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(Brian) Hi, I’m Brian from Close To My Heart. Today I want to show you
how you can create a smooth, rich effect with markers, like you see here
on this Harvest Banner. This look is achieved with our alcohol-based
marker sets that were introduced in the Autumn/Winter 2012 Idea Book.
The markers come in a set of two: one is the base color from our exclusive
color palette and the other is the complementary color, which is either
a color lighter or a color darker than the base color.
If you look at the exclusive color palette page in our Idea Book,
you’ll see that we’ve indicated which marker sets come with a lighter
color and which sets come with a darker color. The lighter colors are
indicated by an open circle and the darker colors by a filled-in circle.
I’m going to start with the Honey marker set. Here you can see both of the
Honey markers that come when you order the Honey Exclusive Inks marker set.
You have the base Honey marker as well as a lighter complementary color.
For this technique, it works best if you start with the lightest colors first.
So I’m going to start with the lighter complementary color. You’ll notice
that the marker has two tips. One is the fine tip for working on finer details.
The other is the brush tip for coloring larger areas, and that’s the one
I’m going to start with when I color my leaf image here. The leaf has been stamped
in Cocoa pigment ink. The pigment ink, once it’s dried, won’t bleed when
you color it with the markers. So I’ll start coloring and when I color I’ll
use short, deliberate strokes, which will ensure a nice even coverage,
a really smooth look, and no stroke lines. It doesn’t matter if I go
over the edges of the leaf here because I’m going to be cutting it out when
I add it to the banner. And I want to work kind of quickly because the
inks blend best when they are still wet so I don’t want this to dry while
I’m still coloring it. As soon as I’m done, I’ll go ahead and put the cap
back on so the marker doesn’t dry while it’s sitting on the table and then
I’ll pick up my next color, which will be the Honey base color.
It’s a little darker and I’m going to color all along these shaded lines
along my stamped leaf, leaving a nice border of the lighter Honey
color around the edges. Now when you’re coloring with these, you’ll notice
just how quickly the strokes blend into one another and how smooth that
look turns when those inks are nice and wet. I’ll then move to my third color
which is the Autumn Terracotta light complementary color. And I’ll color
one more time again leaving a little border of the previous color and
moving with short deliberate strokes around the area I’d like to have shaded.
It’s so nice to just watch those colors melt right into one another and
you end up with a beautiful finished look with some nice bold intense colors.
Let’s compare this image to a similar image that’s been colored using
the same inks but this one used our waterbrush and our water-based ink pads.
You’ll recognize that it still has smooth even blending between the colors,
with softer, more subdued tones compared to the image I colored with
the alcohol markers. The markers give you a very different look for
when you want colors to be bolder. Let me add just a couple of words about
storing these new alcohol-based markers. Make sure you store your
your Exclusive Inks marker sets on their sides to ensure both tips
stay well-inked. Also, when using the markers on artwork, make sure you
let the ink dry before putting your artwork in an envelope or Memory Protector.
The ink dries quickly, but it will smear when it’s wet.
As you can see, our alcohol-based markers are ideal tools for creating a
smooth look that is sure to make your designs unique and beautiful!
If you’d like to make perfectly-blended and bold artwork like this banner
for your home, talk with your Close To My Heart Independent Consultant
about purchasing the necessary supplies. Or, go to closetomyheart.com to
browse the pages of our Idea Book for more project inspiration!