How to Color Skin & Hair with Alcohol-Based Markers (+ Free Coloring Page!)

 

Today I am SO excited to introduce you guys to Yasmeen Eldahan, aka YamPuff! She is here today to share a super helpful tutorial on the basics of alcohol-based markers, and how to color skin, hair, and clothes with any alocohol marker. She also provided a free coloring page that you can download and follow along step-by-step with this tutorial!

How to download the free coloring page: To download the free coloring page and follow along with this tutorial, all you need to do is subscribe to Cleverpedia’s free email newsletter! In addition to getting access to YamPuff’s linework for this tutorial, you’ll get access to a free library of over 40 other coloring pages contributed by talented artists! Plus, you’ll hear from me a few times a month when I publish great new posts about coloring books and expanding your creative horizons. Just sign up for the newsletter (you can scroll down to the subscribe box below, or simply click here), confirm your email address by clicking the link in the email you receive, then you will receive another email with instructions on how to access the library.

Already a Cleverpedia subscriber? Thanks so much! Just access the library here using the password found in the most recent newsletter. You’ll find YamPuff’s page when you filter to “People.”

YamPuff has illustrated four coloring books worth of beautiful, anime or chibi-style artwork to color that you can find on Amazon. She has also published several useful books for color charting your coloring collection.

Okay, let’s turn things over to YamPuff!

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An Introduction to Alcohol-Based Markers

Artist markers. They’re nothing like the Crayola markers you used to color with as a kid and getting a nice collection of them will empty your pockets. They are also my favorite coloring medium! In this tutorial I’ll be sharing basic coloring techniques for alcohol-based markers, specifically for coloring anime or chibi style characters!

I will be using Letraset Promarkers, but you can follow along with any alcohol-based markers (Copics, Prismacolor art markers, etc). They all work in the same way. For this simple blending technique, I’ll use three shades for each color: light, medium and dark.

Testing out your colors and how they blend together on a separate paper is always a good way to start. Artist markers are an unforgiving medium so it’s best to work out the kinks before you get into the real coloring. For example, while planning this tutorial, I originally tried out Saffron as the lightest skin shade, but felt it didn’t provide enough contrast with my medium and dark shades (Light Peach and peach), so I went with Vanilla instead. You can also make note of colors that work particularly well together so you can remember good combinations for future coloring.

The simple blending technique we’ll be focusing on in this tutorial is quite easy once you get the hang of it. It’s key to getting the smooth gradients that make marker coloring so beautiful. I find markers to be more predictable and less messy than watercolors, but there is still that element of speed involved, of needing to work while the media is still wet.

Think of it this way. The ink of the marker has two components: pigment, which is swirling around in liquid (alcohol in this case). Once applied on paper the alcohol rapidly evaporates which sets the pigment. If you work while the media is dry you will end up with hard edges between the colors. But if you keep coloring and blending while the ink is still wet on the page, the colors will bleed into each other, eventually achieving a smooth gradient effect.

On the left, coloring without blending, On the right, blending colors while working wet on wet.

Materials You’ll Need

Before we get started, I’ll list some materials I recommend you should use.

• Alcohol-based markers such as Letraset Promarkers, Copics, or Prismacolor art markers
• Bleed-proof marker paper to print your page onto
• Opaque white pen such as Posca pen or Sakura Gelly Roll pen

Alcohol-based markers. I will be using Letraset Promarkers. Some other popular brands of alcohol-based markers for coloring and anime illustration include Copics and Prismacolor art markers.

Bleed-proof marker paper is best for artist markers. If you get it in A4 size you can easily print your coloring pages on it with any printer. (Note from Adrienne: On some US printers you may need to cut down A4 paper to fit your printer. Learn more about how to print coloring pages here!)

We’ll also be adding in some bounce lighting and highlights with any opaque white pen you might have on hand; Sakura Gelly Roll pens work, but my current white pen of choice are Posca Pens.

How to Color Skin with Alcohol-Based Markers

Let’s get started! First, her skin. You want to get your light, medium and dark shades at the ready. For this tutorial I chose Vanilla (light), Soft Peach (medium) and Peach (dark). I like to have them all open before starting so I can work at a faster pace.

I cover the whole area of her leg in the lightest shade, going over the area a few times so the color is even and not streaky. I leave a bit of white on the edges near the lines.

