Greetings Copic readers! In our previous blog, we sketched a decorative monogram design using the template found here in our line art gallery. Today, we’re going to color our monogram design using acrea and alcohol markers, seeing how we can combine the Sketching Grays 6pc set with the bright colors in the acrea Vivid 6pc set. And with that, let’s pick up our markers and get started!.

The first step when starting to color anything is to have your color swatches available. If you haven’t already swatched your colors (like on the Copic Color Swatch Cards), then swatching them on a separate sheet of paper or in a designated area like on this template is your first step! The artist here decided to swatch their acrea colors in one area and their alcohol markers on the other. This allows for plenty of space to see what the pure color really looks like, as well as room for labeling/naming each color.

After you’ve swatched your colors, the next step is to use your alcohol markers first. Alcohol marker ink soaks into the paper and is highly blendable by nature, so we recommend these markers be applied first in order to prevent any nib damages. Much like the ink, alcohol marker nibs are also very absorbent, and the thick opaque pigment in acrea markers can clog or otherwise damage the alcohol marker nib, especially the flexible Super Brush nib!

Notice how, in the timelapse above, the artist colored the “C” with dark N8 and “M” with the mid-tone color N4. This is a great way to see how acrea will look different on top of a darker color versus a lighter one! For example, Lemon Yellow will stand out more on top of N8 versus N2 or N4. The same goes for Sky Blue, for example. This vibrant blue will be easier to see against either pale N0 and N2 versus the darker N6 and N8.

After the alcohol marker layer has been applied to both designs, it’s time to add acrea! All 6 colors in the Vivid 6 pc set are used for each monogram, and for the “CA” design, the artist began with Sky Blue and continued to add different dots, shading, and other marks as they went. Some of the colors, like Flamingo Pink, stand out boldly against the dark N8 “C”. Other colors like Lemon Yellow also stand out more against the darker gray values.  

For the next monogram, the same 6 colors were applied; only Tomato Red was used to accent the curvy “S” instead of the darker Sky Blue. WIth the value of the block letter “M” being mid-tone (N4), colors like Leaf Green and Mandarin Orange don’t stand out as much against it since they share a similar value. Same goes for Lemon Yellow, which is why it’s used primarily on top of the darker areas of N6 and N8. 

Coloring each of these monogram designs using the combination of grays and vivid colors gives an artist a great exercise to better understand color value and color placement within your drawing. Color combinations like the above “CA” produce more contrast, while “SM” is more mono-tone. Experimenting with not only letters, but also shapes and values can help you become a stronger illustrator! 

And with that, we wrap up today’s blog! To give this lesson a try yourself, download the template here from our line art gallery and print it on a thick sheet of cardstock suitable for alcohol and paint markers. We recommend either Neenah Bright White Premium Cardstock 65 lb. paper (which was used in this blog) or Neenah Exact Premium Cardstock 110 lb. paper. Then, use your Sketch or other Copic alcohol markers first and your acrea colors second to make your own version of these monograms! 

Until next time, don’t forget to follow us across our social media channels @copic_official_us, and sign up for exclusive discounts and prizes by joining the Copic Club! One last thing - use #copicwithus or tag us @copic_official_us for a chance to have your drawings or workspace featured on our Copic US social media channels.

Thank you so much for reading and enjoying Copic markers as much as we do! 😀