Welcome to our new Color Spotlight feature! Every so often we’ll showcase a different color and give ideas of color combos that will work with it.
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. So E33 + G85, the G85 was layered over the E33.
E33, Sand
Story behind E33: This was among the first colors Japan created over 20 years ago. This is a good, multipurpose middle/light warm brown, and one of our best-selling browns (that’s not a skin color).
Available in these styles: Copic, Sketch, Ciao, Wide
Natural Blend family:
E30, E31, E33, E34, E35, E37, E39
Simple Blend:
Highlight E31 Midtone E33 Shadow E35
Similar colors, other families:
B34, BG32, RV32, Y32, R32, W3
Marianne’s Unusual Combos:
E33 + G85, E33+ V06, y23 + E33
Advanced Color Rules for E33*:
Complimentary: E33/B02
Triad (simple 3 color combo): E33, G24, V15
Tetrad (simple 4 color combo): E33, YG03, B02, FRV1
Pentagram (simple 5 color combo):
E33, FY1, G03, V17, RV17
High Contrast: E33, E39, E77, G29, BG18
Compound: E33, E29, BV04, FV2, B79
*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.
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The project I made for E33: Low Tide on the Oregon Coast
Here’s a pic I drew to feature E33. I have always loved the coast, and it’s hard for me to forget my Marine Biology teacher when I think of sand, so we get a vibrant low-tide drawing today. To show you how you can incorporate the swatches for E33, I tried to use mostly colors or color families found in the above rules, plus a couple extra that it’s hard to live without, like the colorless blender and B000. These colors make the picture a bit brighter than a real beach scene, but that’s OK. BTW, I compared the color E33 to sand from my son’s sandbox. A more accurate sand color would be E43 with a little W3 layered over it to tone it down.

Your turn! Share your E33 work with us on Facebook or Twitter!