Starfish Doodle

I think they are probably starfish, but they might be flowers.

This doodle is very busy! But I couldn't stop elaborating. I do like the colors.

Copic colors used: W1,3, B06,29,32, Y11,19, YR04,09, V04, YG95, Streaks of 0, Wine multiliner

Hilly Landscape 1

I drew the right side first, just lines and colors. Then I wondered what the left side would be like, so I thought about that and drew it. I like both sides, separately and together. When I look at it now, I find myself feeling pulled into the wilderness-y right side, like I want to go walking there. Then maybe go to the house on the left side for tea.

Each is drawn on a Crane's ecru card. I like the pebbly, mottled texture that Copics make on this card in this color. It shows up very well in this drawing.

A few months later, a friend asked me to draw a version for her - see Hilly Landscape 2.

Copic colors used: Y15,19,38, YR21, V09+C7, B41+BV31, B14,29,32,39,41, W1,3,5,7, YG23+B41, YG91+G21, G07+G17, G07,28, BG000,05,32,45, YG23+W3, YG95,97,99, E21,33,44, E41+BG000. Note, the "+" means that one color was colored on top of the other, making a new color.
Paper: ecru Crane's card approx. 4x6"

Purple Flowers in Vase - Splotching through Paper

This drawing is all about "splotching through paper." First I drew a rough sketch on a piece of ordinary paper - probably 20 lb all-purpose copier paper. Then I colored "splotchily" and heavily on the paper, with my actual drawing card underneath it.

This is a somewhat random/ unpredictable process, and I wouldn't recommend it when you're "almost done" with something that you don't want to ruin. Also, as you can imagine, it wouldn't work with markers that need refilling.

When I was happy with what I saw, I outlined it with sepia and cobalt blue Copic Multiliners. Then I kept on coloring, blending, and splotching. The vase is accented with clear Spica glitter pen, which is hard to see on the computer screen. It adds a subtle sparkle in real life.

Copic colors used: Table E33,37; Mat B06,39; Vase W1,7, YG03,23,95,97,99, V04,09; Flowers and leaves BV00, V04,09, YG95; Shadows W1; Sepia and cobalt multiliners, Spica clear
Paper: white Crane's card approx. 4x6" with part of the bottom cut off (I had "too much table" before I cut it off)

Abstract with Gray and Colors

This is on an ecru Crane's card with cool gray Copic multiliner. I like the flow and the color combination. Crane's ecru (unlike Crane's white) has something in the surface that makes a mottled appearance. I think it's a nice effect.

Copic colors used: C1,3,5, BV000,04, B06, Y13,19,YR09, R02, G07,12

Spiky Abstract

Just lines and colors. At the time, I wrote, "feeling the movement of the pen & kind of rhythmic. My form of dance maybe."

Copic colors used: BV00, R02, C1, G12, B32

Sybil's Iris Drawing

After I sent my friend Sybil a scan of my iris drawing, she felt inspired to do one of her own. Her drawings, also done with pen and markers (usually Copic), are very different from mine. I love the colors, lines, and detailed patterns in this one. (Used with her permission.)

Iris Bouquet 2

I used one of my line drawings from 1983 for this. (Photocopied the line drawing, then colored it.) The bouquet was from my garden. In real life, the iris were the old-fashioned purple type, and I think the other flowers were spirea (red-violet with green leaves.)

For some of the iris flowers, I used "splotching through paper" for the mottled effect.

Edited Dec. 2009: Click on the "iris" label, below or in the label list to the right, to see a later version with softer coloring, and also the original line drawing.

Fruit Bowl 1

This is a bowl of plastic fruit on my dining room table, where I draw. I used some white colored pencil on the gourds and grapes. Otherwise, it's all Copics. I used "splotching through paper" to make the uneven coloring.

I did this about one month after I started using Copic markers. Shows how easy they are to work with. The back of the paper is also nice in its own way (below).

Edited October 11, 2009: See Fruit Bowl 2 for a later, sketchy version of this subject.

Yellow and Red Banner

A sketchy drawing. The bar and the banner tips are glittery with Copic Spica gold and black, though it doesn't show up well in the scan.

Copic colors used: I didn't write them down.
Paper: small piece of sketch paper, lightly textured, approx. 3.5 x 4.25"

Tea Strainer 2

Tracing around the tea strainer handle again. See below for the actual object. This drawing used partial shapes, but in an earlier drawing I used the full shape.


Copic colors used: probably RV11, R02, W3, G12,17,21, Y19, E33, B14,32
Paper: white Crane's card approx. 4x6"

To try this, click here.

Ribbon Doodle 1

Ribbons of color. Almost always, I make a line drawing to color. But this was done with just the markers.

Copic colors used: B06, YR24, RV29
Paper: white Crane's card, approx. 4x6

Pair of Abstract Drawings

The top drawing was the original. Drawn with sepia multiliner, then colored with Copic markers.

When I finished it, I saw that the next layer of paper was interesting too. I rotated it 180 degrees, added some lines with cobalt blue multiliner, and touched up the coloring in a few places. That became the bottom drawing.

It also gave me the idea for "splotching through paper" as a technique, using 20 lb. or lighter weight paper as the top layer.

Copic colors used: Sepia and cobalt multiliners, G21, V09, B32, R02, RV11
Paper: 20 lb. all-purpose copier paper.

Landscape with Round Animals

Still experimenting with my new Copics, as the streaky coloring shows. The round shapes are animals, I think, but I'm not sure what kind of animals, or even which way they are facing.

Copic colors used: I didn't write them down
Paper: white Crane's card approx. 4x6"

Geode - First Drawing with New Copics

When I received my first order of Copic markers, this is what I drew. Sometimes my drawings are bright inside, dark or plain outside. Like geodes, someone told me.

Copic colors used: I didn't write them down
Paper: white Crane's card approx. 4x6"

To try this, click here.

My First Copic Drawing

My first drawing in years. Such a good feeling. My friend Sybil was visiting, and she brought some Copic markers. She wanted me to try them, so I drew this and colored it.

Wow. First of all, the marker caps went on and off easily... no small thing, compared to the Bad Markers. Then, the colors went on smoothly - no bleeding or blotching. Beautiful, transparent colors! I bought some the next week. And I Like Markers, Marianne Walker's blog, told me everything I needed to know about them. See Bad Marker Disclaimer.

Copic colors used: Probably Y13, YR14, BG14.
Paper: 20 lb multipurpose copier paper.

Sybil's Cat Drawing

My friend Sybil's drawing. Mysterious and very cat-like. (Used with her permission.)

February Trees

Late February, New England. Tree trunks and branches might be the only color in the landscape.

The verse, "Behold, I make all things new" is Revelations 21:5.

Woman with Shawl

She is holding a shawl. That's all I know about her.

Rose Hips

New England rose hips in the fall with the rose leaves changing color. I'm not sure why I drew the leaves as single leaves and not as leaflets.

This is one of my few drawings that has no ink or pencil lines, just marker for everything.

Paper: ecru Crane's card approx. 4x6"

Bad Marker Example

This is what I mean by Bad Markers. Blotchy, bleedy, smeary, muddy, streaky colors. And the caps were hard to get on and off. It was very frustrating for me to work with them. At least in my memory, they smelled bad, too. I like the shapes in this drawing, but the coloring spoiled it for me. See Bad Marker Disclaimer.

As a result, I pretty much stopped drawing for 23 years. Then in 2008, I was introduced to Copic markers, and I started drawing again.