Events This week

Today and Thursday I will be down at the University of Oregon bookstore, downstairs in the art department doing Copic demos and illustrations from about 10am to 5 or 6pm each day. Come and visit me and bring your Copic questions! This annual event at the bookstore has been going on for more than 25 years, and has many artists demonstrating all sorts of techniques, in conjunction with the annual sale. It's really inspiring to see so many talented people at work.

Thursday evening, Nov. 11th I will be teaching a Copic Marker Rendering Basics class at DIVA, at 110 W. Broadway in Eugene. To register for that class call 541-344-3482. This class is geared for artists, illustrators, professionals, and students who want to learn more about how to use Copic Markers. All supplies are provided.

Saturday Nov. 13th, I will be teaching a workshop at a fantasy convention in Portland. www.orycon.org

Meanwhile, here is a picture I drew and colored this week. It was for a client who decided they wanted a different image, so I can share this rendering with you.

She was drawn with a multiliner, then photocopied onto color laser copier paper. Her pants are colored with about 6 different shades of pink, from RV00 to RV21, and tiny hints of V12 and V17, with some C1 thrown in for good measure, then colorless blender was dabbed on to make the texture.

The Rabbit was colored with W1, W3, W7, E31, (these were scribble on to create the fuzzy look) and some hints of C1 and C3, with RV21 for the ears. The shirt was colored with RV00, V12, V17, BV04, RV13, and C3, then blended together with the colorless blender. Her skin is colored with E000, E11, E13, E33, and BV00. Her hair is all shades of Cool grays, with some hints of V17 thrown in to subtly match the hair to her shirt.

The final image is about 6 1/2 inches high, and took just over an hour to color. I hope you have a great day and get a chance to come see me this week, as you can see this final colored image in my example book.

Certification Updates

The intermediate class in Chicago was a great success! I am so excited about the subjects we covered in that class, and I know you'll love the suggestions for making your work look more lifelike. The manual for that class is overflowing with great suggestions for adding shadows and depth to your work, so if you love coloring and get a chance to attend an Intermediate class I strongly suggest it. In a few months we will post a list of upcoming 2011 classes, as well as a list of locations for Intermediate classes, so stay tuned! Meanwhile, the year is winding down, and we have a few standard Certifications coming up in North America.

Nov. 6th San Antonio, TX taught by Jenn Balcer Open to the Public
Nov. 8th Richmond, VA taught by Colleen Schaan Open to the Public
Nov. 14th Halifax, Nova Scotia taught by Sherrie Siemens Open to the Public
Nov. 16th Detroit, MI taught by Debbie Olson Open to the Public
Nov. 20th El Paso, TX taught by Jenn Balcer Open to the Public
Nov. 20th Denver, CO taught by Marianne Walker Open to the Public
Nov. 21st Tampa, FL taught by Colleen Schaan Open to the Public

If you need an application for a Standard Certification, you can download one here.

Future Intermediate Classes (applications have NOT gone out yet, this is for planning only). More will be added to this list in the next couple months, so stay tuned:
January, 27 (Before CHA) LA, CA taught by Sherrie Siemens and Debbie Olson
April, Date TBA, Phoenix, AZ taught by Marianne Walker

Have a great week!

Coloring around tiny details

Sorry I couldn't get this post up earlier, but I was having blog problems. It's all fixed now, so here's the tutorial for the Just Rite Blog hop. If you look at the ornament I colored a few days ago, you'll notice that I was very careful about coloring the main ornament green and the tiny details yellow. I did not use the blender to clean up the areas, rather, I was very careful in my coloring.

Coloring Around Tiny Details
First, you want to start with the main color that you are working around the details. In this case, it was the light green. I stamped my image with Memento and made sure it had dried really well before coloring, since tiny details would show bleeding more than usual.

Carefully color with the base color, G12. I used the very tip of the brush and had no problem working around even the smallest of shapes. At this point, if I had made mistakes I could still clean out the white areas with my colorless blender, but I don't really need to on this image. When cleaning up you need to have a lot of patience. dab a tiny amount of blender on, let it dry, dab another tiny amount and so on. You can't scrub in the blender like usual to clean up areas.

