Tutorial by Kristy Dalman of Some Odd Girl Digi's

Guest Tutorial: Creating Patterns with Colorless Blender by Kristy Dalman

Kristy Dalman is the talented owner/artist/designer of Some Odd Girl digital stamps. She has teamed up with Melissa Andrew (Melissa Made) to start Created from Color, where they will teach online Copic classes. Registration for their first class is now open, check it out!

Read on to learn Kristy’s technique for creating patterns on digital stamps with Copic Various Ink Colorless Blender:

One thing I really love about copics, besides the gorgeous vibrant color, is the versatility of the product. Something that seems under utilized but really fun to experiment with part is the Colorless Blender. So today I have a quick tutorial on how to add pattern to your stamped images using the Colorless Blender and stamps.

To complete this project you will need the following:

- Colorless Blender Various Ink Refill
- Stamps (1 image and 1 pattern or shape)
- Small Sponge
- Copic Markers
- Xpress It Paper
- Memento Black inkpad

First thing to do is to stamp out your image and color JUST the area that you want to use this technique on. This is because if you accidentally get the Colorless Blender into areas you don’t want it, well you don’t want to ruin your hard work.

So I have colored just her dress as that’s what I’ll be focusing on using BG11, BG13 and BG49. For this technique you’ll want the base to be a color that 1) will easily move when used with the colorless blender and 2) will clearly show the area you’ve stamped. So a rich color, maybe not red though as that could be tough, is what you’ll want to use.

Let the image dry completely.

Next take your Colorless blender and pour a small amount on to your sponge.

We’re using a sponge to give the stamp you’ll be using an even coating of Colorless Blender without it being too wet and drippy. Take your shape stamp, in this case a heart, and use the sponge like an ink pad and pounce. NOTE: Make sure the stamp you’ll be using for this is completely free of ink from previous uses. It will ruin your work if its dirty. I’m using a clear stamp to be able to tell but you can pounce and try a scrap paper before going to your image just to make sure.

Now just use your stamp inked with Colorless Blender like a regular stamp. I used a heart and followed the line of her skirt across, starting slightly off the edge to make it look like the pattern goes all the way around. Now let it dry. You’ll see that the Colorless blender has pushed the color out from the area that you’ve stamped!

If you need to you can go back in with your Colorless Blender Marker and, letting it dry between, push more color out to clean it up until your happy. After its dry all that’s left is to fill your pattern back in with color. I’m using R24.

Now her dress has a super cute pattern and the colors are all nice and bright! Take your time and experiment with different pattern and color combinations and see what you can come up with. There’s a lot of fun to be had with florals, dots, flourishes and more.

All that’s left is to finish coloring your image and a fun card to go along with it.

Thanks so much and I hope you have lots of fun with this technique!

Materials used:
Colorless Blender Various Ink
Copic Sketch Markers – BG11, BG13, BG49, R24 (for the tutorial)
E00, E01, E11, E13, R00, R01, R02, E50, E51, E53, E55, V93, V95 (for the rest of the image)
Stamps – Sweet Thinkin Mae from Some Odd Girl, Lovey Tobie set (heart) from Some Odd Girl
Pattern Papers – October Afternoon, Crate Paper
The Twinery Caribbean Blue twine
Crate Paper Stickers
misc buttons.

Find Kristy on the web:
Copic Color: http://www.copiccolor.com/SomeOddGirl
Twitter: https://twitter.com/SomeOddGirls
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SomeOddGirls
Blog: http://www.theoddgirl.com/
Some Odd Girl Shop: http://www.someoddgirl.com/

Kristy’s Copic classes:
Created from Color: http://www.createdfromcolor.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Created-From-Color/195232667230217
 

New 2012 Copic Colors!!!!

G43 Pistachio, G46 Mistletoe, BG57 Jasper, BG90 Gray Sky, E84 Khaki, E89 Pecan,
BV34 Bluebell, V22 Ash Lavender, V28 Eggplant, RV52 Cotton Candy, R56 Currant, YR27 Tuscan Orange

In February 2012 these carefully chosen colors will be available in the Sketch Marker style, as well as Various Ink, bringing us to 358 total Copic colors. 

New To Copics?

Right off of the Copic website, here is the number 1 question that I hear all of the time from new Copic users:

Copic Color System Questions

Q: What do the letters on my marker mean?

The Letters on your marker tell you what color family they belong to: [B- Blue] [BG- Blue Green] [BV- Blue Violet] [G- Green] [YG- Yellow Green] [Y- Yellow] [YR- Yellow Red] [R- Red] [RV- Red Violet] [V- Violet] [E- Earth] [C- Cool Gray] [N- Neutral Gray] [T- Toner Gray] [W- Warm Gray]

Q: What do the numbers mean?

The numbers explain the qualities of light, dark, and gray colors in that marker.

If we look at any marker, the first number stands for the Saturation, or how vibrant the color is. 0′s will be very vibrant, while 9′s will be more dull or gray.

The last digit tells you how light the marker is within that saturation group.

For example, a BG01 will be light and make a nice bright highlight color. BG05 is a vibrant mid-tone, or middle color. BG09 would be a strong shadow that matches that color group. If you substitute a BG99 for your shadow, it will add a lot of gray for that color blend and may look out of place.
Download Color Wheel

Q: How do I pick colors that will blend well with each other?

To pick colors that feel natural when blended together in one color family, choose colors that have the same letter and first number, then keep 2-3 digits between the last digit. Start with the lightest color and gradually add in your darker tones.

For blends across color families, try to choose colors that have similar numbers but different letters. It helps if these are color families near each other on a color wheel (like a B and a BG or G). It is hard to get even blends between intense colors that are opposite each other on a color wheel (like Y and RV) It is easiest to get blends across very different color families when you use pale colors.

Q: What’s the difference between 100 and 110?

The 100 is a “true”, deep blue black, the 110 is a slightly neutral gray black- it comes down to what pigments were used to make up each color. The 110 would be equivalent to a T11, if such a number existed on our color chart. The two blacks may not look different on your paper, but on some papers they do.

Q: What’s the difference between grays?

Cool Grays are bluish, or cool. Neutral Grays have no tone, warm or cool. Toner Grays are slightly warmer, or more brown than neutral. Warm Grays are browner than any of the other grays.