Another Dragon
Red Dragon. Copic markers and coloured pencils. Ulla Hennig June 2012
This dragon is the latest one of my dragon series. I used a copic marker with a light red colour and went over it with coloured pencils and watercolour pencils and my colourless blender marker.
Yellow Lily
Yellow Lily. Markers and coloured pencils. Ulla Hennig June 2012
This is my second contribution in the June challenge of the Florals/Botanical forum at WetCanvas. I very much doubt that it has anything to do with cubism, but I had much fun doing it. In addition to that I learned a lot about the combination of markers and coloured pencils, and the use of the colourless blender marker. I put down one colour of green with the marker, and by adding various colours with the coloured pencils got those differing shades of green in the leaves.
My Art on Zazzle
Actually I stopped creating designs for my Zazzle shop three months or so ago. I sold the one or other item, but that happened without any activity from my side. I somehow thought that it was either art or Zazzle, and I definitely preferred art.
However I have been reading the posts of the zazzle group I am a member of, Zazzle family, and on one day I explained why I wasn’t doing any thing zazzlish. The answer was to go to Zazzle and have a look for art created with markers and coloured pencils. I would find loads of art used for designs. Indeed, I did.
Now I know: it is not an either – or thing. Doing art does not mean to give up creating products for my shop. Of course it takes additional time to prepare my art pieces for the design process. But on the other hand: Is it not a wonderful way to show my art to the public?
The fish on the mug above has been drawn with pen and ink and coloured with copic markers.
Lily
Lily. Markers and coloured pencils. Ulla Hennig, June 2012
This is a contribution to the June challenge over at the Florals forum on WetCanvas. The challenge was to paint / draw lilies in a cubist style. I very much doubt that this painting has any similarity to a cubist piece of art but it was fun doing it. It also meant practising coloured pencils on markers, especially the creation of various shades of green.
My Copic Ciao collection
My copic ciao collection.
When I began to paint and draw with copic markers I didn’t buy one of their sets. First I bought the brown shades, then I added colours in threes, and in the end I bought 10 of them because they were cheaper this way.
There is one important thing to keep in mind while buying those markers: you have to try them out on paper in order to see what the real colour is – the colour charts on the screen look quite different from how they look on paper. And – if you want to shade with let’s say reds or greens you should have your own colour chart with you. It will help you to get the proper colour. Those markers are quite expensive, and buying a colour which doesn’t fit is something which should be avoided.
Green leaves
Shades of green
Leaves is a subject which I like to draw and paint. Therefore it is important for me to know which of my markers to use and which of my coloured pencils in order to get a certain shade of green. Nile green, Forest green and Spectrum Green are names of my copic ciaos; the other colours are my pencils colours – either coloured pencils or watercolour pencils. I use Polychromos and Albrecht Durer made by Faber-Castell, and I am very satisfied with them.
I am also enjoying my copic markers, but they are not the cheapest markers you can get. I found out that there is a marker brand called “Delta markers” made by a German company called Rotbart. They are not refillable (yet), and they only come in 80 colours. But combining markers and coloured pencils make it possible for me to create additional colours.
I use the Delta colourless blender marker from Rotbart to do the shading and blending, but in addition to that I went to the drugstore and bought a small bottle of Isopropanol alcohol which I apply with a q-tip. I’ve also seen people applying the alcohol with a stump – I’ll try that, too.
Blue fighting Elf – coloured
Fighting Elf. Copic Markers and Coloured Pencils. Ulla Hennig, June 2012
This is the coloured version of the lineart you can see here. First I put down the colour with my Copic Ciao markers, then I added more detail and shading with my coloured pencils. In the end I went over these parts of the painting with a colourless blender marker.
Today I went to a drugstore and bought a small bottle of Isopropyl alcohol. I had read a lot of articles and watched some videos on Youtube about the use of solvents and coloured pencils and wanted to do some experiments myself. Of course I had to try it out as soon as I arrived at home. I applied the alcohol with a q-tip on a square I had first coloured with a marker and then shaded with a coloured pencil, and it seems to work. But the experiments have just begun. Maybe I can tell you more in my next blog post.
Oh, and by the way – I’ve got a new modem which is working fine!
More gesture drawing
Figure drawing done with a red ballpoint pen. Ulla Hennig June 2012
Still no internet at home. However there’s one advantage: more time for drawing and sketching!
Modem broken down
When I tried to go online today I got the message that there was no connection to the remote server. Of course I called the support from my provider, but the result was rather sad – my modem is broke and will have to be replaced.
I am writing these lines in an internet cafe round the corner where you have to throw in coins for every 20 minutes you are online. Well it sure makes you to focus on what you really have to do online. No following interesting links, no browsing. I just try to do online what I really have to do.
I hope that I will get the new modem in a few days, and that I will be able to write regular blogposts soon.
Copic Markers and Coloured Pencils
Fighting Man. Copic Markers and Coloured Pencils. Ulla Hennig June 2012
In the meantime I’ve discovered some videos on YouTube which describe the use of markers and coloured pencils. So I
- first put down the colours with the markers.
- Then I did the details with the coloured pencils and my dry watercolour pencils.
- Then I used my colourless blender marker to blend the colours applied with the pencils.
- In some places I again worked with the pencils and
- finished with the colourless blender.
Using markers and coloured pencils makes it possible to combine the advantages of both of them: You can relatively easy and fast colour a background and a foreground and you can do a detailed blending and shading. And, not to forget: You can mix and blend colours far better with coloured pencils and the colourless blender marker than you would be able to do with a limited range of markers. Sure, there are over 300 colours with the copics, but with the money they cost I don’t intend to get the full range.
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