I'm up on the TLC Designs Blog today!! Are you following the TLC Designs Blog? If not, you should! The other design team members post some of the most inspiring creations plus you don't want to miss any TLC Designs news!!
Today I thought I'd show you some of the fun things you can do with a Copic Colorless Blender. I only use copics so not sure if other brands of alcohol markers have this type of marker/refill or not. I have tried some of the techniques with rubbing alcohol and it did provide some results.
These techniques are not ones that I've come up with on my own. Over the many, many years that I've been using copics I have taken many online coloring classes and this is always something that is discussed. I just thought I'd share as there are always new crafters who might not know about these techniques or maybe it's a technique you've forgotten about.
Here's a sample sheet of some of the fun things you can achieve with colorless blender. Some you use the marker and then many you use the refill on a textile surface, like a cloth, denim, etc. or even use stencils!
If you are using the colorless blender marker for your effect you can color up the entire image first. I did this technique on One Eyed Harry, Ink Me In Pink Freebie and Foraging Fairies. Here you can see them all colored up, which looks good but with a few little touches you can add to them!
My next step using the colorless blender marker was to just have fun! I started with One Eyed Harry and added lots of dots.
You can vary the appearance of the dots by how long you leave the marker on the image and also how hard you press. I just think it's so fun to see the texture appear. It does take a few seconds for the alcohol to dry so it doesn't appear instantlly. You can also go back and do it over again if the effect isn't quite what you want.
I added some dots to Foraging Fairies flower and outfit and some designs in the wings. So fun!!
Next comes some of my favorite ways to use the colorless blender refill. For this technique you need to just color the area you are going to add texture to first. With this technique the colorless blender goes over other parts of the image so you don't want it to be colored. Once the colorless blender dries, you can color over it like normal.
You can use any number of "cloth" for this technique. Each one will yield a different texture. Here's a few of what I typically use- an old dishcloth, both sides give different looks, an old towel and a piece of denim that I use for when I want to add texture to "jeans".
I colored up the whale from Fancy Fin and then added some colorless blender to the towel. You don't need much of it and it will evaporate quickly so be sure to apply it to your image quickly. Just like with the marker, you can achieve different effects for how hard you press and also how long you leave it on the image.
Next I used the smoother side of a dishcloth for the cute koala from Festive Friends.
For Dragon Baby Greetings I used the "scrubby" side of the dishcloth. I love how this particular dishcloth gives a rougher, scaly look.
My last example uses the cute Poetic Pixie. I used the towel again for some fun texture on his hat. Be careful if using reds, they tend to bleed quite a bit so I always leave a little extra space to compensate for that. After the image is dry, then you can go back and fill any any spots by the edges that might be blank.
I hope this inspires you to try some new things and add texture to your creations! If this is a new technique, take some time to just practice and play around first!
Have a super day!!
