Today I want to talk a bit about creating your own Copic marker set and how I built my collection. Please note this is just my own personal experience and opinion. Everyone has their own way of doing things, their own preferences, and what might be right or wrong for me, could be wrong or right for you. 🙂
When I was first introduced to Copic markers, I had the option of a pretty good deal on sets of 36 Ciao markers. Over a somewhat short period of time, I purchased three sets. While sets can be a great purchase for some, I quickly realized this was probably not the best choice for me. Yes, I had a decent collection in a short period of time, but I couldn’t achieve the depth and shadow I was seeing in other artists’ work. So I began to dig deeper into the color code and blending groups. I examined which types of images I most like to color. And I then made more educated decisions, filling in the missing pieces of those color blends I thought would be most useful for my work. (I also decided I preferred Sketch to Ciao and have been slowly transitioning my collection.)
Would I recommend sets to beginning Copic marker users? Yes and no. I would not recommend the bigger sets like I purchased. I would, however recommend the smaller, 3-piece blending sets. As these may be difficult to find on-line or in stores, you can easily build your own collection. Consider what you like most to color. People, nature, animals? Choose blending groups from within the color families that fit your preferences. You can find 3-piece blending sets on the Copic website HERE. Browse the colors to see which appeal to you most. Create a list and easily purchase the markers individually when sets are not available.
Here are just a few of my personal favorite blends and markers. Notice that some of my choices are within the same color family (E00, E01, E11 and YG03, YG06, YG09) and others are not (Y21, E31, E35 and RV32, R83, R85). Over time, I’ve come to like some blends more than others through experimenting and noting favorable combinations used by other artists.
Light skin tone:
Shadow and cheeks:
Blond hair:
Flowers:
Leaves:
The goal is to choose a light, mid and dark value. It’s easiest to choose from within the same color family, such as my Yellow Green choices above. Do you have to stick to one color family? Absolutely not. See my pink flower combo above. My lighter value is from the Red Violet family with the mid and dark values from the Reds.
I also highly recommend purchasing a Colorless Blender. It’s great for blending out backgrounds to white, correcting mistakes, creating texture and so much more. You can read more about the Colorless Blender HERE.
Below is a simplified summary from Copic with tips and recommendations for creating your own Copic marker set. You can find even more info, including videos and color charts HERE.
By individually choosing markers, you will create your very own personalized set, meeting your own specifications and creating a set you will truly love. I hope this was helpful!
Thanks so much for stopping by!