Then, I grab the medium shade and start shading her leg. I’m imagining the light is coming from the top right in my picture, so the shadows will fall to her left. After shading with the medium skin tone, I take the light shade again and go over the whole leg, putting some pressure on the marker in the area where the two shades meet. As they dry they will blend into each other.

I then take the dark shade and add that into the far left on her legs. Then I blend it with the medium shade, and then blend it all over with the light shade. Keep in mind that you can repeat these steps multiple times. You are building up color! If an area doesn’t look right or hasn’t blended well, go over it again.

If you are interrupted (the doorbell rings or you need some coffee) and the ink dries while you’re away – do not panic! Simply go over the whole area with the lightest shade, making the paper wet again, and pick up where you left off.

Repeat the same technique on the other leg, blending and coloring till you’re happy with the overall effect.

At this point I like to add in some blush on the skin (I used Baby Pink and Salmon Pink). While the ink of the leg is still wet (if it has dried, you can go over it again with another wash of your light shade) draw in some light pink on the knees with a circular motion. Then, dab some medium pink in the middle. Repeat this till you’re happy with the blush, making sure to blend the pink with the lightest flesh shade. Without blending you will end up with flat pink circles. A little bit of pink on the cheeks, knees and shoulders looks cute – but don’t overdo the effect or your character will look swollen or bruised. Keep it subtle.

Use the same techniques for the rest of her skin till she’s all colored in.

Now for some reflected lighting! Reflected lighting is an easy way to make your coloring pop! The idea is that light reflects off surfaces like floors and walls, adding illumination to shadowy sides. Add little white highlights along the dark parts of her skin. Just as with the blush, you don’t want to overdo this. A little goes a long way. And her skin is all done!

Coloring Her Clothes & Eyes

For her eyes and denim, the same procedure. It’s all about blending, blending, blending wet on wet. Add as many layers of color till you reach the desired look. For example, I went for a many-layered dark blend on the man part of her jeans, but for the rolled up cuffs, I used the light and medium shades to give a faded, lighter look.

For her jeans, I used Denim Blue, Cobalt Blue and Midnight Blue. For her Eyes, Leaf Green, Emerald and Holly. For her white shirt I used some Cool Grey 01 blended with Denim Blue.

How to Color Hair with Alcohol-Based Markers

Now for her hair! I used Buttercup, Sunflower and Honeycomb for her blond curls. The dark shade (Honeycomb) is orange, which contrasts strongly with the light and medium shades which are yellow. This gives her hair a golden, high-shine appearance. When it comes to color blends, try to think outside of the box! It doesn’t have to be light blue, medium blue, dark blue. A blue shade can turn more purplish as it gets darker. Orange can lighten into yellow.

We will modify the blending technique we have been using for her hair. Using the same concept, we’ll just be changing our pen stroke. Instead of filling the area with solid color, flick your pen along her hair in the direction of the hair strands. Let your strokes trail off, so it gives the effect of multi-stranded hair. You can plot out where you want the white highlights and shine of her hair to be beforehand with a light pencil if you’d like.

Working area by area while the ink is wet, go over the light shade with your medium shade, all with flicking strokes. Blend over it with the light shade. Finally, blend in some dark. Keep building up color as you go along, revisiting and retouching the hair as needed. The main thing to keep in mind is that you’re not just coloring any old direction the way you might have been doing on the solid parts like her jeans and skin. You want to move your marker along her hair. The strands don’t have to all be perfectly blended as a gradient; you can have some individual strands standing out so the finished result will have a hair-like texture.

Add any final highlights with your white pen, fix up any areas that look streaky or not well-blended and you are all done!

And that’s how I color in my chibis! I hope this tutorial was helpful for any beginners out there! Artist markers are such a vibrant, beautiful medium, and so versatile! They take some getting used to but once you get the knack of blending you can achieve amazing results in your coloring! Thanks for reading and have fun coloring!

Yasmeen Eldahan, aka YamPuff, is a Cairo-based artist who has given just about everything a go over the years, from food blogging to webcomic illustration, before settling on coloring book artist. She is best known for her large collection of chibi-style linearts which have been colored in by colorists around the world! Her dream is to one day quit her teaching job and become a full-time artist! YamPuff has a passion for photography and animation (while not being very good at either) and loves her Cintiq like a daughter. You can find her free-to-color linearts and other illustrations at yampuff.com and her coloring books on Amazon. Don’t forget to follow her on Instagram and Facebook!

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