Today I have a different Copic blending technique to show you ... it's called flick fleathering. This technique is good for coloring larger areas that may otherwise be difficult to get an easy blend, OR trying to blend two totally different color families. The long flicked strokes will cover larger areas of your paper quicker, too, than trying to color in small circular motions. Here are the basic strokes to use (they resemble grass!):
Starting at the bottom of your paper and using almost the whole side of the brush tip of your lightest color, flick your brush strokes upward, with the heaviest pressure against the marker tip and the most concentration of color being at the bottom. Use less pressure towards the end of your upward flicking motion, so the mark is narrower and the color is lighter towards the top of the stroke.
You can then turn the paper around and using your second color, make the same strokes towards the first strokes (I've just separated the colors in the photo above, so you can see the strokes easier). When using two different colors, such as the yellow and pink I used in this sample, the blended result will be a new orangey color in the center! This is an easy way to achieve a natural color graduation, as you would see in nature:
You can keep adding color from each end, until you achieve the color intensity you are looking for. If your colors aren't blended as nicely as you'd like with just these two strokes, you can take the broad tip of your lighter maker and rub it across those strokes that meet in the middle. The harder pressure you can apply with the broad tip will help blend the colors a little easier.
For this technique you would generally use colors on the lighter end of the scale -- Copic numbers ending in 1, 2 or 3. These tend to blend together a little easier, for a more natural looking blend. That's not to say higher (darker) numbers can't be used, because I DID break that rule of thumb with my card today! Memory Box's Open Poppy is a perfect, beautiful stamp to try this technique with. I chose Copic colors to match the light and dark rose colors in these beautiful Jenni Bowlin 4" Mini Papers.
The photo below shows my first flick stroke with my lighter R83 marker (bottom petal):
I started the lighter color on the outer edges of the flower petals, turned my paper around, and then used the darker R37 towards the inside of the flower:
With these darker contrasting colors, I DID use the broad tip to help blend the colors in the middle:
T7 was used in the center of the flower, after the photo below:
After coloring the poppy I cut it out, bent the petals, and applied Black Diamond Stickles to the center -- this made the poppy really POP! To finish my card, I used a Jenni Bowlin Brown Butterfly (brown spots on cream), because that's what I had on hand. I easily could have chosen the pink, red or black butterflies Ellen carries, though! I colored my cream/brown butterfly with Copic R81 so it would match my poppy and the patterned papers:
Then I used Ranger Glossy Accents to coat the butterfly AND to adhere my chipboard letters to the lace:
The Tim Holtz Grungeboard Alpha Minis were given a coat of Claudine Hellmuth's Painterly Pink Studio Acrylic Paint and once dry, Fruit Punch Stickles applied on top:
Some knotted natural crochet lace finishes this Mother's Day card. I hope you'll have fun experimenting with different colors using this technique!
Stamps: Memory Box Open Poppy
Paper: Neenah Natural White, Jenni Bowlin Red/Black Line Ext II & Vintage Black Mini Papers, Memory Box Begonia notecard
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad, Copic markers-R81, R83, R37, T7
Accessories: Tim Holtz Grungeboard Alpha Minis, Claudine Hellmuth Studio Acrylic Paint-Painterly Pink; Jenni Bowlin Brown Butterflies, Ranger Fruit Punch & Black Diamond Stickles, Ranger Glossy Accents, May Arts Natural Crochet Lace
