Category: Alcohol Marker Art

Alcohol Marker Face Shading Tips for Scaredy-Cats

17/1/2023

I recently recieved an awesome question from one of my Wonder Bundlers (member of ALL THREE art memberships) at Awesome Art School.

Her question to me was:
Can you shade a face with just ONE alcohol marker?

The short answer is YES. But... I've got a few tips for you to make this technique work EVEN BETTER for you! Watch today's video to see exactly what I mean :)

New to shading faces? Click the button below to grab my FREE Face Shading Guide! It will TOTALLY help you take your drawings to the next level, no matter what art supply you're using.

This cheatsheet shows you 6 EASY shading patterns you can copy onto your own forward-facing face drawings to make them look more realistic.

Super quick announcement: All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support.

My FREE Face Shading Guide is a page directly from my very first book, How to Draw Fun Fab Faces.

Another great reference used in today's video is one of my latest art books, Skin Tone Secrets.

This book is SUPER helpful for learning how to shade semi-realistic faces with alcohol markers. It takes ALL the guesswork out of choosing which markers go well together to create beautiful skin tones, and will have you creating gorgeous faces you can be proud of in NO TIME!

What Paper is Best for Alcohol Marker Drawings?

If you're new to alcohol markers, using the right paper for your drawing projects is SUPER IMPORTANT.

HOT TIP: NEVER shade with alcohol markers on a super-absorbent surface like watercolor paper. It will totally wreck your markers! Always use bristol or something like my favorite card stock, which is a cheaper bristol alternative.

Which Skin Tone Markers Are Best for Shading Faces?

For today's dark skin tone face drawing demo, I'm using Ohuhu alcohol marker YR148 / Thin Persimmon.

If you don't have alcohol markers and want to shade the faces you draw, I recommend the Ohuhu Alcohol Markers Set of 24 or 36, it's excellent quality and super affordable!

How to Blend Alcohol Marker Streaking

Here's what my drawing looked like when I tried to shade it as I normally would, except that I only used one marker.

See how you can see EVEY streak and stroke, especially in the lightest areas? This is tough to combat if we limit ourselves to one marker.

Click over to the video to see how the Ohuhu colorless blender worked to blend the streakiness above.

For comparison's sake, I also shaded a light-skinned face. Instead of using the colorless blender, I tried blending the streaks by using a marker one shade LIGHTER than the one I originally used.

I feel like this alcohol marker blending technique worked WAY BETTER than the colorless blender (by the way- today's demo is a great example of why I NEVER use the colorless blender to blend my alcohol marker shading).

If you're NEW to shading faces with alcohol markers or a scaredy-pants about shading, here's what I recommend... USE TWO MARKERS.

1. Shade the face two complete times - once horizontally in one color and once vertically in ONE SHADE LIGHTER (this lighter marker is your "blending friend" and will help eliminate streaks).

2. Add shadows to your drawing using marker #1 to show depth.

This alcohol marker blending technique will give you a smooth and super subtle look...

❤️Watch today's video to see these alcohol marker tips in action!

❤️Ready to dive into shading faces with 3-4 alcohol markers per face? Check out my book,Skin Tone Secrets.

❤️WANT MORE alcohol marker shading tips? Check out this playlist!

Wanna Stay in the Loop?

And get notified EVERY TIME I publish a new video on YouTube? Join my Email Newsletter!

As my way of saying thanks - grab a copy of my FREE Fun Fab Swatch Sheet or my Whimsical Face Drawing Guidelines!

Need More Resources?

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my online art classes @ Awesome Art School
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP

Thanks for hanging out with me today!!

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How to STOP Fineliners From Smearing Once & For All!!

14/12/2022

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I LOVE outlining my drawings in fineliners, but I HATE it when my outline starts to bleed into the shading I add with alcohol markers or watercolor.

Wanna learn WHY this happens and how YOU CAN PREVENT it from happening ever again? Join me in the studio for today's video!

Got a new set of fineliners or markers you need to swatch? I used to think swatching was boring and a big waste of time, but TRUST ME, your future drawings will thank you because marker caps and color names can be deceiving!!

To make swatching MORE FUN I've created a FREE Fun Fab Swatch Sheet for you to print out at home! Simply click the button below and I'll send it straight to your inbox.

Back to today's demo...

I don't know about you, but I've got about a zillion different black fineliners, fineliner pens, fineliner markers and fineliner sets I could choose from when it comes to outlining the faces and figures I love drawing!

How do you know which one to grab, when?!

I decided to show you 25 of them on both watercolor and bristol paper. After I give the ink a second to dry on both papers, I'll add some watercolor marker to the watercolor paper, and alcohol marker to the bristol paper to see which fineliners smear.

The results are more than a little surprising!!

Click over to the video to see which black fineliners you might want to add to your collection and WHY so you can prevent smearing once and for all.

LOVE alcohol marker art or WANNA LEARN how to draw and shade gorgeous faces in all ethnicities using alcohol markers? Check out my recent book, Skin Tone Marker Secrets on Amazon.

In this book I share ALL my best tips for shading faces in alcohol markers and tell you EXACTLY which skin tone marker combos go well together to create flawless skin tones EVERY TIME!

It's SO fun and easy - once someone shows ya how!!

My absolute FAVORITE black fineliner set to use while working with alcohol markers is by Molotow:

NEED MORE alcohol marker drawing videos to get your creative juices flowing? Check out this playlist and draw along with me!

Thanks for hanging out with me today!!

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CHEAP & AWESOME Brush Tip Alcohol Markers for Shading Faces by ArtBeek

12/12/2022

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I'm OBSESSED with using brush-tip alcohol markers to shade the faces and figures I draw! If you've never tried shading your drawings with alcohol markers, or if you've been holding out on trying them because you're worried about the cost of copics - I can't wait to introduce you to Alcohol Markers by ArtBeek in today's video!

