The ComicMaster Lightbox. What more is there to say but Wow?

The surface area is large, but the lightbox itself is not. Back in the day, (well, okay, maybe not *that* long ago), most lightboxes were huge. I mean, giant boxes of wood with florescent tubes inside that flickered when they came on and often had a darkened line down the center if the light didn’t overlap well. The ComicMaster measures less than an inch think, not a foot, like the last box I used. This also means it weighs nothing by comparison to many other lightboxes out there. Easy to use then stash away to clear table space. Always a big plus when you have a small studio like I do!

And the light itself is incredible. LEDs keep the surface nice and cool while really lighting up the room. I had no trouble seeing my light pencil sketch through the heavy Copic Marker Sketchbook paper, even with all of my studio lights on. (And there are a lot of them.) With all of the lights on, my husband even commented on just how bright the LEDs are. I did have to turn the studio lights off for tracing a black and white photo printout, but as soon as the lights went out, even the photo was clear as day through the thickness of the Sketchbook paper.

I particularly love the “legs” on the underside. You can prop up the lightbox up both horizontally and vertically, to make long-term tracing more comfortable. (Good for inking those detailed pieces.)

All in all, if you’re going to spend the money on a lightbox, spend the money on a good lightbox that will last you a long time and not take up lots of precious studio space.

Disclosure: Brandi York was compensated with a ComicMaster Lightbox in exchange for her review.

Leaellynasaura by Jayleen Weaver (Marker Guru)

Colours

E00, BV0000, E0000, BV31, BV23, BV25, Y11, Y0000, BV29, G40, E21, YG01, YG93, YG03, YG91, B000, RV02, E71, YG11, Y13, G85, G82, G99

Materials

Copic Sketch markers, Copic Multiliner .3 cool grey, Zig 2 way glue, X-press It blending card – 8.5 x 11 (image size 6×8), Copic Airbrush System (ABS), Iwata SmartJet Compressor

About the Project

I’ve been working on a Dinosaur Calendar for a while as a compliment to my Comic book I‘m working on called “Hello, Albertosaurus”.

This one is a Leaellynasaura, which is a small dinosaur that lived in the Conifer forests of the south Pole. It lived in a time when there were two seasons in the south pole – warm summers and freezing winters – so I went with a early spring setting for this little dinosaur. I thought this would be a nice January image.

I like using the Copic Airbrush for some nice atmospheric effects and free form background elements in areas where line art might be too much.

Steps

Layout & Planning
I start each piece of art work with a sketch and some colour planning. I scan the sketch and print it out a few times on a couple sheets of X-Press It blending card (whatever paper the final will be on). My inkjet printer seems to be OK with having Copics go over top. I do a few different versions of colour schemes and lighting and find the one I like best and run with it.

Planning thumbnails

Inking
Next I ink the image in whatever colour is appropriate. I used a cool grey .3 Copic Multiliner in this instance as I thought black line art would be too bold for the look I was going for. I used a light pad and place my sketch below my good paper, and ink onto a new sheet. I made sure to leave no ink where the out of focus foreground elements would be.

Inked image

Base Colours
On to the colouring! I first choose my shadow colour and my light colour. They’re usually complimentary colours. In this case Blue Violets were my shadow colour and pinky yellows were my light colour. I start blocking in where all the shadow and light areas will be. I used BV31 and BV23 for the shadow areas, and E00 for the light areas. I also used BV0000 for the foreground ferns that are going to be out of focus and a bit lighter than the mid ground. I make sure that anywhere I want the intense glows I leave white or almost white.

Light and shadow placement

Shading
I then work out some more detailed shading in the overall image and pick where my darkest and lightest areas are going to be (BV29). I also go in with a little bit of yellow in some of the areas where the light will be most intense (Y11).

Colour shaded image

Colour Washes
I start doing some “washes” of colour over the image now, giving each area just a hint of colour. I make the main areas mainly muted colours or pale colours, and the foreground leaves I made intense Yellow Green (YG01), the conifers on the side are a combination of G85, G82 and G99, and the forground leaves are BV0000 and some G40.

