Coloring with Copics

Coloring with Copics is kind of like watercolor....you have to put your hands on the tools and just do it! I can show you the mechanics of applying watercolor crayon to a stamp and I can show you the mechanics of airbrushing with Copics, but when it comes to putting the brush to the paint and paper and the marker to the stamped image, you really need to just do it!
I can give you some tips, but it just takes experience.
One thing that confuses people about Copics are the different types and which kind to buy. Your homework assignment a few posts back was to read a blog post that explained all the differences. Marianne also explains the differences, but she says she goes by color more than type of marker. Obviously if you are airbrushing, you have two choices. I like having the luxury of different tips. For fine work like above, the smaller tip comes in very handy. Some say you can get a fine line with the brush tip, but it is a little harder. I also like to write with my markers, so all the tips come in handy for that.
Another big mystery is the Colorless blender pen...it is really a color remover pen. I use the actual markers to blend the colors. The blender pen is also explained in your homework assignment. Another question is the different types of grays and what to use for shadows. I promise you, if you read all I assigned, they explain it much better than I can. Okay, guess I am looking like a loser now, but why try to rewrite something that has already been written.

On the pilgrim doggies below (Serendipity Stamps, along with the first two cards), you can see where I have used the colorless blender pen to remove ink on their cheeks and other areas to create highlights. That is one way to use it. Click on the photos and zoom in for a closer look.

Below, on the Inkadinkado shell, I used the colorless blender pen to make streaks that are lighter than other areas. I used a gray to make shadows though I am not so sure I am happy about those.

I like to begin with the lightest color and then work darker. Usually the lightest color will be towards the center of an image, depending on the curvature of the object (whether it is convex or concave). This shell would be raised in the center, so that portion would be lighter...the light would hit it first. It helps to look at objects and just think about how the light hits them....what shadows or highlights are formed. Sometimes you just do what looks good to you and leave all the scientific stuff out of it.
Practice, practice, practice :-)