Whenever you get a new art supply with multiple colors, PLEASE make sure you take the time to swatch your colors. It might feel like a tedious job, but it's honestly super relaxing and your future self will thank you because marker caps and color names can be deceiving!!

I've created a FREE Fun Fab Swatch Sheet for you to print out at home to make this process a bit more fun.

Simply click the button above and I'll send your FREE Swatch Sheet straight to your inbox.

Before we continue, super quick announcement: All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support.

If you've been thinking about starting an alcohol marker collection, but have been intimidated by the price of Copic markers, I HEAR YOU!

I've made it my mission over the last few years to test as many alcohol brands as I can, so I can recommend the BEST VALUE brands (including Copic marker alternatives) to my students over at Awesome Art School.

It's ridiculous to expect everyone can afford to spend around $10/marker to have a little fun at their art table (even if I STILL LOVE my Copics!!).

If you've been hanging out with me for a while, you know I love the Ohuhu skin tone marker set (and really anything by Ohuhu!). But I also discovered an even CHEAPER brand of alcohol markers on Amazon that I also recommend you check out by ArtBeek - especially if you're looking to save a buck.

This is a screenshot of the ArtBeek Alcohol brush markers set of 120 colors for just $60!! I know!!! Who doesn't want 120 colors?! AND, at only 50 cents/per marker ?? - you can't go wrong!!

A couple of weeks ago I did the above face chart inspired drawing tutorial and used a ton of my ArtBeeks alongside a variety of more expensive alcohol marker brands from Copic to Winsor Newton, and felt the ArtBeeks performed beautifully.

The brush nibs on the ArtBeeks are just right- not too firm or too soft. The ink is perfectly juicy!! I've used mine for everything from shading faces to creating Christmas cards (full-length lesson for the card below & MORE in The Fun Fab Drawing Club over at Awesome Art School).

My only little complaint about this ArtBeek set is that they really should've included more PURPLES in this set (you only get 3). But, they do redeem themselves a bit with the giant collection of skin tone markers included (I think there are 24) - making the set of 120 perfect for anyone just starting an alcohol marker collection to shade faces.

I highly recommend dropping them in your cart for yourself or as a gift for an artsy friend for the holidays. Check out today's video to see them in action!

And remember, if you've got a TON of new colors to swatch, use my FREE Fun Fab Swatch Sheet, or pick up a copy of my Fun Fab Swatch Pad over on Amazon.

I created this book with my beloved Facebook Group a couple of years ago and still use it ALL THE TIME (as you can see in today's video!).

Thanks for hanging out with me today!!

After today's video, make sure you watch this one because it gives you MY BEST skin tone marker secrets for shading faces with alcohol markers! ENJOY!!

NEED MORE resources to get your creative juices flowing?

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my online art classes @ Awesome Art School
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP

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Why Cheap Alcohol Markers are AWESOME PLUS 11 HOT Marker TIPS! (FaceChart Inspired Art No. 4)

30/11/2022

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When it comes to alcohol markers, I keep noticing there is such a HUGE range in price points. WHY is THAT?! For example, I bought a 5-pack Copic Sketch Marker set in grayscale that comes with a fine liner, for $38 (~$6.33/marker) on Amazon. Recently I also grabbed a 6-pack grayscale set of alcohol markers FOR $5 at my local Five & Below shop. You can't really beat the price at less than $1/marker.

But...will they perform? Let's find out!!

I seriously HOPE you are drawing along with me today! Face charts make amazing face drawing references!!

But before you even attempt drawing the fun makeup in today's reference, you NEED to make sure your facial features are proportional! How do you do that?! With my FREE whimsical face drawing guidelines! Click the button below and I'll send them straight to your inbox!

Whenever I get new markers, I've gotta swatch 'em to see what I've got! I compared the Five & Below cheapies with my neutral grayscale set of copic sketch markers (see how they compare below). The top line is the cheapies (that set came with one additional marker, so score!), and the bottom line is my copics.

I love the gradation and the value scale range included in both sets, but I gotta say - whenever you can get MORE colors - I tend to gravitate toward that option, so way to go Five & Below!

However, I also REALLY love how Copic included one of their black fineliners in this set. The fineliner they included retails for about $12 on its own - so adding this to their grayscale pack is really pretty generous.

Whoever manufactured the cheapies from Five & Below DID cut some corners by producing their alcohol markers without labels. Kinda hilarious. At least the opposite sides of these caps have labels so I don't have to swatch again every time I grab a marker!!

In terms of quality- the nibs in this set are great, and the ink is nice and juicy, so these were definitely worth picking up. I have no idea how readily available this specific pack of alcohol markers are, but I guess my general advice is not to shy away from grabbing a set of cheapie alcohol markers when you find them at your local dollar or craft store.

Pretty much every set I've picked up, I've been happily surprised by in terms of quality. Now let's see how they PERFORM in an actual project!

Make sure you click over to see today's face chart inspired drawing tutorial so you can DRAW ALONG with me!! Don't just sit back and watch - go grab your markers and come draw with me!

Need today's face drawing reference? Grab today's along with the last 3 in this series right here in my YouTube & Cheatsheet Library.

Definitely check out today's YouTube drawing tutorial because I give you TONS of hot tips for shading faces with alcohol markers that will help you tremendously - whether you're new to alcohol markers as a medium or not!

Shockingly, as soon as I started today's face shading with my cheapie alcohol markers, I was surprised to discover they felt identical to my copics. I KNOW!! This is a big deal, because if you've been following me for a while you KNOW how much I love my copics and ohuhus!!

Today's project has once again solidified my opinion that copic marker alternatives are WORTH trying! And really, price point doesn't seem to matter as much as you might think as far as this medium is concerned.

