Coloring Ducklings

Add contrast!
You may have noticed that I posted a new blog header recently. Here are a few step-by-step photos of my coloring process for the cute row of ducklings that I used on my header. I made this picture a few weeks ago, while demoing for the University of Oregon Ducks bookstore. (I figured this picture was  appropriate for the U of O.)

Once again, I need to give credit to my dear friend Maaike in the Netherlands for the beautiful reference photo. The whole process, from line-drawing to final coloring took about 6 hrs.

As with most of my illustrations, I started with a pencil sketch based loosely on the original photograph. Then I traced the pencil drawings with a 0.1mm black inking pen. I copied the outline onto my favorite marker paper.

I started coloring the little ducklings, as they were the focal point of the whole image. Y11, Y21,YR000, R81, YG91, Y28, YR14, E44, E47.

If you look close, you can see a corner of the reference photo peeking out. The log that the ducks are on sits in a murky, swamp with lots of interesting colors floating on the water. It took a lot of markers to suggest the water tones. At this point I was pushing at least 30 colors, so I stopped keeping track of all of them.

I like to put a lot of subtle base colors into things like the logs, then I add my dark colors to build up the variations. Compare the back log, which I've already darkened, to the log in the foreground. It is easy to see the yellows, pinks, oranges, and green in the light log. Then, when I add dark tones, it feels less flat. Also notice the pale blue I added on the underside of the log to suggest a watery reflection.

Contrast makes things jump. So, to make sure the ducklings are bright yellow and dynamic, I tried to keep the water behind them nice and dark. I added dark green dark blue, dark purple, dark browns, and all sorts of colors into the water so it looked murky but alive.

The grasses in the background are not as important, so I didn't emphasize those as much and I kept my stronger contrast in the foreground. However, I threw in a little airbrushing to darken it up back there.

My demo time was quickly ending, and I knew it would be a while before I could come back to finishing this piece, so I wanted to get it done before I left. A big risk with any complicated piece of art is overworking it. Knowing when to stop is important! Having a time limit has kept me from overworking many good pieces.

Here is the finished piece, including final touches of white added back in with the Copic Opaque White with a built-in brush. Scanning in artwork and color-correcting makes a world of difference (the lighting at the demo did not bring out the richness of the colors).

I hope you enjoyed the limited tutorial. It's hard to remember to take process photos when I'm also helping customers. May your week be just ducky!

Focal points

Coloring Backgrounds to create Focal Points

When you are presented with a complex image, where the details run together, it can be intimidating for the viewer if you color it all the same as well. Before you color, it helps if you identify focal points, or which parts of the image will be most important (if everything is important then nothing is important).

Here is a freebie image you can download as a simple color along to understand the concept. The bugs are nice but really appear to get lost in the mass of surrounding flowers.

Right away, I know that I want the bugs and a couple of the biggest flowers to stand out. So, I start by coloring the dark background and building out from there. (for simplicity, the tutorial will show flowers that are all the same color, but the same theory applies for multicolored flowers)

First, I isolate the focal points by coloring everything else in dull, grayish purple tones. One of the great qualities of Copic markers is that any lighter color can push a darker color out of the way. This means that even if I do tone my whole image grayish, when the time comes to add colors back into it, they won't be totally obscured.

Instantly it becomes easier to focus on the parts of the image that I want important. This trick works on just about any kind of image. (If you aren't confident enough to go as dark as I have gone here, then try the same thing with a very light gray instead.)

Next, I colored the top flowers in a pure, bright pink, RV02. I added Y11 to the centers of ALL flowers. This helps it make look like the whole cluster is made of the same flowers. You can still see the yellow through the purple background, but it's not overwhelming.

If you want the flower centers to stand out more on the flowers in the distance, simply go over them a few times and it will push the darker colors out of the way. This is a matter of personal preference.

You can leave the image like this, but I like to add even more depth. Right now I have basically two layers, the bright top layer, and the grayed out under layer.

