Expert Copic colourist, Clare Rowlands of Daisy Mae Designs joined us in the Craftstash studio for a thorough and mesmerising colouring session! She coloured one of her adorable stamp designs, Cupcake Icing Stamp (exclusive to Craftstash), from start to finish*. It was such a treat seeing Clare in her creative element! She shared heaps of alcohol marker colouring techniques and tips throughout the session too. And today, we’re passing along those tips to you!  

Clare’s Top Tips

  1. It’s trial and error picking a paper that works for you. Try different kinds and see what you like best.
  1. Start with 3 colours for each area. A light tone, a mid-tone, and a dark tone. As you get more comfortable, you can start incorporating more colours.
  1. Don’t worry about light source or the direction of the light, especially if you are newer to colouring. As long as you have lights and darks, you’ll add texture and dimension to your image.
  1. Use flicks or circular motions to colour, or even a combination of flicks and circles. Do whatever is best for you!
  1. Work from light to dark colours. Start colouring the areas that will use the lightest colours first, like faces. Do reds last if possible.
  2. Turn your paper as you colour. Don’t try to twist your hand around the paper. It’s more difficult to colour that way. Just rotate your paper as you’re working.
  3. When colouring faces don’t think, “I’m colouring a face”. This might make it stressful. Just think, “I’m only colouring this section of my image.” 
  4. Take your time colouring. Sometimes it can take several hours to colour one image and that's okay!
  5. Don't stress if you forget to leave some white for highlights in your image. You can add highlights afterwards with a white coloured pencil if you want. 
  6. To make your image pop a bit more, add a bit of light grey and light blue all around the image. It'll draw your eye into the scene.

Watch the full tutorial to learn more and to see her gorgeous colouring unfold right before your eyes! (We’ve added the Copic colour numbers she’s using in the video where possible.)

 *Clare is using 300 GSM ultra smooth white paper. She stamped her image with Memento ink in Tuxedo Black.

Copics are now available on Craftstash! Grab your sets today!

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