Markers or pencils?
They both have their pros and cons,
but there's no rules that say we can't use them together.
So in this video, I'll show you my tips for working with pencils and markers
together to get great results in your art and coloring pages.
Today, we're taking the best of pencils
and the best of markers, and we're bringing them together,
whether you're a beginner or professional or whether you're trying to create hyper
realistic art or just color for fun, combining these tools can unlock a new
range of ideas and opportunities for your art, allowing you to experiment,
create more realistic textures and stretch your skills.
I have been loving using pencils lately.
They are easy to blend and layer perfect for fine details and they can allow you
to recreate almost anything you can imagine with some time and practice.
But they take a long time.
Some of these drawings have taken me more
than 10 hours and I know many artists that spend weeks or more on a single picture.
Markers on the other hand, can produce results much faster.
They are vibrant, fill an area quickly and fill the tooth of the paper really
well without leaving any texture or white gaps.
If you have alcohol markers, you can even create smooth blends,
but they do take a lot of practice to use well
and it's a lot harder to create
those fine details or adjust mistakes and tweak colors compared to pencils.
So by combining pencils and markers
together, we get the best of both worlds.
Let our powers combine!
I've already spent the past weekend using this method to draw this piece of cake.
And as you can see, the results have turned out great.
I used Copic and Ohuhu markers underneath
my pencils to create a base layer, which I'll show you how to do shortly
and then use my pencils to create dark shading and light highlights to give this
cake a realistic texture which really brings it to life.
I've used to Bristol Vellum paper for this drawing because I found that it seems
to work pretty well with both a pencil and the markers.
The markers have filled in the tooth of the paper said there is no grainy
texture and I didn't need to burnish my pencils or damage the paper.
I also started this other drawing a while
ago and I haven't had a chance to come back to it.
I used markers for the base
and for the start of the camera and use pencils for most of the hand.
So I tell you what, when this video reaches ten thousand
views, I'll finish this one and post a short video of the rest.
Deal?
And here's a much simpler example of this method.
In this case, my markers are the main medium I used and I've just used
my pencils to add some shading to make the pattern a little more interesting.
For our example today, I'm going to show you this method on this
coloring page that you can download from my website at the link below.
I've just printed this on cardstock because my printer doesn't like the size
of my Bristol Vellum. Cardstock still gives my pencil a bit
of tooth and should help the markers not to bleed through too much.
We're going to start by choosing our colors.
Whether or not you are using a color
palette, it's always easier to choose your marker colors first, then choose a pencil
that is the closest match. I'm using these two color palettes from the Color Catalog.
I wanted a little bit of chocolate and some bright colors and if you've got
the Color Catalog Companion, you'll be able to access the pencil
and marker numbers for your color palettes to make the next step easier.
I've actually cut out my little sections
of the Companions today so I could put my pencils and markers next to each other
before we start working on our coloring page.
Test your colors and your markers and pencils on a piece of paper first,
just in case they have some unexpected results.
There are a few things to look for in your testing.
First, see how they interact with your paper and with each other.
Pay attention to how they layer because some pencils will layer better than others
and some markers might absorb in your paper differently.
I'm using Ohuhu markers and Prismacolor
pencils in this tutorial, but this method works with any markers or pencil.
Second, check how well your colors match.
Even if you're using something like the Color Catalog Companion, all brands
vary so much that your colors might not be perfect.
So you might want to make some adjustments, try to find colors that have
the same hue, even if your markers end up being a bit lighter than your pencils.
If you have to go darker or lighter with your markers, I recommend going lighter.
It's easier to darken your art with your
pencils, but it's a little bit harder to lighten it.
And thirdly, use this opportunity to find
a darker shade of each color pencil and possibly a lighter shade as well.
We'll use these to create shading
and textures down the track and include a white pencil for some highlights.
I've done the same process for my second
color palette, but because I'll mainly be using these colors for chocolate
and donuts on my page, I've made quite a few changes to the original colors.
I'll pop a full list of the final colors I've used in my blog post.
Now it's time to work on our base layout
with markers also known as an under painting. Use the main color of each area
and block out your background or base layout with your markers.
Your marker work doesn't have to be perfect.
It's OK if it looks a little blotchy or
isn't blended perfectly as this is only going to be your under painting,
we can fix up details with the pencils layered on top.
If you have blendable alcohol markers,
you can try blending other shades together to create more depth.
But this is optional and you can still get
great results with any markers without doing this.
Again, this blend doesn't have to be perfect because we can work on these
details more when we use our pencils. Blocking out these areas with markers
first will create a vibrant base color for your pencil work.
It's like dyeing the paper or using a color tinted page for your drawing.
It speeds up your coloring time,
removes all the white areas under your pencil and saves a lot of pencil later.
Now that we're done with the markers, it's time for the pencils,
because we've already done the base, we wont need to build up as many layers,
do as much blending or burnish our page to create all the detail we want.
Instead our focus becomes on fixing areas,
building up shadows, highlights and adding fine details.
You can keep things simple and just add some shadows,
or you can really go for a hyper realistic drawing and add every possible detail.
Since we're already mixing mediums
with markers and pencils, I'm adding a third medium by finishing off
my page with a white gel pen and some paint markers.
This is something I'm starting to do on almost every coloring page.
I do because I love the extra impact these highlights add to the final page.
These paint pens were given to me by Artistro and have a fine tip.
Perfect for details like these sprinkles.
This is not a difficult technique to learn, and yet it opens up a lot
of opportunities for both beginner and experienced artists.
So I'd love to hear how you go trying this
one and see your drawings or coloring pages in my Facebook group.
If you found this helpful,
the best way that you can say thanks is by pressing that subscribe button,
leaving a comment and sharing this video with a friend.
I'll include a link below to my website with more details about the resources I've
used today and some links to some other tutorials that you might enjoy.
Hey Shane, I have no idea.
(Shane: Yeah?)
So you know how we're doing pencils and markers and it's together, right?
(Shane: Right, yeah.) So it's like we should buy me a cake.
And I should eat it.
It's like having your cake and eating it, too.
And I could end the video and I could say that.
And.
(Shane: Right, where are we going to get the cake from given all the cake shops are shut?)
Well, we can get donuts then. (Shane: But then the saying that won't work)
But then I get to eat donuts, so...
(Shane: Or we could just end the video,)
Fine! End the video then.