Classes in Oregon

It's been a while since I posted on here, but that isn't because I've simply been hiding out.

This Saturday, April 28th I will be teaching two Coloring Flowers classes in Salem, OR at Runaway Arts & Crafts. Spaces are still available! These are perfect beginner classes and are pulled directly from my book "Coloring Flowers with Copic Markers." Come join me!

In the meantime, I have been drawing and coloring a wide range of beautiful images. I'll post a few just to give you an idea. These are more of my complex drawings, so I won't go into the colors used, as it was way too many to keep track of!

This iguana took forever to color, as I started with a base range of blended greens and other shadow colors, then I added the individual scales with a colorless blender. Between the blender dots I added extra color enhancing specs with yellows or darker greens to just make the scales pop a little more.

This bright red stag beetle was a test of a paper someone had given me. At first I liked the paper, then I decided it wasn't my favorite, but it took me coloring for a few hours to figure out what I didn't like.

I made the shine on the beetle pop by working with a wide contrast range, from super light working into the darkest tones. You can really see the sheen on the shell by keeping the high contrast. Then I finished by adding thin white touches of Opaque White with a brush.

Have a creative weekend!

Coloring Ducklings

Add contrast!
You may have noticed that I posted a new blog header recently. Here are a few step-by-step photos of my coloring process for the cute row of ducklings that I used on my header. I made this picture a few weeks ago, while demoing for the University of Oregon Ducks bookstore. (I figured this picture was  appropriate for the U of O.)

Once again, I need to give credit to my dear friend Maaike in the Netherlands for the beautiful reference photo. The whole process, from line-drawing to final coloring took about 6 hrs.

As with most of my illustrations, I started with a pencil sketch based loosely on the original photograph. Then I traced the pencil drawings with a 0.1mm black inking pen. I copied the outline onto my favorite marker paper.

I started coloring the little ducklings, as they were the focal point of the whole image. Y11, Y21,YR000, R81, YG91, Y28, YR14, E44, E47.

If you look close, you can see a corner of the reference photo peeking out. The log that the ducks are on sits in a murky, swamp with lots of interesting colors floating on the water. It took a lot of markers to suggest the water tones. At this point I was pushing at least 30 colors, so I stopped keeping track of all of them.

I like to put a lot of subtle base colors into things like the logs, then I add my dark colors to build up the variations. Compare the back log, which I've already darkened, to the log in the foreground. It is easy to see the yellows, pinks, oranges, and green in the light log. Then, when I add dark tones, it feels less flat. Also notice the pale blue I added on the underside of the log to suggest a watery reflection.

Contrast makes things jump. So, to make sure the ducklings are bright yellow and dynamic, I tried to keep the water behind them nice and dark. I added dark green dark blue, dark purple, dark browns, and all sorts of colors into the water so it looked murky but alive.

The grasses in the background are not as important, so I didn't emphasize those as much and I kept my stronger contrast in the foreground. However, I threw in a little airbrushing to darken it up back there.

My demo time was quickly ending, and I knew it would be a while before I could come back to finishing this piece, so I wanted to get it done before I left. A big risk with any complicated piece of art is overworking it. Knowing when to stop is important! Having a time limit has kept me from overworking many good pieces.

Here is the finished piece, including final touches of white added back in with the Copic Opaque White with a built-in brush. Scanning in artwork and color-correcting makes a world of difference (the lighting at the demo did not bring out the richness of the colors).

I hope you enjoyed the limited tutorial. It's hard to remember to take process photos when I'm also helping customers. May your week be just ducky!

Coloring a kingfisher bird

Layering bird feathers
Last week I had the pleasure of coloring for two days straight at the U of O Bookstore. What fun I had! Any chance to sit and color is a win in my book.

Since I have been working on a new book, Coloring Birds with Copic Markers, you can guess that I have been focused on birds quite a bit recently. One of my dear Facebook friends, Maaike from the Netherlands, shared some beautiful bird photos from the Wildlife Refuge she works at, I knew I had to draw some of them. This kingfisher was my favorite from the whole event.  I drew him with a 0.1mm multiliner, then photocopied the outline onto some of our Art Paper.

(Just so you know, this is a way more complicated bird than the ones going into my next book. It took me a little over 2.5 hrs to draw and color in this vibrant kingfisher, whereas most of the coloring projects in my books are intended to be completed in about 25-40 min.)

