Terryl is considered the foremost creature designer in the world and is known for her work on Star Wars, The Katurran Odyssey, Jumanji, The Polar Express and more.

Her latest Star Wars project, Book of Sith: Secrets from the Dark Side was released in February.

Interested in learning creature design with Terryl from the comfort of your own home?
Sign up on the Tales of Amalthea site for first access to an upcoming free lesson!

Features:
- Step-by-step instruction with professional creature designer Terryl Whitlach.
- In-depth lessons for drawing real and imaginary creatures according to anatomically accurate zoological references.
- Color application techniques and rendering tips using Copic markers.

Join the journey. Sign up today!

Read more about Terryl in our interview with the famed illustrator.

Come see us at Anime Central, April 27th-29th in Rosemont, Illinois! You can find us at Booth 35.

We’ve provided prizes for Doujinshi Central and the Art Show. Prizes include:

Doujinshi Central
One Grand Prize
Two 1st Place Prizes

Art Show
One Grand Prize – Awarded by Anime Central Guest Judge
Three 1st Place Prizes – one awarded to each category (Traditional Media, Digital Media, Non-Traditional Media)
Three 2nd Place Prizes – one awarded to each category (Traditional Media, Digital Media, Non-Traditional Media)

Anime Central Prizes Sponsored by Copic

Grand Prize

First Place

Second Place

We hope to see you there!

Check out some of the amazing Copic-loving comic artists that will be at the show!

Cat Staggs

J. Scott Campbell

Humberto Ramos

Todd Nauck

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Cat Staggs: Artist Alley #146
J. Scott Campbell: Booth #805
Humberto Ramos: Artist Alley #071
Todd Nauck: Artist Alley #026

To stay current on everything Copic during WonderCon, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

See you there!

Our Product Specialist Marianne Walker has had the distinct honor of creating their poster illustrations for the past 9 years!

Marianne goes into detail about how she used Copics to create this year’s dragon themed illustration over on her blog. Check it out!

For more about the Asian Celebration, visit their Web site and Facebook page.

THIS CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. CONGRATS TO THE WINNER, SHARON BROWN!

We received such an overwhelming response to our new colors that we decided to give the entire 12 piece Sketch set to one lucky winner, randomly selected from the comments below!

How to Win
1. Share your Copic love in the form of a short poem or haiku in the comments, below (don’t worry about brushing up on your poetry skills, the winner will be selected randomly) .

AND

2. In your comment – below your poem - add a shout out to show some love to your favorite Copic retailer.

That’s it – best of luck and thanks so much for all the Copic love you share, year-round!

Details
- Limit one entry per person
- Ends midnight PST, February 14th, 2012
- Randomly selected winner announced February 15th, 2012
- Entries may be shared on Copic Marker web properties.*
- Anyone can participate, but only residents of the US and Canada are eligible to win.**

*Web properties include CopicMarker.com, CopicColor.com, and Copic social channels.
**This contest is run by Imagination International, Inc., Copic distributor for the US and Canada. We are legally prohibited from sending product to other countries.

]]> http://www.copicmarker.com/post-a-copic-love-poem-valentines-day-new-colors-giveaway/feed 2 http://www.copicmarker.com/sketchbooks-in-italy-2012 http://www.copicmarker.com/sketchbooks-in-italy-2012#comments Fri, 09 Dec 2011 17:21:07 +0000 Kacy http://www.copicmarker.com/?p=9812 Continue reading →]]>
Ken O’Connell will teach “Sketchbooks in Italy” for the 5th time in Italy, September 2-16, 2012.

This year Copic Design Team member, Debbie Olson, will assist Ken (President Emeritus of Imagination International, Inc., importer of Copic Markers.)

The plan is to spend two weeks at a tiny art school in Umbria (1 1/2 hours North of Rome), each day traveling to a nearby hill town to sketch, and returning to our base in LaRomita School Of Art. We are taken care of by two Italian cooks, and we stay there in apartments remodeled in a 15th Century Monastery.

The cost for this two week workshop is $3,600 plus airfare. It includes food, room, instruction, and all local transportation as we travel each day out to new hill towns. Other costs may include a few lunches, snacks and gifts.

If this adventure is of interest to you, please write to ken@copicmarker.com for more information and a list of FAQ.

Largely self-taught illustrator Drew Blom talked with us about having work curated into the Art for Hope exhibit, his art making experience, and using SketchBook Pro Copic Edition.

Congratulations! How did it feel to be approached by Autodesk for this art show?

I was contacted by Chris Cheung at Autodesk to see if I was interested in contributing a piece for their Art For Hope benefit book in partnership with Viz Media. It was right around the time the Copic Edition of SketchBook Pro (SBP) was released. I planned everything digitally, printed out and did a traditional graphite rendering, scanned back in and used the new Copic settings to create the colors for my piece.

I was pretty humbled to asked to be part of the Art For Hope book. It’s a great cause, I was excited to work on the piece  – and excited to hear it was selected. It was quite an honor.

Unless you’re a big name who’s having their work reviewed all the time it is easy to work in a vacuum. I’m not a big name so it’s kind of fun to see that the piece is making an impression on others.

Anything you’d like viewers to keep in mind while viewing your piece?

