Spotlight on B markers and a blue mermaid video

Hello everyone! It's Delphine here today to share some blue inspiration! Once a month, I post a card featuring a colour family, I picked Bs for today.

There are 19 B Ciao and 35 B Sketch Markers, ideal for lots of combinations. To feature B markers, I chose a mermaid image by Make it Crafty, cropped it to have a close up and decided to colour it using only blues, suggesting a mermaid in the ocean depths. I have used B000, 00, 05, 12, 18, 24, 28, 29, 39 on my image.

Here is my final colouring:

It's a small size, the image being the size of an ATC - I find that size convenient and super cute but it doesn't mean it is always fast to colour - this one took 2.5 hours.

You can see the whole colouring process below:

Here is a close up on the image and the list of all Copics I used:

Skin: B000, 00, 12, 24, C5

Hair: B05, 18, 39, C7

Eyes: B000, 05, 29, C5, 7

Scales: B24, 28, 29, C7

Shell: B000, 00, 12

The only things to add to that list is 0, the blender, which I used to suggest some rays of light, and a white gel pen for a few highlights on the eyes and lips :)

Thanks for stopping by, and let me know if you try and play with your B markers! Hugs,

Delphine xx

Black and White Video plus Tips!

Hello everyone! It's Delphine here today sharing some black and white... and a video! I thought I would share a few tips about colouring monochrome and you will also find the recording of the colouring process below.

For my card, I used Make it Crafty Maiden Emoni, one of the Medieval Ladies, so I thought playing with a bit of black and white for ancient times would be nice :)

Here is the finished card :

I cropped my image and printed it on an SMLT bristol haiku card. I added some washi tape to keep a white margin around my image and then coloured everything using the N range - N0, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10.

Here is the video of the colouring process, and then a few explanations and tips :)

A FEW TIPS: 

- If you don't have the N family, you can easily achieve the same result using another grey family fom the Copic range.

- If you only own Ciaos and no Sketches, you can use odd numbers (plus 0 or 00) from the C or W family and add black 100 as your darkest colour, it works very well too.

- The order I coloured the different parts is:

1. Skin: N0, 2, 4 (0)

2. Background: N2, 4, 6

3. Clothes: N0, 2, 4, 6, 8

4. Hair: N4, 6, 8, 10

5. Details

- Start colouring using light colours, you can always go darker, it's more difficult to correct your colouring to make it lighter, it's also why I start with the skin, and choose and build the colours from there.

- Make sure the parts that are side by side are not in the same tones - so a light area, next to a dark area - alternate between light and dark.

- Think about shadow and light when colouring, it's even more important than usual, when playing with a limited number of markers and black and white - and it's a very good exercise ;)

- Don't force yourself to colour everything, don't be afraid to leave some white areas for highlights, it will give depth to your image!

Thanks for stopping by today! Hugs,
Delphine xx

Black and White Manga

Hello everyone! It's Delphine here today to share a 100% Copic make! No need to have lots of Copics to colour an image, you can colour in black and white - and with a limited number of markers. I used 7 markers for today's post and picked the C family because I really like the Cool Greys but you can of course achieve the same look with the Ts, Ns or Ws. 

My love of manga images is no secret so I chose a super cute Make it Crafty image to colour in black and white, called Debbie's Surprise. The image itself is 15cm high - meant to go into one of my frames, which is why I printed it that size.

When colouring black and white, I always start with the skin and the lightest colours to try not to go too dark - once it is coloured, it's easier to go darker if you feel your skin needs to be darker rather than making it lighter!!! I used C00, 0, 2 and 4 for the face. I placed the shadows in C0 first to see where I wanted the skin to be dark and then coloured from dark to light - C4 down to C00.

I then did the rest of the skin, using C0, 2, 4. If you take a close look, you will see I left some very thin white parts on the edges of the arms for light reflection. I also added a bit of C2 on the eyes for the colour of the iris and the shadow below the eyelash.

I then moved on to the clothes. I chose to go for a dark top, to have some contrast on the image. I did keep the scarf quite light, but still darker than the skin. 

The top was done using C6, 8, 10, and the scarf C2, 4, 6 (where my very darkest colour for skin was C4 in a few places for dark shadows). The idea is really to take the most of the range of tones and not use the same tones on elements that are side by side.

Hair - always last for me! I knew from the start I would make them black - strong contrast with the skin. I used C6, 8, 10 just like for her shirt. 

