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!

New Blog Header

Running Horses
You may have noticed that I have a new Blog header. This morning I decided that my old header was just a little out of season. I also felt like drawing some horses. I ran a google search on horses to get ideas on perspective and angles for the three horses.

I drew them with a pencil first onto scratch paper, then I inked the image on a new sheet of paper using my light table...then I didn't have to erase. So, I sketched out the following illustration using a 0.05mm Gray Multiliner and a 0.05mm Sepia multiliner. Then I started coloring. Tomorrow I will post a tutorial with the steps I took in coloring the horses and markers.

Have a great day!

Doodling with the Super Brush - Blob Bunnies

When I was in Toronto recently I was showing how to make blob ducks and blob fish and someone asked me how to draw a bunny. I figured I should share it with you since Easter is only a week away. Anyone can draw these cute blob critters, so don't get scared.

Blob Bunnies
Bunnies are so cute and they have such neat poses that you get a couple variations on the blob bunnies. To make these today, pick 1 bunny colored Sketch or Ciao marker and a Multiliner 0.3mm or smaller.

Sitting Bunny
Start with a round dot for the head and add a larger oval blob for the body. Pushing straight down with the brush, add a dot for the tail and then with the brush on it's side add a blob for the front paw.

With the point of the brush aimed at the head, lay the brush down to make the base of each ear. Then turn your paper around and point the brush away from the head and lay it down to make the top of each ear.

With the multiliner, outline the head first, going around each ear. Then do the main body without the tail. When I add the tail I am making it look fluffy even though it's a round dot. You don't have to make it puffy, you could just have a round little tail if the fluff is too tricky for you.

Last, add a back foot (kind of shaped like a squished, backwards 3) and the face. See the face detail steps to see how easy it is to draw a cute bunny face. If you really want to you could add whiskers as well.

Hopping Bunny
The only difference between the hopping bunny and the sitting bunny is
that you draw the body blob at an angle, and you have the front paws and back paws stick out more. Then outline it same as you did before (I think the hopping bunny might even be easier than the sitting bunny).

Bunny Hugs
If you substitute little round ears for long bunny ears this could easily become a teddy bear. Just like before, draw a round blob for the head and an oval blob for the body.

The ears are trickier, since we are making one bent. Look at the exaggeration of the bent ear to see how you lay the point of the brush out to make the bent L shape. Add the 4 paws sticking out from the body. Outline the body as before, then look at the face detail for a close-up on the head.

This time, when you get to the bent ear, draw the line on the underside of the bent part half-way through the ear. Now it looks like the ear is really bent towards us. You could adapt this ear to your other bunnies as well. Add the face and you're ready to hop off to Easter!


I hope you have a wonderful weekend. Tomorrow I'll show airbrushed Easter Eggs, so if you want to get a head-start you can look back at the airbrushing post from a while ago. If you don't have an airbrush system you can still make fun textured eggs with this fur technique. You can do this right over the top of your dried, dyed eggs.

Sepia

It's been a while since I posted a DIY, so for people who like fine inking pens and illustration here is a review just for you.

Sepia Inking
Sepia is a rich, warm brown tone that has a distinctness about it. It is generally recognized as a color utilized for fine art sketches and for old photographs. Many of the old master artists would draw their rough work in either Sepia ink or a similar red-brown colored chalk. The original pigment Sepia was derived from the ink sac of cuttlefish but modern pigment inks are chemically made. Sepia inks are known for their rich brown color and warm feel.

Copic makes 3 different Sepia inking pens. You can get a disposable Sepia Mulitliner in 5 different sizes: 0.05, 0.1, 0.3, and 0.5 mm. I like this style because it has the most pen point sizes. The refillable Multiliner SP only comes in 0.3 mm or Brush Small, but it is a good choice because you can replace the tip if it ever gets damaged, or you can swap out the tip for any of the 7 other large point sizes available for Multiliner SP's. All Copic inking pens are pigment based meaning that they won't fade over time. They are waterproof and acid-free as well.

