Basic Colouring Tips, Using Alcohol Markers

Colouring is one of the most popular past times for crafters. While we all like to save a dollar or two, sometimes spending less on inferior-quality art supplies can lead to disappointment from the disheartening results they give. In short, you get what you pay for, so consider what you buy before you buy. This is true for all colouring techniques, not just alcohol markers.

I've learnt that sometimes buying cheap only means you need to spend the money all over again to buy better quality supplies so you can get the quality results you should get from the effort you put into your project. This is especially critical for beginners who are trying to focus on their techniques and results. A beginner needs to see positive results from the effort they put in but if they're using substandard supplies, they're very likely to be battling their tools and getting substandard results through no fault of their own, other than they tried to start with cheap supplies. They could very well give up before they've had a chance to learn. Sadly, if you start with rubbish, you'll probably end up with rubbish.

Alcohol markers for beginners: tips, and tricks.

The quality of your marker matters!
You need to consider if you want great results first time, or do you want to struggle with your marker and ink quality as you're learning? Alcohol ink quality will affect the quality of how the ink blends. I've personally tried all levels of markers, from the generic, Chinese cheapies right through to Copics, and almost all of the markers I own will blend with each other, except for "el cheapo" generic markers. The branded markers leave a solid saturation while the cheaper ones can leave a very blotchy finish when dried, almost like the ink has only been absorbed into some of the cardstock, all on a very small scale.

There's no need to splash out on Copic markers straight away. Brands like Bic or Sharpie have a good enough ink in them for blending, and I still use these when I'm using the more expensive brands of markers. They won't have every colour you'll need as a more experienced colourist, but they're a great starting point for the very beginner to experiment with. Add in the fact that they will blend with the better markers you may buy later on and it makes them a good choice that doesn't end up in the bin in a fit of frustration. The generic brands will also have another issue in a short period of time, and that's the colours of the ink will change. I've had my Bics and Sharpies for years without any problems, but the generics I bought to try out changed colour in just a couple of years. One colour even faded to nothing!

Paper isn't just paper.

Alcohol markers need alcohol-friendly, coated cardstock to blend well. Many will try to colour on a coarsely toothed, uncoated cardstock that is more suited to pencil colouring. These cardstocks will absorb the alcohol ink unevenly, causing bleeding and blotching as the ink is absorbed into the textured surface and as it dries. Dedicated alcohol ink cardstock has a super smooth surface and will absorb the ink more slowly and evenly out of the nib, while uncoated papers will suck the nib dry in no time. Marker nibs are designed to release the ink gradually, and uncoated surfaces work against that technology, leaving the colourist with a drier than normal nib that refuses to blend properly. An excellent brand of alcohol-friendly cardstock is X-Press It but Spectrum Noir and a few other companies also make dedicated alcohol-friendly cardstocks.

Laying down your ink.

It's easy to think any old direction is fine to apply your ink, but that will just leave lines and patches all over your work. Think of colouring with alcohol markers as filling and saturating an area with colour. Start in one place and slowly but steadily move the pen across the area to be coloured. With pencils, we're used to going back and forth quickly to fill an area. Doing the same with markers will apply wet ink to areas that have already dried. Alcohol ink deepens in intensity the more layers you apply so, if you keep going over the same areas repeatedly, you'll end up with a blotchy finish. The best way to fill an area with a solid and even colour is to move the nib slowly so the paper has time to absorb the ink in the nib's tip, applying the second pass of the pen directly next to the previously applied ink. And, allow the paper to absorb the colour as you approach an edge. The ink will spread slightly as you work so allowing the ink to move naturally towards the edge of the area, rather than colouring right up to the edge of your piece, will help reduce bleeding. In the case of edges, less can be more.

Blending colour.

A good colour blend is achieved when the ink remains slightly damp as you apply the lighter colour. Uncoated surfaces, because they dry more quickly and unevenly, inhibit the inks from mixing together to create a smooth transition of colour.

Allowing one colour to dry completely before you add the second colour will also affect your blending results. While you can technically go over alcohol ink a second or third time, it'll never truly blend as smoothly as it would if the ink colours are applied at the same time, ie while they're still yet to fully dry.

Stamping and alcohol markers.

