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Saturday, June 18, 2011

Copics!

So I took my first Copic marker class tonight at Cool Scrapbook Stuff in Poway (San Diego), CA. If you're local, you may know it. I'm not quite sure how I feel about it yet. I thought our instructor was pretty good (I'll add a link to her blog later...posting from my phone right now). She was really energetic and was willing to take time with us individually, so that helped. All of her samples were beautiful, but I felt like I was back in kindergarten again trying to color inside the lines...and failing miserably. I'm going to blame the ink though. It has a life of it's own and actually moves around, which is what makes the markers so cool!

For those of you who aren't familiar with Copics (hope that didn't sound snotty), here's a little background. I didn't know much before class besides the fact that they are blendable alcohol ink markers that are really expensive. I think they were originally used by Anime and Manga artists, designers, etc., so you know they're good. The sketch markers run $5-7, and from what I can tell they seem to be the most popular. It seems the value comes in that they last a while and they create beautiful images. The ink can sit unused for up to 3 years (but at that price you need to use them). They're refillable, and from what I can tell a refill is about the same price of the marker but can refill a sketch marker 6-8 times. That's a great value when you consider the price of the marker. There's lots more to know like how to understand colors and other useful stuff, but it may be better to take a class.

Have any of you used Copics? I'm thinking about taking a blending class or a card making class next to try a variety of techniques. I would love any advice or resources you know of. I'll probably be scoping the web for tutorials this weekend and searching for places I can get the markers a bit cheaper. Can't wait to hear what knowledge you all have about this!

From my happy place to yours,
Debbie :)

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