I started by lightly blocking in the base tones. (I apologize in advance if I leave out any colors, as I didn't write down all the colors I used, so I'm going by memory). I used BG01, B24, B39, Y11, YR31, YR14, and YR18. Notice the light feathering strokes I used on the wing and chest.

The first spot you touch your marker nib down will be darkest, so pay attention to the affect you are trying to get, planning where your light and dark feathers will be. Sometimes I flick up the wing and other times I flick down on the wing. I try to always flick in the direction the feathers naturally grow though, so that it looks most natural.

Next, I went through section by section and darkened. I didn't have a great range of turquoise colors, so I had to build them by layering G43 and B24, frequently in feathering strokes.

 I darkened the head with thin lines of different blues. Then with the very tip of the brush nib, I added tiny rows of dots to the crown of his head, to simulate the fine striped feathers.

The beak was colored with C3, C7, C9, Y32 and a hint of YR14. I was careful to darken the orange area on the head, while keeping the white areas white.

At this point, I start really popping out the contrast and finishing details.

With B39 I added even more dots to the crest of head feathers. Notice I also punched out the contrast on the wing feathers with the B39 as well. I darkened the wing feathers in front as well with more 24 and a bit more green. BG13, BG18, B95, B9, V99 and many other colors.

This gave the feathers on the wing a bit more punch. At this point I let them dry throughly. Next, I took the finest tip of the colorless blender and carefully dotted in the white dot accents on the wing feathers. If the base color is still wet, then the dots will be soft and blurry, but by letting the base coat dry, then adding many layers of blender, letting it dry between layers, I was able to lighten up the dots.

Finally, I finished the bird by applying faint hints of Copic Opaque White. This popped out the contrast on the wing feathers and on his head-crest.

The branch is colored with layers of E11, E13, E15, E37, and E49. Then, I softly added some YG11 over some spots to suggest a green fuzz.

The moss is colored with YG01, YG03, YG13, YG67, and hints of G99.

 I faintly airbrushed a background using the chisel nib on a B02 marker, then added darker speckles of color with the brush nib on a B24. Then, I used the tip of the B24 and YR14 marker and added teeny-tiny dots carefully around the edges of the illustration, just because I thought it looked cool.

Coloring a knight in armor

Shiny Metal
A few weeks ago I was at a demo up in Winnipeg, Alberta. I had a chance to make a quick sketch of a knight and color it in the second day of their open house event. I don't remember exactly what colors I used, but I will try and guess as I show you a few step-by-step pictures.

I drew this guy with a 0.05mm multiliner onto Copic Alcohol Marker Pad paper. Then, I photocopied my outlines onto the new Art Paper Pack paper (Copic Sketchbook paper).

I began coloring his blue surcoat. I think I used B000, B32, B45, BV13, Y00, and maybe a couple others. Notice how I left the highlights on each wrinkle a clean, crisp white. This enhances the shadows and adds a nice contrast on a fabric that is supposed to appear pale.

Then I moved onto his reflective metal. Notice the strong contrast, the bright whites that I left, right next to the dark grays. I used a wide range of the cool gray markers, then added highlights of Y00, and extra shadows with B000.

I can't remember what colors I used on the back of the shield, but I gradually built up colors and contrast until I got the look I wanted.

Notice the light sketch suggesting a background. I didn't want hard lines to define the background or foreground, as I wanted to keep the knight the most important/highest contrast  object in the picture.

I kept working around his image, darkening the chain mail with the same cool grays I used on the shinier metal areas.

On his arm bands, I wanted a different feel. I honestly don't remember what material I was trying to achieve, just something kinda dusty so it didn't conflict with the other metal in his ensemble. The leather straps were closed with a range of E11, E13, E15, E18, and some grays.

Again, notice how I left strong contrast on the metal sword, but included faint highlights of pale yellow to enhance the white areas.

Here is a quick photo of the final image. I colored the cape with R24, R29, R59, Y00, and B39.

To simulate depth of field in the illustration, I kept my highest contrast on grass and shrubs in the foreground, with details and color range getting lost as it heads off into the distance. I finished up with highlights of Opaque White on many of the metal objects.

Overall, I liked this more when I was drawing and coloring it, but now that I look at it a month later, it's hard for me not to see the flaws. (We tend to be our own worst critics sometimes)

If you are working on a piece of art, don't get hung up on the flaws! Just try next time to do it better. I know what I want to change next time I draw a knight. However, the parts I really like are the colors on the surcoat and cape. I also like how I colored the helmet and steel boots.

Meanwhile, don't forget to come visit me at my free book signing events for my Coloring Flowers book!

