Copic Marker: Beginner Blending Technique, Gummy Bears

[@amyshulke2097]

Hi colorers- do you change your speed based union the color you’re using? It’s a tip I don’t see mentioned often. Basically, the darker the marker, the faster the stroke should be. What’s another coloring tip you’ve picked up along the way that you rarely hear mentioned?

[@rebeccamoss3709]

Thank you so much for your instructions. You are very likable and fun to learn from. I Thought that blending is something you do with a blending marker. I have had many surgeries and illnesses this past year and a half. The only thing that kept me going and kept me somewhat sane was coloring. I took my markers and projects with me to the hospital and made pictures for the staff with heartfelt encouraging writing on the back. As a former RN and MSW, I know what it is like to work your butt off with little positive feedback. Now things are much worse. The staff work short staffed, long hours in stifling hot masks, gloves, gowns, and Eyewear. Some wear even more. I now want to learn even more, as I want to give away and keep quality artwork. I believe you could teach me. I need one aspect of my life to improve and be fun. Please tell me if that is possible and may God bless you all. Stay safe.

[@rebeccamoss3709]

Dont have copics yet but would love to.

[@davelewis8109]

You are a fabulous teacher, I learned more in the first 10 minutes of this video than I have on other videos. Thank you

[@AmyShulke]

Wow, thank you! I really appreciate your feedback!

[@gaylewilson9209]

"The marker is doing the blending, not me!" Excellent advice! :)

[@AmyShulke]

So glad you’re watching through the old stuff. Thanks!

[@loricalass4068]

Fantastic teaching.

[@AmyShulke]

Thanks, Lorica. Glad it helped!

[@loricalass4068]

I so appreciated the info on your blog showing how fugitive, not light fast, Copic markers are! I had no idea they would deteriorate so much in less than a year! So now I am going to digitize all my alcohol marker work, as you suggest, to preserve it, and not use it as anything suitable for framing.

[@AmyShulke]

Learn from my sorrows? Yep, I've had more than a few pretty pics lost over the years. Now the digital versions are worth more than the faded originals.

[@loricalass4068]

@@AmyShulke That's encouraging! Thanks for sharing all your info. Your work is so awesome and I am learning a lot.

[@colleendevellis8717]

Thank you Amy! Love the demo. The tip I have learned from you that I think has improved my technique is to NOT have the television on while coloring. I tried to listen to it recently and found I was very distracted by it. So from now on it's either the TV or coloring for me.

[@AmyShulke]

Ha! And the "no distractions allowed!" tendency gets worse over time. Honestly, I don't understand how students can color with my class videos on. I can't even have music with lyrics playing anymore because the words drag my attention away from the coloring process. It's crazy how verbal activity so easily pulls us out of the artistic zone.

[@carrie5260]

Thank you ! Your blending explanation is the first that made sense to me. I can’t wait to practice ! New subscriber !

[@AmyShulke]

Awesome! Thank you! I do more articles now than videos, so be sure to visit my site at VanillaArts.com.

[@createinspain]

Now I'm craving gummy bears!

[@AmyShulke]

Yep, it was even worse to sit there coloring them as the fruity smell drifted around my desk area!

[@marjoriekoval8152]

So glad I found you! Now I just can't learn and color fast enough! I don't want to miss a thing!

[@CarolHeld]

I am sure happy that I found your Channel Amy. I love to color with any mediums and I love to get inspiration to help me grow as an artist. I am working on a project that I stamped in black. WOW, I know why I don't have many black inks. hahahahaha I enjoy your tutorials very much and am sure your inspiration and instruction will help me to grow and learn. I do know that repetition is the key to learning. It will be fun to take some of your classes in the future. You're a wonderful instructor of coloring skills. Thank you so much. I am off to finish my tutorial so I can edit/voiceover. smiles Thank you for knowledge. smile

[@AmyShulke]

Thanks, Carol! I'm back on KZbin again. Hopefully my new videos show up in your suggested feed!

[@PhrankieCreativeCorner]

These bears are soooooo cute. I have to try this. My favorite tip - that I always have to remind myself is to not use a 9 marker first then go over it with a 1 or 2. It’s just never blends well and causes splotches. I tend to forget that until I see the splotches- but usually I fix my mistake with a little color pencil on top. Lol.

[@AmyShulke]

I do that too. I think it's because I know where I want to go and try to take the shortcut to get there faster. I don't know who invented colored pencils but I owe them, big time!

[@Amywazwaz06]

Wow. I learned so much in this video. Thank you for your time and energy making this video for helping others. I never even thought of my claw-some stamp set for a gummy bear. I think I will try this out. I have looked at the stateler pens before several times and not realized this was how you used them in blending. Totally amazed!!

[@AmyShulke]

If you color it, please share! This idea has so much potential - lots of possible colors, sour bears, even turning other stamped shapes into popular candies.

[@cherylscrivens3560]

Amy, thanks for another fabulous video! I love these darling bears, and what a great lesson about transparency in them. Hugs!

[@AmyShulke]

Thanks Cheryl. I walked into my classroom as a Lawn Fawn rep was collecting orders and I was eating a snackpack of gummies. Ideas come from the strangest places :)

[@cherylscrivens3560]

Sweet...literally and inspirationally!

[@CarolHeld]

Thank you so much for your kindness and compliments Cheryl. Bless you for watching. I hope all it well with you.

[@BornAgainFarmGirl]

Love your techniques, looking forward to learning even more !

[@AmyShulke]

Thanks!