Copic also has a new disposable fountain pen, the F01 Sepia. This is a fabulous pen if you are used to the quirks of fountain pens and like the classic feel of them. The F01 pens are pressure sensitive, so if you push harder you will get a thicker, darker line. Since these are a traditional split metal nib you need to work on very good, smooth paper or else the pressure will cause the nib to drag and catch on your paper fibers.

If you like Sepia, then Copic has a new kit- The Sepia Ink Pro Wallet. This comes with different sizes of Sepia inking pens, refills, and matching Copic colors to get a good color range when shading.

Drawing In Sepia
Personally, I like drawing in sepia because of the warm, antique feel. If I'm not working on a project that needs to be clean black lines then it's fun to break up my artwork with gray or sepia. Doing rough sketches with the F01 Sepia allows me to have very faint lines and then as I work deeper shadows in I can just apply more pressure. Line variation makes artwork interesting.

If you want to shadow your sepia work I've found that the E30's sequence works very well. On this picture I chose a simple E33 for my shadows and I added pale Y11 to accent my highlights. I like the lighter brown because it doesn't hide my outlines, and the yellow really makes the picture feel light.

When I am drawing a human figure you can see how loose I keep my outlines. This would be the frame work for a much more detailed image. By drawing basic shapes I can get all my proportions correct before I add clothing or other fine details. It is much quicker to do figure studies in rough shapes and worry about details later. If you look online you can see similar figure studies by many of the old master painters and compare the rough drawings to their final work (Here is a study done by Michelangelo for the Sistine Chapel in a sepia colored chalk and the final painting).

I strongly suggest working with basic shapes to any beginning artist. I can't tell you how many times I've done a nice drawing without using rough shapes and when I finish I've made a bad proportion mistake that would have been easy to fix if it were still a rough drawing (I once gave a girl two left feet- oops!). I can take this warm sepia outline to my light table and easily see which lines are my roughs and which are my final choices. On this rough drawing I see at least a dozen things wrong that I can easily change when I go in for my final art.

Stamping in Sepia
If you are a stamper then you are in luck. The Sepia Multiliners are a match for the Memento ink color Potter's Clay. If you need to fix stamped lines or if you want to draw matching doodles around your stamped image then reach for a multiliner Sepia. If you go back over a line then it will darken it, so keep this in mind as you draw your patterns. Since this is a Copic inking pen you don't have to worry about it getting smeared when you go to color over the line.
Stamp Image: Unknown stamp from Japan, Ink: Memento Potter's Clay, Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80# Other: Sepia 0.3 mm Multiliner
Sepia Illustration above: drawn on Color Laser Copier paper

Doodling with the Super Brush - Blob Ducks

It's time for me to post another Draw It Yourself. This one is super easy, I promise. Before you try this technique I suggest you read this old post on doodling to get your technique down, then try this easy duckling.

Blob Ducks
You'll need two Sketch or Ciao markers (it can be done with Copics, it's just easier with the super-brush). Get a nice vibrant yellow and a nice orange, and a multiliner (either black or sepia, gray, or orange would also look nice).

1. With the yellow marker, draw a dot by pressing the brush straight down.
2. Add a larger half-circle below the circle and slightly off to one side.
3. With the orange marker, lay it on it's side to draw a beak and feet.
4. With your multiliner, outline the orange beak and feet first, then draw a line around the yellow area.
5. Draw a dot for the eye and a curved line for the wing.

Presto! You have a very cute little duck.

Here is my final scene, with hearts drawn by blobbing two drop-shapes from the super brush and tracing around them. I used Y15, YR04 for the ducks and R83 for the hearts. Perfect for a quick baby card or an Easter scene. I hope you try this super-easy technique for yourself. Think about what other shapes you can doodle in this manner. Try adding wings sticking out or drawing smiles on the beaks. The creativity is limitless. People will think you are so talented that you can draw such cute little ducks, but you'll know the secret of how simple these really are to make.

For another example, here is a quick background paper I made with this technique but this time I used an orange multiliner SP to draw the outlines. I like how much softer it is than the black outline, especially for background paper. I'm going to use this for something I'm doing in my duck-themed bathroom. Cute, quick, and I know the colors will match perfectly.

