Beginner Copic: Easy Brown, Gray & Black Starter Markers

[@AmyShulke]

Finishing up the last of the Starter Marker series. Be sure to stick around for the Black/Special Black difference! Links to the other colors along with video resources here: markernovice.com/beginner-colors

[@stampinwithsafia]

That’s crazy warm greys are one of my favourites and the first greys I bought!

[@AmyShulke]

It's fine to disagree. Would you care to share exactly why you think warm grays are a better option for beginners with under 40 markers in the first months of markering? If not in the first 40, exactly when would you recommend the Ws? It'd be great to learn from your warm gray enthusiasm.

[@stampinwithsafia]

I just love warmer tones and use them all the time to color animal images! W1 was one of my first markers and I still use the warm greys all the time. I guess it also depends on what colors a person enjoys seeing and coloring with

[@StevenCalwas]

My starter set included only grays and specifically the toner grays. I use them to apply values to my line drawings. I chose the toners because of a certain visual characteristic that the other grays didn't have, but I can't pinpoint what that characteristic is. Maybe it just reminded me of my (very) old job working with artists and paste-up people in the Walgreen's corporate advertising art department. (I worked the camera.) The best group of people I ever worked with. Lots of good information on this channel. Thanks much! Going out now to buy B110 AKA T11 to complete my collection. 🙂

[@AmyShulke]

In your case, the Toners make sense and it's the version of gray you are drawn to for sentimental reasons (a totally valid art excuse!). But I see a lot of card makers and newbies thinking they need all four gray families which to me seems like a big investment for not much payoff.

[@Beecosy]

Thank you for sharing and explaining why my grey markers have been going speckly. 👍

[@AmyShulke]

Glad it was helpful!

[@gaylewilson9209]

I love listening to your narration, Amy! You make me chuckle! (especially liked the Christmas possum)

[@AmyShulke]

Real life influences... My dog brought a fainted opossum into the house the other night. Trotted right past me with a skip in his step and a full grown beast in his mouth. I swear, my first thought was "I didn't know we had a rugby ball". I am so lucky it stayed comatose long enough for me to get a shovel and take it back outside. Let's hope he doesn't invite any skunks in for a sleepover.

[@gaylewilson9209]

@@AmyShulke Yes, life gives us lots of material! LOL!

[@DebadooCreates]

I love the way you explain why you choose what you choose. These color blend videos are fantastic. I wish I'd seen this one before doing my son's Father's day card, & struggling to blend some E- teens lol. I'd seen it pop up in my notifications, but was busy, then forgot about it before doing his card. Unless I missed it, I've scrolled through your video thumbnails, & didn't see where you've done a video on coloring a white flower, or white something. Edit: Just find the white tulips. I'm old & can't see lol. I'd love to see that, & since you mentioned it, I'd love to see how you color an elephant lol. Thank you for sharing & teaching so much!

[@AmyShulke]

Thanks, Deb! I'll add coloring white to my to-do list because that tulip video is old, old, old!

[@SN-sz7kw]

I don’t even use markers & really enjoyed this! I’m from the same cut & paste era. I really miss it! Thank you for a wonderful video. 💗

[@AmyShulke]

Thank you! My daughter did art school a few years back and she had to reduce the size of one element in her project, but by how much? I pulled out my proportional wheel and she looked at me like I was nuts. "You know, there's probably an app I can use..." Nope, I had the answer before she could finish. Take that, ya' young whipper snappers!

[@cindellednic]

This is such a good and informative video. I'm a beginner and I have a big Ohuhu set because I'm just colouring in cutesy stuff as a hobby, but also because several of my copics crystallised and I don't have the $8.50+ per marker to replace them right now 😭 But it's really good to know WHY you'd want the more expensive option, I didn't know anything about staining or ink mixing despite trying to do research about it before getting the Ohuhu pack. Also thank you for including the grey info even if a lot of beginners won't use it, because I definitely will ❤️

[@AmyShulke]

Hi and thanks for watching! I'm so grateful you're here and finding value in my work. I totally understand the lure of $1 markers versus Copic but please allow me to gently suggest something. And it's not just you, as this channel grows, I'm getting the teary face emojis in the comments here a lot now. I'm at the point where I can't live with myself if I don't say something... Have you ever wondered how a company can afford to send free markers to every marker artist on KZbin with more than a couple hundred subscribers? Ever wonder how a company can pay KZbin/Google (AdSense) to advertise on EVERY marker video ever made and EVERY website where marker fans gather? Then ask yourself how they can afford to sell their markers for under a dollar each. It doesn't add up.

[@sabineedelmann6531]

I use my black copic a lot to color in my background! Otherwise, not so much. But I definitely need a black. Great tips here. I learn so much. Definitely want to go into underpaintings.

[@AmyShulke]

I do black backgrounds too but they have more depth and interest when you mix your own black. Here's an example of a pseudo black with areas of warmth and coolness. It's all marker and none of them black. www.vanillaarts.com/shop/apple-blossom

[@housecodd7714]

Toner greys are my favorite grey family, they look the closest to pencil

[@AmyShulke]

Thanks for pointing this out. Toners are not totally useless and I'm glad Copic still makes niche colors. I just see a lot of hobby colorists rushing to purchase all four gray sets as if they're all equally vital.

[@nullavitasinemusica1]

I use my Cool Cs a lot So I own all of them Love doing grey scale

[@AmyShulke]

I like the Cs a lot too. I've been using the BV20 series more recently but I appreciate the cooler grays for underpainting more than the warmer grays.

[@wendy8184]

This is so helpful!

[@AmyShulke]

I'm glad you found it helpful. Now that this series is wrapping up, I'll be looking for more topics to cover. I can't teach everything free but if you have a good idea for future videos, be sure to let me know.

[@rebeldown771]

I need a video about why Ohuhu isn't good because I've seen plenty of people say they're fine... 😢 what does staining mean??

[@AmyShulke]

The Ohuhu video is coming but honestly, I have to get really brave to do it. I know it's going to draw a lot of hate. Staining ink bonds with paper fibers very easily. Once an ink has bonded, it's hard to move it around and movement is essential for smooth blending. Some colors are naturally more staining. Reds, red browns, violet, pinks, orange-- these colors tend to stain more than others. Non-staining red and reddish inks are possible but expensive. Staining inks are cheap because reputable companies don't want to use them. The better marker companies avoid staining inks which is why some markers cost more. The reason why Copic makes so many blues is because blue is generally non-staining. Copic avoids as many staining colors as they can. Ohuhu on the other hand seems to use all the worst staining inks and happily sells them to you. I tested them here and finally gave up. markernovice.com/ohuhu-archive They also fade faster than every other marker I've tried. I've never seen such an incompetent and reprehensible art supply company.

[@rebeldown771]

@@AmyShulke Very interesting! I look forward to it, if you do end up making it.

[@sheilacym]

Brilliant !!!!!! Learned so much, Amy !! 🤩🤩💕💕🏆🏆

[@nullavitasinemusica1]

Now I understand why Ohuhu doesn't offer refills for most markers Poorly mixed colors were the ink separates

[@AmyShulke]

Exactly. I also suspect that Ohuhu shops around for best ingredient prices which means your R320 this year isn't the same as an R320 produced last year. As soon as they sell refills for something, they're locked into that specific ink recipe forever and can no longer swap ingredients to keep their costs rock bottom. On a related note, I'm betting Ohuhu ink refills can't be sold in stores because they'd fade in the bottles while sitting on a shelf. The fade rates when I tested were shocking.