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Copic at CAMEX

March 12, 2010 : 3:33 pm by Courtney

Copic will be in attendance this year at CAMEX in Orlando Florida. Produced by the National Association of College Stores, CAMEX is the higher education retailing industry’s largest trade show and educational event. Each year, CAMEX attracts more than 7,000 exhibitors and attendees, representing more than 1,100 college stores, 700 companies, and more than 90 product categories.

CAMEX 2010 takes place March 13-15 and we are booth number 1974. Please come by and say hello if you are a buyer or store owner. This show is not open to the public.

Updated 2010 Copic Catalog

January 20, 2010 : 3:52 pm by Courtney

The 2010 catalog will soon be available. We just got these in today from the printer and they should be shipping out soon. This version sports a new cover but has much of the same content. New products and updates have been added.

Artist Interview with Traci Bautista

December 3, 2009 : 11:32 am by Courtney

I met Traci Bautista in January of 2009 at a craft and hobby trade show and we spoke briefly about doing a feature on our website.  I’ve finally gotten around to doing so and am happy that I did. Her work stood out to me because she was using such a mash-up of materials, including Copic Markers, where most artist’s there were following more traditional paths. Her work is fearless, bright and expressive and as a mixed media artist there is always a lot going on and therefore a lot to enjoy. Read the interview, check out her work then find out when her next online workshop is happening and get involved. You won’t be sorry.

What is your earliest memory of making art?

When I was younger, I was always doing something artsy or crafty. I remember going to Ben Franklin with my grandparents and buying latch hook kits and art materials to make art. In elementary school, my dad got me a Badge-a-Minute machine, which I loved. I drew pictures and cut out magazine photos of Duran Duran to make buttons that I sold at the holiday craft fairs. I recall that, one of my favorite things to draw were pictures using repeating words. For instance, I wrote the word “butterfly” over and over to fill in the shape of a butterfly. Maybe, that encouraged my affinity for typography.

Growing up, I designed clothes for my Barbies, loved making fashion designs with Fashion Plates, made hair accessories, doodled on my Peechee folders and decorated my Trapper Keepers with collage. My love for papercrafting started at a young age, I started making handmade cards, scrapbooks & journals in 5th grade.  When I was 9, I taught myself calligraphy using a speedball book/pen set.  In high school, I designed and sewed most of my dresses for school formals by revamping my moms old bridesmaid dresses. I loved anything that had to do with art, fashion and design.

Do you have formal training or are you self-taught?

I am formally trained as a graphic designer. I received my Degree in Graphic Design with a minor marketing from Woodbury University in Burbank,CA.  As a designer, I was trained in color theory and conceptual design. But when it comes to collage, painting and book making that was self taught. In college, I took a watercolor and life drawing classes that were good foundation courses but nothing like the artwork I create today.

Tracis Desk

Can you briefly describe your creative process?

My creative process differs depending on the project…. (more…)

Various Ink Refills

November 17, 2009 : 5:12 pm by Courtney

Various-Inks-Ver

I was working on this poster yesterday for our stores and I thought I’d share it here. Surprisingly, many people don’t realize that all of our markers are refillable. This means you can save a ton of money on markers in the long run. If you are using any of our marker types (Copic, Sketch, Ciao, Wide) then the below chart will show you how many refills you can get from one bottle of Various Ink. They are available in all 334 colors. If you are using Ciao, Copic or Wide (which don’t come in all colors) you can buy the empty markers and fill them with any color you like.

Various_refill_graphic

Getting a refillable marker that is high quality and has as many color options is tough. If you are switching over to Copic’s, hopefully you already know about the refillability of our products. Don’t forget our Mulitliner SP Ink Pens are refillable too.  Make sure you recycle your old pens when they dry out. If you are looking for something interesting to do with them, I came across this article on diylife.com on “15 Uses for Old Pens“. Also check out the Pen Guy. He is trying to collect 1 million empty pens. He is putting together pen recycle stations and distributing them in the California area. I’d be interested to see more of these around. According to this article, Bic sold it’s 100 billionth ball point pen in 2005. If you laid that many pens end to end it would circle the earth 348 times. That’s nuts.

SCAD Art Materials Trade Show is under way

October 1, 2009 : 9:41 pm by Courtney

IMG_0558

We finished day 1 of the Art Materials Trade Show at the Savannah College of Art and Design. It’s been pretty fun. We go through Saturday and there is lot’s to see so come by our booth. We are upstairs in the back corner of the River House Building down off Bay Street.

Copic Animated Promo from AX09

September 21, 2009 : 8:00 am by Courtney

Copic Anime Expo Booth from Pushplay Productions on Vimeo.

If you missed Anime Expo this past July, here is the animated promo we had playing in our booth. Illustrations from our new ink pen point-of-sale display (by yours truly) and motion graphics by Pushplay Productions. Pushplay has been helping us this past year putting together our new DVD series. They do great work.

Letter Playground

September 17, 2009 : 4:37 pm by Courtney

letterplayground

Illustrator Nate Williams just launched Letter Playground.  A public site where anyone can upload their interpretation of letters and numbers. Looks like a great place for inspiration as well as for showing off your stuff.

via BOOOOOOOOM

Illustrator David Chelsea

August 25, 2009 : 4:04 pm by Courtney

snowangel_color_1

Portland, Oregon Artist and Illustrator David Chelsea has completed some new work for an upcoming anthology called “Snow Stories” (no date yet). Mr. Chelsea was kind enough to lend us some pages to share with you. When we get more info on the release of the book we will share it here. See a few more pages after the jump.

