I played with the absolute cutest owls in rubber stamp land last night--aren't these Kim Hughes owls adorable? I ordered U R A Hoot the day after it became available, but I just now had a chance to pull it out. Background stamps are Paisley and Large Polka Dot.
For cardstock I used Neenah Solar White for my focal image and card base, and Prism Tawny Medium stamped with Adirondack Hazelnut for the base, and Prism Desert Coral Medium stamped with Adirondack Terra Cotta for the dotted layer. I colored the owls with my Copic markers in the colors show below. The button was one in a variety pack that I found in a cloth department a couple of years ago. I cut out the little owlet and popped him up with some foam tape; I could have masked and stamped him first to avoid the cutting, but I liked the idea of adding a bit of extra dimension anyway.
I've had some questions on coloring in larger areas with Copic markers. The stamps that I tend to use are very detailed, so I thought that this would be a perfect time to color an image step-by-step using a larger image. I thought of doing this after the fact, so the owl below is not the same piece as the one above. I did use the same colors and process, however, for both. (I'm not sure why the finished card looks more red in the shadows unless the desert coral medium cardstock is influencing the overall color.)
First I stamped the branch and owl in Adirondack Espresso ink--a water based dye ink. (I've heard rumors of another ink that works well, but I haven't had a chance to try it yet; when I get to try it, I'll tell you what I think. The fact that Julie Ebersole likes it with Copics gives me great hope though!) I used Copic E31 to color in the entire owl, going over and over it until I had no streaks left. (Sometimes working in small circles helps, if you have streaking issues. When you get your cardstock properly saturated with ink, you will not have streaks, assuming you are using appropriate cardstock and ink.) In this first picture, I have added E55 and a touch of E57 to both wings after having colored them solid in E31 first of all. On the right wing, I used my E31 to blend the three values together. On the left wing, I left the values unblended so that you could see what it looks like before blending.
In the next photo, I've finished blending the left wing. Again, I prefer to blend with a lighter shade of the color I'm using (E31 in this case) rather than the colorless blender when I am working in mid to dark tones. The colorless blender is a great tool, but I generally save it for blending light tones into the paper color and for lifting out highlights or mistakes.
In the third picture, I have added mid and dark tones (E55 and E57) to the eyelid, this time blending on the left and leaving the right for you to see what it looks like before I blend it with the E31 marker. I have already added mid and dark tones to the bottom of the owl's body and blended them in.
Next, I blended the right eyelid, then used the E55 over the entire branch, and the E57 on the lower third of the branch. This time I blended the two branch colors with the E55, the lighter shade of the two that I was working with.
I used YR21, YR24, and Y38 to color in the owl's beak and claws in picture 5.
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In the picture six, I used a W1 (warm gray) and 0 (clear blender) to add some shadows and give depth. The clear blender allows me to get a soft edge on the shadow rather than a hard edge. (Sometimes you may want a hard edge; I wanted a softer one here.)
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Remember that I mentioned back in step one that your paper should be saturated with ink in order to get a smooth, streak-free finish? Check out the back of my cardstock.
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I hope that this is helpful if you're experimenting with Copic markers! I really do love the vibrant, smooth finish and the blending qualities of these markers. They're one cool tool! Have a wonderful day!
