Layering and Shading With Markers

Welcome back, hope everyone has had a great Veteran's Day and great weekend! Today's blog is about how to build up colors and shading using markers. This can be tricky depending on your markers, how many colors you have to choose from, and the type of paper you're coloring on. So we'll just go over the basics and then have you experiment and play around with it.

• First of all, I always keep a scratch piece of paper next to my poster to test out any layering ideas I have before committing to my poster.
• Secondly, I start with my light colors and then work darker. Can't go back once you color too dark.
• I have 3 options when choosing which color to shade with. If I have a darker version of the same color, I'll use that (e.g. dark brown when shading a light brown object). If not, I'll layer and shade by using analogous colors (these are similar colors next to each other on the color wheel). So if I'm shading a yellow object, I'd shade by adding a layer of orange. Red object-purple shading. You get the idea right? Another option is to shade by layering with a gray marker. 

Like I said before, feel free to experiment with how to layer each color on that piece of scratch paper. Play around with adding layers of color while the marker is still wet on the page (for more blending between the light and dark color, you can go back over with the lighter marker) or see if you like it better dry. Just be careful to not scrub at the paper while its still wet if it looks like its ruining the paper.

Good luck with your layering, let me know how it's going or ask me a question in the comment section below. Have a great week!

Erin