Tuesday, July 27, 2010

TUTORIAL: Creating Cloudy Background With Copics - The Messy Way

After so many questions and requests I finally managed to put together a quick tutorial about making the cloudy background. It is very easy and quite fast although it seems like many steps.

SUPPLIES NEEDED:
1) Pre-coloured image. And if you've got some little bleeding on over the lines; colouring the clouds will disguise it. Another lovely bonus, lol.
2) COPIC COLOURS: B12, B01, B00, B0000, C3, C1, C00, blender

One of the main things to remember is to use your markers as a brush. Work in small light or stronger strokes always upwards on clouds and away from the image. The more random and uneven your "brushwork" is, the better it will look.

I used one of Phindy's Flower Top Fairies because she was airborne and thus perfect for having clouds all around! So I didn't have create ground as well. I'm lazy like that. Also very sleep deprived and totally overwhelmed with things atm, lol.

So here's the image I started with, pre-coloured quickly:
Now I take B00 and create an outline of clouds in little quick uneven strokes. Make sure you won't make it too tidy and uniform and don't use continuous lines. Also lay a shadow around the whole image in light strokes working from image outline outwards. Don't worry if it looks a bit weird and messy:

Take B01 now and create random darker areas on the cloud outlines with light zig-zaggy brush strokes. Also apply some B01 into the shadow areas of the image like under her arms, skirt, corners between wings etc. Work in light strokes from image outwards. Do not blend anything:

Now take your darkest blue B12 (I picked this one because it's a bit cooler)  and apply little strokes of it inside the areas you accented with B01. Remember to work in very light and sparing strokes. No blending. Resist the temptation although it looks a terrible mess:

Now is a time to do a LITTLE bit of blending. Take B00 again and stroke upwards on all outlines and outwards from the image. No circular movements and be quite sparing and light-handed:

Now lets tone down that bright blueness a little bit.  Take C01 and apply to darker areas of the cloud outlines and shadow areas of the image. Yep, light upwards and outwards strokes, you guessed correctly:

Lets create sharper shadows. Move on to C3 and apply to darker areas of outlines and shadow areas to the image. VERY SPARINGLY:

Now move on to C00 and do some blending upwards and outwards in bold wide strokes:

Now take B0000 and blend upwards and outwards again, this time really go for it, only leave a narrow strip on top of clouds totally white. Important thing is not to create nice even lines, the more "strokey" and uneven it is, the better:

Now it's time to take out the beloved 0, your colourless blender. Cover the whole area of clouds and around the image. Saturate properly. Make sure your blender is nice and juicy:

You can repeat that step however many times if you want a softer result. I like some roughness in my colouring but I did a second soaking as well with blender to show the difference:
Well, that's it. You can make your clouds whatever colour you want, of course! Add some pale purple or pink into shadow areas or yellow highlights on top of the clouds. Just play and have fun. :)

Hope it was ine any way helpful and understandable. Thank you so much for looking and happy crafting!
Hugs


24 comments:

Tracey Feeger said...

Thank you so much Annika. I was dying to know how you do your clouds and now I do. Off to give it a go.
mwah
Trace

Julie said...

Thanks for sharing this one! My lightest blue is B00 so will have to invest in some new ones:) :). :) shame i've no spare time at the mo but I'll def give it a go. Hope your little bunnies are all fit and healthy this week, happy crafting dear friend, Julie x

Sylvia Blum said...

Annika, I don't have Copics but wanted to say a huge THANK YOU for the great tutorial anyway!!! Because I think the basics are usable for other color mediums, too! I really have to try this!
So again: THANKS for the great workshop and the lots of pictures to show the progress :)
{big hugs} Sylvia

Unknown said...

Wauw you gave us a wonderful tutotial. So nice nice those clouds. I like the card very much its so pretty.
Ageeth

Lynne said...

Brilliant tutorial!! Only I dont have copics - I use promarkers will it work the same way ?? I'll have a go anyway - thanks for sharing it with us :o) xx Lynne xx

Wendy Ramlakhan said...

Loved the tutorial Annika. I can't wait to give it a try. You did a beautiful job and it was very sweet of you to take the time to show us how you do it. Thank you!! :)

Lynne said...

Thanks Annika :o) I've been thinking about Copics for a while - might just have to get those as well lol xx Lynne xx

Robyn said...

Fabulous tutorial. Can't wait to try it. Thank you.

cnelson said...

great tutorial!! you have such mad coloring skills!

Dorcas said...

I thought this was very helpful. Ive seen some people use clouds on their cards and I always assumed it was airbrushing. How cool is this? Thanks. :-)

Crystal said...

WOWZA Annika thanks soooo much for the AWESOME tutorial...WOW this sure looks fabulous!!!

Marlene said...

Awesome tutorial - thank you, chicky!!! I can see it isn't a five minute job, though!!!

Unknown said...

Hi Annika the link of your last card is not working.
Ageeth

Dianne said...

Thank you so much Annika !! Great tutorial !!

Hugs,
Dianne

Renkata said...

Anika , you have made an amaizing tutorial. I will give it a try :)

Faye said...

This is a brillaint tutorial. Really brilliant. Why are you feeling so overwhelmed atm? Hugs. xxx

Viv said...

Wow! Thank you so much for this, am gonna have a go, but my efforts might not be fit for publishing! LOL!

Linda Carson said...

What messy FUN & it looks great too! Thanks for the tutorial! I'll give it a try!

Chris said...

A fantastic tutorial Annika and your clouds are amazing! Hugs, Chris x

Sue from Oregon said...

Now isn't that cool...you make it look so easy.........

Roxx.T Barnes said...

Great tutorial! I agree with Sylvia, I'm going to try it with my primsa pencils. I love the look of Copics,but not in my budget yet. Thanks for sharing your work.

Linda Coughlin, the funkie junkie said...

Your tut rocks, Annika! Your clouds are marvelous and I sincerely appreciate your sharing your technique with us. Don't know if I can replicate it, don't have all the Copic colors but will have fun playing when I get a few minutes.

A big hug of thanks to you!

Linda

Margreet said...

thanks for your clear tutorial Annika......I will surely try to do something like that...I think I must practice a lot..but that doesn't mind.....great job!
xxx Margreet

Anonymous said...

I don't know where u get messy from I sure see nothing messy about it. Looks fantastic to me. I hope to someday have some of the talent you have. Thank you for sharing your techniques. I just found you.

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