And here it is framed for my craftroom :)! Thank you very much for your visit, have a great day! Hugs,

Delphine xx

Dream...

Hello everyone! It's Delphine here today to share a Copic card featuring a beautiful Make it Crafty image called Ashlyn.

I cropped my image to keep only the upper part of Ashlyn and then quickly coloured the background using B69, making quick circular movements since the idea here was not to have a smooth background.

Next I coloured the skin using YR000, 00, 01 and RV02, as shown by Zoe from Make it Crafty in her Basic Techniques when Colouring Faces Ebook. For the eyes, I used B00, 02, 60, 63. I also added a bit of B63 to the skin.

I then did her clothing, keeping the same tones as my background - so I used B63, 66, 69.

I then coloured the hair strand by strand starting on the left of my image, in E49, 57, 59 and YR23.

To make the background a bit smoother, I added Blueprint Sketch and Chipped Sapphire Distress Inks on the edges. With a Kraftin' Kimmie Starbust Stencil, I drew stars in a gold gel pen. I also wrote a little sentiment on a strip of paper that I put on foam. Here is the recap of all the Copics I used:

Skin: YR000, 00, 01, B63

Eyes: B000, 02, 60, 63

Hair: E49, 57, 59, YR23

Clothes: B63, 66, 69

Background: B69

Thank you very much for your visit, have a great day! Hugs,

Delphine xx

Christmas Angel

Hello everyone! It's Delphine here today with some Christmas inspiration - yes, it is just around the corner now!!

For today's card, I have used an adorable image by Make it Crafty called Angel and Cherub (it comes as 2 images that you can use separately). I resized and cropped my image in MS Word, printed it and coloured it on my piece of paper without cutting it.

I wanted to make my image pop so I decided to create a flashy pink background and used blue on my image. 

I started with the background, coloured making quick circles in RV25 - we are not aiming at having a smooth blended background here - a technique I learned from Zoe at Make it Crafty. 

I then coloured the skin of my angel, using E000, 00, 11 and 71 for the shadows. I also added a bit of R20 for the cheeks and used B63, BG01, 000 for the eyes. 

For the clothes, I used B02, 04, 16, 37, 39.

I then coloured the hair in E59, 25, YR23 (in that order) and coloured the halo in Y11, 26, E57, and the wings in B63, BG000 and a touch of V000. 

To add even more depth to my image, I used my Polychromo pencils on the hair, bow and clothes. I then cut my image and went around the edges with a blending tool and Picked Raspberry Distress Ink.  

I thought I would add some details to the background, so I stamped a few leaves and the word JOY with a Marianne's Designs alphabet set in black ink. To brighten things a bit, I did some doodling with a white gel pen. And voilà! 

Skin: E000, 00, 11, 71, R20

Hair: E25, 59, YR23

Eyes: B63, BG000, 01

Clothes: B02, 04, 16, 37, 39

Wings: B63, BG000, V000

Halo: E57, Y11, 26

Thank you very much for your visit, have a wonderful Christmas everyone! Hugs,

Delphine xx

Fun with Copic Various Inks!

Hello everyone! It's Delphine here today, sharing some inspiration using Copic Various Inks. During the Instructors' Meeting in Germany, we were lucky to have a workshop with Kathrin Bartholomäus who makes beautiful fluid art and we got to play with our Copic Refills. I love the effects you can get, so I decided to play a bit for today's post.

The basic supplies for that are Yupo paper, Alcohol (I used 95° Alcohol) and Copic Various Ink Refills.

I cut my Yupo into 4 pieces of paper (about the size of an ATC) and randomly added Inks and alcohol to my paper.

Blue card: B37, 69, BG05

Aqua card: B37, BG05, 09

Purple card: RV02, V09

Red card: R20, 37, YR04 (and Q tips to remove some colour)

I then coloured a cute little dog by Tiddly Inks (Holly Jolly Christmas) in Copics, three times for my cards. 

Dog: C0, 1, 3

Hat: C7, R35, 37, 39, W0, 1, 3

The holly was done in gel pen.

I decided to use 2 of my Yupo cards without touching the backgrounds - I simply put my dog on foam squares, added Make it Crafty Chipboard coloured in acrylic paint and added a bit of gold on the edges of my first card and white for the second card with an acrylic marker.

For my purple card, I thought I would make a simple scene. I used white acrylic paint for the snow at the bottom (the white can be a bit tinted by the ink underneath but I don't think it is a problem). For the trees, I used a black Pitt pen. I added a few snowflakes in acrylic paint and a bit of white on the edges of the card for a frosty look.

