Ooooo Let's Color!

Those of you who know me, or have read my very first Ode to Paper blog post, already know that I love color.  Every color, hue, tint and shade.  I have never met one I didn't love.  So when I found a lady selling some of her Copics online, I figured, what the heck, lets give this a try.  I have been an acrylic painter for years, it couldn't be all that different, could it?  Ahem, um, yes, it definitely can.  Copics are alcohol ink markers and have to be blended a certain way.  The other thing I learned quickly is that you can't just pick out some colors and go ahead and color with them like you would crayons or pencil crayons.  I ordered some of her markers but didn't order any blendable colors, lol.  I just went through and picked out a few that I thought were nice colors.  OK, now I had to rectify that situation, but Copics are so very expensive here! The next ride into the city took me to Michael's and I purchased three colors I thought would blend well together.  This is my first attempt with Copics:

Not so great.

 My second attempt, waited until I got a few more colors, ordered from the same lady (who has become a friend***HI Monica!!**).  I also tried a few different papers as I found the coverstock I was using tended to bleed the ink really bad.  My mother-in-law gave me some different sheets to try, unfortunately, I have no idea what they are.  I'll have to take them into the art store in the city and ask if they can tell me.  This is my second attempt with Copics and 2 different papers:

Still not great, but getting better.  The second paper was far better than the first one in the photos.

Then my friend decides to sell a wack of Spectrum Noir markers, and of course, I had to try those too.  The difference between Copics and the Spectrum Noirs have made me a believer.  I love the Spectrum Noir markers.  They are about a third of the price of Copics, and have a bullet tip instead of the brush tip.  I haven't decided which I like better yet though.  This is my third attempt on actual 150 pound cardstock:

Still working on it.  LOL, it is definitely a hard learning curve.  Monica says to me, you need to learn how to blend.  Yup, I do.  I went online again, and went to the Spectrum Noir website and found a whole host of videos on how to blend and such with the spectrum Noir markers and here is my latest attempt:

That's better!  Still not the best, but I'm definitely seeing improvement!  And even better, I love it!