Jennifer Dove’s Copic Corner – Blender Solution
http://just4funcrafts.blogspot.com
Welcome back to the Copic Corner. There are so many things to talk about. Let’s talk first about your Blender Pen, the one marked “0”. A lot of people think because this is called a “blender” that you use it to blend your colors together. This is far from true. The Blender Pen is more like a displacer or an eraser. If you try to blend with it, the results will be lighter and blotchy. There are many fun uses for this pen and I recommend everyone own at least one, as well as the Blender Solution refill. The refill comes in both a 25 ml container for easy refilling of your pen, or a 200 ml bottle. I own them both for different reasons. The smaller bottle makes refilling your pen a breeze, but the bigger bottle I use for texturing. Let’s talk a little about how to use them correctly.
Items you will need:
Blender Solution (either bottle)
Blender Pen
Some Copics
Your favorite Copic paper Texture rags
An image on your favorite compatible paper
Optional materials: Terry Clothe (wash cloth rag)
Burlap rag
Denim rag
Or any material that has texture
Dauber top for your 200 ml bottle of Blender solution (Tsukineko sells one I use)
Copic Multiliner Pen
Texturing with terry cloth and blending solution
I created a sheet with squares of which I colored in with a single layer of color. Next, using the Multiliner Pen, I wrote down the material I wished to use for texture testing. Color each one of the squares using your Copics. Using a small amount of Blender Solution (a little goes a long way but will evaporate so you might need to reapply), I dab it on each piece of material and hold the rag in one place on the colored portion of the paper for about three full seconds. I do this with each texture rag I own. I recommend you use your palm to do this as it will give more even coverage then if you use a thumb which will just leave a thumb imprint of texture. With the terry cloth, you will want to fluff up the nap of the material before applying to the paper.
Your Blender Pen is perfect for removing color or fixing mistakes if you were to go outside the lines. Make note that when you are using the Blender Solution or pen on your image you want another absorbent piece of paper underneath your project. This will allow more control of the solution. When cleaning up ink outside the lines, imagine that the Blending Pen Solution is pushing the ink back under the stamped line. This is essentially what it is doing. With a small pushing motion, use your Blending Pen and push the ink. You will have the most success if you do a little at a time going back over it again once the solution on the paper has dried… so let it dry in between little pushes. Some colors erase better than others. Colors that are more difficult are the browns and the reds. You might not be able to completely erase. If you over saturate with the solution or pen, you might actually draw the ink outside of the lines or push too far. Practice makes perfect. Another VERY important thing to know is if you are going to texture, do it BEFORE you color the rest of the image so that you don’t mess up your smoothly blended image. Always texture first!
Here are some samples. Notice the ones with the bricks? This was done using the chisel tip of the Blender Pen. The one with the Dots is with the Brush tip. You get the idea… erases or displaces! Now go texture the world!
Beautiful texture techniques! Got to try this!