Blog News 5

Updates to Mostly Markers, other than new drawings posted, since the last Blog News:

• Removed labels "Copic" and "pre-Copic." Since 2008, my drawings have been almost entirely Copic. Before that, they were all pre-Copic, so the two labels were just clutter. To see drawings by date, go to the archives list, below the label list on the right.
  
• Divided "About My Labels" into three parts, due to blog software limits on the number of labels per post.
• Updated "Tools I Like" with my new scanner information.
  

For more Blog News posts, click on the label (below, or in the label list on the right.)

Ribbon Lattice

New printer/scanner set up yesterday, and it's not fully functional yet. When it is, I'll update "about my tools and materials." Meanwhile, here is yesterday's drawing, a lattice pattern with ribbons of color and a white ribbon woven through.

The main colors are bright, but softened and shaded with cool grays and other colors. For the background, I used my custom color B2000, and after it dried, I colored over it with colorless blender for a blurred, somewhat cloudy effect.

• For a brighter drawing with similar colors (Cathedral Shapes), click here.
• For a basket weave drawing and how to draw basket weave, click here.
• For more ribbon-theme drawings, click on the "ribbons" label, below or in the label list to the right.

• Copic colors used: Cool gray multiliner. Background B2000 (see above). Main ribbon colors B14, R24, YR 24, YG63. Shaded with C0, C1, B26, E71, BG96.
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5x7"

Curved Shapes in Greens and Yellows

A very small, abstract pencil drawing. Curved shapes colored in greens and yellows, with an airbrushed background.

• Copic marker colors used: Y06, YG21,63, G21,40; Copic airbrush Y06 and speckles of YG63. When I color on top of pencil, I try to dab the colors on, instead of dragging the marker tip across the pencil lines, to avoid smearing the pencil.
• Paper: a 4x4" square of Strathmore medium-weight drawing paper.

Blog News 4

Updates to Mostly Markers, other than new drawings posted, since the last Blog News:

• Added labels for brightness (vivid, mid, muted). To see the drawings in each category, click on "Brightness: Vivid," "Brightness: Mid," or "Brightness: Muted" in the label list on the right.
  

These labels give my personal, overall impression of the coloring. "Vivid" is strong coloring, often primary colors. "Muted" is softer, paler, perhaps monochrome - often still colorful, but with a quieter feeling. It includes my black and white drawings. "Mid" is mid-range, somewhere in between vivid and muted.

As a few minutes of browsing in my blog will show, I'm attracted to using vivid, intense colors. For me, one of the joys of Copic markers is the brilliant, transparent clarity of their brighter colors. But I also enjoy working with soft, muted colors, where my paler and grayer Copics help me to be colorful in a gentler way. And for either vivid or muted colors, I can use simple coloring with interesting contrasts, or I can layer and blend colors without them getting muddy. (For examples of each, click on "Coloring: Complex" or "Coloring: Simple" in the label list on the right.)

I've tried to place consistent and helpful labels on my posts. One reason for all my labels is to help my viewers find drawings they might enjoy. Another reason is to give me a way to sort and view my own drawings in various combinations. For a description of my labels that may not be self-explanatory, please click on About My Labels, in the label list on the right.

For more Blog News posts, click on the label (below, or in the label list on the right.)

Spiky Plants

Spiky abstract plants with subdued streaks of color.

I airbrushed the background last (using the Copic airbrush) with a pale blue. Because it was so pale, and there was already some blue color in the leaves, I didn't mask anything when I airbrushed.

February 6, 2010: Today I posted a revised drawing (above). I wasn't happy with the hard horizontal lines at the base of my plants. So I cut it in two with my sharp craft scissors, just below the base of the plants, cutting unevenly to follow the lines of the mulch. Then I moved the bottom portion up about 1/16" to cover the horizontal lines. I added some irregular black lines along the cut edge. I taped it across the back with acid-free scrapbooking tape, and used my 2-way glue pen in a few spots on the front. It looks better to me now. See below for original version.

• Copic marker olors used: plants- streaks of BG93,96, E71, blended with custom color B2000; ground- W1,3, V000, YR09 on W0, W5 on W0; background- airbrushed with B41
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5x7"

Purple Statice Flowers in a Speckled Vase

A stoneware vase with statice flowers. The vase and trivet were airbrushed (using the Copic airbrush), with lines of colorless blender to decorate the trivet.