UPDATE:
David Chelsea mentions his tools used for this project on his blog

(more…)

Illustrator Abner Graboff

August 11, 2009 : 10:38 am by Courtney

During my blog reading this week I found a great feature on Illustrator Abner Graboff. For those of you who dig children’s book illustration, especially stuff from the 50’s and 60’s, this is a great read. Portland, Oregon Illustrator Ward Jenkins did some research on Graboff and even did an interview with Graboff’s son Jon. Over three posts, Jenkins show off a lot of great images from Graboff’s books from the 50’s and 60’s.
Check it out: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

Jenkins himself has recently released his first childrens book, “How to train with a T Rex and win 8 gold medals” about olympic swimmer Michael Phelps. Great stuff.

Artist Interview with Cat Staggs

August 4, 2009 : 10:28 am by Courtney

This month our Featured Artist Gallery presents Cat Staggs.

cat_staggs_sample8

Some time last year I was contacted by Cat Staggs and was very excited by the work she was doing. She has a very painterly style and her techniques give her film and comic book icons a rich presence.

From her bio:

llustrating over 130 cards for the Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith card set for TOPPS, Cat joined the Star Wars / LUCAS FILM family in 2004. The highly collectible artist’s sketch cards brought Staggs into the forefront of Star Wars fandom. Having produced exclusive prints for Star Wars Celebrations III, IV, and Europe, Cat has also contributed drawing tutorials and Halloween masks articles for the kid’s section, as well as illustrating short fiction for starwars.com

Not content to only play in that galaxy far, far away, Cat’s work has also been featured on The Lord of the Rings Evolution and Masterpieces card sets and three sets featuring Indiana Jones for TOPPS.

Moreover, further cementing her reputation among collectors and fellow artists, Cat’s distinctive work can also be seen on Rittenhouse Archives’ Iron Man-The Movie, Complete Marvel Avengers, X-Men Archives and DC Legacy card sets, as well as The World’s Finest VS trading card game for Upperdeck.

See below the interview for a brief description of her process.

What is your earliest memory of drawing or making art?

I don’t remember not drawing. My mother tells me I was drawing something the second I could hold a crayon.

Do you have formal training or are you self-taught?

Both. I would draw all the time but I also focused on art classes from an early age. I never wanted to do anything else. I went to a University Of Texas in San Antonio and studied fine art, obtaining my Bachelor’s Degree. That is the extent of my formal education. But to this day I am still learning something new everyday. Whether it be something I figure out on my own or learn from my peers and/or mentors.

Can you briefly describe your illustration process?

I usually come up with an idea. I Frankenstein reference together. I normally shoot my own(myself or with the help of a photographer ) as it is the only way to make sure i get exactly what I need. Then I will do my layout sketch. Once that is finished I then scan the sketch and print out a blue line version to do the coloring on. I usually start with an under drawing of the basic light and shadow. Once that is complete I go in with the color, layering until i reach the desired render. once i am “satisfied” I go in with a white acrylic to had the highlights in the final layer.

Paint vs. Markers? What is the deciding factor?

For me i really enjoy markers. I feel like I have a little more control over the media than I do with paint or a paint brush.

How did you get into doing trading cards for film and comics?

I started going out on the convention circuit and handed out portfolios. I was then contacted a few months later by Topps asking if i was interested in working on the Revenge Of The Sith trading card set. And the rest is history.

Who are some of your favorite illustrators/ artists?

I am a big Norman Rockwell fan as well as Jon Whitcomb and Robert McQuire. More recent illustrators include Adam Hughes, Phil Noto, Mitch Breitweiser, Mark Brooks, Brian Stelfreeze and Dustin Nguen to name a few. I am lucky that part of my job is going to conventions and getting to sit in the middle of some of the most talented illustrators of our time. It is really inspiring.

What advice/crit from a teacher or mentor have you received on your work that really helped you develop?

My high school art teacher told me to go with my gut and trust my line and keep the focus on one idea at a time. Continuous second guessing is never a good thing and in the end you will wish you went with your initial instinct and could lose your idea in the process. It was great advice at the time.

That being said, I have come to learn, the initial idea is not always the strongest. There are times when another set of eyes will see things that the creator does not. Things that can bring a new energy to a piece, especially if it is just not coming together. Art tends to always be evolving even within a single piece. An idea can strike right in the middle that would make it better. Inspiration can strike at anytime. I have found that most artists will never complete a piece. We are constantly seeing ways to make it better, even years later.

What’s the best part about being an illustrator?

Working freelance.

What is the worst part about being and illustrator?

Working freelance…LOL

de2tut

Here is a brief step-by-step of the above Batman image Cat did for a private collector. She used Copic Markers as well as white acrylic for highlights.

Top left to right
1) cleaned up sketch
2)Blacks
3)Warm Grays
4)Tonal grays
5)Neutral and cool grays
6)blue violet under drawing
7)first color layer
8)second color layer
9)whites

If you dig what she does then check out her website, her deviantart page and her blog.

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