[@brendaheins3191]

What a great video! And I'm so excited, I have that stamp! And now I can color it correctly to look like real gummy bears! Thanks Amy!

[@AmyShulke]

Well, kinda real. They're still simplified and definitely cuter than real gummy bears :)

[@kathyfs9742]

I don't know if this is a "marker" tip, but it relates to using my markers. The best tip I picked up from you might just be to color on a non-porous surface (such as glass).

[@AmyShulke]

Oh yes, that counts as a GREAT tip! Honestly, when I moved to a glass desk, I never thought anything other than that it was safe for Copic. Suddenly, "Hey, I'm getting really awesome at this blending thing!". Sadly, it wasn't awesomeness, it was the glass. Now if I could find a way to color on glass on-camera. I really miss it when I'm on the white board.

[@darlawelch9676]

Thank you. I really learned a lot from this video. I'm only hoping some day I'll actually become comfortable using my set of Copics!

[@AmyShulke]

It takes time and practice, Darla. You'll get to that comfort phase as you gain experience. Thanks for watching and feel free to make suggestions about what other topics you'd like to see covered.

[@coolpostal1]

Love the video Amy!

[@JMHaleSeattle]

Ty!

[@AmyShulke]

You're welcome, Julie!

[@juliebergacker5680]

Awesome 😃👏👍💕

[@AmyShulke]

Thank you! Cheers!

[@jimhansen8441]

Great lesson, as always!

[@AmyShulke]

Thanks Jim!

[@stevenpeterson5265]

Thank you!

[@AmyShulke]

You're welcome. I'm really glad you found this helpful!

[@pattibaileydesigns]

I was transfixed as I was watching you color these bears! Thank you! I know that you only teach with Copics; I'm curious your thoughts on Spectrum Noir markers and do you have any helpful tips, classes, or videos that might be beneficial to those of us that have those markers? Thanks!

[@AmyShulke]

I'm late to comment but I don't love the SN markers. Ohuhu are pretty good and I think OLO has potential.

[@norinemueller4588]

Thank you so helpful

[@sophiagraceee]

I’m in love with your tutorials and my aunt got me a small amount of copics for Christmas but I can’t afford classes so I have no idea how to use them :(

[@AmyShulke]

Hi Grace- the great news is that you don't need as many Copics as you might think as long as the colors are versatile ones. I have a list of 42 colors that I use for beginner classes, perhaps it will help you build a smart collection slowly. www.vanillaarts.com/great-marker-challenge

[@sophiagraceee]

Amy Shulke thank you so much! I didn’t remember that I made that comment 8 months ago, but I did eventually figure them out and now I need refills because I’ve been using them a lot!

[@danrenwick2647]

Hi Amy, do use the same look marker to apply dark and local colors? Just different strokes? Thanks Dan

[@AmyShulke]

Hi Dan, I'd love to help but I don't quite understand the "use the same look marker" part of the question. What really changes as I move from the dark (sculpting) color to the local color is the speed of the coloring. With the dark, I move fast to use only a minimal amount of ink. Then with the local (blending) color, I slow down and also press a little more firmly. Both changes release extra blending ink into the paper. More moisture = smoother blends. One of the most common beginner mistakes is that they reverse the quantities, using more dark ink and less blending ink. It happens because the dark marker goes down first and in specific areas which causes beginners to slow down and overthink what they're doing. Then with blending, they move fast because they're more confident about simply filling in an open area. Because they use too much dark ink and not enough blending ink, the coloring looks patchy and often streaky. The rule to remember: dark ink = quick and stingy blending ink = slower and generous Let me know if this doesn't answer the question.

[@hollytalbott7291]

Wow!

[@AmyShulke]

Thanks! Glad you found it useful!

[@russellwickham8709]

awesome

[@AmyShulke]

Thanks!

[@laurierobinson7047]

I'm curious if Vanilla Arts is current? I see most videos were posted two years ago.

[@AmyShulke]

I haven't been active here with free videos but I have new classes every month and new articles, palettes, and tips daily over at VanillaArts.com

[@carolinecordelia]

Love your online workshops and demos here on KZbin. Waiting for next lab in the marker painting foundation workshop, I love it so far. Only thing I don't like is the background music in your videoes is distracting as it make it more difficult to hear the right words as I have a hearing loss and Tinitus and Meniére desease and English is not my language, so sometimes I can miss some important stuff. (Don't really know if I did, but would hate to miss out on something.) Please make the workshops without music. 😊Other than this, I just love the workshops as they're so informative and I defenitely recommend them to all colourers that don't want to take over the job for the kitchen blender and learn to colour realism and great colouring, not fine or beatiful comments not from pitty, but honestly.

[@AmyShulke]

Sorry about the hearing problems Caroline. A lot of people play my videos repeatedly while they're working, so the music helps them to move past verbal instruction to the nonverbal art zone.

[@jonespaperemporium4930]

"Use a photo reference." Though this tip makes - lightbulb moment - sense, it wasn't until your course that it ever came up related to copic coloring period. It comes up in other types of mediums like watercolor, oils, etc but not with copics. I bet if many of us, who have taken many classes, think hard, using a photo has not come up. It wasn't part of the copic certification classes and other skilled colorers don't mention it. They may use this technique but they don't mention it. It is helpful to figure out colors, lighting and how to add a bit if realism.

[@AmyShulke]

I'm lost without references, both photographic and observational! So many people think it's skill or talent when it's actually just digging around to see what things really look like :)