Click here to see my May 2010 statice drawing.

• Copic marker colors used: purple multiliner; flowers V000,04,09, B24 0n V000; leaves YG91,63; vase W0 base, airbrushed with Y95 and V09; rim of vase Y95; trivet airbrushed with BV04,23.
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5x7"

Cathedral Shapes in Five Colors

My drawing (above) was inspired by the design of my friend Sybil's drawing (below) of a carving in England's Durham Cathedral. I used Sybil's basic shapes with decorative triangles, dots, and curves, and colored with only five colors (though not the same five as hers).

• Copic colors used: YG23,63, R24, B24, YR24. The white dots were made with colorless blender.
• Paper: Neenah, 8.5x11"

See below for her drawing, a 5x7" page from her travel journal. (Used with her permission.) For more of Sybil's drawings posted in my blog, click on the label below, or in the label list to the right.

Geode with Olive Frame

For this drawing, I used the sketch for last week's orange flower drawing. Today I picked up my original pencil sketch, added an outer border, inked the lines, and colored it.

To see the other geode drawings and an explanation of what I mean, click here, or click on "geode" in my label list on the right side of the screen.

• Technique: To make the background texture, I colored evenly with YG91 and let it dry. Then, using the colorless blender (chisel tip), I went over it with small circles in vertical strips, then in horizontal strips. I finished that and let it dry completely, before adding the other colors.
• Copic marker colors used: RV17,95, B01, all streaked with W0; YG91,95
• Paper: Neenah, cut down to 4.25 x 5.5"

Bright Dots and Wavy Lines 1

A simple doodle. Ten wavy lines. Small imperfect circles, filled in with bright colors. Fun to do. And fun to look at, for me anyway. Added March 20, 2010: For a later version, click here.

• Copic marker colors used: B14, BG45, Y15, RV17, G14. Note, in real life, the G14 is less yellow than in this scan.
• Paper: a 4x6" scrap of Strathmore Bristol Board, vellum finish (a lightly textured surface - not "vellum paper")

To try this, click here.

Blog News 3

Updates to Mostly Markers, other than new drawings posted, since the last Blog News:

• Added a "Custom Colors" post to supplement my "Color Chart." To see both posts, click here, or click on "color chart" in the label list on the right.
  
• In response to a reader's comment, added info on UV sealer spray to the post on "How I Store and Protect My Drawings and Materials." For all of my posts on tools and materials, click on "about my tools and materials" in the label list on the right.
  

For more Blog News posts, click on the label (below, or in the label list on the right)

Orange Flower with Blue and Orange Ribbons

An orange flower, framed by ribbons of blue and orange.

Copic colors used: Flower - sepia multiliner, Y000,11, YR09,15,20, E95, R00,02,24,32,59, W1; Frame - cobalt multiliner, W0, R00+W0, Ro2,24,32, B2000*, B41,45.
* B2000 is my name for a very pale blue that I made from 1 part B24 and 24 parts colorless blender. Click here for more about this custom color, and for a link to Marianne Walker's I Like Markers post on how to mix custom colors.
Paper: Neenah, 8.5x11"

Geraniums in Blue Planter

The geraniums in their blue ceramic planter.

Click here to see them in another, close-up drawing from three months ago, drawn right after planting them.

Copic colors used: Leafy plant YG03,21, G12,24,40, RV91; Planter B01,41,45, BG32,72, BV20, Y11, E25, W7; Geranium flowers R02,08,24,29, RV14,19,95; Geranium leaves YG03,63, G07,14,21,24; Background W0,1, E41,43. Also W3 for all the shadows.
Paper: Neenah, cut down to 5x7"

Blog News 2

Updates to Mostly Markers, other than new drawings posted, since the last Blog News:

• Labels (See list of labels on right side of page): Added two labels "coloring: complex" and "coloring: simple." If you have an interest in complex or simple styles of coloring, you can click on the label to see only those drawings. The post "About My Labels" describes the two types of coloring.
  