Next, I lightly scribbled in the dark green, G17. I scribbled because I had to be careful to not oversoak the areas I want to blend, as it could easily bleed into the surrounding details.

Now I can ever so carefully go back with the G12 and lightly blend the darker green out. I want the areas where the darker green fades into the lighter green to be as smooth as possible to keep the dimensional illusion to the ornament. It's OK if I lose the darkest areas of the darker green.

Once the blending is dry I went back with the dark green and touched in my deepest contrast again. The base colors need to be dry in order to keep the edges crisp. Now you can really see the dimension on the ornament. I like the high contrast between the G12 and the G17- this is what makes the ornament look so round.

Finally, I colored the yellow details- lighter on the light side, and Y17 in the shadows. I was not as worried about precision, since the yellow would not show up if I accidentally colored over the green areas.

The paper I was coordinating with was very orange-red, so I used YR09 and RV29 for my base red tones on the bow. Then I darkened it with R59. This helped pull the reds together. Again, I was careful to keep all my highlights and shadows consistent with the main ornament so the whole image looked better. Then I colored a middle gray around the outside of the ornament, since I knew I would be cutting it out and I wanted some contrast between the ornament and the background paper, but I didn't want to cut two pieces of paper.

One detail that you might not notice right away on the final bookmark is that on the base papers, I wanted to coordinate the colors a little better, so where the light gray paper met the red I blended in a very light layer of C1 and C2. Then, under the area where the ornament is sitting I added some of the reds, again, feathering them out until it created a darker halo around my ornament that smoothly blended out to the reds of the paper. I also did this along the bottom edge of the red paper. Thanks for stopping by, have a great weekend, and I'll see some of you in a few days in Chicago!!

Just Rite Blog Hop

Christmas Bookmark
I realized while at the dentist this morning that I forgot to write the tutorial portion of this project for the Just Rite 12 weeks of Christmas Blog Hops #6!

Every Wednesday up until Thanksgiving some of your favorite designers will be joining some of the JustRite design team for a series of Christmas blog hops, showcasing JustRite’s entire Christmas Collection of stamps! This week, it’s most of the Copic design team and Certification instructors! So mark your calendars for Wednesdays at 9am Central for great Christmas gift, card & project ideas, starting at the JustRite Inspiration blog!

You may think that I have fallen off the face of the internet, and I do apologize, however, I have been polishing up the new Intermediate Certification manual (which is going to be jam packed with information) and getting ready for Chicago next week.

My project today was made with the new Christmas Ornament Set and Christmas Nested Frames & Occasions set from Just Rite.

I colored the image using G12, G17, Y13, Y17, YR09, R29, R59, C1, C2, C4, and 0. The background paper is from the Cosmo Cricket Everafter collection. I thought it paired perfectly with the pattern on the ornament. The pale gray paper is a textured paper I've had for years. The bling is from Prima, and the big ribbon is from Offray.

Thanks for stopping by today, and I'll be sure to type up the full tutorial tomorrow.

Please visit these designers’ blogs to see what fabulous Christmas projects they have for you on the hop today!

JustRite Inspiration Blog
Sharon Harnist
Debbie Olson
Kellie Fortin
Becca Feeken
Marianne Walker
Kathy Jones
Barb Schram
Lori Craig
Stephanie Kraft
Jenn Balcer
Angela Barkhouse
Sherrie Siemens
Sankari Wegman
Colleen Schaan
Regina Mangum
Jennie Black
Kazan Clark
Sally Lynn MacDonald
Michele Kovack

Fall Leaves Header

You may have noticed a few days ago that I switched to a new header for the season. This image is from a picture I colored a few years ago. For the complete tutorial on how I colored the picture of markers, please visit this older post.

Meanwhile, come visit me in Savannah at the College of Art & Design. I'll be in the booth Friday and Saturday down at the SCAD River Club.

Rainy Tutorial

Dripped Water
Today I wanted to show you some simple methods to show, wet, drippy things. i know I've shown water drops in earlier posts, reflections on water, but I figured you can never have enough water tutorials, as water can be pretty tricky.

I started by choosing my light source and coloring the galoshes in shades of yellow. The scanner didn't pick it up, but I used Y06, Y38, and E35. The E35 helped tone down the shadows, otherwise they would have looked glowing orange instead of shaded yellow.