For the red card, I added gold acrylic paint on the edges of the card and a few gold dots and chose to only add a big Make it Crafty Chipboard sentiment coloured in acrylic too.

And here are my four little cards together:

Thank you very much for your visit, have a fab day! Hugs,

Delphine xx

No DPs? No problem!

Hello everyone! It's Delphine here today to share a CAS card with no DPs. The great thing about using no DPs and making your own is that you can create a card with perfectly matching colours.

I used Funky Mother by Make it Crafty for my card.

Skin: E000, 00, 11, 13, RV02

Hair: E25, 59, YR23

Eyes: B00, 63

Pink: RV00, 02, 04

Beige: E40, 41, 42, 43, 44

I then made a card base out of some Copic paper. I drew a line with a ruler and a Sepia Copic Multiliner (0.3). I coloured the white strip using a pink from my image - RV02. Next, I made dots with a Paperbabe Stamps Dot Stencil and with a Sepia Copic Multiliner (0.1), just the outline of the dots, so that I would create a regular pattern - which I would not have been able to do without the stencil of course. I coloured the dots with a Bronze Posca pen to remind of the colour of my character's hair.

I die cut my image with an MFT die and painted a Make it Crafty Delicate Love Oval Chipboard Frame, using the same RV02 Copic and the same Posca pen as the strip on my card base. I also added stickles to the hearts of the frame.

I added my image to my card base, mounting it on foam for a bit of dimension, and voilà!

Thank you very much for your visit, have a great day! Hugs,

Delphine xx

Enhancing your Copic colouring

Hello everyone! It's Delphine here today to share a Copic make. I thought I would make a CAS card coloured in Copics and show how to enhance your Copic colouring by adding details to it using other media. 

The image I'm using is called Grooving Jasmine by Make it Crafty.

I first cropped my image in MS Word and instead of using my regular Copic paper, printed it on Canson Montval to be able to watercolour too and use other media. Please note, the watercolour paper will not react the same way Copic paper does, the ink may bleed more, the blending be less efficient, the colours may be darker too - it will all depend on the watercolour paper you choose to use. 

I coloured Grooving Jasmine completely, using the following Copics:

Skin: E000, 00, 11, 13, RV02

Hair: 100, BV04, C7, 9

Purple: V09, 15, 17

Pink: RV02, 04, T3

Blue: B95, 97, 99

Gold: Y11, 26

I then thought I would make a simple watercolour background matching my Copic colours, so I used pink and purple Zig watercolour pens. 

I then went back to work on my image using a bit of Polychromo pencils to add a bit of depth, so I mostly added black to the purple clothes and hair, and purple to her skin. I also added some white highlights with the very thin brush of my Copic Opaque White paint. I doodled a few notes in white gel pen too. 

Image in Copics

Image with added details

And lastly, to really make my image pop, I used a Make it Crafty Chipboard frame. I coloured it using Posca pens and covered the black and pink parts in stickles. I aslo added white dots to my background using a Molotow Paint Marker and changed the colour of my notes too.

That's all from me today! Thank you very much for your visit, have a great day! Hugs,

Delphine xx

Colour in Cool Greys!

Hello everyone! It's Delphine here today to share Black and White inspiration! It's sometimes difficult to know which markers to buy when you start your Copic collection - there are so many to choose from! - but I think buying Grey markers is always a great investment since you can use them for shading and for monochrome images. My C markers were the ones I bought very early and I never regretted that choice, I use them a lot! 

For today's post, I have chosen an image from Make it Crafty called Primrose. 

With black and white, I always try to alternate between light and dark areas so that a light colour will be next to a dark area - not too many dark areas next to each other otherwise you sometimes cannot see the drawing very well. 

So first I coloured the skin, choosing my lightest colours - I used C00, 0, 1, 2. 

Next I coloured the hair with my darkest markers - 100, C5, 7, 9. I even let a very few spots white for highlights.

The flowers were done in a light colour because most of them were next to the black hair, using C1 and C4. For the leaves, I used C5, 7, 9. 

I also added touches of light grey to the banner in C00, 0, 1 - because white is never just white and needs colouring too.

I stamped a sentiment in the banner, added a little heart chipboard and used black Bo Bunny DPs for my base. And voilà! 

Thank you very much for your visit, have a fab day! Hugs,

Delphine xx