Friday, May 29, 1-4pm, U of O Bookstore, Eugene OR
Saturday, June 13, 4-5pm, Main Street Stamping, Tigard OR

Plein Air Marker Sketch

A few weeks ago, our social media team asked me if I could work on a plein air sketch for them. For those of you not familiar with plain air, it is the chance to draw something out in nature, while you are sitting there in front of it.


I've done a few plein air paintings over the years, it's a lot of fun. Here is a plein air painting from 2013 that I made of a church. You can see the resemblance to the church steeple, but it is a lot more expressive than some of my marker illustrations.

It's been a while since I worked on a plein air sketch in Copics. As you probably noticed on this blog, I have a lot of different styles that I draw in. Some are detailed, some are a bit more whimsical. The trick with plein air is to balance detail with  speed while capturing the essence of the thing you are drawing/painting.

So, part of my personal challenge was while I was traveling to nail down some time to work in plein air sketch of a place I was visiting.

One afternoon while I was in New Orleans I actually managed to get a few hours! I wandered around a few neighborhoods and finally saw this striking yellow building with a red car in front. My time was ticking, so I began my sketch.

I was working with a regular old pencil in my Copic Sketchbook. I was sure to keep a clean piece of scratch paper under my work at all times, so it didn't bleed through to the page underneath.

Now, usually, I would suggest to not color over pencil lines, because it can stain your nibs, but I was in a rush, and I was careful about scribbling any pencil residue off my lighter colored nibs.

As a side note, once you color over pencil lines, you cannot erase them.

 I worked with a base of Y21 and threw in YR14, YR18 and some other yellowy colors as I worked on the building itself. I block in large areas first, and work into more details, I'm not too fussed about accuracy of perspective, etc. I really just want to get the vibrancy of the color and the feel of the building.

The roof I made with W1, and W4. I used the chisel end of the W4 to suggest the shingles (there are a lot of strange angles going on in that roof!) I threw in hints of the cool grays as well. Then, I blocked in the windows with a rich, dark B97.


Next, I added a blue sky and a light gray suggestion of other buildings in the background. I added the window boxes with a nice selection of greens.
After I had a light suggestion of a sky and buildings, I added branches and leaves from the tree I was sitting under.

The red car was made with R24, R29, R59 and some grays. I also colored the windows with B95, and B97. I colored the truck in cool grays. I was careful to leave the shiny areas of the truck lighter. The cement was colored in a variety of warm grays and a few lighter cool grays. I also added C7 into the roof.

(By the way, don't tell my mom about this blog post. She'd get really upset about my lack of accurate perspective. She is picky about stuff like that).

I then just worked my way around the rest of the picture filling in details. The siding on the building next door was corrugated, so I colored in streaks, leaving a lot of color variation to suggest the texture.

The bricks on the other building were a lot of fun. I started with my lighter grout color as the base, Cool and warm grays, then added the darker brown/red bricks (E13, E15, E18, E31, E33, E35, E37)over the top.

Again, windows were colored with the B90's family of colors. I added opaque white afterwards to give the panes a shiny highlight.

I used the tip of the chisel nib to draw in the railing on the balcony. You don't want to go back and try to change the wall colors at this point, as it would cause the darker ink to smear, and unlike most of my drawings, I didn't use the multiliners at all.

Eventually my time ran out. It took me about 1.5 hrs to draw this 7" x 10" plein air sketch. Overall, I am pretty happy with how it came out. Does it match the building exactly? No, not really, but it captures the colors and essence, which was really the point. It was also a lot of fun to work on such a tight deadline, forcing me to work outside of my usual style.


Here is another pic of the finished piece. It was nice to get out in the fresh air, instead of being hunched over my desk at home or work, coloring away.

I hope you can also get out and try doing your own plein air sketch. Even if you don't think you're skilled, just get out there and try it! I think you'll be surprised. Just start small and work into the finer details.

Good luck in all your projects!

Coloring a detailed butterfly

Last week I had the pleasure to color a series of bugs at a fun local demo. I was sent a beautiful photo by a new friend (Thank you Maaike!!) and promptly drew it as an outline for coloring.

I started with a pencil sketch, and I traced the pencil lines with a 0.03mm Multiliner. Then I photocopied my outlines onto some of our Copic sketchbook paper.

The whole coloring process took about 3-4 hrs, so I won't step you through the whole thing, just the second half of coloring.