I made the foreground appear out of focus by keeping them lighter colours, and every time I went to colour in the little gaps I soaked the paper with lighter colour first. Then the darker colours had a diffused look. I went over and over the leaves around the edges with the lightest colour and let it push the darker colours away. I also used a gradient of colours around the edges, instead of one, and let them blend together.

Marker coloured image

Stencilling
Next I photocopied my image, and then cut out the background area. This is going to be used an airbrush mask. Mask off the important areas before airbrushing.

Photocopied image cut to be used as an airbrushing mask

Airbrushing
The last step was to airbrush, and this is where it really comes alive. I used BV23 to darken up the right side, and to give the hint of some forest in the back ground. I then took Y13 and airbrushed in the sun area and around the Leaellynasaura. I took off the stencil, then free hand airbrushed in more glowing yellow around the trees, and the rocks; Just to punch it up a little. I then took RV02 and did a little bit of pink in the side to make the yellow to violet transition a little easier on the eyes.

Airbrushing the image with stencil in place

That’s all there is too it!

Finished image

Try your hand at this technique and post your results to our Facebook wall, or share with us on Twitter.

If you liked her tutorial, let her know – connect with Marker Guru, here:

http://copiccolor.com/markerguru

http://gurukitty.com

http://twitter.com/guruubii

http://facebook.com/gurukittystudios

http://guruubii.deviantart.com

Gurukitty Studios is currently accepting submissions to a Comic Anthology: http://gurukitty.com/wordpress/category/once-upon-a-time/

1st place will receive two markers from her Copic Color wish list and an “I <3 Copic” bumper sticker!
2nd and 3rd place will receive “I <3 Copic” bumper stickers.

1st place: http://www.copiccolor.com/ember-snow

2nd place: http://www.copiccolor.com/xHarajukulover36x

3rd place: http://www.copiccolor.com/k.flagg

You can view the full album of entries on our Facebook page.

Thanks again to everyone who entered, stay tuned for more contests!

Remember when we hit the #Copic3K mark and gave away FREE line art to color? Well, we’re doing it again – one for every 1,000 followers. Many thanks to Kaoppe, the very talented professional Japanese Manga artist and dear friend for providing such great art work for our fans!

Just click the pic to download and print a hi-res version – and have fun coloring!

If you haven’t already, join our Twitter community to connect with other Copic lovers, share your #CopicART, check out the free tutorials on #TutuorialTuesday and share your #CopicLove!

If you are already connecting with us on Twitter – thank you, and we’ll see you out there!

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. 

Let us know which color you’re most excited about on Facebook and Twitter!

Marianne’s Note: When I mention a color combo whatever color I put first is the color I put down as my base color, then I blend in the second color. Also, these colors on the screen are NOT accurate and are for comparison only.

B66, Clematis
Story Behind B66: B66 is a relatively new color. Back about 7 years ago, Too Corporation developed B69, a very bright, deep blue to partner with B60 & B63. I remember when B69 first came into the warehouse. It was a neat color, but it was all by itself. The jump from B63 to B69 was pretty big. Then, in 2007 they introduced B66 as a partner for B69. To go darker than B69, you need to add purple, or jump to B79 and then to BV08.
Available in these styles:
Sketch, Various Ink
Natural Blending Family:
B60, B63, B66, B69
Simple Blend:
B66, B69, B79
Similar intensity, other families:
YG67, R85, BG75
Marianne’s Unusual Combos:
B66 + B99, B66 + BG78, YG17+ B66

Advanced Color Rules for B66*:

Complimentary: B66, Y28
Triad (simple 3 color combo): B66, E08, YG95
Tetrad (simple 4 color combo): B66, RV19, Y28, YG07
Pentagram (simple 5 color combo): B66, RV19, E09, YG95, G09
High Contrast: B66, B99, 110, E79, E29
Compound: B66, FV2, C10, E44, R17, E79

*Advanced color rules are generated by Adobe Illustrator CS3 based on the digital representation of the Copic Color Spectrum set into a special color wheel. I generate these as suggestions for color combos to try when you are looking for a nice change, or you have a paper that matches this particular color and you want help picking other unusual colors to go with it.

