Tutorials

Night Sky Using Copic Airbrush System

I have had some requests for information on how I do my night sky.  It's relatively easy if you have a Copic airbrushing system.

In this example, I masked off the moon section on my background paper.  I used several colors to make the sky, including B39 Prussian Blue, B28 Royal Blue and V09 Violet.  One tip I can give you when using the airbrushing system is to work with your paper vertical.  I found it covers a lot easier if you hold your paper up and not have it down on the table.  Spray until you get the colors you like, and remember that a little variation is a good thing.

Next I took a toothbrush dipped in a white acrylic paint and flicked my finger across it to spatter the night sky with stars.  It doesn't take much, but the effect is dramatic.

Finally, I took the mask off of the moon and used some warm greys (W1, W3) to give it some rough color.  Then take your colorless blender and work that ink in until it really takes on a texture and not just color.  I then used the blender to outline the moon slightly, giving it the halo effect that often happens on a cool night.  Another tip here is to not leave your blender pen in one place long.  Because of the airbrushing, the ink is applied fairly light, and will blend very easily.

That's it - then in this example, the zebra's were cut out and put on top of this background.

Hope this helps - and drop me a comment or email if you have any questions.


Shimmer Painting

I often want to add a touch of shimmer to something without it being an all over look like you get from glimmer mist, or the boldness that you get from glitter.  I just want a touch of something that shows up in the right light.  My Asian-inspired card above shows the type of shimmer I'm talking about.  I love the look this gives an image.

I came up with a way to do this and have had several people ask me to write a tutorial on the details... It's really easy and an inexpensive way to add a special touch.

I made my shimmer paint using just a few basic ingredients.  I started with a water tight small container, then filled it with about two tablespoons of water... No need to measure, just dump it in.  I then added one or two drops of simple white glue.  This can be anything from cheap school glue to whatever you have on hand from your craft stash.  Then I added about a 1/2 teaspoon of pigment powder like Pearl Ex... Mix that into your water mixture.  You'll have to stir it often as you use it because the powders settle on the bottom.  Then I just use a small detailed paintbrush and brush it directly onto my colored image.  After I dip my brush, sometimes I dab it lightly onto a paper towel so I don't soak my image too much, but you'll soon figure out if you need to do that.

For this image I used Pearl Ex interference red, but I also have one mixed up in gold, silver and micro.  It's easy to mix up and fun to play with.  Give it a try and if you have any questions, just shoot me an email.