Coloring Demonstration: Cute Zombie Skin & Hair (Copic Markers, colored pencils)

Color along with me!

I’ve got a brand new video out this morning, a coloring demonstration with Copic Markers, Staedtler Triplus Pens, and Prismacolor Soft Core Colored Pencils.

It was a darling stamp until I got ahold of it with my creepy coloring!

This is “New Heights” by Santoro London Gorjuss. This cling stamp comes in two different sizes, I’m using the large version so that I can add lots of fun details.

I’ve stamped it onto XPress It Blending Card using Memento’s London Fog gray ink.

I really love XPress It and highly recommend it for beginners! XPI prevents a lot of blending problems by allowing the inks to stay wet longer. The longer your inks stay wet, the better the blends!

Scroll down for the complete supply list!

(Click the image above to watch the video at YouTube)

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Leave a comment at YouTube and let me know if you enjoyed this new format!

Happy Coloring!

Weekly coloring tips!

Yes, I want Beans!

Products used in The Cutest Zombie:

(Affiliate links to Amazon, Dick Blick, and Ranger Ink)

Vanilla Arts Company is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for use to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com.

Is Your Copic Coloring Flat? Learn to Color with Depth & Dimension

Do you draw arrows?

Are you one of those people that starts every coloring project with a little tiny arrow in the upper corner of your paper?

Why?

No really. I sincerely want to know.

Why?

Because someone told you to.

Correct?

Because that's supposed to remind you which direction the light is coming from and somehow if you just remember that key fact, your coloring will be full of depth and dimension.

And yet you still have shading problems, right?

Yep. Drawing an arrow in the top right hand corner of your paper doesn't solve much if you don't understand what it means. And frankly, I'll bet the person who told you to draw that arrow doesn't really understand what it means.

Look, I don't know who started this idiotic idea of arrows and directional light charts. I've seen 'em all. Clear acetate versions, penetrating line versions, even one that involved the earth with a little pink equator going around it.

If those things actually worked, I could have saved myself four years of art school tuition and fees.

Sunlight charts and arrows are snake oil. They don't teach you diddly-squat about how to shade objects for depth and realism.

Yep, it's no wonder that you're confused about shade and shadow. You basically bought the Brooklyn Bridge. Instead of teaching you how to shade, all that tutorial gave you was a headache.

The secret to depth & dimension...

The secret to shade has nothing to do with which direction the sun is coming from.

I know that sounds strange, but that's because you've been brainwashed.

When the sun goes down, do you suddenly turn into a pancake?

Does your dog flatten out at the stroke of midnight ?

Oh... so you're still three dimensional when the lights go off?

That's because the shape of an object is completely unrelated to the lighting conditions around it.

I teach beginners, people who have never picked up a marker before in their whole entire lives, I teach them to color with depth and dimension and we do it all without a single arrow or sunlight chart.

You can learn it too. No advanced degree necessary. No mathematics, no rulers, and most especially- no arrows... just you, me, and a few Copic Markers.

End the confusion about shade. Join one of my Push & Pull classes. It will change the way you color forever.

Yes, I want Beans!

Three live sessions in april:

Remember When Scrapbooking in Macomb, Michigan:

Wednesday, April 12th from 1 to 3:30pm

Thursday, April 13th from 6 to 8:30pm

Lesson: Push & Pull Technique for Depth

Stamp Sets: a collage of Chirpy Chirp Chirp and Happy Easter by Lawn Fawn

Medium: Copic Marker & Prismacolor Premier Pencils

Skill Level: Absolute beginners through intermediate colorers. No drawing skills necessary.

RSVP: Call 586.598.1810 to reserve your space or to order the class stamps or Copic Markers.

Bee Creative Retreat in Oxford, Michigan:

Wednesday, April 26th from 6:30 to 9:00pm

Lesson: Push & Pull Technique for Depth

Stamp Sets: a collage of Chirpy Chirp Chirp and Happy Easter by Lawn Fawn

Medium: Copic Marker & Prismacolor Premier Pencils

Skill Level: Absolute beginners through intermediate colorers. No drawing skills necessary.

RSVP: Purchase your space here. Sorry, no walk-ins.

Want the Online Version?

I teach the same Push & Pull technique in my online workshop called "Flutterby".

Flutterby is 1.25 hours of fully narrated video instruction plus learning aids and printables. Flutterby uses my original digital stamp, designed especially to help you learn and practice Pushing and Pulling.

My classes are thorough! I don't do "watch me color" videos. Instead, I break down the techniques and explain what we're doing every step of the way.

My goal isn't to teach you how to color butterflies. I want you to leave the course knowing how to layer and shape objects for maximum depth. That's not just a butterfly lesson it's an every-stamp-you-own lesson!

Forever access, instructor feedback, work at your own pace.

(Free sample class here if you want to try me out!)

Join me for a class that clarifies the shading process

We'll burn the arrow charts in a bonfire afterwards.

Copic Club: Casual Coloring Class- Learn to color on kraft paper

There are many tutorials for coloring stamps on kraft paper

And they usually involve multiple coats of colored pencil.

Layer after layer after layer after layer...

That's because mid-toned paper tends to shine through the pencil layers to dampen their vibrancy.

Some of these tutorials are simply exhausting! Color it white, then color it again, then add another coat, then  brighten it with more white...

Stop. Just stop. This is stupid.

Mid-toned papers are pretty standard in the art world, we use them for quick sketches and studies.

Did you notice the word quick there?

Yep. Quick studies are pretty much the opposite of 92 layer crafty style coloring.

Coloring on kraft paper doesn't have to use up an entire white pencil to get the job done. There's a minimal amount of white in this image, I sharpened my white pencil twice for this 8.5" tall piece (and that's only because I love a sharp point on my lead).

Coloring with colored pencils does not require a massive pencil collection. There are 14 pencils here and I could eliminate three of them if I wanted to prove my Ebenezer Scrooge street cred.

You do not need solvents or chemicals either. I don't use them.

And you don't have to press hard! Not a thing on this image has been burnished, rubbed, or scrubbed. It's 100% carpal tunnel free!

There's an easier way to color with colored pencils. Let me show you how.

Copic Club is a monthly live class for casual coloring

Perfect for beginners, hobby colorers looking to increase their skill set, and self-taught colorers who feel as if they've missed key technique details.

Wednesday, March 8th 2017 from 1 to 3:30pm

Thursday, March 9th 2017 from 6 to 8:30pm

Lesson: Secrets of Kraft Coloring

Stamp Set: "Garden Variety" by Memory Box

Medium: Copic Marker & Prismacolor Premier Pencils

Skill Level: Beginners who are ready for a challenge. No drawing skills necessary.