How I use COPICS STEP BY STEP ft. Mermay (Patreon)

Welcome back to my Patreon and hope you're having a good day~ ^^ So, May is officially over and with that Mermay has come to an end. Whew! Making a finished illustration every day is not easy, but it is incredibly rewarding. I won't go into it too much right now since I'll be making another post about my review of Mermay and my thoughts on the whole experience. 

Today I'd like to share my coloring process using copics! If you'd like to see my sketch process, check out this other post I made . If you'd like to see my art supplies, check out this post ! Onwards! 

Here are the inks I did for Day 31! I kinda wish I had had enough foresight to scan my inks to make a coloring book, but alas...=u= That's okay though, there are future monthly challenges where I can take the opportunity to do so! ^^ So, after I've finished inking over my pencil sketch I move onto figuring out what colors I'd like to use. 

I like to do thumbnails of my colors, much like you'd do thumbnail sketches for illustrations. These lil dudes are tiny, probably 2"x2" at most. It gives me a good idea of which colors work well together and help me build an idea in my head of what I'd like the final illustration to look like. Sometimes I'll end up doing several of these thumbnails to try out different color combinations, but in this case I was lucky enough to like the colors I chose on my first go. 

I then like to grab all the colors I used out of the copic container and lay them out together on my desk. This just makes it convenient to use the markers, especially when I'm deep in a blending session. You gotta work fast with these markers since they set rather quickly! I didn't end up using the blue on the far left (B28) because I decided it didn't fit well with the other colors. I felt like it interrupted rather than blended the purples in the tail, so I nixed it in the final drawing. 

I then start laying down colors based on the thumbnail I did. When it comes to coloring with copics, the best way to get an even coverage and smooth blend (sounds like I'm talking about coffee...) is to move steadily with uniform pressure. Don't color too softly or too hard, press the marker tip down with a medium force and color. You want the ink to flow out evenly so that it covers the paper opaquely. To do so I move my wrist steadily to control the ink flow, keeping the marker tip in contact with the paper. Conversely, if you want to fade the color flick your wrist to make light and feathery strokes, like I did with the hair. 

When blending colors, like I did with the tail, try to use colors that are close together in shade and hue. For example, blending purple into a dark purple is much easier than blending a bright yellow into a dark purple. When I get to the boundary where I want two colors to meet and blend, I use short, light strokes to make the first color fade out. I then take the next color, e.g. dark purple, and make short, light strokes into the other color to create a smooth gradient.  This way there aren't any harsh lines or edges that show up between the two colors. If it's not as smooth as you want it, try adding more ink to encourage the colors to mix. If I find that my gradient looks choppy, I just color it with more ink (usually from the light color) to smooth out two colors. Remember, the pressure you apply to the marker tip makes all the difference, so just practice using different pressures and seeing what kind of effects it makes. 

I use the same blending technique on her cloak to finish up the colors. It looks a bit...dull in my opinion, like it could use more details and some extra pizzazz.

Aaa, now we're talkin'! :D I use white gel pen and a bronze metallic gel pen to add sparkles and fun details to her cloak and tail! I also go back in with the inking pen  to flesh out the tail with little scales. Pretty fun huh? This is easily one of my favorite parts of traditional art. I wish I had gold paint for this piece, I think it would have made it extra special. If anyone has recommendations I'm on the market for some decorative gold paint. >u>

And that's it! I followed the same process for all my mermaids so if you have a question about any of the others feel free to refer to this post for guidance! ^^ Thank you all so much for your support on Patreon as well as throughout Mermay. I feel so grateful that I was able to share my creations with you during May and look forward to learning more so that I can then share my knowledge as well! For those who are interested, I'll have postcard prints and originals available for sale this month. I'm working on a Mermay zine, so fingers crossed that comes through! Have a wonderful night/day and we'll chat soon about art and life. <3 

Love,

Vicki