What on Earth is a Flick..

and why do so many people refer to it when coloring with Copic Markers?

There are a few different ways to achieve a good blend with your Copic Markers. Which is one of the many reasons What Makes Copic Markers So Special.

Flicking or Feathering is probably one of the most talked about techniques. 

In my opinion flicking allows you to have more of control of the ink because you are either pushing or pulling the color where you want it to go.

Before we get to the actual nitty gritty of this technique let’s go over the reasons why you might not be getting a good blend.

Top 6 Reasons Why You Can’t Blend Your Copics and How to Fix it!

• Reason #1. You are not using the right paper. If you are using regular cardstock the paper fibers are not heavy enough to keep the ink in place.
  • Solution: I use and recommend Copic Xpress it Blending Cardstock. 
• Reason #2. You are coloring from light to dark. If you are new to Copics you may possibly be over saturating your paper by putting the lightest color down first, which makes it harder to get the dark to light contrast. So you keep adding more color dark and once the paper is saturated the ink has nowhere else to go and will start spreading outside your image’s line. This also makes your image appear blotchy.
  • Solution: Try coloring from dark to light – I find it’s easier to control the ink.
• Reason #3. Your coloring isn’t blending and looks streaky. 
  • Solution: You’re not adding enough color to the paper. So, if you’re using R81, R83 and R85 to color and it’s not smooth. Add another layer in that order exactly how you laid the color down the first time.
• Reason #4. You are getting a harsh border between each color, making it difficult to blend into a dark to light gradient.
  • Solution: Try being more swift with your wrist. The longer you leave your marker on the paper the more ink is going to flow out of it.
• Reason #5. You can never get the shaded area dark enough.
  • Solution: You can also use your grays and browns to get deeper shadows within colors. Here’s a step by step tutorial to make the shadow even darker.
• Reason #6. You don’t know what colors to use to blend.
  • Solution: The easiest way to figure out what colors to blend is by looking at the pre-colored chart. Every row of colors starts light and the shade get’s darker and then there’s a light one and it repeats. The colors from light to dark like B91, -B99 are all the same color but different shades to create the light to dark gradient.

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Download your Free Copic Marker Workbook

Grab my Free Copic Workbook and Guide! This guide will help you…

• decide what Copic Markers to buy
• figure out a Copic budget
• create your own coloring style

 

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How do you Flick or Feather?

So here’s the break down of Flicking.. 

By using the tip of your brush and laying down the marker and then flicking where your marker touches the paper last is going to be a lot lighter then when you first put your marker to the paper.

Step 1.

Lay your marker down (I’m using B99) and with a swift swoosh like motion, swipe the nib out and up. Notice when you first lay your marker down it’s a lot darker and softens up a little at the end of the “swish” or flick. 🙂

The jagged edge is actually helpful, because the next color will lay in between making it a little easier to blend the colors.

 

 

 

Step 2.

Using the next color which is B97 and with the same flicking motion pull the color out a little more. You will want to lay the marker down right where the previous color of the B99, starts to get a little lighter.

 

 

Step 3.

Repeat the process from step 2 using the next lightest color. In this case I’m using B95.

 

 

 

 

 

Step 4.

Again you are going to repeat with the next lightest color, which is B93.

 

 

 

Step 5.

Now, B91 is the lightest color in the B90’s color family. You will repeat the process, just like before. If you do not want more of a contrast, or a deeper shaded area, this is the completed gradient.

But, as you can see it’s still not fully blended. A lot of times you will need to repeat that entire process, the exact same way as you did the first time. 

Sometimes the ink needs another layer to really get the colors moving and blending together on the paper.

Step 6.

If you are looking for that really light shade you will want to use the B000. In most cases this works with all of the color families with their “000”. Sometimes the “00” will work, as well. 

Remember, depending on what you are coloring and how you want your color style, you don’t need all these shades. It’s just the most versatile. 

For example: I can use the B99, B97 and B95 for a shirt of my image. I can use the B95, B93, B91 for shoes (which will be a little lighter) and I can use B91, B000 and even B0000 for the sky. So, all the same color family but different shades. This is why you don’t necessarily need multiple blue color families, especially when you’re starting out. 

Step 7.

If you are looking for a deeper shadow or contrast with your coloring. A set of grays is a must! Here I’m using the N7 to deepen the shade of blue. 

If you want this look, on your second layer of Flicking, add the N7 on the edge of the darkest color (my B99) and then repeat all colors. 

You will want to go over, fully, the N7 using the darkest color (B99). Then repeat the flicking process of the remaining colors.

 

Final Outcome

Here are all the shades, from dark to light with the second layer of ink. You can compare this photo to the photo in Step 5 and really see how much more blended it is by adding the second coat of ink.

 

 

 

 

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Download your Free Copic Marker Workbook

Grab my Free Copic Workbook and Guide! This guide will help you…

• decide what Copic Markers to buy
• figure out a Copic budget
• create your own coloring style

 

 

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Flicking Practice

Flicking and creating this dark to light gradient is a great way to practice blending your Copic Markers. 

But I know that the Copic Xpress it Paper is expensive. So, I’ve come up with ways to use your practice pieces of cardstock to incorporate into your cardmaking. This way you practice and “recycle” on a project.

Blending multiple color families can be challenging and fun! You can take a large piece of Copic xpress it and blend from Blue, to green and then to yellow, like I have done here. 

I used a die, the Striped Leaf Die, from Altenew to place over my “practice paper”. 

I have used my Copic Markers, B24, B26, YG17, YG13, Y02, Y17, Y35.

 

You can also use different colors going in all directions, like this similar card. 

This is a fun way to incorporate your large frame dies with Copic Coloring.

 

 

You can also use scraps and much smaller pieces to cut out word dies. 

I used my Copics to create a tie-dye effect and then cut out this Hooray die, from Honey Bee Stamps.

Even if you don’t have anything particular to use the die for at the moment, just keep it in a container with your supplies.

 

 

 

Another fun way to use your recycled practice sheets is to stamp a background stamp over your gradient. I also die cut the word, Joy and made 2 different cards.

I actually have a video for this set of cards, you can check it out on THIS BLOG POST!

 

 

This Spring card is similar to the card above, except I’m using the Emboss Resist Technique. 

You can find out more on THIS BLOG POST.

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can also use accent stamps, flowers, birds, hearts etc. to stamp over your practice pieces and die cut the images.

Or simply just use dies.

 

 

If you are just starting out with Copic Markers and still deciding on what Copic Markers to buy, be sure to check out my blog post, How much are Copic Markers. Also, be sure to download my FREE Copic Marker Workbook!

 

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