The Problem of Pink: Why Copic Blending Trios Let You Down

Blending trios stink for pink!

Deep down you know I'm right.

We've all been there. We want to color something pink and according to all the Copic laws, we're supposed to select three pink markers in a row.

Which leaves you sitting there with one or two red markers.

To color something pink?

Yep, and it all goes downhill from there.

Stop shading with red markers!

And ditch the hot pink markers too.

Want to know why your pink coloring always looks nice but totally fake? It's because you're using a BLENDING combination instead of a SHADING combination.

They're not the same thing, no matter how many people use the terms interchangeably.

Let's try to color pink bunny slippers...

...using the standard Copic rules.

The R20s are a popular Copic Blending Trio and the lighter end of that set feels very pink.

But if we use the +2 method, we end up with R24 which next to R20 looks downright red. I don't see any red in that bunny slipper photo!

Instead, let's try some RVs. RV11 might work but look at where that run of color leads us. I don't see any pinkish-purple in our bunny slipper photo either.

So then you fall back to the standard Copic Cop-out.

Yes, the Copic Cop-out.

When you can't shade something accurately, you step all the way down to the zeros and color the slippers super pale.

Because at least they're still pink then, right?

So basically, the Copic rules are saying that we can never color anything medium pink.

Nope, you have two choices in Copic-land: you can either shade with an inappropriately dark red or magenta OR you can make everything washed out and barely pink.

But the world is full of medium pink!

And rose, blush, salmon, coral, amaranth, flamingo, and tons of other glorious middle range warm rosy colors.

Look, the problem isn't with Copics markers, the problem is with Copic Blending Trios.

You've locked yourself into a world of coloring by the numbers, using mathematics when you should be using your eyes.

You're also trying to squeeze realism and realistic depth out of a marker rule that wasn't designed to generate realistic color.

That Copic "shading" technique? It's a shortcut for quick and easy coloring projects.

Artists do not do this weird shading thing that Copic experts teach. Artists don't purchase or mix paint, pencils, or pastels using "+2" or "+10 +2" rules. In four and a half years of art school and decades as an illustrator, I've never taken a class or read a method where you step-up in color to simulate a step-back in depth. This Copic shading stuff simply doesn't work for realism.

And Copic's pink problem makes that crystal clear.

“Rose All Day”

Is an instant download from PowerPoppy.com; just print it to a Copic safe paper and color along with me!

Lesson: Color Sculpting technique for realism, focus on pink and light red objects.

Stamp: ‘Rose All Day’ by Power Poppy

Medium: Copic Marker and Prismacolor Premier Pencils

Skill Level: Intermediate through advanced colorers. Once you can blend Copics smoothly with confidence, you're ready to join us! No drawing skills necessary.

Yes, I want Beans!

Happy Coloring!

Vanilla Arts + Power Poppy “Layer Cake”

Do you use Copic math?

You sit down for a little Copic coloring time.

You decide to color a daisy, or a fluffy bunny, or a piece of cake.

So you pick out your main color and then you start doing the math...

"Let's see, if my cake is YR31 then my shade color would be YR31 + 2 = YR33 but they don't make a YR33 marker, so maybe I need to do +3 or +4... but they don't make those markers. Darn it!  

So let's try YR31 + 10 + 2 = YR43 but they don't make that marker either! Ack!"

Wait a minute, did you want to color or did you want to do math equations?

Look, I know they mean well...

The idea started out simply- find an easy way for colorers to choose the correct shade colors for any project.

A lot of colorers swear by this addition method. "It's totally great!" It takes the guesses out of shading.

And the shading you get looks kind'a, maybe, sort'a almost realistic. Or at least "realer" than your projects looked before.

But hold on. I'm about to blow your mind...

Did you know that artists do not shade?

Nope.

This shading stuff? Shading is something crafters do.

But artists? The folks who paint and draw with stunning realism? We don't shade and we definitely don't do math problems to choose our colors.

Don't you love the part of the show where Bob Ross sits down and does long division to decide which tube of paint to use?

NO! Bob Ross never had a math segment because ARTISTS DON'T DO MATH!

So how do artists create depth, dimension, and realism?

Color Sculpting.

Color sculpting?

All objects have a shape, correct? Cubes, spheres, cylinders, or strange organic shapes that are hard to define.

And all three dimensional shapes have edges, right? The sides, tops, and bottoms.

As those edges get further away from us, the color desaturates- it gets grayer and less brilliant, less pure.

So all of those Copic formulas telling you to color the edges of an object one or two steps darker? They're telling you to do the wrong thing!

Copic says to ADD more color when you should be using LESS color.

And that's why your coloring isn't getting more realistic.

You can practice and practice and practice... but if you're always "shading" using Copic math, you are never going to add any realism.

Artists do not "shade". We use our eyes and our powers of observation to determine what the color is doing as it moves away from us. Then we duplicate what we see on our projects. That's Color Sculpting.

Relax, it's easier than it sounds!

People have been using this method for centuries. They used to teach it to kids, so YOU can totally learn to do it too!

It's not magic.

It's not math.

It's using the eyes in your head and the brain behind them. You were born with all the tools required to color sculpt, you just need to learn to pay attention to what you're seeing!

“Layer Cake”

Is an instant download from PowerPoppy.com; just print it to a Copic safe paper (like X-Press It Blending Card) and color along with me!

Lesson: Color Sculpting technique for realism, focus on white or light colored objects

Stamp: Layer Cake by Power Poppy

Medium: Copic Marker, Prismacolor Premier Pencils, Distress Ink (optional background)

Skill Level: Intermediate through advanced colorers. Once you can blend Copics smoothly and with confidence, you're ready to join us! No drawing skills necessary.