I've shared TONS of copic marker alternative product reviews for you here on YouTube, but hope YOU have confidence to try out whatever you find, especially if you're on a budget. You DON'T have to stop drawing, even when money is tight.

If you've never tried shading a face in alcohol markers, maybe you're addicted to shading faces in pencil - TRY today's free face drawing lesson. It's filled with tips to help you along.

If you're nervous to try shading faces with alcohol markers, especially when it comes to layering in darker shades, you REALLY CAN go at it slowly by adding multiple layers of the SAME shade over and over again. Your piece WILL get darker wherever you've added additional layers, and there's very little risk if you're afraid of screwing up :)

Plus- if you're hanging out with me on YouTube (or in one of my online art classes or clubs at Awesome Art School) you're NEVER alone, I'm right there by your side doing the project with you from start to finish!

Thanks for hanging out with me today! If you drew along with me, make sure to share your work so we can give you some love over in my Facebook Group!!

LOVING the whole face chart inspired drawing tutorial thing?
Here's a playlist with MORE of them for ya!!

NEED MORE resources to get your creative juices flowing?

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my online art classes @ Awesome Art School
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP

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Testing the most expensive alcohol markers, ARE THEY WORTH IT?!

14/11/2022

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In today's drawing tutorial, I'm trying an expensive new set of skin tone markers by Winsor Newton called ProMarkers. I have high expectations for these alcohol markers because Winsor Newton is a top-of-the-line, fine art brand for artists.

I'm curious to see how ProMarkers compare to the go-to alcohol marker brands I reach for every day. My biggest question today is ARE PROMARKERS WORTH IT?!

Wanna draw along today, but not quite sure how to draw a face, or how to make the facial features look proportional? It's WAY easier than you think!

Simply click the button below to download my FREE whimsical face drawing guidelines. I never start a face drawing without them!

I've been shading the faces I draw with alcohol markers for years, and
am constantly testing new brands to ensure I'm recommending art supplies with the BEST VALUE for my students over at Awesome Art School.

After testing a million brands of alcohol markers, I've discovered expensive isn't always better, and multiple brands of alcohol markers can be used successfully on the same project - regardless of price point.

The ProMarker set I'm demo-ing today runs around $30 on Amazon and contains six skin tone alcohol markers. Depending on your budget, this might not sound too bad, until you start comparing ProMarkers to less expensive brands like Ohuhu, which will give you a full 30 more markers for just $9 more!

I don't know about you, but I want MORE COLORS to play with, so will choose that every time!

If you're sensitive to smells, you may want to steer clear of ProMarkers. They definitely have more of an odor to them than I notice from my Ohuhus or Copics.

This Promarker set has dual nibs like most alcohol markers. There's a brush tip on one side and a chisel tip on the opposite. Right away I noticed how flexible the brush nib felt. Not sure if I'm gonna love this or get annoyed with it while shading larger areas!

While swatching, I was seriously surprised by the shades Winsor Newton selected for this palette. If you've been following me for a while, or have a copy of my book, Skin Tone Secrets, you know I always recommend selecting three shades of the same color in light, medium and dark to shade ANYTHING.

These subtle variations in color will help give your drawings dimension and make them look more sophisticated.

As far as skin tone colors in the Promarkers set of 6 are concerned, I'm not impressed because I can only find two shades in this palette that will truly go together as my light and medium skin tones. The darker markers included are too big of a jump from the medium shades for most artists to use successfully - as you can see below.

If you watch the video, I'll show you the face chart I selected as today's drawing reference. It has super dramatic makeup in rich fall colors, but my first layer of brown makeup and shadows looks intimidating, even to me!

I keep going though, because I know the only way out of this is more layers of shading, blending, and doodling.

If you'd like a copy of today's drawing reference, you can grab that as a PDF in my YouTube & Cheatsheet Library over at Awesome Art School.

Once I've added detail to the eyes and eyelashes with my Pentel Pocket Brush, the darkest skin tone shading begins to push into the background and becomes less intimidating.

I use my Pentel pocket brush pen for drawing eyelashes on all the faces I draw and paint. It's amazing but has a bit of a learning curve to it. If you need help with it or want to learn how to draw gorgeous eyelashes, check out this video.

Make sure you click over to the video to get my final thoughts on this skin tone ProMarkers set by Winsor Newton.

As you'll see, I did end up getting annoyed with the brush nib on these markers. They just felt too flimsy and flexible to me so I switched sides and continued the project with the chisel tip for greater control.

I hope you found today's product review and demo helpful, and I sincerely hope you take a minute to stop and draw along with me in today's video!

See ya next week!!

Need more resources to get your creative juices flowing?

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my online art classes @ Awesome Art School
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON (affiliate links)
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP

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Pastel Ohuhu Markers? YES, PLEASE! |Product Review, Demo & Face Shading Tutorial by Karen Campbell

1/11/2022

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I've been recommending Ohuhu markers for YEARS, so when Ohuhu called and asked if they could send me a pastel set of dual-tip alcohol markers, I was thrilled! I can't wait to show you how gorgeous these are in today's face drawing & shading tutorial.

I swatched all of my Ohuhu pastel markers on the swatch sheets that can be found at the back of my Skin Tone Secrets book on Amazon.

If you don't have a copy of the book yet, but have an art supply you'd like to swatch, you can also download my FREE Fun, Fab Swatch Sheet to get started.

Simply click on the button above, and I'll email it right over! If you've never done color swatching before, here's a video on how to use this exact swatch sheet if you need a little extra help.

If you're new to my world, I absolutely LOVE alcohol markers for shading faces. I've been collecting them over the years in all different brands to find out which ones provide the highest quality and best value for my students.

