RWKrafts: Copic Tips - Coloring on Kraft

Happy Father's Day! I have three Father's Day cards to share today; one for my daddy, one for my father in law, and another one for my hubs (he is a fur baby daddy after all). First let's look at the card that uses Copic Markers on Kraft cardstock.

This was my first time coloring with Copics on kraft cardstock (use a good quality stock.. I like Neenah Desert Storm) and I immediately noticed some differences compared to coloring on white cardstock. So I jotted down a few tips along the way...

I immediately grabbed darker shades of markers, which was a lot of fun because those don't always get as much love from me as the light or medium shades. For example, on the windows I used B02 instead of my typical go-to of B0000. I also found that in order to get a darker shadow, I needed to reach outside of the original color family to achieve it.... the car is colored with markers in the R family, but I used V99 for the last layer.

Blending your Copic colors on Kraft paper requires a bit of extra work. Single strokes from your marker will show up a lot more on Kraft, because the ink seems to soak right into the paper rather than "bleed" or spread (which makes blending easy). Because of this, my colors required more layers and more ink than I would otherwise have used on white cardstock.

Finally, my last Copic tip which is SO often overlooked... Place a piece of paper below your cardstock when using Copics!!! This is especially true for coloring on kraft, since the ink soaks in more.

Copic Tips for Coloring on Kraft:
- Use your darker colors and think outside the color family for deeper shading
- Marker strokes will show more so use more ink than usual
- Ink wants to soak directly into the Kraft rather than bleeding/spreading
- USE A PIECE OF PAPER UNDER YOUR COLORING SURFACE!

Ok now here are two more cards in the spirit of Father's Day...

This is a paper pieced card I created almost a year ago. It was too late to give to my dad for Father's Day 2014, so I held on to it for this year. Sometimes I feel like I grew up in a campsite because we hiked and camped so often (and my parents still do!) so it's perfect for him.

My card for the hubs showcases all of our little furbabies, even the guinea pigs who have crossed the rainbow bridge...

My dad, mom, Matt, Kiwi, me, and Meeko

Ellen Hutson is hosting a Father's Day sale now through June 22nd with code dadsday15! AND right now Copic Markers are all 25% off (no code needed)! Have fun shopping :)