Yes, I want Beans!

Happy Coloring!

Vanilla Arts + Power Poppy "Merriest Berries"

"Merriest Berries"

Is an instant download from PowerPoppy.com; just print it to a Copic safe paper (like X-Press It Blending Card) and color along with me!

Lesson: Push & Pull technique for depth without confusing light sources

Stamp: Merriest Berries by Power Poppy

Medium: Copic Marker & Prismacolor Premier Pencils

Skill Level: Intermediate through advanced colorers. Once you can blend Copics smoothly and with confidence, you're ready to join us! No drawing skills necessary.

Yes, I want Beans!

Happy Coloring!

Copic Coloring: The Quest for Realism- How Texture Improves Your Coloring

Coloring that takes your breath away...

Think back to the last coloring project that knocked your socks off.

Maybe you spied it in a shop on the "Upcoming Classes" bulletin board. Perhaps you scrolled past it on Pinterest and had to abruptly backtrack to get a closer look.

When I ask students "what was it about the project which drew your attention?" they usually tell me it was color.

Color. Color. Color. Color.

People who love Copics and colored pencils all looooooove color.

Color. Color. Color. Love. Love. Love.

All good coloring students have been trained to say they love color.

"Hello, my name is B1GCulorLVR and I'm a color addict..."

It's a point of pride, a mark of belonging. Coloring people love to love color.

And maybe color is what initially attracts our attention to a few projects; but for the most part, pretty color is no big whoop. We see pretty color all the time, every day and everywhere.

If you were as addicted to color as you claim, you'd never get anything done. You'd spend hours gazing at the beauty of the blue toothpaste on your red toothbrush and zone out in meetings over the rhapsody of your boss' plaid necktie.

Color may grab your initial attention but that's not what holds it.

The quest for realism

Last week I talked about depth and dimension, how they're fool's gold when it comes to coloring better and with more realism. Be sure to read that article here-

Why depth & dimension aren't enough for realism.

In that article, I gave you a list of things which together add up to greater realism in your coloring projects.

To color with greater realism, you need to capture all of these elements:

• space (depth)

• shape (dimension)

• texture

• desaturation

• environment

• relationship

• rationality

If you want to capture realism, you need to pay attention and incorporate all of these concepts.

Did you see that color palette selection isn't on the list?

Did you note that blending combinations aren't there either?

And notice that I didn't say a darned thing about light sources?

Get the idea that your coloring class is studying the wrong stuff?

Texture is a vital key to realism

I know, you took a class once about texture.

You used colorless blender solution on a washcloth to make a teddy bear look curly and kinda-sorta-maybe almost furry.

You used short little flick strokes to make Santa's beard look fluffy... well...  his beard looked fluffier than his boots did.

You used a white gel pen to add highlight hairs to a doe-eyed girl with long flowing locks. And if you squint a lot, the white streaks kinda looked like highlights.

So you're a pro at texture now, right?

Uhm, not so much.

Basically, you took regular old ho-hum standard marker coloring and added a few swishes of something weird.

You used a novelty technique.

And it was only good for that one kind of thing. Teddy bears, old man beards, really odd shaped girls whose tiny little necks can't possibly hold up such gigantic heads.

That's not real texture and it's not going to get you closer to realism.

Yes, I want Beans!

What's missing?

Thought.

Thought is what's missing from your dabbles with texture.

You're not stopping to think about what you're coloring.

I mean seriously, look around you. Right now. Scan the room around you. I'll bet you can't find one object in the room that doesn't have unique and specific texture to it.

Your computer has a smooth and glassy screen but the frame around it is slightly pebbled with a beveled edge. The pencil on your desk has a glossy paint job but there's one area that is a little matte from finger print wear and there are two bite marks down by the eraser. The desktop has a wood grain and there's a ring from your coffee yesterday and the far left corner is a little dusty.

If an object has a surface, that surface has a texture.

And I'll bet your class on advanced washcloth textures didn't mention that fact.

Novelty techniques can not solve your realism problems.

Artists who capture realism in their projects spend a lot of time thinking about the objects they're about to color.

And they spend that time thinking about the texture of the object, not the color.

Is it hard and matte? How do I convey that to my viewers?

Was it just plucked from the garden and still wet with dew? How do I demonstrate that?

Is it so fragile and lightweight that it might disintegrate if you touched it? How do I show that with my marker or pencil strokes?

Did you catch the word touch there?

Color may grab someone's initial attention but it's texture that captures our imagination. Texture makes people want to reach out and touch your coloring, it keeps us looking at and thinking about your project long after we've wandered away.

Real items have texture. Texture conveys realism and realism is far more impressive than a snazzy color palette or colorless blender tricks.

Not your average coloring class

There are a lot of talented and generous coloring instructors (both online and in shops around the world) who do a really great job educating students about basic marker and pencil techniques.

But there's also a weird merry-go-round mindset that says if you take enough classes and meet enough instructors- eventually, you'll grow your skills from coloring level to artist level.

So you bounce from instructor to instructor, technique to technique, spinning your wheels because no matter which class you take, you never move past beginner level concepts.

If every class only covers novelty techniques, you'll never move past novelty techniques.

There's a great big world beyond colorless blender tricks and that's where I want to take my students.

I have a growing Workshop full of online courses and lessons that are NOT swishy-swashy things to do with marker demonstrations

You've done depth. You've done dimension. You've explored the many uses of colorless blender and white gel pens.

It's time to make some art.

Let's start working on real realism.