Tons of my students are retired and just can't spend $10/marker for Copics, so I I've been on the hunt for a great Copic marker alternative for years.

When I discovered Ohuhu's skin tone markers set, it was love at first sight. I couldn't believe how many colors I could get in ONE SET. Even better, when I tried them out for the first time- the quality was gorgeous. I've had ZERO guilt recommending them to my students and adding them to my alcohol marker collection ever since.

Since most of my alcohol marker art projects are faces, I've spent a LOT of time figuring out which alcohol marker shades blend well together to create gorgeous skin tones in all ethnicities.

Check out my YouTube series of face drawing tutorials, Whimsical Women of the World, or my latest book, Skin Tone Secrets (watch the page-by-page flip through here) for alcohol marker face shading tips and fail-proof color combos I love for shading skin tones.

This book actually revolves around my Ohhu 36 skin tone markers set. Each face I drew for my book was colored in a combo of three skin tone markers in a light, medium and dark shade. The color combos are noted throughout the book so you draw and shade simple faces right along with me as you read.

Skin Tone Secrets is great for artists of all levels who love drawing and want to learn how to shade faces using alcohol markers. Sometimes it's tough for artists who love working with pencil to jump into another medium like markers, or even to jump into color vs. black and white drawing. The book is PERFECT to help graphite artists make the leap with confidence into the world of color.

Last week I started a new YouTube series for my drawing channel of face drawing and shading tutorials using face charts as my face drawing references.

I found the face chart below on Pinterest and thought it was the perfect inspiration for today's drawing tutorial featuring my new pastel Ohuhu alcohol markers.

If you've been following me for a while, you already know I tend to reach for the boldest of colors, no matter the art supply. Doing an entire project in pastels definitely felt like a challenge for me, but I ended up loving it!

Like all my face drawings, I started this one off using my face drawing guidelines to keep the facial features proportionate. If you've never used guidelines for your face drawings before, download my free Semi-Realistic / Whimsical Face Drawing Guidelines (learn how to use them in this playlist of tutorials). They make SUCH a difference!

I drew both of the faces above, but if you compare them side by side, it's pretty obvious which one looks more amateur. I didn't use guidelines for the face on the right. Her eyes are too high, her nose is too low, and she barely has a forehead.

I used guidelines for the face on the left. Even though she was drawn in a semi-realistic, or whimsical style, she looks WAY more sophisticated than the drawing on the right. It's ALL because of the face drawing guidelines.

Back to today's video!

The alcohol markers in my new Ohuhu set of 48 pastel shades are all dual tips with both a brush nib and a chisel tip. I primarily use the brush nib because it feels very painterly to me (especially for drawing hair).

But I also love flipping to the chisel tip if I've got a lot of ground to cover in one shade, and want to move through it quickly.

I found two shades in the pastel set of 48 that worked well together as skin tones for today's drawing. As I got further into the project, I discovered a pink that complemented these shades as a beautiful mid-tone. Make sure to click over to the video because I flash the name of each marker shade on the screen while I use it.

If you end up buying the pastel set of alcohol markers by Ohuhu, you'll find that it comes with a colorless blender. Personally, I feel the best way to blend alcohol markers without streaking comes from mixing your marker shades together and layering your brush strokes in a variety of directions, so I never use the colorless blender. However, if you've been hoping to try it - you'll be excited to know it's a part of this set.

When I was finished laying down my color, I decided NOT to use my pentel pocket brush for outlining and doodling on top of my drawing because I was afraid the lines would be too bold for the pastel color palette.

Instead, I reached for my Pentel Arts Sign Pen with Micro Brush Tip because I can get much finer lines with it.

I'm SO happy with how this piece turned out! And I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my new pastel alcohol markers.

THANKS Ohuhu!!

If you're already starting to think about Christmas gifts, Ohuhu has got an amazing Black Friday sale going on already. Be sure to check that link often as new items drop here all the time.

Thanks for hanging out with me today!

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FREAKY Fashion Face Chart Drawing Tutorial - Just in Time for Halloween!

19/10/2022

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Halloween is right around the corner, so I thought it would be super FUN to create an original drawing with inspiration from TWO fashion face charts! Not sure what a face chart is? No problem. I can't wait to introduce you to them in today's Halloween Drawing project!

Go grab a sheet of bristol, a pencil, and let's draw!

New to drawing faces? Or have trouble making them look proportional? It's WAY easier than you think.

Simply click the button below to download my FREE Whimsical Face Drawing Guidelines. I'll email them right over!

Then check your email, print out the guidelines and meet me right back here for today's FUN Halloween fashion face drawing tutorial.

If you're TOTALLY brand new at drawing faces, you might wanna do this project first :)

What's a Face Chart?

If you're not familiar with what a face chart is - I want to explain that right off the bat. Face charts are basically drawings of fashion faces that have been used since the 80s by makeup artists to plan out the makeup they'd like to do on their clients.

Tons of these are floating around online from individual makeup artists to big makeup companies like MAC. I think they're gorgeous and often print them out as drawing references to inspire me with new drawing ideas. Isn't this one stunning?!

It one was done by someone I follow on Instagram, @sonya_miro. I used one of her Halloween makeup looks to inspire me for the spiderweb makeup in today's drawing.

If you'd like to get a copy of the face charts I'm using in this lesson, I've added them to my YouTube & Cheatsheet Library over at Awesome Art School. Use the coupon code YOUTUBESUB to save 25%.

How to Draw & Shade a Halloween Fashion Face

I started this face drawing as I do all of them with a bazillion ovals, then slowly sketched in my face drawing guidelines. Once those were in place, I began adjusting my final oval into a face shape similar to my references, with chiseled cheekbones and a pointy jaw.