For my final you can see I have 4 layers:

1. Bright Top layer (RV02)
2. Grayed under layer (V93)
3. Slightly darker grayed under layer (V04)
4. Darkest background layer (V17)

This was much easier to visualize than if I had tried to simply start on one flower and color each flower individually to start. The finished picture looks more complicated than it really is, and it is much easier now to identify the bugs as being the most important. A word of caution: Don't color the final bugs in dull, grayed colors or else they will get lost. Choose vibrant colors that stand out so they remain your focal points.

Multi-color variation
As I mentioned above, this can also be done with flowers of different colors. Here is the same illustration, this time with pale yellow and pink flowers.

Same as before, I colored the flowers in the background entirely with the grayish purple, then I went back in and colored over some of the flowers with a pale yellow. I left the other flowers alone. Then, I colored the hints of the farthest background with my darker purple to make it look even more dimensional.

I hope this helps you speed up your coloring and simplify the layering process. Enjoy the free image download!

Rose petals

A quick comparison image today, of this simple rose I drew.

Sometimes when you are coloring flowers with deep petals, like a rose, it comes out too flat. To make the tips of the petals need to look like they are standing out, the key is contrast and a wider range of colors. Today I'll be coloring this quick rose drawing I made for the tutorial. The lighting is kinda generic, being from the front & above, so neither side will have stronger shadows.

Here is the first example. I colored the leaves with YG11, then added YG17 to darken the shading, then went back with the YG11 to blend. The white petals I shaded with B41, as I wanted a very cool-feeling white rose (many white roses have a hint of pale yellow or pink). To make the blue shadows feel even more blue, I put the compliment of blue in the background- orange. Not a strong orange, but YR21, blended with Y11.

This isn't bad, but it is very limited in depth. Sure, I went petal by petal, and added shadows that are appropriate, but it still lacks punch.

So, I started over and spent more time being careful. First, I worked on the leaves. Instead of two colors in the same natural blending group, I threw in extra colors.

 I used a base of YG11 again, but I added some Y11 over the tips to warm it up even more. Then, in the shadows, I added YG17 in streaks following the veins on the leaves. I tried to not go back and blend, as I wanted to keep the veins visible.

Next, I added G28 and G99 in the shadows, as both of those greens are grayer and cooler than the YG families. For good measure, I also really cooled the shadows down by adding hints of B37. You can't see it, but it's there. Now the leaves look a lot more dynamic.

For the petals, again, I started with the B41 that I used above, only, this time, I bended it out a little with the colorless blender. I also added extra deep shadows with BV02 and B45. I was careful to leave plenty of white. Note how my shadows are dense at the base of each petal, be it the topside or the underside of each petal. The tips are left as white as I could.

To make the tips look warmer, yet curled, I pulled in hints of Y00 on either side of where I wanted the highlights to be brightest.  Remember, warm colors feel closer, and cooler colors are good for shadows. Last, I threw in a simple background of YR21 and Y00. On my paper it almost looks neon, but scanned in it loses a lot of vibrancy.

What I want you to take away from this tutorial is that you shouldn't color an image just once. Try it multiple times, and push yourself to add more contrast or add unusual colors into the highlights or shadows. Try coloring the rose with yellow tones and having the sky in blues. Or, if it was a red rose, make the background the compliment (pale green).

Have a great week coloring!!

Sky Tutorial continued

Finished Tree and Sky
Here is the final tree from yesterday. I colored the trunk with E33 and E29. I also threw in hints of B45 to gray it down. I also dabbed in a few spots of R22 into the leaves just for variety. You can't see it because it is subtle, but it is there.

I think I like how it came out. Now let's adapt this to another image that I will spend more time on. Remember, things far away or things in shadow are less vibrant, and tend to be cooler/bluer. If you want to learn more about this concept, take one of our Intermediate Certification classes, or register for an online class through Creative Ladder (there may a few hiccups with the launch so be patient!). By the way, if you like little hints like this, you really should also pick up a copy of the Copic Coloring Guide, Level 4: Fine Details

More Complex Tree/Sky
Let's look at another, more complex tree, with the sky colored in a similar way as yesterday. This time, both the tree and the sky are more complex. The tree again, is drawn with a 0.3 Warm Gray multiliner, on a piece of sketchbook paper.

