Marker test #1

[telophase]

This is NOT the Gojyo pic. It's not even a picture that I drew - I wanted to try out the markers on the small marker paper that I had, and instead of wasting time drawing something, I traced a panel from Hikaru no Go and colored that.

This is a mixed media technique - you lay down a base of watercolor pencil, then marker over it. The scanner emphasizes the blotchiness - it's not as obvious in the original.

Comments

[pratyeka.livejournal.com]

That coloring is really great. I am jealous of you and your copic markers. That gives me an idea of something I should ask for this coming birthday >.>

Do you know of any good copic marker tutorials/info sites or books? I would hate to ask for them only to find that I suck at using them.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Not too many specifically Copic tutorials - the Colored Original Drawing book in the How to Draw Manga series deals primarily with Copic products and gives some good basic information - it also deals with using the airbrush attachments that turn Copic markers into airbrushes, and with using mixed media like pencils and pastels with the markers. And there's the Japanese book I've got, which homasse is going to try to be translating some of while she's in the hospital. You can get it from Akadot Retail for $10 here (http://www.akadotretail.com/shop/shop_showbook.php?id=4568502292) - there's a lot of pictures in it which I've been able to use to figure out some techniques, and if homasse agrees, I can post translated text.

Other than that, there's various marker tuts up online. Non-manga marker work over in the States seems to mostly be conceptual work and not finished product, but the techniques are often similar:

http://www.lucentcanvas.com/extras/tutorials/tutorial.shtml
http://www.cardesignnews.com/studio/tutorials/frye/
http://elfwood.lysator.liu.se/farp/markers2/ - for some reason the text is white on a white background, so you ahve to highlight the article to read it.
http://neondragonart.com/dp/tutorials/marker.htm
http://www.copicmarker.com/home/cm1/howto_main.html - the Copic marker tips page

You'll want to work like with watercolor, for the most part, starting with the lightest color and working to dark. I'd also suggest getting a small set of the Prismacolor markers first and practicing with them, so that once you're halfway decent you can go up to Copic and use those same skills. :) Texas Art Supply has 12-marker sets for about $26 here (http://www.texasart.com/store/view/001/group_id/1626/Prismacolor-Marker-Sets.htm) and Dick Blick has them for about $20 here (http://www.dickblick.com/zz213/42/). To get the best practice at blanding and layering different shades, one of the packs of greys is best, although it's hard not to get the colors. XD I'd suggest also getting 1 or 2 blender markers - 2 or more if you get colors, since the blender's tip gets stained and it's easier to use with colors in the same family. With greys, maybe just 2 - one for the light ones, one for the dark ones. I've only got 1 blender with the Copic set, and I ahve to be careful to scribble it on a piece of paper afterwards to get as much of the staining out as possible.

[pratyeka.livejournal.com]

I'm not a fan of the How to Draw Manga series, but that Japanese one looks incredible. You are my hero for these links and information, thank you so much ♥. I think I'm going to actually memory this entry for future reference. I think a friend of mine has prismacolors I can probably borrow. I can hope, anyway. Thank you.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Some of the HTDM are pretty good - the marker one is worth paging trhough in the bookstore at least, and shows several different ways to use markers. The Costume Encyclopedia is good in that it shows normal everyday clothes from several angles and with folds, and the Couples one gives good advice on how to draw two people physcially interactiong (in more ways than what you're thinking, I assure you. XD)

They're all worth paging through in the bookstore to glean tips from. They're just not good in the actual drawing part. They're the "...For Dummies" of the manga world.

[pratyeka.livejournal.com]

Heh, yeah. I like pose files for things like clothing lines and such...I just get a much better feel for it through actual photos or manga styles I like than through those books. I will page through the marker one in the store, though.

[telophase.livejournal.com]

* Forgot to add above that I used white pencil to punch up the highlights in the hair, and you can use whiteout or white opaque ink or acrylic or gouache to add white to marker works.