Even though we're drawing a semi-realistic face, it will look more sophisticated if the facial features are proportional, so I follow my face drawing guidelines, and pencil in three ovals along the eye line to help me space the eyes out correctly.

As you'll see in the video, I look at both of the face charts I've printed out for guidance on eye, nose, and lip shape. I mix and match aspects I like from each face chart to create my own original drawing.

Once I'm happy with my main lines, I erase my guidelines and draw in some simple hair so we can start coloring with alcohol markers (my favorite part!!).

If you're new to alcohol markers, they're really fun to use and you can cover your drawings quickly, but there are a few tricks to them. Watch the video and I'll talk you through the layering process and how to blend. If you're a total beginner and need more help, this is a GREAT intro lesson to try first.

I've tried out ALL the alcohol marker brands over the years and discovered they really all work the same and can be used together interchangeably on a project, as you'll see in today's video.

I needed ALL my greens today so grabbed everything I could find, from my Copics, Ohuhus, Artezas, and ArtBeeks to the cheapies I recently found at Five & Below!

The way I shade a face with alcohol markers is very systematic. To show dimension on a face I typically use at least three shades of the same color in a light, medium, and dark.

Then I either make up a shading pattern of highlights and shadows for the face I'm drawing, or look to a reference image (WAY EASIER!!), like the green face chart (by @moiseartnyc on Instagram) I'm using today.

Isn't the reference image above gorgeous?!

The pic below, on the other hand... not so much! LOL.

This is what I lovingly refer to as "the ugly stage." It happens to ALL of us in EVERY project. It's the point in your project when you pause, look down to see how it's going, and freak out. It's the point when you decide your work looks like garbage and think you should probably throw it in the trash.

DON'T!!!!

This is "the ugly stage," and it's trying to get the better of you. Accept it, acknowledge your work isn't finished yet, and KEEP GOING.

If you KEEP PUSHING THROUGH till the end of the project, you will have another art experience under your belt that you've completed. Whether or not you love your finished work, you've gained experience and it's made you grow as an artist.

Take a look at my next picture....

As soon as I started adding in eyebrows and drawing eyelashes, my character started coming to life, and the ugly stage disappeared.

Once I finished my outlining and details in black, I added some white colored pencil on areas of the face that needed highlights, and got ready to start the crazy spiderweb makeup!

Make sure you click over to the video because the spiderweb makeup is in real-time (no timelapsing!), so you can see exactly how I do this, step-by-step.

I'm not gonna lie... I was pretty nervous adding this part in!! But in the end, it's just a drawing, right? And it's just FOR FUN!!

SPOILER ALERT: The spiderweb makeup turned out great!!

I hope YOU draw along with me today!!

And please, if you do... take TWO pix of your drawing for me so you can share them in the Facebook Group. Take one of your ugly stage (I know it's hard - but we're ALL doing it!!), and one of your finished piece.

It's gonna be SO encouraging to see all these posts.

It's also gonna be more than a little hilarious to scroll through all these ugly stages at once, am I right?!

See ya there!!

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SCARED of DARK Skin Tone Markers for Face Shading? Help is Here!

22/8/2022

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SCARED of your DARK skin tone markers? You are NOT alone! The process for shading faces with dark skin is EXACTLY the same as shading faces with light skin tone markers. Press play to CONQUER these fears once and for all and to see my BEST alcohol marker blending tips in action. Playing along with my #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge? Today's FAIRY face drawing and shading tutorial is lesson 8!

Want easy access to today's lesson and even MORE fairy drawing ideas? Join my FREE #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge over at Awesome Art School!

Simply click the button below to receive instant access to ALL the fairy reference images for each drawing prompt (including today's elf ears drawing reference!), plus info on supplies, cheatsheets, and more!

Wanna become a better artist? Do today's lesson (and every lesson of the challenge) five times, making a few creative alterations of your choice, and watch your skills soar as you practice fairy eyes drawing, fairy and elf ears drawing AND fairy hair drawing 50 different ways!

How to Draw a Fairy Face

To get today's drawing started, I simply draw an oval and sketch in my face drawing guidelines. Not sure what face drawing guidelines are? Check out lesson one of the #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge, and my face drawing guidelines are waiting for you in the FREE #50FunFabFairies classroom over at Awesome Art School!

HOT TIP: Grab a piece of bristol or my favorite cardstock (cheaper and works exactly the same!), to complete this project. This paper is smooth, non-porous, and will help your markers blend more easily!

This week I'm using an ellipse template (above), to sketch in my eye drawing guidelines. You can TOTALLY do this at home too - it's a little time saver, and a simple trick to help you draw eyes evenly if you're just learning how to draw eyes for beginners.

Next I pencil in the fairy ears and facial features. I'm basically creating a "mashup," because I'm using two face drawing references today - one for the fairy ears, and one for the facial features and shading. Both images are with today's lesson in my FREE #50FunFabFairies classroom.

Combining various aspects of different reference photos in this way is an awesome way to create your very own, original art. This is excellent advice as well if you're someone who is insecure about looking for copyright-free images.

I'm an outliner and love this look in the faces I draw, so once I've finished sketching in my fairy face, I outline the whole drawing with a few of my favorite fineliners by Molotow. I use a thicker nib for outlining the hair, and a smaller nib for outlining facial features.

Next, I erase all the graphite with my vanish eraser. This is a really important step if you're going to shade a face with alcohol markers because they will pick up any remaining graphite on your page and smear it around if you're not careful.

How to Select Skin Tone Markers for Face Shading

Typically my students tell me the most intimidating part of shading faces with alcohol markers is getting started and selecting your skin tone marker shades. I always recommend to use at least three so you have a light, medium and dark that go well together.