Think of using elements like this for repeating patterns. Try using softer colors for backgrounds as well, or mix and match dark and light ducks. If these ducks are too vibrant, then use the colors that are 2 digits lower, or Y13 and YR02. It will give you much lighter ducks in the same color family.

Have a great day doodling!

Cross Hatching part 2 - Basic Technique

First of all, I want to congratulate all of you who thought about my challenge and are going to step up this year to making your own doodles. Doodling is a very key ingredient to even the largest, most complex works of art. Before I get into cross hatching some more I have a little business to cover.

Copic Certification, Anaheim
I am opening my class on Friday, Jan 23 up to the general public. Anyone who can come is welcome for the 23 only. Cost is $120 but you get about $80 worth of product to keep, so it ends up being a really great deal for an all-day class. Send an e-mail to Kris at orders@copicmarker.com or call her at 866-662-6742 to register. There are only a few spaces, so call right away.

Applications for Spring East Coast Venues will be going out next week, so get on our mailing list today! This includes Florida, New Orleans, and any confirmed locations that SallyLynn will be teaching on the East Coast thru March.

Tonite I will be giving a free lecture at 6:30 at the Eugene Public Library on the History of Manga and Manga trends in America. This is appropriate for teens or adults. I want to thank all the people who attended my teen workshop on drawing Manga earlier this week. The class was very full and very fun! I'll probably be teaching some more local classes this term, so look for Fine Art/Architecture workshops through DIVA and maybe another teen Manga class during school vacations at the Library.

Now, let's start the New Year by stepping out of your comfort zone and drawing something yourself- simple cross hatching.

Cross Hatching Basics
In my post a few days ago I talked about what cross hatching is and what it is trying to accomplish, today I'd like to get into technique. Cross hatching is both very simple and very tricky at the same time. The idea is easy, you draw lines and they make something look shadowed. The tricky part is practicing to keep a steady hand.

Drawing short lines will be easiest at first. Don't worry about making all the lines perfect, that will come with practice. Practice by doodling on anything handy. This is an exercize, not life or death, so relax and know that it's OK to make mistakes as you learn.

First, find an angle for your artwork that feels natural. For me, I am right handed and feel most comfortable making strokes that are straight out from mu chest, but with a slight right slant (1). To get another angle to my hatching I need to turn my paper so the lines I draw will be facing that same comfortable direction (2). Then, you need to practice, practice, practice. Try drawing lots of little areas that are cross hatched. You can do this with a mechanical pencil, you can do it with a cheap ballpoint pen, whatever you have handy, just try drawing hatching marks.

2 Layer Cross Hatching Technique
You need to practice putting marks that line up. It is easier to make the edge that you start from even, and let your pen gradually lift up at the end of the stroke. Turn your paper so that when you are adding the marks, the crisp edge feels natural to your hand and you work from the edge, out.

When you come back in to add the second layer of hatching, also work from the starting edge out, or it looks a little strange. Notice my example. The trailing edges meet up nicely and look smooth. The second example looks strange because one trailing edge fades, but the other is crisp. If I were filling in an area between two outside lines this wouldn't matter as much, but on an open area it doesn't work.

Practice until you can confidently add hatching that meets up with a line. Soon you'll be adding hatch marks to all sorts of things (squares on reports, lines on your notepad). This sort of doodle practice is very important to build relaxed, natural hand-eye coordination. NO STRESS! Why should you draw and doodle if it's going to be stressful? relax.

Inking Pen Hatch Marks
I'm usually making cross hatching on artwork that needs to be scanned in, so I tend to work with 0.1 or 0.05 mm multiliners. I made the mistake once of doing a large, beautiful, very detailed illustration with cross hatching in a 0.03 mm pen. When I scanned it in, the hatching was too fine for my scanner to pick up, particularly since I had to shrink the final artwork. All my hard work cross hatching was wasted! Now I draw slightly thicker and not quite so detailed.

