Shading with Copics by Jane Johnson

I have received a number of emails recently asking how I shade around images with copics and rather than reply to each one individually with complicated sounding instructions I thought I would create a picture tutorial showing how I do it. I would like to point out that I am by no means an expert and this is just the way I have come to do the shading after a lot of practice!

1.

First you will need to completely colour your chosen image. Here I have used the gorgeous Nora Blowing Kisses and coloured her to match the papers I am using. When colouring an image you must decide where the light source is coming from so that you know where to shade and highlight. On this image my light source is coming from the top left which is why the area around her nose is the lightest.

2.

Bearing in mind that my light source is coming from the top left of the image this means that all the shadows I add need to be underneath things and to the right of things. I have used W5 to draw under and to the right of the image lines as shown in the above photo. It is also important to have shadows around the feet as shown and remember to shadow any other objects - in this case you can see I have created a shadow of the heart on the "ground". The other one does not need a shadow as it is above her hand.

3.

Next, using W7 I add some deeper shading in some areas. On this image I have added it around the feet as in the photo above..........

.............. and in what would be the darkest spot under her ponytail shown in the circle on the above photo.

4.

Next, using W3 go over all of the lines drawn with W5 and extend out beyond those first lines.

Here's a close up to show what I mean. In the above photo you can see the original lines drawn with W5 and the new lines drawn with W3 over and beyond them.

5.

Then, using W1 go over the lines again and extend them beyond the W3 lines.

Here's another close up. As you can see the W1 lines extend out beyond the W5 and W3 lines and have begun to blend together to form a nice shadow.

6.

The final step is to take your 0 blender and go over the shading to blend it together and fade the edges of the shading out. You need to go over all the shading lines but be careful not to go over into the image lines as you will ruin your image colouration. The above photo shows the completed shading. As you can see there are no harsh lines left and you have created the illusion of soft shadows.

Here is the image on my finished card. I hope you find my tutorial useful! As well as the lovely Nora I have also used the cute hearts and endless hearts dies from Whiff of Joy. For details of papers etc please see my blog. Thanks for looking!

Jane x

http://janeslovelycards.blogspot.com