I have TONS of references to help you with color selection. Inside the FREE #50FunFabFairies classroom, you'll get access to my Skin Tone Markers Guide (shows you the best skin tone marker combos for across THREE alcohol marker brands), along with the exact colors I'm using today from my Ohuhu Skin Tone Markers (Set of 24).

In addition, I recently published a book ALL about shading faces with alcohol markers and how to choose which skin tone markers will go well together.

You can shade a face from light to dark, or dark to light- it's totally up to you. Lots of my students prefer shading light to dark - especially if they're intimidated by working with darker skin tone markers because it can feel like you've got a bit more control.

As you'll see in the video, the contrast between my initial three marker shades for today's project was just too great. This is OK and TOTALLY fixable. It's actually great for you to see this happen to me so you can watch how I troubleshoot.

If this happens to you at home, and the jump between shades 1 & 2 is too great, find a happy medium shade of a "1.5" to fill in that gap and help you blend your skin tones. It's really systematic.

What to Do If You Hate Your Project

If you're new to my world, you may not have heard me talk about "the ugly stage" yet! EVERY project goes through this, especially when you're drawing and shading faces. Here is the perfect example of what I'm talking about below...

She looks crazy, right?! This is the "ugly stage." It's the point in a project when you're about half-way done, and you look down at your piece and think it's garbage. She looks like an alien, you think you should just quit and move on with your life.

DON'T LISTEN TO THOSE VOICES IN YOUR HEAD! I'm serious. These feelings are SUPER normal and you just have to keep going no matter how ugly your girl is. Do NOT let the "ugly stage" win. Just KEEP GOING.

How do you keep going when you hate your project? In this case - more layers.

How to Eliminate Streaking
and Blend With Alcohol Markers

As you watch the video, you'll see me adding additional layers of shading. Whenever I have streaking or want to ease the transition between two colors, I go back with my lightest skin tone marker to blend what I've already done.

Every time you do this add a new layer of shading in the opposite direction from your original layer. When you do this, you reactivate the previous layers of color, and they begin to blend (and reduce streaking). To create contrast, you can also add tiny bits of a new dark skin tone, as I did when I added a 4th "darkest" skin tone.

When I move on to shade the hair, I started off in the same way I did with my skin tone markers. I pulled three shades of the same color in a light, medium and dark. This is how you get dimension in your drawings.

Finishing Touches Make ALL the Difference

To pull everything together, and pump up the drama, I'm using my pentel pocket brush to add eyelashes and eye makeup. It works more like a paintbrush than a pen, and I use it in ALL of my eyelash drawings.

Not sure how to draw eyelashes? I've got a cheatsheet for that too! Head over to my FREE #50FunFabFairies classroom over at Awesome Art School.

As you may notice in the video- the eyes in this drawing were a bit uneven, so I used my pentel pocket brush and switched from eye to eye to even them out with some eye makeup. She ends up looking really glamorous, which I love!

Finally, I added highlights with my copic opaque white "nail polish." Love this product!

Honestly, this project was one disaster after another to get through. And just when I thought I had about one minute left of adding in highlights, my white paint pen exploded on her chin and I had to try and rework the whole area to fix it!

This kinda stuff happens all the time in art, and you just have to problem solve a little to get back on track. It's ok! Accept the challenge, try another solution and move on! This mindset is REALLY important when it comes to your art, or it will destroy you!

Stay positive and you'll get there. Everything is fixable.

Want MORE dark-skinned face drawing projects? You might just LOVE my Whimsical Women of the World series over on YouTube. This also turned into an online art class at Awesome Art School, AND a book! Enjoy!!

If you're OBSESSED with fairies and fantasy art like me, you might just LOVE the Celtic Collective over at Awesome Art School that I run with my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon. Add your name to the waitlist to be notified when it's open for enrollment.

You might ALSO enjoy our podcast 1Scot,1 Not. We talk about everything under the sun to do with Scotland - whether it's historical, fantasy, whatever. Just a quick warning - we have a blast and are totally ourselves on the podcast, which means there is some drinking and swearing.

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM

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EASY Fairy Drawing in Alcohol Markers with Karen Campbell [Week 3 #50FunFabFaries Challenge]

14/6/2022

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Wanna create this EASY fairy drawing with me in alcohol markers? These are one of my FAVORITE art supplies to use when shading faces I draw. If you've never tried them before, stick with me - I'll guide you step by step in today's drawing tutorial as we continue with week three of the #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge!

To find ALL the info for the FREE #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge, simply click the button below to receive instant access to ALL the fairy reference images for each drawing prompt, plus info on supplies, cheatsheets and more!

Wanna become a better artist? Do today's lesson (and every lesson of the challenge) five times, making a few creative alterations of your choice, and watch your skills soar as you practice fairy eyes drawing, fairy ears drawing AND fairy hair drawing 50 different ways!

Just because we're switching up our supplies for week three of #50FunFabFairies, I don't want you to get distracted from the actual purpose of this fairy drawing challenge - which is increasing your drawing skills!

You're learning how to draw faces and where to look in reference images for face shading guidance so you know how to add depth to your drawings.

If all you have is a pencil and a piece of paper and you want to do this drawing challenge - that's perfect. You're good to go! All that matters is you draw.

If you're new to my world, my absolute favorite alcohol markers are copics, but they cost between $8-9/each, so when I teach my students how to use alcohol markers I use Ohuhus (especially for skin tones!) because they only cost $1/marker.

I was recently approached by a company called ArtBeek to try out their alcohol markers. I said I would because their cost per marker is only 40 cents and they have a brush nib on their markers -which is a must have for me. So today's project is not only our #50FunFabFairies drawing prompt number 3, it's a product test and review for ArtBeek Alcohol Brush Markers.

The fairy face drawing we're doing today is a side profile drawing in the three quarter view pose. While this is the most challenging view to draw - I think it's important for you to start practicing this right away so you don't feel intimidated.