As you can see from these examples, there are lots of looks you can get from each pen size. When I draw, I work with a couple sheets of paper under my work at any time. This gives me a slight cushion so that I can push harder to get thicker or thinner lines from the same pen. On fine sizes like the 0.03 or 0.05mm pen, I would NOT push hard however. Those tips are sturdy for what they are, but they require a very light hand. Most people can get fine enough lines with a 0.1 or 0.2 mm inking pen.

Look at how much thicker the 0.35 looks when compared to the 0.03 pen. The 1.0 pen looks really clunky and thick next to the finer sizes. I would probably not use the 1.0 by itself for hatching unless I were working on something very large and not too detailed. If you look back at the examples of the different pen sizes you'll see how layering once, twice, and a third time gives you progressively darker tones.

You can always layer different pen sizes to get even darker tones. Here is an example of regular cross-hatching, with a 1.0 pen thrown in to really darken up the final edge area. It doesn't look so clunky when layered like this, unlike when it is used by itself. The circle really looks dimensional and shadowed now.

For my final example today I've taken a simple chair from Lockhart Stamp Company and I want it to look like it came straight out of my old Alice in Wonderland book. It's so easy to make this chair look more detailed than it really is. I know that if I make a mistake I can always stamp it again.

I'm using a really fine 0.05 mm pen because the picture is so small, but you could probably use a 0.1 or 0.2 mm pen and it would still look OK. I start with the first level of shadow in the areas I know will be darkest, then I come back with a second level.


Now my chair looks like an antique illustration from around 1900, not just a nice garden chair. I know Karen won't mind if Alice comes and sits in this beautiful vinatge chair. Look at your own image collection and see which ones would look cool turned into vintage drawings simply by adding a few lines.

Cross Hatching part 1 - Multiliners & Pen Sizes

Today I'm teaching a free workshop on drawing Manga to teens at our local Library from 2 to 4. It's been a while since I last taught a Manga workshop, probably this summer was the last time. I used to teach up to 5 different workshops a week in drawing everything from Manga to Comic accessories, 6-10 yr. old drawing classes, storyboarding, and even Photoshop. I really miss teaching everyday, I guess my blog is the best outlet for the craving to teach.

Meanwhile, in honor of the Manga class here is the first part of a discussion on line thickness and "hatching" or "cross-hatching".

Changing your lines from thick to thin
Copic makes a whole pile of inking pens that work beautifully for basic line illustrations. Between the disposable Multiliner and the refillable Multiliner SP there are 14 unique pen tips:
0.03 , 0.05 , 0.1 , 0.2 , 0.25 , 0.3 , 0.35 , 0.5 , 0.7 , 0.8 , 1.0 , Brush Small*, Brush Medium
*note: the BS tip is slightly different between the two pen styles

Then there are the F01 and F02* disposable fountain pens
*F02 is a new style coming out in 2009.

As you can see, among the Copic products there are bound to be a few good inking pens for your illustration work. I strongly suggest that you either get a full set or pick 3 to 4 pens in a good range of sizes so you can have the most flexibility in illustrating (papercrafters should also keep a good range to touch-up their lines and for journaling).

Why would you need more than one pen size?
If you had asked me 15 years ago I would have said "you don't". 15 years ago my high-quality inking pen choice was a black, fine ball-point pen that came in a 2-pack at the local K-mart for $1.50. That was big money, and I was forever riding my bike down to pick up a few more inking pens since they would run out so quickly (I drew a LOT). Today I tell you otherwise, since I have learned the reason after many years of practice.

My second year in college I was introduced to Copic. From then on, I never went anywhere without a set of the disposable multiliners. I can't tell you how many BM and BS pens I went through since they put so much ink on a page, however, my other pen sizes seemed to last much longer. I did a lot of hand-drawn animation and I had to keep all my line sizes consistent so I usually would stick to a standard 1.0 or 0.8mm since those looked good on our old animation equipment.

The more I got into drawing comics though, the more I needed varying line widths to make my artwork interesting. Thick and thin lines accomplish a many things, but the basics are:

1. Varying line widths give the illusion of dimension. A simple circle becomes a ball by making one side of the line thicker.

2. Varied line widths give the illusion of weight. An object becomes grounded or heavier when you have a thicker line on the bottom

3. Thick and thin lines give the illusion of lighting. When you see thick, heavy lines you can feel the shadow and where the light is hitting something.