When we want something to look wet or shiny, the best way is to have very strong contrast between light and dark. In this case, we'll want the puddle of water to look wet, and we'll make the galoshes shiny, and add drops of water on both the umbrella and the galoshes. Since the image is so tiny, I'm going to worry about adding contrast back in later.


Next, I colored the water with B41. I want this to look dimensional, so I left strong white highlights on the edges that were closest to the light. I darkened the shadows with B45 and added a dark rim around the bottmo edge, especially on the shaded edges of the water. Already, the water is looking more wet and is catching the shadows from the boots and umbrella nicely. Now we can move on to coloring the umbrella.


I want the umbrella to be pink and purple. Notice that the way the light is shining, it is the inside of the umbrella that will be the brightest, not the outside. Also, keep in mind that the bottom of the umbrella outside will have darker shadow than the top of the umbrella, as there is less light bouncing around under the umbrella.

I colored the purple areas with B12, B17 and a hint of B79 to darken it up. Then, I colored the pink areas with RV00, RV02, RV04, and a hint of E04 to tone down the neon pink on the outside of the umbrella, yet keep the same feel of the base pink tone.

Now I am ready to add some drips of water. To do this, I start by grabbing my darker blue, B45 and adding spots on strategic places around the boots and umbrella. Don' go crazy- just add enough to make it look like it still has some drips left on the surface.

Last, with a tiny brush, take a jar of Opaque White and a really tiny brush and add a speck of white back into the center of each drop. Add a couple shiny highlights onto the edges of the galoshes that sick out closest to the light. To make the water appear shiny I added a couple simple parallel lines along the surface.

Now I have a pair of drippy wet boots and a wet umbrella. I hope you have a dry day today and have fun coloring!

Class Updates

It's officially Fall here in Oregon, which means that the rain has started. Maybe in April I will see the sun again. I apologize that I have not blogged in a while, I have been very busy writing the new Intermediate Manual, so all my tutorial efforts have been going into that book. To get you into the mood for rain, I'm sharing a quick tutorial on coloring a drippy umbrella and galoshes.

Before I get into that, here is an update on all Certification Classes coming up this Fall:

Sept. 25th Salt Lake City, UT taught by Jennie Black Open to the Public
Sept. 26th Calgary, Alberta taught by Sherrie Siemens Open to the Public

Oct. 2nd Buena Park, CA taught by Jennie Black Open to the Public
Oct. 8th Jacksonville, FL taught by Colleen Schaan, Open to the Public
Oct. 15th Vancouver, WA taught by Jennie Black, Open to the Public
Oct. 21st Chicago, IL taught by Lori Craig, Open to the Public
Oct. 22nd Chicago Intermediate taught by Marianne, Sherrie, & Debbie Spaces still available

Nov. 6th San Antonio, TX taught by Jenn Balcer Open to stores & designers
Nov. 8th Richmond, VA taught by Colleen Schaan Open to stores & designers
Nov. 14th Halifax, Nova Scotia taught by Sherrie Siemens Open to the Public
Nov. 16th Detroit, MI taught by Debbie Olson Open to stores & designers
Nov. 20th El Paso, TX taught by Jenn Balcer Open to stores & designers
Nov. 20th Denver, CO taught by Marianne Walker Open to stores & designers
Nov. 21st Tampa, FL taught by Colleen Schaan Open to stores & designers

If you need an application for either Intermediate or Standard Certifications, you can download one here.

Also, there are lots of classes coming up internationally as well:

Oct. 25th Brisbane QLD, taught by Kathy Jones (click here for Australia class info)
Oct 27th Wiesbaden, Germany taught by Diny Sprakel (for class information please e-mail Britta: b.rumpf-burblies@holtz-gmbh.de )
Nov. 8th Sydney, NSW , teacher TBA
Nov. 20th Melbourne, VIC Taught by Mandi Lee Klinger
Nov. 21 Elcot park Hotel, Nr Newbury, Berkshire, UK taught by Wendy Kadzidlo (click here for UK class details)

Whew! there are a LOT of classes this Fall! Now, onto the tutorial...