This time, I used the BG000 with my colorless blender for clouds. Here is a link to the technique tutorial I made a few years ago for making this style of clouds. Very simple, but nice, subtle clouds.

Notice the fields in the distance, how I made sure to color those with the blue, darker farther away, and lighter blue close up. Again, I wasn't worried about going over the areas with leaves.

Here is the final complex tree. I used similar techniques to yesterday, of dotting on layers and layers of color to make the leaves. I just used a wider range of colors. The fields below the tree are all colored with Y11, it just looks farther away because of all the BG000 underneath. I did add YG11 and hints of E33 to the scrubby bushes off in the distance. Nothing high contrast.

Trunk: E33, E00, E27, E49, W5, Y11(for highlights) B41 (shadows).

Leaves: YG11, YG13, YG17, G24, G28, Y11, R22, C2, C5.

Sky: BG000, 0

Grass: Y11, YR21, E33, YG11, YG13, YG17, W1, W5 (shadows under the tree). Most of these colors I lightly flicked in with the tip of the brush. Notice the grass closest to the viewer has the most contrast, grass under the tree has a little less contrast, and the rest of the grasses just softly fade off in the distance.

Sketches from my Demo

Pattern, Texture, and Depth of Field

I had so much fun at my demo yesterday! A lot of the students who purchase Copic markers at the University of Oregon are Architecture or Product Design students. They love seeing texture and patterns on buildings, objects, and foliage. When I demo at the bookstore, I have found that people love seeing me experiment with buildings and plants.

Here are two sketches I worked on while I was there. Sorry, the photos are from my phone, so they aren't that great.

This first drawing is actually a design sketch for some paintings that I am going to make for the Copic offices.I made this on some big scratch paper I was using for my demos.

This drawing is just a little bigger than a regular size sheet of paper. Since this was a concept sketch, I was worrying more about placement of objects instead of details, so all my lines are rough and I'm OK with that.

I don't remember all the colors I use when I demo, because people stop by and ask questions and I get sidetracked. But,  I know that the reds are R24 and R59, and that I used a lot of YR21, YR27, and E44 on the wall. The ground is C3 or C5, plus a bunch of other colors, and the plants are G28 and G82.

 I mocked up the walls with E43 and a scrap of washcloth dipped in colorless blender. Architecture students love seeing that technique!

The yellow-orange background texture was made with a couple layers of different YR's, and a quick scribble of warm grays.  Then I airbrushed some speckles of YR27 over the area. I then dripped colorless blender straight onto the colored area. For the smaller dots of blender I used my blender marker and dabbed it on.

Start to finish, this sketch took about an hour.

Depth of Field, Making things look near or far
My next drawing I spent a lot more time on, and I didn't finish. I'm guessing I spent about 3+ hours on this one already (minus interruptions). I wanted to work on how I render depth of field, or how to make things look farther away in a sketch. This is on a 9 x 12 Copic Sketchbook.

I worked with a lot of greens! I know I used YG11, YG41, G85, G28, G43, and G46. I probably used more, but I can't remember.

Although it is not done, what I want you to notice is that the leaves closest have high contrast- very light greens, mixed with shadows of G28 and C7. These are bigger and because of the contrast, they really appear to be closest. As I moved backwards in the sketch, notice how the contrast and level of detail gets less and less. The plants in the middle of the page have lost that lightest shade of green and the darkest shades as well. Move up even more and see how there is even less contrast and the colors are grayer, less vibrant.

The trees in the background are YG93, G85, and BG75. The lantern is made with warm grays, and the unfinished steps are an assortment of warm grays, and browns.

Notice on the steps as well, although they are not finished, the use of depth of field in my color choices and details. The bottom step has the most contrast, gradually getting less and less as you move up in the picture. I'll try to get this one finished sometime and show you how it all comes together.