(Re)Discovering Copic Markers

Long ago I admired a friend’s art and she used what Copic markers. So I went out and bought a few of my own—like maybe 20 over a few months.

I didn’t know much about alcohol markers—or the differences in kinds of ink at all—so and I’m sorry to say I didn’t really learn more. All I could see was that they came out really splotchy when I tried to draw with them on drawing paper and that I would need far more than 20 colors if I wanted to create anything interesting—and they were expensive. Didn’t seem worth it to me.

It didn’t take long to pretty much abandoned my small collection of Copic markers and focus on creating with other materials.

Fast forward to the present. I’m a bit further along on my art journey, having fallen much further down the drawing rabbit hole since then. One day recently, I started playing with those old Copic markers in my sketchbook. I was pleased to find that 10 years later they still worked as if new (turns out their caps are air proof), and I instantly became intrigued with the way they layered color.

The more I played, the more first realized that I did in fact need more colors! So I added to my collection just a bit. And then, I began to discover the possibilities.

You can create patterns of color on top of color.

You can put one color on top of another color to create amazing new colors.

One color on top of itself becomes darker shades of itself.

AND Copics offer some interesting possibilities to layer with different mediums—like those Posca Pens, for example.

I love to discover new things!

My report so far is that these markers are cool.  There’s definitely a learning curve for how to use them and I can’t say that I’ve mastered them AT ALL. But. I am making up for my lack of curiosity way back when. I’ve found artists who are doing great work with Copics, tons of YouTube videos for how to use them, and of course I started exploring on my own.

You know, art making is just one endless journey of discovery. New materials and new ways to use color definitely excite me, but I think I’m looking forward most of all to discovering not just what the materials can do—but what I can do with them. That is, how can I apply Copic markers with my own creative voice—which I suspect will involve mixing with other media.

I’ll keep you posted.