Colored Pencils Over Water-Based Markers

I recently discovered how wonderful coloring grayscale with colored pencils over water-based markers can be! I suspect it would be even better over alcohol-based markers but that is something I haven't tested yet and will have to wait for a future post :-).

The marker serves as a great base of color that can add some richness and depth to your image. If the marker color is light enough then the grayscale details will show through making it easy to figure out where and how dark or light to go with the colored pencils. 

Book: Beautiful Creatures grayscale coloring book
Colorist: Nicole Stocker

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I completed the bear above using this technique. The bear has a ton of fur detail that would have taken me hours to do with just colored pencils. By coloring the entire bear (except the eyes & nose) and the background with Tombow Dual Brush Pens I was able to get a base of color and then just focus on enhancing the detail with colored pencil. I found that I did not need to be too precise with the colored pencils. Overall, it made the process faster but still really enjoyable and I achieved a more vibrant result thanks to the color coverage from the markers. 

​In this post I'm going to walk you through my step-by-step process of coloring two different pictures using this technique and what my key learnings were. One I colored with Staedtler Triplus Fineliners and the other with Tombow Dual Brush Pens as well as Fineliners for the smaller areas. In both cases I used Prismacolor Premier colored pencils over top. 

Peacock Example
Staedlter Triplus Fineliners with Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils

Here is the peacock image I started with:

STEP 1
First, I colored the body with a yellow Staedtler Triplus Fineliner and a green fineliner around the eye. I also used a white gel pen for the white strips around the eye and the dot of white on the peacock's eye and a very fine point Pigma Micron black ink pen for the eye.

As you can see, when you compare the picture above with this one with the yellow body, the grayscale details come through and give depth and detail to the colored part of the image. Those details will be helpful later on when I use the colored pencil over top because then I'll know where and how dark or light to color.

STEP 2
Next, I used the yellow fineliner to color more of the feathers. I wasn't worried about being too precise. I was aiming to get a yellow glow.  

STEP 3
In this step, I colored the peacock's tail feathers with the yellow fineliner and then used a light blue (that came out teal colored because of the gray) on the eyes of the feathers. I also added a bunch of strokes of yellow on the hair of the feathers, again aiming to get a bit of a glow effect when the picture is complete.

STEP 4
Here I completed the eyes of the feathers with a green fineliner but, as you can see, it came through very dark because of the gray underneath. If I were to do this again I would probably go with a lighter color and be more aware of how much the gray can further darken the marker color. I don't find this to be as much of an issue when using colored pencil over gray.

STEP 5
Next I used some blue, green & magenta (used sparingly & lightly) Prismacolor Premier colored pencils to color the hair. The way I did this was just lots of quick strokes. I didn't worry about having them be exact. I just made sure to stroke in the same general direction as the feather hair. With the lightest blue I lightly shaded over a lot of the more open areas (e.g. the top right corner). I stepped back everyone once in a while to make sure the color was evenly distributed.

As you can see, the colored pencil over top drastically changes the look of the picture and the yellow underneath shines through nicely. I love the interaction of the yellow fineliner with the colored pencils. 

STEP 6
Here is the final picture! To complete it I used greens and a touch of the magenta for the body and tail feathers and some orange for the beak.  

Book: Beautiful Creatures grayscale coloring book
Colorist: Nicole Stocker

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Bird Example
Tombow Dual Brush Pens and Staedtler Triplus Fineliners with Prismacolor Premier Colored Pencils

Here is the bird image I started with: 

STEP 1
First, I colored the branch with a very light colored Tombow. Notice how all the nice grayscale detail on the branch still comes through. 

STEP 2
​Here I used an orange Tombow to color the body of the bird. As you can see the streaking is much worse in this case than it was on the branch. This appears to be for two reasons:

1.  The darker the Tombow the more obvious the streaking. 
2. Coloring on a textured image helps hide the streaks, as was the case with the branch. However, the bird's body is fairly smooth which makes the streaks even more apparent. 

The streaking means more work in trying to cover it up with colored pencil!

Important to note: Tombows are water-based markers. It's my understanding that water-based markers are streakier than the smoother finish you get with an alcohol-based marker (e.g. Copic, Spectrum Noir, etc.). I hope to test out alcohol-based markers in the future.

STEP 3
Here I colored the bird's legs and feet with a Staedtler Triplus Fineliner. I should have learned from the peacock that the color would end up being much darker than I wanted. Oh well! It was too late to change it so now I'll just need to use colored pencil to get back some of the detail. Learning as I go!!

STEP 4
​In this step I colored the beak with a Staedtler Triplus Fineliner. I knew I wasn't going to like the final color but I learned from the legs & feet that I needed to use a lighter marker. This yellow will serve as a great base that I can layer on top of and get to a color I'm really happy with it. Much better than having it too dark since it's pretty hard to ligthen it after the fact!

I know what you are thinking: "Nicole's bird is not looking so good!" I totally agree but not to worry, we can turn this around...

STEP 5
Colored pencils to the rescue! Here I used Prismacolor Premier colored pencils to color the body, beak, eye and add definition to the legs, feet and claws. As you can see I managed to cover most of the streaking on the body with the colored pencil. I also toned down the beak and gave some definition to the legs and feet. 

STEP 6
In this step I added a little definition to the branch with colored pencils. I just followed the grayscale detail to focus on enhancing the darkerst areas. 

STEP 7
​I think this step is the one that pulled the entire picture together. Before this step I was feeling a kind of unsure about my little bird. However, after I colored the head and tail feathers everything else seemed to work! This intense shot of black really works nicely with the body of the bird, makes the beak color fit in properly and makes those dark legs and feet seem (almost) like they belong! 

STEP 8
The final step, the background. I used some soft chalk pastels. I scribbled them on and then smudged them around with my finger. 

Book: Beautiful Creatures grayscale coloring book
Colorist: Nicole Stocker

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Key Learnings

• When using a marker over grayscale the marker color will be impacted by the grayscale. Not only will the final color be darker but it will be altered by the gray. This seems obvious but it may still be a surprise when it happens. I recommend testing the marker on a similar level of grayscale before you begin to make sure you are happy with the resulting color. 
• The lighter the color of the marker the more the grayscale detail will show through and the less streaking there will be.
• Fineliners are wonderful for coloring detailed areas and don't necessarily even need to be covered with colored pencil because if you color a very small defined area you are much less likely to have streaking from the markers like you would in a larger space.
• Tombows are preferable for coloring larger areas but can definitely leave streaks (I hope to test out alcohol-based markers in the future to get a smoother finish). It's helpful if you are coloring over something quite textured (e.g. the branch in the bird picture) as this helps hide some of the streaking. The darker the Tombow, the more obvious the streaking. 
• With the Tombows it is worthwhile to give them some time (about 10 mins?) to fully dry so you are able to really see where there are streaks that you'll need to cover and to get a final sense of the color you are working with. The paper these pictures were on is 100lb text paper so it handled the marker very nicely. 
• Don't give up if you color with markers and your picture isn't looking too good. Remember that adding the colored pencil can really change the look of the entire picture.

Thanks so much for sticking with me to the end of this post! I hope you found it helpful. I would love to hear about your experience with and tips for this general technique as well as any feedback or questions you have. 

Happy Coloring!