You need a specialty stamping ink for use with alcohol markers, but it's probably not the stamping ink you're thinking of. An ink like Stazon will react with the alcohol ink in the marker and will smudge and smear. Dye inks will not, and they dry quickly so you can start colouring sooner. The most common and most inexpensive brands of dye ink are the Memento or Ranger Archival inks. Other companies make their own dye or hybrid inks, but I've found these two brands meet all of my basic stamping needs without a massive price tag. And, both of these brands have re-inkers available, so the ink pad can last many years instead of being just another consumable crafting item that needs regular replacement.

Stamped images are usually pretty small and don't allow a lot of room for blending. This means any blending needs to be done in a very restricted area, but it can be done. Using just two colours, one darker and one lighter can be enough to get the shading right. Trying to use three colours in a small space can lead to an over-saturation of the paper that leads to the ink bleeding outside the lines. Blending the lighter colour in with the darker colour will create the mid-tone colour anyway!

Never used embossing powder when you plan to use alcohol markers. The plastic embossing powder melts when it comes into contact with the alcohol and tiny amounts of the plastic will be absorbed into the nib of your pen. This will then settle in the nib, blocking the flow of the ink out of the nib and you'll need to replace the nib to get the ink to flow properly again. It literally blocks the fibres of the nib and it can't removed, even by rubbing the pen off on scrap paper.

Dark stamped images versus light coloured stamped images.

There's absolutely no reason to always stamp your images in black. Using greys, light blues, light browns or light pinks can give a more muted, more realistic finish that is often referred to as "no line colouring". Using the lighter stamping inks allows the alcohol ink to absorb into the outline, giving the look of a line that is a darker colour of the colour you're using. The line won't disappear completely, but it will give a more realistic look that a black outline just can't match. There are many tutorials already available for "no line colouring" and is an artform all of its own, especially when compared to the "cartoon-like look" that a regular black outline gives. Personal experimentation is the best way to see if lines or no lines are your preference.

Digital Stamps and alcohol markers.

Digital stamps are used in the same way as regular stamps, and you can read more about how they're used in this post. They can be made larger so they're easier to colour but what you print them with matters. Some will say how easy it is to use a regular inkjet printer when they use alcohol markers but many, including me, can never get the blend right before the inkjet ink started to smudge and run. Instead, if you want a stress free, smudge free experience with digital images, you're best to print with a laser printer. Using toner to print eliminates all the stress of worrying if you're adding too much alcohol ink to your cardstock, especially as a beginner. The toner doesn't dissolve as alcohol is applied in the same way inkjet ink does.

Colour light areas first!

Colouring the lighter areas of an image goes a long way to stop the darker colours from bleeding into the lighter areas. And, allowing the lighter areas to dry fully before colouring an area directly adjacent will also help prevent any bleeding between sections. In fact, a good rule of thumb is to colour different areas, well away from each other, as you work, not just when using lights against the darks. This helps prevent colours bleeding and mixing in general.

Shading and Shadows.

Some teaches will teach to colour the darker colours around the edges and fill the centre with the light, while others will use underpainting to add their shadows. Both are fine, if that's the look you want, but how often do you see light hitting an object from all directions at the same time? And, underpainting can be really hard to blend out in a small image like one you've stamped. Different coloring methods, like colouring lessons, are just not suitable for all colouring projects. You need to colour to suit the project rather than trying to apply one specific colouring method to every project. 

For more realistic colouring in smaller images, consider choosing and using an artificial light source as a reference for where you add your shadows. An imaginary, artificial light source for your image will mean that one side of your image is darker than the other and the placement of shadows will not always fall on the outer edges of you image's segments. This concept lends itself to all images, regardless of size and allows for blending in even the smallest of areas. A simple example of the use of a light source (and the use of 3 coloured alcohol markers for blending) can be found in this video.


Finally, don't give up part way through your project! Half-coloured images will often look "all wrong", but that's OK, they're not finished. Have faith in your own abilities and keep going. Finish the image and, if you're still not satisfied, deepen shadows or lighten highlights with a light layer of pencil. It can be very hard to achieve a perfect blend, a deep enough shadow or a bright enough highlight with markers alone. A coloured pencil can smooth things out to where you're satisfied enough to feel a sense of accomplishment, just add it lightly and build the colour slowly. 

In the image above, I coloured using all three common techniques; the three colour blend, colouring all edges darker and underpainting techniques. And, I still finished the flower off with white pencil highlights. This just shows that you can incorporate all sorts of techniques to achieve the look you're after, all in the one project!

Don't forget, if you have any questions or problems, please reach out and leave a comment below. We will will reply as soon as we can. Or, if you're a little shy, you're welcome to contact us using the contact form for a more private chat via email.