I started coloring the wing with a base of YR21 to achieve that bright golden look. Then I added Y28 and E25 near the base of the wing. Notice how I feathered the color out into the white. This is so that when I begin adding the reds, they will blend nicely into each other and not have a harsh edge to each color.

I then began adding R02 as a very faint layer to the yellow near the base of the wing. I didn't want to overpower the yellow, just tone it slightly.

Next I added R05 to the darkest red/orange areas. Notice that I was careful to avoid the subtle highlights on the veins. It isn't in my pen outline, it is just barely visible in the photograph. This is part of why I like to keep a reference photo handy when coloring something detailed like this. (Though, I did take some artistic liberties and made the vein highlights stronger than they were in the photo.)

I continued adding the R05, fading it into the golden undertones. I darkened the red with R08 and light touches of R59 blended in.

I started adding the black spots in, which really makes the red jump off the page. The black was added with a base coat of N5, then adding N7, N9 and hints of 110 black.

You can also see the E31, E25, and Y28 that I began adding to the bottom of the wing. I am trying to not cover up too much of the beautiful gold color, so I am constantly blending and washing with the YR21.

I finished coloring in the rest of the wing with those same colors, trying to keep a balance with the other side of the butterfly. This is tricky. In the photograph, the butterfly wings had an iridescent sheen to them, which conflicts the actual base colors, so I just had to fake the color in some places.

I was careful to leave the white spots as clean as I could. I used the colorless blender to lighten a few of the yellow areas that had gone a little too brown. I also streaked in some faint lines of E25 along the bottom wing edge to simulate the extra veins.

I finished up the coloring portion by adding some faint B000 highlights to offset all the yellow. I added stripes to the antennae with the E25 and N7.

Notice the tiny brown and gray dots I made at the base of each wing. This is done with the very tip of the brush. Same with the delicate fuzzy look to the body, again made with tiny little brush strokes. I also decided to increase the contrast on his body a bit more to make it more dynamic.

Once all the coloring was complete, I used the Copic Opaque White with fine brush to brighten up the white spots and add faint highlights into the veins.

I am thrilled with how this project came out! I am proudly hanging a print in my living room. (if you also want to purchase an autographed print, just email me for pricing).

Workshops & classes
Just a reminder, if you are in the New Orleans area, I am teaching a class there in a few weeks! If you want information on any of our upcoming classes, please visit the beautiful, new Copic website.

Adding details with multiliners

Coloring a Bug
A few weeks ago I had a chance to color a few projects, one of which was the Medusa which I already showed you. The other project I finished was this giant Green Nymph Stick Insect illustration I drew.

The real bug belongs to someone here in our offices, and as soon as he showed it to me, I told him I wanted to draw it. (This post is getting an advanced label because of all the colors and details I drew in.)

I started by looking at the original photo and drawing it in pencil, then inking over it with a 0.1 mm multiliner. Then I photocopied the outline onto our nice, Sketchbook paper (full sheets that are not bound in a book are from our new Art Paper Pack).


The photograph is pretty dull, and I figured  it wouldn't hurt to brighten up the colors a bit, so I chose to color it with a base of YG01. Then, I layered on YG03 and YG61, looking at the color placement on the photograph. However, the photo looks like a dry, dead bug, and I wanted this bug to look a bit more alive, so I rounded my blending a bit more to make it look less flat.

To dull the colors slightly I added whisks of YG91, and deepened shadows with G94, G17, and G28. To really darken shadow areas, I pulled in E49 in the darkest shadow areas.

You'll notice the bottom wings are a slightly different color. I colored those wings with a base of E70 and hints of E74.  I smoothed it out with E21, and added the lighter greens to the wingtips.


The darker, orange/browns you see in the veins and on the little spikey bits, I colored with YR27.To make the wings look a bit more transparent, I used the colorless blender to fade them out, and wash out the colors a bit.

Then, although it doesn't show up as well in the original photo, I wanted the wings to look even more transparent, so I lightly drew in where the legs would be, if they were visible. I kept these colors lighter than the greens I used on the legs, and I made the edges soft so it really looks like they are peeking through the wings.

At this point, I really like how the bug is coming along.  To keep my colors consistent on the legs, I colored each pair individually, instead of coloring all 6 legs at the same time.

In the photo, the two large back legs have a totally different tonal quality, but I chose to color them more balanced, just changing the lighting on each leg slightly. Then they match better.

Here is a photo of the stack of colors I used for coloring the bug. Because I drew the bug so large, I have plenty of room to use all these beautiful colors. I love having lots of room for tiny details!