The piece was created as a cover for my story Calvin Hedge and the Iron Golem. It’s a story about hope, so it was a natural fit for the anthology. The story is intended to be the first of a trilogy of YA fantasy novels. I am writing and illustrating a children’s book as a precursor to the world and characters early next year. The characters in the image were not just put in to fill the composition. They all have a part in the story. Knowing who the characters are really helps me as I work on the actual piece.

Calvin Hedge and the Iron Golem, Graphite, Strathmore 500, Digital, 11″ x 17″

How do you normally go about art making?

I use digital drawing tools like SketchBook Pro for planning because it’s easiest to change, but for the actual work (rendering and line art) I prefer traditional media.

Every artist has a preference for tools and it usually winds up being the ones they have the most control over. Graphite and colored pencil are my go-to most of the time. Markers and pen-and-ink techniques are also a part of my process. I like the digital tools available because of the speed and ease of making changes. But I am still a sucker for the texture and depth of traditional media. The computer does “perfect” really well. But the hand of the artist is more readily visible with traditional media.

I did a talk recently explaining the process a little bit here. My part starts about 20 minutes in:

I use traditional Copic markers as well and am planning on using them as a monochromatic underpainting layer for a children’s book I’m writing and illustrating. After that I go in with digital color, similar to the SketchBook piece. I just need to start building up my grayscale collection of Copics.

Underpainting is a technique that has been around for a long time. In traditional oils it is used to define value and texture before a full-color realization is done over the top.

Calvin Hedge and the Iron Golem, underpainting

With the piece above, I used graphite pencils for the values, lighting and materials. It’s my version of underpainting and brings in the texture of the traditional media I’m working with.

With my upcoming children’s book I’m exploring a new process where the initial planning of the composition is done with SBP. The piece is then printed off and traditional Copics are used to lay in value, lighting and texture to the scene. Once the values are defined and the edges are contained with colored pencil the piece is scanned back in and a full color treatment is done digitally. This allows the texture of the paper and the markers to build up as they naturally would in a 100% traditional piece but also allows for the speed of doing final colors digitally.

What makes Copic your marker of choice for that?

The Copics blend very well, and with a set of grays you can lay in value incrementally. I like to feel in control as I’m creating the piece and the Copics are very natural and easy to reign in.

Have you been using SketchBook Pro (SBP) very long?

In one way or another, I’ve been using SketchBook Pro since version 1.1. I started out using it for storyboards but now use it for a lot of other things like planning out my compositions and coloring my final pieces.

How about SketchBook Copic Edition?

I picked it up the day it was released. I did a pretty quick update when the announcement was posted.  I already was using the markers so it was a natural transition.

It’s is a very natural sketching tool. Because I work on a tablet computer, I appreciate the gesture-based navigation. For coloring it is a bit different than I’m used to for my comic work, which is based on laying down flat color for selection and then building up volume. Its closer to traditional media which makes it very easy to get started with. You can tell the software was developed from an artist’s perspective.

The Copic presets are helpful as well. The palettes make sense and are great for narrowing in on a limited palette. The brush presets make the transition from traditional to digital media pretty smooth.

Any advice to people wanting to give SBP Copic Edition a try?

If you’re used to traditional Copics you’ll be familiar with the color palette. And the actual use of the digital preset brushes is pretty close too. Just like with traditional markers you can’t lay in light color over darks. It was a bit odd at first because I was used to standard digital tools, but over time it became an advantage because it kept me in the same mindset from traditional to digital.

Anything else you’d like to add?

Thanks for taking the time to talk to me.

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Connect with Drew online: http://about.me/drewblom

We’re very excited to be a part of Autodesk University in Las Vegas, November 29th – December 1st. Join members of the Copic team in the Creative Studio, which is completely free and open to the public!

Jackson Root, artist and Copic expert, will be on-hand each day to demo SketchBook’s Copic marker features and share his tips & tricks for traditional art with Copic markers.

On Thursday, December 1, at 11am, there will be some Copic Q&A on the stage as well.

Hope to see you there!

Hours of operation:
- Tuesday – 9:30am-7pm
- Wed & Thurs – 9:30am-6pm

Visit Copic Marker at Comikaze Expo in Los Angeles, November 5th & 6th! We’ll be at booth #1202, near the entrance.

To stay current on everything Copic during Comikaze, be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

See you there!

What’s it like? Who started it? How can I participate? To help answer these questions, and promote this wonderful event, we’ve compiled a list of 10 helpful links:

1. 24 Hour Comics Day site

2. 24HCD Event Locator

3. 24HCD Blog

4. 24HCD Twitter

5. #24HCD Hashtag feed

6. YouTube Videos from Last Year

7. About Nat Gertler, The Founder

8. Blog Post on the Experience by Artist @Matt Madden

9. About DIVA’s Eugene, Oregon Event

10. Some 24 Hr. Comics by World Record Holding Artist, David Chelsea

[BONUS]: Scott McCloud’s describes “The Phenomenon”

[EXTRA BONUS] Blitz Comics’ Survival Kit

Check out our previous posts on David Chelsea, whose Snow Angel comic was recently featured in Dark Horse Presents – Issue 2.

If you live in Oregon, join us at the event on Saturday, and at the DIVA’s related show “Art of the Graphic Novel”, which opens Oct.7th. See you there!