May 30, 2016
10 Comments
Time for another dose of the best antidote for Monday: Marker Geek Monday! Let’s get colourful together and forget what day it is. 😉
Today I thought I’d talk a little about something a little less glamorous, but in my opinion totally essential in your colouring toolkit: COLOUR CHARTS!
A hand coloured chart is invaluable in both keeping track of your collection and when you are selecting colours to use for a project.
There are some different options out there. These are the two I use.
As I mentioned above, the Copic Colour Chart is a useful way to keep track of your collection, and it was the only chart I used for a number of years. I keep a copy in my folder, which these days mostly serves as a record of which refills I already own, so I can avoid duplicating any purchases! Previously it served a similar purpose for the markers themselves. I no longer use the chart for selecting colours.
When the Hex Chart came into my life, it was a game changer! I have always enjoyed playing with mixing colours from different families and this chart makes that process a lot easier.
You may be thinking “I don’t have enough markers to make use of the Hex Chart yet”. I’d advise that actually, you’re in the PERFECT position to take full advantage of Sandy’s hard work. Included in the zip file you receive are both a black and white hand colour chart and also a scanned coloured version.
The coloured version of the chart is a great reference tool to aid you in deciding which markers to add to your collection. You can get a good impression of which colours will work well together, and perhaps more importantly you can see which markers you don’t need at all because they are so similar to others. For those of us with a complete or near complete collection this aspect is useful when we have a marker that needs refilling – if we don’t have the refill for that particular marker we can reference the chart to see if there are any good substitutes so we can keep colouring.
Note: the coloured version of the Hex Chart is not guaranteed to have 100% colour accuracy due to the nature of digital reproduction and if printed out, variation in individual printer calibration. With this in mind, it is still a very useful reference.
Due to the limited lightfastness of Copic Markers (this is variable – some colours will fade more than others), it is a worthwhile task to colour a new version after a period of time. I’d suggest perhaps once a year. Having a relatively fresh version of your colour charts will ensure that you are seeing as accurate a representation of the colours as possible.
Periodically renewing your colour charts also provides an ideal opportunity for doing some marker maintenance. While you’re colouring your chart you might notice markers which need refilling or markers in need of some cleaning and maybe nib changes. Make sure you grab your beverage of choice and pop on something in the background to keep you entertained!
I hope you have a fantastic week filled with colour! Share your colour chart experiences and thoughts with us in the comments below or share pics over on Instagram using #markergeekmonday . Don’t be shy, we want to hear from you all!
MWAH!
Elaineabella
Disclaimer: I was not asked to write this post by Sandy Allnock, although I was provided with a copy of the Hex Chart to participate in her April 2015 blog hop. I have been using the Hex Chart since that time, every time I colour with Copics. All opinions are my own.
I love Copics….I only have around 75 of them. When I reprint a new chart, I print it on the X-Press It Blending Card since that’s what I always use when coloring images with Copics. It also gives me a truer color for how it will look on my image…however, I usually stamp an extra image to use when I’m not sure about what color to use on my finished image. I found out the hard way that the colors can vary according to what cardstock you stamp on…whites are not always the same….and the textures vary….know what I mean? LOL
Thanks for your helpful info….I probably need to redo my chart again. (smile) Have a great day….
Yes, it is always a good idea to print your colour charts on the paper you usually use to colour! 🙂
I never knew that Copics faded. Great suggestion to remake the color charts. Thank you!
I am one of those crazy people who when getting my first few copic last year wanted all of them. Which meant, as I bought them all over a couple of months, I had to keep track of what I had and didn’t have. Someone told me about the app, Copic Collection, which lets you mark which ones you have, the type (sketch, ciao, etc.) and allows you to mark when want to keep track of refills. It is a great app.
I agree that the hex chart is a game changer. I colored the Copic Color chart first and was just using that. Then got the Hex when it came out. Since I am still a novice I use both together. The Hex chart to choose a color and then the Copic chart to figure out the blending colors. Did not know the copics would fade over time. Hmm, makes me wonder what will happen to cards after awhile. Thanks for your information.
Yes, I have “full set syndrome” myself. 😉
Try choosing colours to blend using just the Hex Chart – it will help you break out of just using the colour families. There’s nothing wrong with that approach, of course, but experimenting can be fun and you can learn a lot about your markers that way. 🙂
Yes, unfortunately Copics are not lightfast. So ideally any work that you want to preserve would be best stored in an album or something similar, out of direct light. If cards aren’t stored in direct light for long periods of time they should survive well!
I only have 4 Copic markers so for right now, the chart wouldn’t work for me. I want to get more but I need to take some kind of classes to get them to work like I’ve seen my friends do with them on cards. Can you get classes on-line that don’t cost anything like on YouTube? I’d like the free chart when I get more markers. I need to find them on sale somewhere so I can get more and then I can find out how to use them correctly. Thanks for telling us about the charts though.
Hi Gail! As I said in the post, if you are planning to add to your collection the pre-coloured version of the Hex Chart would be very helpful (reasons outlined in the post).
There are lots of videos and tutorials out there. I have some videos on my Youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/QuixoticCards and will hopefully be uploading more this year. There are also lots of other helpful Youtube channels including the creator of the Hex Chart – Sandy Allnock.
I use Sandy’s Hex Chart and love it! I have them all….but have been using them for about 5 years now. I did find that they are sometimes cheaper from Dick Blick, and that is where I bought most of mine from. After coloring my color chart, I laminated it with the colors on one side and the grays/blacks on the other side. I seem to have a messy desk sometimes when crafting and wanted to avoid spilling anything on it. I will say that so far (fingers crossed), the colors do not seem to have faded any. I did this about 6 months ago. I do store it out of direct sunshine….time will tell if it fades…. 🙂
Hey Nancee! 🙂 Laminating the chart is a great idea! I keep mine in a folder with all my sheets of colour combos etc, and to be honest it hasn’t faded since it spends so much time out of the light. But I know a lot of people may keep theirs out on a desk or use it when out and about a lot.
I have been using these charts for awhile now and they are an invaluable tool! I also use the Copic app to keep track of what makers I have and don’t duplicate (which has happened) 😉