Hello hello.  A few of you may know I just took the AMAZING Mermaid Circus class online with Jane Davenport and Teesha Moore - swoon!  I've had a ball, though in the usual Sparkle Tart fashion I don't think I'll ever finish all of the lessons!  One of the challenges was to draw a face and shade using Copic markers, I won't be telling you Jane's secrets for doing this but I will be showing you my results.  

Now if you follow my blog you will know I've been taking a bunch of online classes learning to draw, I've taken my first tentative steps and can see myself improving - which doesn't mean I'm not scared and hesitant about adding colour, because I am - for me drawing and colouring seem to be 2 different animals!  I feel my drawing of faces is progressing faster than my colouring of faces - but I am enjoying learning about both facets immensely.  So I watched the lesson, used Jane's face stencil to add the shape, absorbed the ideas and started colouring.

What I used:

Copic Markers used:

• Skin Layer 1: Bvoo, E00, E01, E11, G00
• Hair: G46, G85
• Eyes: G000, G00 (whites of eyes)
• Skin Layer 2: E00, E01, E11, E13, E35
• Lips: E11, R22, RV34, E43
• Doodling: Copic Multi Liner  1.0 & 0.3

Prismacolor Pencils to enhance Copic Colours:

• Lips: Mulberry, Dahlia Purple, Black Grape, Black & White
• Eyes: Lavender, Lilac, Parma Violet, Violet & White
• Skin: Light Peach, Peach,  Burnt Ochre & Dahlia Purple
• Seaweed in Hair: Light Aqua, Neon Green, Aquamarine and Peacock Green

Other materials:

• Artist Cellar stencil 'Jane Girl series'
• Silks (on Hair): Teal Zircon, Fern, Celadon, Mallard Green, Key Lime and French Lilac

I used E00 to trace the face shape through the stencil, then used G00 to add hair directly to the image (very brave of me - usually I fuss with the hair in pencil for ages - before committing!) I then used Copic Markers in Bvoo, E00, E01, E11, G00 to add the initial layer of colour to the face.  I added some interesting doodling to give the idea of seaweed or kelp and then I stopped.  I got this far and was so intensely happy I could NOT add any more layers - I was too scared I'd ruin it.  

So she sat there for a good month (perhaps a tad more) before I gathered my courage (made a scanned copy in case I really killed it) and picked up my Copics and added another BOLDER layer of colour.
For the second layer of Copic skin colour I used: E00, E01, E11, E13, E35 Yes there were a few moments of panic and a blip or 2 where things ended up a little shiny - but isn't she dramatic!

As a final touch I finished the background doodles and added some subtle touches to the face using Prismacolor Pencils and ta-dah you have my finished Mermaid.  

I am still playing with the idea of adding a touch of doodling or text to the darker regions of her hair... what do you think - is she done or is there room for a little more?