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30 Day Craft Room Cleanse - it begins April 01 2012

Letraset Aqua Markers - yum yum!

OK - the lovely Jane Davenport introduced me to these, I couldn't resist after seeing the amazing journal art she produced with them - so being me, I ordered ahem... a few.  When they arrived I stared at them and wondered what I was going to use them for - I'm not quite in Jane's league so drawing directly into my journal with these was a little intimidating.  So ...... I stamped on some of my normal card and started to colour - OMG what had I done, they were not what I expected at all - the paper pilled from the marker tips, the blender left patchy sort of separated looking colours everywhere and they were blotchy. Nooooooo - now what?

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Right first things first - browse Google and find out what other people were doing - hmm not as much info as I hoped there would be - check Jane's clip - not using them that way yet hmmm - in a last ditch attempt I read in the instructions - I KNOW groundbreaking huh!  Buried within the instructions was the comment 'recommended for use with watercolour paper' - OK I had that, thought I'd give it a try before listing these on eBay - but how much difference could paper make right?

Answer: The paper makes a HUGE difference when using Aqua Markers - I turned from disappointed to lovin' them in minutes - simply beautiful!  If you are going to spend the $$$ on the Aqua Markers then you MUST spend the $$$ and buy watercolour paper or card to go with them - without it - don't bother!  I used the Arches 185GSM smooth watercolour paper and it was fabulous.

I'll pop back and do a full review of these in a later post - just wanted to share the following tips and this amazing technique with you all ASAP - Aqua Markers applied with a Waterbrush - so worth it.

What I used:

  • Aquamarkers in the following colours (available from the Institute of Cute in Australia or direct from Letraset in the UK:
    Leaves: Celery & Fern Green
    Flowers: Rose Carmine, Scarlet & Mauve
    Hair: Mahogany & Sunburst Yellow
    Skin: Mauve, Eggshell, Cherry Blossom & Mocha
    Wings: Peacock Blue, Teal & Spring Green
    Dress: Peacock Blue & Spring Green
    Background: Lamp Black
  • Arches 185GSM Watercolor Smooth paper
  • Versafine Onyx Black stamp Pad
  • Sweet Pea Stamp - The Arrival of Spring by Connie Fong
  • Spellbinders Nestabilities die -
  • PanPastel - Dark Brown
  • Copic Spica pen - clear

Things you might want to know about Aqua Markers:

 MUST use waterproof ink - either Ranger Archival, Stazon or Archival Versafine

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 MUST use watercolour paper/card - I really liked the Arches smooth 185GSM

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 These are amazing when applied with a waterbrush, I scribbled on a piece of acetate and used the waterbrush to pick the colour up from there - allows you so much control over how much colour you lay down.

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 I found that laying down a light wash of your base colour first, gave the best results.

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 The initial layer allowed for super smooth blending of subsequent colours.

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 Streaks, spots - forgot to blend?  No fear - just dab at the edges with a clean waterbrush and they magically blend into the background, even when dried.

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 You can add additional colours direct over the top and if you want them to subtly blend, just dab the edges with a clean waterbrush and the colours blend at the edges only - very handy for cheek blush.

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 You can use the broader tip to lay down more intense colour, when used over already wet and coloured areas, it gives the illusion of shades of the same colour - wonderful for subtle shadows.

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As with all colour it's easier to add more than to take away - with these markers they allow you to layer the colour - you can let it dry and keep adding more over the top - beautiful.   Enlarge photo and look at the area under her neck and the arms, layers upon layers.

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 For intense colour apply fine tip direct to dry paper, for colour graduation continue applying colour with waterbrush - this gives different shades of the same colour - perfectly coordinating!

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 To keep edges crisp - try not to work on adjacent areas while both areas are wet  eg: working on the hair while the face is still wet can result in colour bleeding - might not be what you wanted.  

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 Up close you can see how beautifully these have blended - simply WOW!

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Now my image colouring above is just a little snapshot - you can watch the whole thing and get all the tips on my YouTube clip below...

 

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