4. Line variation is dynamic and attracts the eye. If you write a word with a regular pen it is not nearly as interesting as if you write the same word with a calligraphy pen. The eye is attracted to a line that changes widths.

When you are working in inking pen you really have only black and white to share the ideas of weight, dimension and light. How do you share the feeling of "gray" or in-between black and white without using color or a gray pen?

In illustration there are many techniques these days, from digital screen-tones and pixels or with traditional stippling or hatching/cross hatching. Stippling can make you go mad though, since it really takes a long time. A much easier and still very much traditional technique would be Hatching.

What is Hatching/Cross Hatching?
You don't see this technique as much as you used to since technology and styles have changed the way people draw, but hatching is a way of drawing lots of lines close together to show volume or shading.

If you think of old illustrations (like my drawing here of the Mad Hatter based on the original Alice In Wonderland book illustrations), you'll know exactly what I mean. Many old illustrations were made in this way because it is easy for a printer to reproduce. From a woodcut or an engraving you can ink this in black and print it out, with people feeling the full range of tone without switching printing inks.

Cross hatching is when you draw more thin lines in the opposite direction to darken up an area. Depending on how fine your pen is and your technique, you can deepen your cross hatching from very light to almost black. The trick comes in learning to keep a steady hand and making your lines consistent and even. Illustrators a few hundred years ago had a lot more patience than I have, since their work was beautiful, detailed, and meticulously drawn.

When used in conjunction with thick and thin outline syou can really show the full range of grays using simple black lines. This is the same concept computer illustrations are based on. Remember the days when the screen was 9 inches and black & white? To show grays you would add more pixels closer to each other and fewer pixels as you got lighter. There were some amazing illustrations made with those clunky pixels. Hatching and cross hatching allow much more freedom than the old pixel techniques, with finesse and skill playing a key role in how much the eye is fooled into thinking the object is gray.

I'll leave you today with a simple cube on which I've added cross hatching. Click on it to enlarge it and just ponder the power of tiny little lines. Notice areas where I had to shift my hand or the paper and it caused a break in my smooth pattern. I really appreciate the skill and effort good hatching takes and how exquisite old illustrations are. I'll talk more about hatching techniques later. Have a grat day!

Working with the 0.03 multiliner

This week here in America is Thanksgiving. There are many things I'm thankful for in this world, but I'd have to say that besides my family, I am happy to work for a company that has high quality art supplies that I love using every day. They feed my creativity. This month, 8 years ago I first met with the fearless leaders here at Copic and made a brochure for them. So in honor of my Anniversary of working at Copic and because I want to share with everyone I am offering a prize. Post a comment on today's blog and you will win a Multiliner 0.03, and also get a chance to win other fun Copic products.

0.03 mm Multiliner
One of the unique tools Copic makes is the finest point sized inking pen in the world, the 0.03 mm Multiliners or Multiliner SP's. If you've ever tried them, they take a very delicate hand. These are a high-quality art supply that is a joy to use.

As you can see from this comparison, this is one fine line. Look at how chunky the 0.3 pen looks compared to the fine delicacy of the 0.03. These are not for the heavy handed artist.

So what should they be used for?
I use them for fine cross hatching or drawing hair.

Stampers use them for adding details to stamped images.

Calligraphers use them for micro-writing competitions.

What you probably shouldn't use them for: Writing a check (my husband figured that one out for me). If you have a heavy hand and break even the strongest of tips, then this pen should be avoided. If you are heavy handed and want a fine pen then go for the 0.1 mm or 0.2 mm pens.

Prizes
What do you use these tiny pens for? What would you use it for if you had one? Leave a comment with your answer. The winner of this blog candy will receive a free Multiliner 0.03 with some other neat goodies, so leave your comment with e-mail address on today's post and we'll draw a winner on Friday!

For the final image today I drew on this little, mini domino with the 0.03 mm Multiliner. Once I'm done, I need to heat set it, then ideally coat it with something to seal in the multiliner. As you can see from the penny, this is one tiny little piece of work (can you solve the maze?). Happy Turkey week! Marianne

Note: Congrats to V! She figured out the trick to my tiny maze - it goes in one side and out the same side. Mazes are one of my favorite things to draw, and I like to make them a little different each time.

