it’s MARKER GEEK MONDAY!

Hey folks! Time for another Monday with me “Marker Geek” aka Elaineabella. I hope you are all still enjoying these weekly posts. If you’ve got any questions you would like answered or topics you would like to see covered in future posts please do get in touch via the comments section and I will do my best.

Before I get to the colourful fun, I’d like you all to join me in wishing our Chief Bella (Emily) all the very best. She’s having a rough time right now, as you may be aware from reading her blog posts here. Not only is she dealing with personal stress, she is working hard to bring us even more fantastic stamps to play with. Lets make sure she knows how much we appreciate her!

It has been a crazy week, and I’m working on a few larger projects for future posts, so today I’m keeping it simple and sharing a very simple bonus colour map for one of Stamping Bella’s fun BUNNY WOBBLES images. I’m also hoping to inspire you to “keep it simple”, so read on!

The rubber stamp I used is ROW OF BUNNY WOBBLES. So. Cute. They also come with a row of Easter eggs, but the bunnies on their own are perfect for so many occasions.

Keeping it simple!

As you can see, I kept the colours very limited on this one, challenging myself to do as much as I could with just a handful of markers. The beauty of alcohol based markers like Copic Markers is that due to their translucent properties, they layer beautifully so that you can achieve depth and variety even if you don’t have a wide selection of shades. So don’t worry if you can’t blow your budget on a full set of markers – build your collection slowly and really get to know them.

Make sure you read right to the end of this post, as you will find some additional waffle about alternative marker brands, and some pointers for getting colour matches including a link to a very useful resource for Spectrum Noir users.

A special note for readers using other marker brands:

Since I started writing this series of posts for Blogabella we have received a few questions relating to other brands of markers. While I have used and loved other markers in the past, Copic Markers are currently my “most reached for” for a variety of reasons. I recognise that some readers and fans of Stamping Bella may not use the same brand, for their own varied reasons. Unfortunately I can’t be all things to all people, but I do like to be as helpful as possible!

There is a wealth of information online, both free and available to purchase. Sometimes it can be time consuming and a little daunting to sift through it all, I totally get that. With that in mind I am hoping to give you a little help in this post and hope to provide some more useful information in some upcoming posts (watch this space…).

A great starting point for finding information specific to your chosen brand of marker (or any medium) is usually the brand’s official website. They may have a “Resources” or “Downloads” or “Information” section containing tips, colour charts and suggestions for colour combinations.

If you have a crafty friend that uses a different brand of markers to yourself, try swapping hand coloured charts so you can compare theirs with your own.

Spectrum Noir users will no doubt find THIS CHART created by Corinne Jones and Irene Sherman a very handy resource indeed!

Note:

• Any colour matches that you find listed are unlikely to be exact matches for the Copic shades, but will be visually close.
• The appearance of colours may differ on different papers. Some “white” papers will have a warmer tone, some a cooler tone. This will affect the appearance of the marker colours when applied to the paper (this is why creating your colour charts on the paper you use most often is also the best idea).
• It is also worthwhile to note that different marker brands may have slightly different properties. Colours that look like a good match when compared as one layer may look quite different when layered multiple times.

I would always recommend that you use any colour combo information purely as a starting point for your own experimentation. Play with your markers, experiment with mixing different shades and colours and find what works for you! You may find that due to your colouring style, differences in paper etc. your results with any particular marker combo differ anyway, so don’t be afraid to make your own tweaks and find your own favourites!

TIP: if you have trouble finding a good match for a particular shade, try mixing a couple of colours together.

As always, make sure you stay in touch! Drop us a comment below, or tag your colouring pics on Instagram with #markergeekmonday so we can check them out.

MWAH!

Elaineabella