Copic markers #1

One of the things I really like about Copics is that you can achieve the look of watercolor. Whether you are airbrushing with the chisel point and achieving a gradual fadeout, blending colors to have shadows and highlights as you color, airbrushing with the brush tip to achieve the look of spattering or using the refills to achieve a polished stone background, these looks do have the look of watercolor to me. So, why not use watercolor...it is much less expensive you ask....I love the colors that are available with Copics. I also think that people are used to using markers, so they feel a little more comfortable with a marker in their hand than a paintbrush.

These are some examples I did using Serendipity stamps and Copic markers. Perhaps you can see the similarity they have with the ones I did with watercolor. You can also use the blender pen to pick up color and that kind of has a watercolor look. My friend, Heidi often creates stamped images that she colors with Copics that look like she did them with watercolor to me.

You can get the soft look of watercolor with Copics but you can also get vibrant, rich colors. With watercolors, it is sometimes hard to mix the same color again...with copics, the color is always available.

Perhaps you have wondered what is all the rage with Copics? Besides being able to create great looking images, I like the fact that I can refill the markers, airbrush with them, replace the nibs and create backgrounds with the refill inks. Watercolor will always be my first love as far as coloring mediums go, but these definitely come in second! Let me know if you have specific questions about them and I will do my best to explain this new kid on the block.

Some basics are that they come in three types of markers (plus the wide ones which are great for making banners and posters)...Ciao ("chow"), sketch and original. The Ciao are smaller and thus do not hold as much ink...you can not use them in the airbrush system. Sketch comes with a brush tip and a chisel tip. The original copics come with a chisel and a fine line point. There are other nibs you can purchase, such as calligraphy, but you can not airbrush with those tips. Copic also sells Spica glitter pens (THE best in the world...love those!) and various markers for sketching, writing, etc.