Always great to learn new things.

If you have been reading my blogs then you may have noticed my art moving from painting with acrylics to discovering the Zentangle drawing methods and that leading me to adding watercolor paint to images that I have added tangle patterns to. Then I took two classes from Joanne Sharpe and learned some very interesting lettering techniques.

I use Micron pens for my ink and watercolor paint or Tombow watercolor markers to add my color. The watercolor paper that I draw on really wears down the tips of the pens and they wear out before they run out.  Not good!  I needed to find something that would give me the color I was looking for but didn't need watercolor paper.  Strathmore makes a beautiful smooth Bristol paper that is so wonderful to draw on but the watercolor just makes a mess when I try to move it around with a paint brush.

Joanne Sharpe mentioned Copic Markers in her classes.  I had never heard about them but added a black one to my drawing pens.  The pen was expensive but refillable and I ended up going to Michaels and buying a few more colors.  Those 40% off coupons bring the price of one marker down to about what I would pay for one tube of paint.  There are over 300 marker colors!  Anyway, I tried them, and they worked beautifully, but it took me a while to figure out the blending and shading that just comes natural to me with my painting.  Again, learning new things.

I was really surprised to see the Copic company offering Certification classes right here in Regina.  I jumped at the chance to take the classes and signed up for both the Standard and Intermediate Certification Classes.  They say I am going to learn shading, color shadows, composition and design, all good things to review and relearn with a new medium.  When I'm done the classes they will add me to their list of Certified Copic Instructors and  I can add Copic markers to my list of classes I teach.

When I have some new Art work done with my Copic markers I will post them to show you and you can tell me what you think.

Hope your day is a great one, Lori