Adding detail with a gray multiliner
The last detail that I really wanted to work in were the beautiful veins on each wing. I didn't want to draw them in with a black pen, as that would have overwhelmed the drawing. But, I also needed to draw them in something that wouldn't run, should I decide later to add more marker details. That ruled out colored pencils. So, I worked with one of our new Warm Gray multiliners.

You can see in this close up how detailed I can get with the 0.1mm Warm gray. I love it! It doesn't overwhelm the colors underneath, merely accents it. On the top wings, where I colored it the lightest, I added fewer veins, I more gave it the suggestion of veins. This heightens the feel of a highlight.

Here is the final bug, complete with Opaque White highlights added to the wings for details (Opaque white with the super-fine brush). I hope you enjoyed this illustration process and got some ideas for your own work.

May you have a blessed Thanksgiving Week!

Coloring Medusa, part 2

Adding scales to the snakes
Friday I showed you the steps I used for the first part of this Medusa image. Today I'm going to step you through the finishing touches I used to make the snakes come to life. This process isn't complex, it is just very meticulous and precise, so it gets an advanced label.

Once the entire mass of snakes were fully shaded and blended as smooth greens, I needed to add texture. This part took hours to complete, but I am thrilled with how the final result ended up.

Each snake scale was made by carefully touching the artwork with the fine nib of a colorless blender in the Copic Classic marker style. The longer you hold the blender in one spot, the more it will push color out of the way. I could have used a textured cloth or something else to do this step faster, but I wanted to carefully and precisely place all the scales in such a way as to enhance my illustration.

Once the green scales were added, then I took a YG17 Sketch marker and carefully added a few dots of darker green randomly in the shadows on the snake. This makes it look more like scales. Last, I went in and added shiny white highlights with the Opaque white with a brush.

Compare the top and bottom version of this step. The top is fine, but the bottom has a lot more variety and subtlety to the coloration.

Here is a shot of the head partially colored. Compare the snakes that have scales to the snakes without. The scales really make the snakes look even more alive and believable.

Last, here is the finished, color-corrected version of the illustration that I scanned in. You can see how I added hints of Opaque white to the gemstones, to each snake, and to the teeth.

Overall, I am pleased with the way it came out and I'm excited to add this piece to my portfolio.

Later I'll post some more tutorials from the other pictures I colored this week. Enjoy coloring!

Coloring Medusa, part 1

Coloring snakes and a large face

This week I had the rare chance to color for two days during a demo at the U of O Bookstore here in Eugene, OR. It was nice to meet people and get a chance to draw and color whatever I wanted.

I've been thinking all week what I wanted to work on, and Sunday the idea finally came to me to draw a Medusa head. Sorry some of the pictures are blurry, but the lighting was not the best. The whole piece took about 6-7 hrs. to color (though I was talking to customers during that time as well). I used a lot of colors, but I'm really pleased with how the final image came out.

 I started by coloring the face with a base of YR000, then added shading with E21 and E13. I deepened the shadows with BV31, and BV02. I added hints of YG01 into the shadows, as the snakes will be reflecting greenish light back onto her skin.

I added highlights to her cheeks with a soft swipe of Y00.

Her eyes are YG01, and YG07, with the pupils colored in RV69. Her lips were shaded with a base of R81. Then, I darkened the lips with RV66 and RV69. I colored her golden jewel circlet with a base of Y2, then shadowed it with Y28 to get that perfect gold shadow color.

The red jewels are colored with R81, RV66, and darkened with RV69. Notice I left the highlights on the gems to preserve the feel of luminescence.

Once I was comfortable with the way the face was looking, I moved on to the snake heads. I started by putting a base layer of YG01 over everything.

Notice how I carefully blended the green from the snakes into the pale skin color. I carefully and lightly flicked them into each other, I did not go back and blend or that would have made muddy colors.

I colored the snake mouths with the same pinks and reds I used on her lips and jewels.

Next, I began shading each of the snakes. This was the most tedious part of the whole image. For snakes in the foreground, I mostly used YG01, YG03, YG07, and hints of G28. For snakes in the back, I added YG23, as it is a little grayer green. I also added a few subtle shadows of BV00 to dull down the colors and make them look more shadowed.

I also added highlights to her lips using the Opaque White with a brush. it was perfect for those fine details.

Here is a mostly done shot of Medusa. In a few days I will show the remaining details I added to make her snakes look even more interesting.

I hope you have a great weekend and get a chance to color!