Welcome back, this week im showing you how to blend copic markers (including Ciao + Sketch) for smooth transitions.

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Copic markers are incredily expensi.... I mean popular! but can be daunting to use as a beginner.
In this tutorial I'll show you my recommendations for which paper is best to use with copic markers as well as lots of tips and tricks to help you get smooth blending.

Xpress it blending card: https://amzn.to/2YxmkDC
Copic Ciao set A: https://amzn.to/2SMdaBB
Copic Ciao set B: https://amzn.to/2SMGIPE

To start with we won't be using the colorless blender. I don't discuss this in the video but I prefer not to use it except for specific circumstances.

Stick around untill the end of the video where I show some extra tips on using color pencils to give your artwork extra depth.

To blend our sphere, we'll be using 4 different tones. The more different tone markers you use for blending, the easier it will be for you. I recommend at least 3 but ideally 4 for a smooth blend from dark to light.

Arrange your copic markers in your hand from lightest darkers making sure the brush tip is facing down this allows you to quickly cap and uncap different markers for quick blending.

Completely fill the area you will be blending with the lightest tone. Don't worry about getting a flat even tone as we will be going over this area with several layers.

Get your darkest marker and start to color the area you want to be darkest. Copic markers special brush tip allows you to vary the pressure almost like a real paint brush, use this to your advantage and lighten your strokes toward the inside of the sphere (where will be blending next)

Next we take our middark marker and start blending with the darkest. To do this, overlap your strokes onto the darker color and either use a back and forth or ideally a circular motion to smooth out the harsh edge that is created bewteen the 2 tones.
Because the ink is alcohol based and our excellent choice of paper you will be able to blend very well, pushing the pigment into each other and making a mid tone.

Move onto the lightmid tone and do the same thing, bring the edges of the dark area curving around to the light to create a 3D effect. Blend your copic markers in the same way as the previus layer.

Take the lightest marker and start blending the last area.

As alcohol is absorbed into the paper, it will distort and ripple slightly. Don't worry about that, when the alcohol starts to dry it will even out nicely.

We need to blend a second layer to smooth out our transition and get a smooth even tone. Follow the steps again going from darkest to lightest marker.

Once the alcohol has dried and we are happy with the blend we can use some colored pencils to really give extra depth and contrast.

Find similar colors including white and black. Layer the pencils over the top of the markers, using lots of light layers and blending the colors together as you go.

I hope you enjoyed this copic marker blending tutorial for beginners, if you need any help or have any tips for beginners, drop a comment below.

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Music Credits:

Adventures by A Himitsu https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCgFw...
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported— CC BY 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/b...
Music released by Argofox    • A Himitsu  Adventures [Royalty Free ...  
Music provided by Audio Library    • Adventures – A Himitsu (No Copyright ...  

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