I'm including cheatsheets on how to draw a three quarter portrait from my book How to Draw & Find Your Style in the #50FunFabFairies classroom for you over at AwesomeArtSchool.com.

I'm also referring to my book Skin Tone Secrets for a little help in locating the skin tone marker shades I want to use for this drawing. I love the rainbow vibe in our reference fairy drawing image. I see seeing a lot of yellow in the lightest areas, so immediately connected with this page from Skin Tone Secrets.

To get started, we need to sketch in the basic side profile drawing shape for a three quarter portrait AND the facial feature guidelines. If you know me - you know I NEVER draw a face without guidelines, because they're just too important!

If you're not sure how to draw fairy ears, I've got you! Simply watch the video, and I'll show you step by step.

Once I've penciled in a few swirly hair lines, it's time to get rid of our graphite as well as we can, because graphite and alcohol markers really don't mix. The brush nib of an alcohol marker can get dirty and pick up graphite super easily. This can drag all over your drawing and muddy things up, so make sure you take enough time to erase as much of the graphite as possible.

I use my vanish eraser for this. After the guidelines are gone, I actually pounce my eraser over the rest of my lines just to remove even more.

HOT TIP: If you're an outliner like me, and want to do those first, make sure you're NOT using a sharpie because these are also alcohol markers and they will naturally want to bleed and blend in with the other colors you're using.

Instead, opt for a fineliner that is water-based or pigmented, like this one from Molotow. These will NOT smear when you're working with Copics, Ohuhus, or the new markers I'm testing out today by ArtBeek.

HOT TIP: There are lots of fun swirlies in our fairy drawing image for jewelry, I love using a STENCIL to do this! It takes the pressure off trying to copy something exactly and looks SO precise in your drawing. I highly recommend you do this as well :)

Since I'm using a new to me set of alcohol markers, I do need to swatch them out prior to coloring today. As I do this, I'm loving the soft brush tip of the ArtBeek markers. There aren't a lot of skin tones (even in the large set of 120), but I do feel like they're even softer to work with than the Ohuhus, which kinda surprises me!

In the video, you'll really see how I look to my reference fairy drawing image to "inform" my face shading. If you're scared to change marker shades as you get into shading the face - that's ok. Just use the same shade you were working with for layer one and darken your drawing with a second coat of that same color to start creating subtle shadows (above). It's totally fine to do this in baby steps until you're comfortable.

Typically I recommend using three shades of a color to do face shading in alcohol markers. As you can see in the photo above, each time you add a layer of shading that is slightly darker than the one you did previously, leave that a bit of that previous color exposed to really add depth to your drawing. In the photo above, you can see all four skin tone marker shades I used in the shadow on her face, next to her ear.

The hair on this fairy is wild and SO much fun! I am in love with the rainbow and the fact that it gives me the opportunity to use so many colors from this fun new marker set by ArtBeek.

After my fairy is done, it's time for me to pull out my secret weapon for drawing killer eyelashes! I LOVE my pentel pocket brush. It's also water-based so works just as beautifully with alcohol markers as it does over china markers and my mixed media paintings!

I hope you enjoyed today's fairy drawing lesson. Remember, if you haven't signed up for the FREE #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge - you can still do that whenever you want to. It's not too late to join, and there is no "behind" with the challenge. Everything is draw at your own pace on your own time!

I've stocked the FREE classroom at AwesomeArtSchool.com for you with PDFs of our fairy reference images for each lesson, plus drawing cheatsheets to help you along, info on supplies and SO much more!

Have so much fun and I'll see ya in the classroom, or if you're posting your progress in the Facebook group!

If you're OBSESSED with fairies and fantasy art like me, you might just LOVE the Celtic Collective over at Awesome Art School. It's an art membership my Scottish bestie, Lucy Brydon, and I run together!

You might ALSO enjoy our podcast, 1Scot,1 Not. We talk about everything under the sun to do with Scotland - whether it's historical, fantasy, whatever. Just a quick warning - we have a blast and are totally ourselves on the podcast, which means there is some drinking and swearing.

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM

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SKIN TONE MARKER SECRETS for Shading GORGEOUS FACES with Copics & Ohuhu Markers [NEW BOOK Flip Thru]

27/4/2022

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Today I'm spilling ALL my skin tone marker SECRETS for shading gorgeous faces with copics and ohuhu alcohol markers!

Get a sneak peek at my BEST ohuhu and copic marker blending tips & tricks inside my latest drawing book, "Skin Tone Secrets" - now on Amazons worldwide! Stay with me till the end of this video for a quick face shading demo on an adorable baby face.

I'll show you just how EASY it is to add depth to your face drawings using my simple shading guide & just 3 alcohol markers!

If you're not into drawing, but enjoy coloring (or just love any excuse to use your alcohol markers like I do!), I've got a FREE download just for you.

Simply click on the button below, and I'll send you a 25-Page PDF of Coloring Sheets with faces of all the characters in this fun, new book!

Print them out at home and use them for swatching and coloring away till your heart's content!

My students always ask me what alcohol marker paper I use for coloring. If you're printing these FREE coloring pages at home, I suggest you use a nice cardstock. My favorite is by Hammermill. I just buy a giant pack off Amazon and it lasts forever. The paper is super smooth, feels like Bristol, but is SO much cheaper!

As you'll see in today's video, my new book opens with a general overview of art markers and an intro about what makes alcohol markers so special (to ME, at least).

Next you'll get a quick overview of what I call "the anatomy" of an alcohol marker. Many have both chisel and brush tips, plus a refillable barrel.

As you can see off to the right in the above photo, I have two alcohol marker brands I recommend to my students and use ALL the time myself: Copics and Ohuhu brush markers.