The project I made for B66: Barn Swallows

Recently I had to make another project and it incorporated an old Victorian cut out of a barn swallow. I have had that cut out sitting on my desk for a while, and this color seemed perfect for coloring a bright blue barn swallow. You can visit my blog for a step-by-step post of coloring the male barn swallow.
This image is of a female barn swallow, sitting on a mossy twig in the cold. Her feathers are all puffed up to keep her warm. Females have a lighter colored chest than males, so her belly is a paler color range.
Twig colors : E44, E77, YG91, G12, YG67, G09,  Swallow: C3, BV23, C7, B60, B63, B66,B69, YR30, E11, YR12, YR18, 0. Airbrushed Sky: B91, B63, G12

Reference photos for coloring barn swallow courtesy RickCameron http://racphoto.com/Birds/Swallows/BarnSwallow.html

Many thanks to CopicBrasil for kindly sharing this interview with talented DC Comics artist Mahmud Asrar- enjoy!

Hi Mahmud, how are you? Tell us a bit about yourself. Who is Mahmud Asrar?

Mahmud Asrar- Thanks! I’m doing great lately. I’m a half Austrian, half Pakistani artist based in Turkey. I am a professional comic book artist and I’m currently drawing Supergirl for DC Comics. I’ve always wanted to draw comics ever since I was small and started out with creating fanzines along with some friends. In time I started getting some paying work and got to do work for almost all of the bigger comic companies. Some of the work I’m more recognized for are Dynamo 5 with Jay Faerber for Image Comics, a bunch of Marvel Comics work including Shadowland: Power Man, and Star Wars Jedi – The Dark Side for Dark Horse Comics, among others.

What does your studio look like? How is it organized?

MA – My studio is currently a room in the house. Usually my studio is pretty organized. I’m not one of those messy artists. I like to find my pens where I put them so I try to be tidy. Right now it’s a little out of order as we’re on the verge of moving. I’ve got the drawing table, the computer and everything else I need with my work all set up in my room. Of course I have a TV in there for background noise when I’m not listening to music. Then there’s the light box, scanner, printer, reference books, art materials, framed artwork and of course some toys and figures.

How is your day divided? Tell us about your daily routine…

MA- I’ve enjoyed drawing ever since I could hold something that would leave a mark. People around me encouraged me in that too which helped as well. I was never told to do “something serious” instead of drawing so I was lucky in that sense. For a while in my youth I didn’t know what direction to take in my life but ended up deciding to get a university education on arts. I’ve studied graphic arts for two years then moved on to animation as I thought it’d be closer to what I want to do. At this point I was pretty certain I wanted to be a comic book artist. Didn’t know it would happen of course but I dedicated myself to it and in time it became a reality..

Where do you draw inspiration from? Do you have any favorite source? What are your favorite artists for the moment?

When have you decided to work entirely on markers? Why did you choose Copics? What are the advantages and disadvantages of working with markers instead of 100% digital?

What are your plans for the future? What sort of things would you be interested in doing?

Julie Fei-Fen Balzer is a mixed media artist based in New York City. Julie is currently the co-host of Scrapbook Soup TV (PBS) and has been featured in numerous magazines and TV segments. Read on to learn more about this talented artist:

Do you have formal art training or are you self-taught?
I am self-taught.

What is your earliest memory of drawing or creating art?
My Mom used to give me a bag of mini marshmallows and a box of toothpicks and I would spend hours making sculptures, using the marshmallows to connect the toothpicks to each other.

How long have you been working with mixed media?
Mixed media is basically instinctual. When you think about it, most people have mixed their media in way or another. Usually they stop mixing when they’re told the “right” way to do it. I’m lucky. No one every said, “You’re doing it wrong.” So when I didn’t have sheer fabric on hand, I started stitching transparent gel into my quilt. Or when I didn’t like the color of a piece of patterned paper, I painted it. I think necessity is the mother of mixed media. If you don’t have what you need, you reach for what’s there and you make it work! I was definitely doing mixed media before I even knew what it was!