New Header- Fall Leaves

Last week I was looking at my mermaid header and I realized I didn't like the angle on her torso, so I had to change her. I know that I'm my own worst critic, but I finally finished my new header and so I'll chat about that today before I move on to some other things.

My drawing process is as follows:
1. Rough Pencil Sketch.This was very loose, more to get an idea of how I wanted the markers placed on the page since I knew there would be leaves everywhere. I was working on color laser copier paper since it's thin enough that I can easily trace if needs be.

2. Sepia line work. I drew over the pencil with a Sepia 0.3 mm Color Multiliner SP. Because the drawing is so large I drew a section at a time and then erased the pencil with a kneaded gum eraser. This helped me keep the line feel consistent. After I had drawn all my main lines and erased the pencil I was able to go back and darken lines, add details to leaves, and generally touch up easier.

3. Photocopy. In the past I've tried to photocopy gray ink drawings with no luck. The color copier picks up some lines gray and some lines dark, so if I wanted all gray lines I would scan in a b & w drawing and make it gray. The copier didn't seem to mind sepia however, my original line work was distinctly reddish in tone. These lines are more neutral brown (which I'm OK with). By copying the work I can always have something to go back to if I make a mistake. I also enlarged this slightly when I copied it, since it's easier for me to color larger things and shrink them down (In comic illustration it is very common to draw oversized and shrink down to get more detail into your work).

4. Color the background. This image is not hard to color- it's just a pile of leaves. What makes it complex is the number of leaves I have to work with. This artwork is about 10.5 in x 6.5 inches. To make it easier to focus on the top layer of leaves I colored my background first. With a W3 I colored anything that wasn't leaves or marker. Then I came back, colored just the gray of the markers (since the markers are a cool gray they stand out against the warm gray) and added a little bit of color tone to some spots of the background gray.

See how much the leaves pop out when I tone down the background? I'm not coloring the ends of the markers yet because I want those to contrast against the leaves, so I'll need to color the leaves first, then pick a good marker color. Markers C1, C2, C3, 0

5. Color the leaves. This was pretty fun. When coloring something large like this, since I am right-handed I usually start on the left and work my way across. This helps me see what I'm coloring and I'm not dragging my had across my work as much. I start light and go dark on each leaf. I tried to keep each leaf to 2 or 3 colors, since I had so many to complete. For the first pass I didn't worry about shadows as much, just the main leaf color.

Once my whole picture was colored I stood back, looked it over, then added my deeper shadows. Remember, shadows add contrast which makes artwork pop out more. Markers E07, E29, E31, E35, E53, E55, R29, YR02, YR04, YR21, YR23, Y00, Y13, Y17, G21, G85, G17.

6. Color the markers. Last I colored the markers with BG07, BV13, V04 and G14- all bright colors I hadn't used in any of the other leaves. As the final touch I added the words on the markers with a Gray 0.05 mm Multiliner.

7. Scan, resize, and alter for my header. I scan into photoshop, clean up the work then I bring that artwork into illustrator where I add my text and other elements. As you can see, the original artwork is a lot larger than my final header will be. I draw it this way so I have plenty of room to crop.

In Photoshop, on artwork like this you can see how my scanner makes the coloring look grainy when in real life it is much smoother. To compensate for the grain I use either the Blur, Blur more, or Despeckle filter to smooth it out a bit. Each scanner is slightly different, and if you're scanning at below 300 dpi then you might not have this problem. Also notice how my pale grays get washed out on the markers so you don't see the smooth transition? To compensate you can color pale areas a little darker than you'll want them to finally end up (it bugs me when I color it darker, so usually I'll go in and manually re-touch my pale colors in photoshop to look correct, though this time I didn't).

Colored Multiliner SP's

Copic makes a number of drawing pens, in different styles and different colors. So far I've briefly mentioned the Multiliners and the F01 drawing pen. Today I'd like to talk more in-depth about another wonderful pen style, the Colored Multiliner SP's. If you're interested in the disposable colored multiliners, then check out this blurb from The Pen Addict a few weeks ago.

