Vellum Sketch and Upcoming Events

I have a lot of events and classes coming up, but before I leave town, I wanted to share a quick sketch and process with you.

Coloring on Vellum
It's been a while since I posted something made on vellum. I had a drawing in my head, and I thought this would be perfect for a vellum sketch. I'm using a deluxe, heavyweight drawing vellum, so it has a slight grayish cast to it, but takes marker ink beautifully.

1. I started with a pencil sketch and overlaid a piece of vellum. I taped it down with masking tape to keep it in place as I colored.

2. Next, I work back to front. I begin by laying down some solid swatches of B45.

3. With my colorless blender, I went back over all the blue, to soften at the edges. I colored in the same direction as the original streaks. I want some streakiness to remain, just not as harsh on the edges. Then, I use my colorless blender to clear out the inside of the vase. Because marker ink does not soak into vellum, the colorless blender can completely remove ink, if you soak it enough. I was careful to wipe my blender marker tip clean on scratch paper after each stroke over the blue. 

4. Then I added E33 and E27 to the pitcher. I left the white area clear, and did minimal blending. Blending on vellum can turn streaky quickly.

5. Next I added the YG17 and G99 right over the top of any other colors. Although the greens are lighter, they will simply push other colors out of the way.

6. I added R43 as my pale pink. If you notice, all colors appear a little lighter on vellum, so go darker than you regularly would when coloring, or colors won't show up.

7. I touched up the pinks with RV29, and minimally blended it with the R43.

8. I finished up by pulling the sketch out from underneath and looking at areas that needed cleaning up. I darkened the brown with E49 and touched up a bit more RV29 and G99 to add details.

I love how soft and simple the finished image looks. And, it was very quick, as you can't go back and blend without causing streaks. If you don't color on vellum much, I strongly recommend trying it sometime.

Upcoming Classes and Events
This weekend I will be teaching  a couple classes in San Diego. I still have a few openings in my upcoming classes in San Diego, Salt Lake City, and Pittsburgh. We have other copic classes coming up in Chicago, Dallas, Phoenix, Seattle, and Minneapolis, so visit our website to register or get more information. You can also email nancy@copicmarker.com for more registration information. 

Just this week we added a bunch of new classes:

May 31, South Chicago area, IL, Whimsical Faces & Hair, taught by Marianne Walker
May 31, South Chicago area, IL, Tracing Memories, taught by Marianne Walker

June 6, Ottawa, ON, Canada Standard Certification taught by Sherrie Siemens
June 7, Ottawa, ON, Canada Intermediate Certification taught by Sherrie Siemens
June 7,  Hanover, MD Whimsical Faces & Hair, taught by Lori Craig
June 7,  Hanover, MD Airbrushing for Papercrafters, taught by Lori Craig

Local Demos:
If you are in Oregon, I will be hosting a free drop-in studio event at the U of O Bookstore on May 17th. Click here for more details.

Ongoing: $5 Wednesdays, 4:00-5:30pm Tracing Memories drop-in dinner classes at Sheldon Park Assisted Living, Eugene. Call 541-344-1078 to RSVP.