If you've been following me a while, you know I adore my copics and think they feel like butter sliding across my paper.

The only catch is, they are super expensive (the above set of 6 skin tone copic markers on Amazon costs ~$36). I've spent years building my copic marker collection, and just about as long testing copic alternatives so I can recommend another brand to my students who want to enjoy high quality alcohol markers at a lower cost.

About a year ago, while I was working on another book, Whimsical Women of the World, I discoverd an amazing brand of alcohol markers for a fraction of the cost. If you look at the Ohuhu Skin Tone Set (below), there are FOUR TIMES the number of colors provided in the Copic marker skin tone set shown above.

That alone gets my attention, but the price for this ohuhu marker set on Amazon is even better- just $30! It's a no-brainer, right?

I adore my Ohuhu skin tone marker set and recommend it all the time! There is such a huge array of colors to shade beautiful faces for any and every ethnicity your heart desires. Even better- the quality of these alcohol markers is really up there with copics. Ohuhs also blend interchangeably and beautifully with copics - in case you've already started collecting those, or want to start!

Back to the flip through...

After I run through the basics about alcohol markers in Skin Tone Secrets, my favorite brands, which alcohol marker paper I recommend, how to layer and blend alcohol markers (while avoiding streaking), I'll take you through a series of cute characters that you can draw along with me.

You'll notice I spend extra time on their fun hairstyles because TONS of people struggle with how to draw hair. In this book you'll get a little bit of everything from how to draw straight hair and updos, to long hair, short hair, ideas for men and how to draw curly hair!

You'll also get TONS of super helpful tips on how to shade faces - by imagining where the light source is coming from for each face you create. It's much easier than people think, once someone shows you how!

You'll also learn about my three FAVORITE face shading patterns and how those are replicated with alcohol markers.

I've even put together a great reference sheet on WHERE to add highlights to your face shading. I'm ALWAYS asked about this, so hopefully this guide clears up any confusion and can become a simple cheatsheet for you to refer back to.

HOT TIP: As you can see in the pic above, these face highlighting tips work for shading faces mixed media style or in any kind of drawing from pencil to toned paper drawing and coloring with alcohol markers.

As the book continues, you'll learn exactly HOW and WHERE to layer three skin tone shades of markers on a face step by step, start to finish. I'll teach you exactly which 3-color combos go well together to create light, medium and dark skin tones and will show you the specific marker numbers I'm using in either Ohuhu or Copics.

If you're not into alcohol markers, this book can still be helpful to you because it contains so many valuable tips about how to shade a face. Those concepts are the same, no matter what art supply you want to work with!

Make sure you click over to watch the video so I can walk you through each page, and then show you exactly how to use this book to shade the cute little baby's face!

Are you a club member at Awesome Art School? The ebook version of Skin Tone Secrets is already in your library for free as an additional club perk ?

Thanks for hanging out with me today!

❤️ CHECK OUT ALL my art books on AMAZON
❤️ MY FAVORITE ART SUPPLIES on AMAZON
❤️ MY BELOVED FACEBOOK GROUP
❤️ FOLLOW ME ON INSTAGRAM

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blog

Alcohol Marker Face Shading Tips for Scaredy-Cats

What Paper is Best for Alcohol Marker Drawings?

Which Skin Tone Markers Are Best for Shading Faces?

How to Blend Alcohol Marker Streaking

Wanna Stay in the Loop?

Need More Resources?

How to STOP Fineliners From Smearing Once & For All!!

CHEAP & AWESOME Brush Tip Alcohol Markers for Shading Faces by ArtBeek

Why Cheap Alcohol Markers are AWESOME PLUS 11 HOT Marker TIPS! (FaceChart Inspired Art No. 4)

Testing the most expensive alcohol markers, ARE THEY WORTH IT?!

Pastel Ohuhu Markers? YES, PLEASE! |Product Review, Demo & Face Shading Tutorial by Karen Campbell

FREAKY Fashion Face Chart Drawing Tutorial - Just in Time for Halloween!

What's a Face Chart?

How to Draw & Shade a Halloween Fashion Face

SCARED of DARK Skin Tone Markers for Face Shading? Help is Here!

How to Draw a Fairy Face

How to Select Skin Tone Markers for Face Shading

What to Do If You Hate Your Project

How to Eliminate Streaking
and Blend With Alcohol Markers

Finishing Touches Make ALL the Difference

EASY Fairy Drawing in Alcohol Markers with Karen Campbell [Week 3 #50FunFabFaries Challenge]

SKIN TONE MARKER SECRETS for Shading GORGEOUS FACES with Copics & Ohuhu Markers [NEW BOOK Flip Thru]

Karen Campbell

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blog

​What Paper is Best for Alcohol Marker Drawings?

​Which Skin Tone Markers Are Best for Shading Faces?

​How to Blend Alcohol Marker Streaking

​Wanna Stay in the Loop?

Need More Resources?​​

What's a Face Chart?

​How to Draw & Shade a Halloween Fashion Face

​How to Draw a Fairy Face

​How to Select Skin Tone Markers for Face Shading​

​What to Do If You Hate Your Project

​How to Eliminate Streaking ​and Blend With Alcohol Markers

​Finishing Touches Make ALL the Difference

Karen Campbell

Archives

Categories

What Fans Are Saying

Contact Us

What Paper is Best for Alcohol Marker Drawings?

Which Skin Tone Markers Are Best for Shading Faces?

How to Blend Alcohol Marker Streaking

Wanna Stay in the Loop?

Need More Resources?

How to Draw & Shade a Halloween Fashion Face

How to Draw a Fairy Face

How to Select Skin Tone Markers for Face Shading

What to Do If You Hate Your Project

How to Eliminate Streaking
and Blend With Alcohol Markers

Finishing Touches Make ALL the Difference