Yellow Abstract with Blues and Greens

Just an abstract drawing. I started with pale watercolor wash for the background. After it dried, I added lines and squiggles of olive Copic multiliner, then accented it with deeper-colored marker lines alongside some of the multiliner lines.

Watercolor wash background: Dr. Ph. Martin's radiant concentrated watercolors - grass green, ultra blue, orange, daffodil yellow - 1-2 drops of liquid watercolor in 1/2 tsp water. For more information about the watercolors, including my color chart, see this post.
Copic colors used: olive multiliner; B01,05, blurred with BG000; YR 15, Y15, YG21, blurred with Y000; G12
Paper: Canson Montval watercolor block, 140 lb. cold press, 4x6"

Abstract Quilt with Gray and Colors

Ribbons of colored multiliner. Squares of gray. Squares pieced with blue, purple, and white stripes and checkerboards. Squares appliqued with green, pink, and light gray patches. I thought the large gray squares might look too bland, but I like the way it came out.

I enjoyed making the patterns similar but different. I enjoyed working with the not-square squares, which were drawn with two sets of lines, each radiating from a point just off the top of the page. (I started with lightly drawn pencil lines, using a ruler, but then when I inked them with the colored multiliners, I intentionally made them a bit wavy, to look less mechanical.)

Copic colors used: Ribbons between squares: cool gray, wine, purple, sky blue, and turquoise Copic multiliner with BV000 and BG000. Gray squares: C1 with BV000 and BG000 along the edges. Colored squares: B01 and V12; BG32, RV91, and C0. (7/26 EDITED color list to include C0)
Paper: Neenah, 8.5x11"

Blog News 1

Updates to Mostly Markers, other than new drawings posted, since the blog began:

• About My Paper: Added some info on Neenah classic cream and baronial ivory paper colors
  
• Blog Help: Added a link describing "image resizing" for Explorer browsers
• Labels (See list of labels on right side of page): Added a label "commented on" to help readers find the posts with comments Edited Jan. 2012 - I deleted this label; not so useful after all.
  

Landscape with Sketchy Coloring

Although I love to experiment with my drawings, I don't always love the results. But I'll try this technique again sometime.

Along with my sketchy lines, I used some very sketchy coloring - not my usual solid or layered colors. After coloring, I spritzed it all with colorless blender fluid in a small spray bottle, for more of a watercolor look.

Copic colors used: sepia multiliner, V12, G21, YR15,20, B21,41,45, BG000,10, E000,11,41,43,95
Paper: Neenah Classic Crest 80 lb. cover weight, smooth, Classic Cream color

Landscape with Storm

August 21, 2010: The week's theme for Illustration Friday is "atmosphere." I was struggling with how to draw that, when I remembered this drawing from last summer. Storms and lightning make the atmosphere into something we can see, hear, feel, and smell.

Though I currently live in an area where thunderstorms are rare, I grew up in the midwest, with the summer drama of lightning and thunder. The storms can be destructive, but they also have a wild beauty that I appreciate. My husband and I just returned from visiting family in our home state. One of our days there was dark and stormy. Today I drew a stormy landscape.

Copic colors used: Clouds W0,1; Sky BV20, Y000; Trees G17,28, YG23,63,97,99 with streaks of BG93,96; Buildings BV23, B45, C3,5, E04,43,44
Paper used: ecru Crane's card approx. 4x6"

Welcome to My New Blog

Welcome! I created this blog, Mostly Markers, in July 2009. There are more than 100 drawings posted. I hope you will enjoy viewing it.

Black and White Doodle Page

Michelle Houghton's "Oodles of Doodles" warm-up lesson encouraged me to try this page of doodles, which I drew with Copic multiliners (0.3 and Brush Small). A few of the doodles are from her lesson, but most are from my imagination.

It was tedious to fill up a whole page like this, but interesting to see the patterns emerge. Some of them will probably make their way into future drawings.

I'm tempted to color it, of course.

Edited February 8, 2010: The link to the warm-up lesson is no longer active, but there was an on-line class ($25 fee) offered in January 2010 (also no longer active.) I haven't taken the class, but assuming it's like the warm-up lesson, it would be worthwhile. If you're interested, check back some time on Michelle's blog or the Get it Scrapped (Debbie Hodge) web site.