Describe a typical day in your art studio:
A few months ago I wrote a blog post called “Forty-Eight Hours.” For forty-eight hours I kept track of everything I did. And it is a pretty accurate picture of what daily life is like. I’m a workaholic. I wake up and walk into the studio and I spend most of the day in there. I walk out and it’s time for bed. The activities vary wildly from day to day and I’m a little bit sad to say that there’s more computer work (editing videos, editing vectors in Illustrator, photoshopping project photos, answering e-mails, writing articles, etc.) than I’d like. But some days are just about making art and those are the best days on earth!

Your website states that you “believe that mistakes are creative opportunities.” We love this. Could you elaborate a bit on your thought behind this, for the readers out there who may see mistakes as failures?
If you never fail, you never succeed. Every amazing piece of art I’ve ever made has been built on the ashes of a failure. We are truly creative when faced with a mistake, and instead of aborting the project, we embrace the mistake and take the road less traveled. And knowing that you can come back from a mistake — that you can make an even better project after a mistake — well, that’s the most artistically empowering thing that can happen. Because then you no longer have fear. And fear is the most crippling thing that can happen to an artist. So, go ahead! Jump off that metaphorical cliff.

How long have you been using Copic markers? Why did you decide to start using them in your work?
I’ve been using Copics for about a year — maybe a bit more than that. I started using them because I wanted to airbrush. But I live in NYC, and something that requires a lot of space/ventilation just wasn’t an option. Copic’s airbrush system seemed like the perfect fit for apartment living!

How do you use Copics in your mixed media work?
They’re just another awesome tool to have at my fingertips.  I like that they (a) go onto slick surfaces of all kinds (b) are transparent (great for layering) (c) have virtually no drying time! And I particularly like how they mimic the look of spray paint, though in an transparent way, when used with stencils!

Any tips for Copic beginners?
I think Copics can be intimidating because you hear so much about the right way to use them and the wrong way, but I say jump right in! I encourage everyone to try the airbrush system. It’s intuitive and just totally addictive! So go ahead and buy the big box of markers and a compressor, because you’re going to love it!

What are your biggest sources of inspiration?
I love a lot of the usual sources: museums, window shopping, internet surfing…but the number one thing that gets me going is the question, “What if…(fill in the blank)?”  I love a challenge! And my most favorite moments have all come from one crazy thought colliding with a wildly impractical idea!

Who are some of your favorite artists?
Famous artists? Can’t get enough of Matisse. His economy of line, use of color, all just extraordinary. Robert Rauschenberg blows me away every time. The way he combines disparate elements and seemingly messy things into heavenly compositions is mind boggling. I stand in front of Klimt’s work for hours on end just sketching and absorbing
every tiny, shiny, lovely detail. I am lucky enough to live a few blocks from MoMA and I like to go and visit as often as possible because it is just so amazing!

What do you love about living in New York City? Do you feel that the
city influences your work?
New York is the greatest city in the world! And anyone who says otherwise doesn’t live in New York! LOL!  In all seriousness, I love New York. The rhythm of the city, the buildings lit up at night, the way energy pulses through every street, the food is amazing, the entertainment options are endless — there’s so much to love! And I think it influences my work in that I work very small.  Space is my constant enemy and my dreams of working large will have to be put off for now. I think I also over-detail things (I have a more-is-more art philosophy) because I’m so close up to it. And this is one of those chicken-egg things, but I find I’m not very inspired by the ocean or nature the way a lot of other artists are. Give me a building or some grungy graffiti and I’m much more at home. So am I not inspired by nature because I live in New York, or do I live in New York because I’m not inspired by nature?

Favorite holiday tradition?
The annual fight over whether or not to have a Christmas tree. It’s an epic battle every single year.

Learn more about mixed media in Julie’s self-paced online class, “30 Days in Your Journal.”

