skin tutorial

The days are getting shorter,  the weather over here in the Netherlands is getting colder....it's surely wintertime, but that means lots of time to colour with my Copic Markers and drinking hot cups of tea or cocoa. How about you?  

I did a lot of colouring lately and I thought it would be nice to show you how I build up the facial layers when I use my Copic Markers...(have a cup of tea first, I've got quite a few photographs to share). The image is by The East Wind. 

I start with a thin layer of E00 leaving out the highlights. So at this point you already need to know where you want your shadows and highlights. I also drew a nose in this first layer. 

Then I start on my second layer, still using the E00. Still not colouring the highlights and I do not colour the nose...because the nose normally catches a lot of light (it sticks out LOL) so it should be a lot lighter than the rest of the skin. On the other hand the eye sockets are situated deeper in the face and therefore have a lot of shadows. So those parts should be much darker. 

The colouring doesn't look smooth , but I'm not worrying about that yet. Still many layers to do. 

For the third layer I used the E01. The facial characteristics are getting more visible now, 

For my fourth layer I used the R20, to get a warm skin tone. You can use the R20 for the lips too. The upper lip is darker than the lower lip. The lower lip sticks out a little and should have a  highlight. 

Now all the fun starts, For this fifth layer I used BV00 to add some shades. this might be a little scary, but you really should give it a try, the effects are super. The BV00 adds more depth to the face. 

Repeat the shading part with the BV00 to get more depth. For the deepest shadows I used the BV02 . And blend all the layers together using E000. With E000 you go over the whole face, even the highlights. The E000 blends all the colours together and it will remove all the harsh marker lines. 

For the eyes I used B21, 24, 29 and 39.

Add a thin layer of B21. Than add the darker colours. In the eyes there are shadows too. The eye sockets lie deep in the face (to protect the eyes) and the cast a shadow on the eyeball too. The upper part of the eyeball is therefore darker than the rest of the eyeball. 

The hair was quite a  lot of work. I can do a tutorial on the hair too if you like. I have been using the BV08, V01, 05, 06 and 09. Start with the darkest colour and work your way back to the lightest. When finished I go back to the darkest colour again to add more depth. 

And this is how the finished page looks. The birds and feather are coloured with YR61, 65, 68, RV06 and BV00. 

Cutting out the hair was quite a job to do....it took me over an hour to fussy cut all the hairs....and cutting is not really my favorite thing to do LOL. 

The background is made with Dylusions paints and stencils, I also used some Dutch Doobadoo stencils. Found the quote on the Internet. 

Have a fabulous day

hugs

Miranda