Multiliner SP pens come in 12 colors besides black. You can see a color chart if you go to the Copic website. What I like about these pens is that they are pigment, archival, acid-free, and won't bleed with my markers. Best of all, they are refillable and you can replace the tips.

Copic Multiliners are water-based, which is good because there are no oils to leave a residue that markers will pick-up and smear around. Water-based also means that you can't keep coloring in one spot without ruining the paper like you can with the markers. These pens are intended for drawing lines, not coloring (though the brush pen is perfect for fine, quick color swatches, just don't keep layering or it ruins your paper). Papercrafters love these pens for journaling and writing.

There are two sizes standard- 0.3 mm and the Brush Small. Look at the photo to compare the two widths of Wine Multiliner SP's . If you don't like those sizes then you can swap in any Multliner nib that's a size 0.2 mm or larger (the ink is too thick to flow through the smaller nib sizes). If you need a finer point then use one of the disposeable multiliners, they just don't come in as many colors.

So what are the differences between a regular Multiliner and a Multiliner SP?
Besides the SP being refillable, the tip is more sturdy on an SP. Also, the brushed Aluminum casing on the SP is a real pleasure to hold- it feels substantial in your hand yet allows for good control. The SP's are more expensive, but refills are cheaper than our disposeable pens. (One other minor difference is that on a disposable Multiliner the word has a space (multi liner) but on the SP's it is all run together (multiliner). Either way it means many lines).

As an illustrator, I tend to work mostly with black lines, however, working in colored lines gives a softness to my work. Look at the mermaid header- although this was drawn with one of our disposable multiliners, the gray line is much softer on the eye than if I had drawn it with black.

Usually I draw something in black also because I can photocopy it easier. Some color photocopiers can pick up the multiliners evenly, but I have the problem where the copier darkens some lines and lightens others, so my line work appears blotchy. To avoid this I draw my main lines in black then trace over my work on a light table and add fine details with the colored multiliner (this is how I did the mermaid- I have no un-colored nice line work of her because I traced from my rough, dark outlines).

Here is a drawing I would usually do in black, these are my husband's black dress shoes he left on the floor next to me. I decided to try drawing them in the first colored multiliner I grabbed, which happened to be an Olive 0.3 multiliner SP. Look at how the picture doesn't seem so dark and heavy because it is'nt drawn in black. I drew this on color laser copier paper, with rough outlines in pencil that I erased after I had inked.



How can I get line variation from one pen size?
If you look close, my picture has different line widths, though I drew it from just one pen size. I achieved the thick/thin line variation by pushing heavier or lighter. Even though the pen tip is very firm and has no flexibility without breaking, it is still possible to push less or more. The trick to this is have something softer under your paper other than just a firm table surface (not too soft!). Always keep a few sheets of scratch paper under your work, not because the pens will bleed through (they won't bleed), but because that added depth has a slight give to it so I can push harder without damaging my pen tip. Working in a sketchbook is a great way to get this line variation.

I apologize in advance, my posts will not be as regular for the next few weeks, since I am busy out and about traveling. Wednesday I will be in Charleston, SC teaching a certification class, then Friday, Sat, & Sunday I will be in Savannah, GA at the Savannah College of Art & Design. The Savannah event is open to the public- you can come and purchase directly from us, ask questions, and learn techniques from me all weekend. For more details click on my link to classes and events.

Next week I will be in Kansas City, MO teaching a couple certification classes. I still have a few spaces for those classes, but you need to call us directly to get in (866) 662-6742.

For those of you in Seattle, WA or Vancouver, BC who want to come to the classes in November, they are filling up fast, so get your applications back to me right away. I will NOT be opening the Vancouver class to the general public, but I will know in a couple weeks if I have space left in the Seattle class for people who are not designers, teachers, or otherwise affiliated with papercrafting stores.

I am looking at possibly doing a small certification class in Portland, OR in early December. If you are interested please e-mail me to get on that mailing list. Have a great week!