Also look for Julie’s column “Adventures in Arting” in the January/February 2012 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors magazine!

Find Julie on the web:
http://www.balzerdesigns.typepad.com/
http://twitter.com/BalzerDesigns

I am happy to be able to share a paper crafting post on the Copic Marker blog this week! I chose this delightful Mo Manning Little Elf Mim digital image to explore rendering a glass ornament today. The Little Elf Mim digital image was printed with a Canon Inkjet MG5220 on X-Press It Blending Card.

When we consider rendering a surface like a spherical ornament, we need to decide the finish of the ornament. A satin finish would have less reflectivity than a standard glossy finish. The red ornament on the left might be convincing for a satin (or non-glossy) finish; however, it would not work for a glossy ornament as well as the blue-green one on the right. One Google image search for glass ornaments will convince you that reflections on a glass ornament are totally dependant upon the environment in which the ornament was photographed. So, today I’ve simplified reflections on an ornament that might have light coming from a large window on the right, along with a second point of reflected light on the opposite side.  On the blue-green ornament above, I used only three markers for my first coat, BG11, BG32, and BG72.  Later I will add more depth and color in the shadow areas, but these work as a base with the light areas being highly saturated, or intense, and the shadow areas being less saturated, or muted.

Here I’ve used some Toner grays for the fur on Mim’s outfit and a cool gray for the metal top of the ornament.

Next, I rendered skin tones using E50 as my base tone, and adding E11, E13, and even some BV00 for shadows.

Here I have added the reds to her outfit as well as adding some BV02 and BV04 in shadow areas on the ornament. While the ornament had looked dark enough to me earlier, after I added the reds, I knew that I needed to darken the ornament and cool its shadows further.

Here I have added the holly leaf and hair—almost finished!

I wanted some subtle tones surrounding Mim. I added a pale yellow to her highlight side and a pale blue-violet to her shadow side, softened on the outer edges into the white of the paper with the colorless blender.

Using my Copic Airbrush System and a Spellbinders square die template as a mask, I added more warm tones to the upper right and cool tones to the lower left.

My finished card is 5-1/4” square. I hope that you get a chance to create a reflective surface with your Copic markers soon!

Supply List:
Stamps: Little Elf Mim (Mo Manning digital stamp image); Winterberry (sentiment, Papertrey Ink)
Ink: Pure Poppy ink for sentiment, Chamomile Distress Cube to distress edges of cardstock (Papertrey Ink); Little Elf Mim digital image was printed on a Canon Inkjet MG5220 on X-Press It Blending Card.
Cardstock: X-Press It Blender Card (Copic); Pure Poppy, Rustic White (Papertrey Ink)
Patterned Paper: 12 Days of Christmas 6” x 6” designer paper pad (My Mind’s Eye)
Copic Markers: BG!1, BG23, BG32, BG72, BV0000, BV00, BV02, BV04, R20, R22, R24, R29, R89, RV99, YG61, YG67, YR30, YR21, T0, T2, C3, 0, E50, E11, E13, E43
Accessories: Hawaiian Shores Grosgrain, Pure Poppy Vintage Button (Papertrey Ink); natural cotton crochet thread
Other Tools: Copic Airbrush System, Sparmax Air Compressor, Janome sewing machine, sanding block
___________________________
Debbie’s Paper Crafting Blog: Thinking Inking
Debbie’s Art Journal Blog: Sketches in Time

As you may know, Copics are manufactured in Japan by Too. Corporation. Toshi is the director of Too., and is also a dear friend to us here at Copic Marker USA. We want to thank Toshi for helping us share the highest quality markers in the world with artists and designers in the United States and Canada, and for aiding us in bringing professional manga artists from Japan to conventions here in the USA.

Thanks for everything you do for us, Toshi! Enjoy your day!

Toshi Yokoyama (far left) with professional creature designer Terryl Whitlatch, professional manga artists Kaoppe and Ran Mutsuki, and some of the Copic Marker USA gang at Anime Expo 2011.

Leave your birthday wishes for Toshi in the comments!