Robert Jackson "Anything Goes" Challenge Entry

Just posting my entry.  One of several pieces I've been working on. 



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Erasing the Shine

Hi, guys, 
Thought I'd take a minute to post.  In an earlier post, I mentioned that you could eliminate the shine you get with copic marker buildup with an eraser.  I'm all about learning how to clear up oopsies.  I chose a white eraser, but a clean pencil eraser will work, too.   Here are some pics. 

Before

After

Strong (Bright) Light

Low Light

Please notice that only the shine is erased, not the color.  The color remains the same.  HTH (Hope that helps).

As always -- 

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Creative Freebie Challenge Entry

This is my entry this week in the Outlawz Creative Freebie Challenge.   Tried to apply some of the things I've been learning from my new book.  I used Copic Markers for this one.

 That hair took a lot of time.  (Doesn't it always.) 

  

So much coloring fun.

In the bottom one, top right-hand corner, you can see the shiny buildup from the markers.  I used E99.

This sometimes happens with the darker, deeper more saturated colors.  I was able to use an eraser to remove the shine.  And go over again with the darkest color afterwards.   Great tip. 

As always...

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Freebie @ Dearie Dolls and a Coloring

I've got two images to post today.  The first is one by Dearie Dolls.  Dearie Dolls is new on the freebie digi scene, but I've got probably 50 of her digis.  She's very generous with them.  They are cute, fun-to-color images and covers a wide range of subjects.  You're sure to find something tempting to color.

 Photographed a little dark.  Light source for the image was the sun in front and up.

Tried to put texture in the scarf.  Wanted warm and fluffy.   Attempted to use BV23 for shadows.  Didn't work too well.  Lots more practice needed to get comfortable with this technique.

Poor Snowman!

Of course there will be more Dearie Dolls colorings.  In the meantime, why not stop over and see what she's got.  You can even go back and get the older ones.

http://deariedollsdigis.blog.com/2012/10/31/fall-dearie-2/

 This one is from Bing. 

Bing has lots of free digis.  But there's a problem.  It's not always easy to see who created the image so that you can credit them.  For instance,  this image was created by Marianne Walker, but I only know that from the small printing on the image.  So please take an extra step and try to identify the creator of an image.  Sometimes you can recognize a person's work.  Even then you've got to check it.  I'll see an image that I think is Saturated Canary's only to find it's somebody else.  Since the images are made available without charge, why not  take that extra step to find the creator of the image to credit.

The coloring on her is pretty good.  I tried a new combination for blonde hair.  I have such a problem with blond hair.  This one may have worked had I not mixed up my markers and put on the wrong caps.  I used my mid color as the lightest color, and it all ended up a yucky mess.  Tried to "fix" it.  (You know me.  Always trying to fix oopsies.) LOL  If you look closely you can see only two shades in her hair, the dark and the medium, maybe a tiny little light on the very tips. 

On goes my Copic journey.  I'm so glad you all are here to share it with me.  I got new Promarkers this week, so I'll be playing with those this weekend.  My 7-year-old crafting buddy will be visiting, so I have to put away my Copics.  She likes to color with whatever I'm coloring with, and I'm just not having it with my Copics.  :)  So we'll be doing Martha Stewart and Bic Mark-It markers. :)

Thanks for stopping by and leaving me some love!

Pretty Little Flower Girl

Been working on this cute little digi.  It's a Robert Jackson image called "Flower Girl".  Isn't she just the cutest!

Her skin coloring is not what I was aiming for, but it's okay.  I learned from my new copic coloring guide that I've over blended and lost my shadowing and shading.  That's true.  I kept adding color, changing color...you name it.   So not real happy about that.

The skirt of her dress is okay, but how about her curls and bows?  Pretty good, huh?  I aced those curls.  Trust me, it wasn't as easy as I'm making it sound.  It was hard work, but I'm so happy with them.   I'm not bragging; just happy with the way those curls came out.  You've got to learn to appreciate your own work.  If you don't, maybe nobody else will. 

I added glitter to her bouquet to give it a little bling since I made her beads blue.  Had to.  Got too much of the skin color on the beads.  Removed as much with blender pen, and then use the blue of the dress. 

Thanks to Robert Jackson for adding more images to his collection so soon after losing two of his close family members.  Our thoughts and prayers are still with you, Robert.  You might just want to go over and take a look at his new images and leave him some love.

I hope you like her, and as always --

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You've Got To Get This Book!

I got a new book today, "Copic Coloring Guide, Level 3: People", by Colleen Schaan and Michelle Walker, and I'm loving it.  This book will get lots of use from me.   If you love to color, not just with copics, but coloring with anything, this book is definitely one you should have in your library.   It's an amazing guide. 

The book is usually priced at $14.95 and comes with a CD.  The CD alone is worth the price.  This is the third in a series of copic coloring guides by Colleen and Michelle, and they just get better and better.  I'm already anticipating what a fourth would cover.

There are lots of tutorial goodies on the CD, including hair chart and a skin chart to keep coloring combinations on, images you can practice on.  You can print out as many as you need to compile a sketch book for your personal use with your favorite color combos.  The book covers faces, hair, clothing, and textures, shading and shadowing.  There are also instructions for projects using images from some favorite artists.

If you don't want to wait for the book you can purchase an online copy from Annie's Attic for the same price.  Don't miss with this one.  You'll kick yourself if you do. 

As always --

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Freebies, Oopsies, and Colorless Blenders

Okay, so today my freebies comes from Cleah Valero.  Cleah doesn't post often, but she has some real cuties.

For those of you who have been here from the start, you know how hard it is for me to stay in the lines.   I've gotten some better staying in the lines, but learning how to use my colorless blender properly has been the key to fixing what may look like a mess.

This image was colored using Copics.

You can clean this up with your blender with just the slightest touch to the paper.  I'd always wonder how can I clean this up without saturating the paper with the blender?  Now I know that you can barely touch the blender to the paper to push the color back into place.

I went over this one three or four times to keep from saturating the paper with the blender.  Patience.  Patience.  Patience.

Once upon a time I would have trashed this with so many oopsies. Or colored over that buckle with a dark color.  Now I know that if I keep a light hand with the blender and throw in some patience, my coloring will be usable, sometimes without a hint there ever was an oopsie.

Looks clean as a whistle.

And here's the final product.   So cute!

Thanks so much to all of you who have been helping me with your tips and suggestions.  I do hope those who are hesitant to try coloring will try it.  Most of what I learn about Copic coloring has been on the MB and YouTube.  So I'm trying to pay it forward and encourage those who want to color to color.  You just have to do it.  Practice, practice, practice, then practice some more. 

You don't have to start with expensive Copics.   You can start with Bic Mark-It markers, Promarkers, any alcohol based markers will work to get you started.  Using Promarkers have actually helped me work with my Copics better.  I really like the Promarkers.  If you start with Promarkers, you can get some good coloring, and that may be all you need.  Not everybody needs or wants Copics.  Promarkers will work just fine. 

The biggest difference between Promarkers and Copics are the variety of colors.  After using Copic markers, you kind of feel Promarker has some colors missing.  If you start with Promarkers, you probably won't notice the difference.  You can mix the two together.  I suggest you use the colorless blender that come with each set of  markers, though.  I don't like the Promarker blender for Copics and vice versa.  You have to work with them and get the feel of your own style and what works for you.

Had another Cleah Valero to share, but this post has gone long enough.  So that one will have to wait until next time.

As always --



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