Tutorial - Tip to Tip blending

Happy Friday everyone! Today is my day (Kylie) for a DT post for Mad for Markers. I have a more complete tutorial on Tip to Tip blending for you today.

Tip to Tip blending is used when you need to create a colour or shade when you don't have that particular colour. It is a good technique to learn when you are just starting out with Copics and don't have very many yet (although, let me warn you - once you have some, there is no going back, you will be addicted and will want many, many more). I just want to add that tip to tip blending will not harm your markers in any way! I promise.

Today I am going to show you how to use the technique on hair and clothing. Here is my little Magnolia Tilda image ready to be coloured. I have stamped her in Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto Xpress It blending card.



I am going to give her brunette hair. To do this I will use marker colours E57 and E53. Normally you would use both of these colours and also E55 as your mid tone but we will do it with just the E57 and E53.

First, I start by putting down some E57 colour (the darkest colour) in areas that would be the shadows - that would be around her face and any low points of her hair (clicking on the image will make it larger if you can't quite see the detail).



Once this is done, then I take my E53 and my E57 markers and touch their tips together. This transfers some of the darker ink onto my lighter marker. When I then put this to the cardstock, the darker colour will bleed off first, becoming lighter to the original colour. So touch your marker tip on the dark colour on your card that you have already laid down and draw it out towards where you would like the colour to be lightest. Continue to do this on all of the darker areas towards the lighter areas.



Here you can see a bit more clearly where I need to blend



If the colours don't look blended enough, go over them with the lighter marker until they fade



And here we have finished hair!



Next, her clothing. I always like to choose my papers before I chose marker colours so the clothing blends nicely with the rest of the project. For her dress and headband I have chosen B23, B21 and B60.



First I decide where the darker shadow and low points will be on her dress and lay some B23 (my darkest shade) down there first.



I have then blended this out with feather strokes with B21. This draws out the B23 colour a little more and the lighter edges of the colour blend a little more easily with the lighter colour. I have also coloured the underskirt of her dress with B23 and B21 as I had decided this part of her dress would be darker.



Next, I touch the tips of markers B21 and B60 together to transfer some darker colour (B21) to the lighter markers (B60).



Then starting at the darker part already coloured, I draw the colour towards the middle so the dark colour runs out and the lighter colour is on the more prominent areas of her dress.



I continue to do this around her dress, working from the darker areas towards where the light would lay (so, from 'seam' outwards, from top of should down, from pleats down). If you've added too much colour or want to blend a little more, you can use your 0 colourless blender on her dress where the light would hit it (down the centre).



And here she is completed! I haven't coloured the "lace" areas of her dress as I plan on adding glitter there on the finished card.



A little closer on the bottom of her dress



Copics used
Hair - E57, E53
Skin - E21, E00, E000, R20
Dress - B23, B21, B60
Flower - BG 13, BG10, B23, B21

Other materials used in card:
Bazill White cardstock for card base, SU Kraft cardstock for matting, Magnolia Hoppy Easter patterned papers, Kaisercraft pearls, lace paper doily and ribbon.