Strawberries with Copics

Hi again! It's me, Asela, I'm so excited to be back to share with you another card I created this time using Flourishes gorgeous set "Strawberries". Oh my! The illustrations in this set are to die for. I love to color. And one of my favorite mediums to use are Copic markers.

They are so versatile. I can get beautiful looks from them or just use the colors without blending for really cool modern looks.

I used Copic Markers RV10, RV14, RV29, YG03, YG63, BG96 and a white gel pen. I love Flourishes Classic White card stock. It really works great with the copic markers and blending technique.

I began to color the image using RV10 for the strawberries and YG03

the leaves and smaller strawberries. I have to tell you that we were stationed in Southern California for 4 years and when ever I would drive to the base I would have to go right through fields and fields of strawberries. The aroma was wonderful. And the strawberries there were the best I have ever had!

Next I begin to add the darker colors in the leaves and the fruit. If you've ever seen strawberries in the fields you would notice that the smaller fruits were really green and even the larger ones aren't fully red. It's not until later on that they turn that beautiful deep red that we associate

with them. I used YG63 on the leaves and RV14 for the fruit.

I start to blend my colors together using the lighter markers RV10 and YG03 over top of the darker colors. Notice that I've added a bit of YG03 to the center of the fruit. When you are blending RV10 over top of RV14 it can really wash out the color. So, you will want to take the tip of your RV10 and touch it to the tip of RV14 and then apply the RV10 to the areas where the darker colors meet the light colors. This will help the two areas blend without having the lighter marker completely remove the darker areas color.

When you are finished blending the reds add white gel pen to the seeds. (I added just a touch of RV10 to the center of the white flowers.)

For greater contrast I also added RV29 around the outer edges of the strawberries and BG96 on the inner parts of the leaves. Using my medium tone markers to blend.

Stamp the single image of the strawberry and color it in using RV10 and YG03. Follow along with the strawberry images so you can get a better look at how the colors blend so nicely together to achieve an almost watercolored look. Remember, if you work while the area is still saturate with ink the colors will bleed into each other easier and you will have that really soft look that you get when you watercolor with a brush. If you apply your markers and then later try to blend

the areas later on, it will work, but it doesn't blend as easily.

Add RV14, YG63 and blend using YG03 and RV10. You keep blending over the same areas until you get the desired look. Copics don't make the paper pill, that is, it doesn't damage the fibers like water based products do. So don't worry. Blend away! (Caution: Stay away from the edges of the image if you are applying lots of ink because the fibers of the paper can

soak the ink past the stamped black lines.)

Add white gel pen to the seeds. And cut out the strawberry.

I cut the piece of paper that the strawberries were stamped and colored on to fit the front of my card front. Take a ruler and measure the center of the panel, on the back of the paper draw a line vertically dividing the paper in half. Divide the paper in thirds horizontally and draw 2 lines. (If the paper size doesn't divide evenly make sure that the top third and bottom third are the same size - center can be the odd man out!) Use an exacto knife to cut apart the squares. Sponge the edges of the squares using a light brown ink pad. Add to the front of

your card using dimensional tape. Adhere the single strawberry to the front of the squares using dimensional tape.

I've included a PDF page for you to print out as reference.

Download Strawberries Tutorial Flourishes