How to Color Realistic Still Life Scenes with Orange YR Alcohol Markers

Realistic coloring isn’t just one technique.

And it’s often not about using the most realistic blending combinations.

Realism with alcohol markers and colored pencils is a process, a series of steps— methods we learn over time which eventually add up to more realism.

Let me show you the next step beyond underpainting and layering for depth and dimension.

In order to create the illusion of realistic objects, you have to set them in a real environment.

They don’t call it a “still life” for nothing.

DON’T MISS THE CARROT SEED SUPPLY LIST (MARKERS & PENCILS) AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS PAGE

DRAW & COLOR: CARROT SEEDS

How to color a realistic still life with Copic Markers & Prismacolor Pencils

(click below to watch at YouTube)

LAST MONTH’S LIVESTREAM

Every coloring teacher teaches the same thing…

It's standard practice to “shade” the objects you color with a dark marker in your blending combination. People even refer to the lighter markers as "shade colors".

Then they wonder why their coloring looks kinda flat.

Psssttt... shade is not just a darker version of your medium marker color.

Let’s explore why.

Love the FREE lessons?

A gentle reminder:

Free lessons are not free to produce.

Like you, I must buy paper, pencils, and refill ink.

But I also have cameras, microphones, broadcast software, and usage rights for photo references to pay for. There’s this website and the software I use to create graphics, reminder emails, supply lists, and PDF learning aids. Then consider the hours I spend researching and creating every video, livestream, and color theory article.

The best way to support me is to support yourself!

Classes, kits, and digital stamps keep you learning and keep me a’float!

VIDEO RESOURCES:

Photo Reference Worksheet

Get your copy of the primary photo reference for the Carrot Seeds project. Worksheet includes the photo plus color and highlight prompts.

FREE Worksheet now available inside the Vanilla Beans Library

All subscribers to my Saturday newsletter have password access to the library where I keep lots of nifty downloads plus an exclusive blending video.

Subscribe, then take the link to the latest issue of Vanilla Beans. Every issue of Beans lists the current Library password.

Already a subscriber? Check last Saturday’s issue for the Library link and current password.

Sorry, I was unable to find quality free reference photos for the Carrot Seed project. Please download the worksheet above for my carrot reference.

TIPS FOR COLORING STILL LIFE SCENES

TIP: Real objects don’t look natural just sitting by themselves.

I’ll admit, I struggle with this. My background in educational illustration often has me drawing objects isolated on white backgrounds and I see many colorists doing something similar— just a dog, just a heart, just a carrot— you only color what’s included in the stamp.

I’m not recommending that you turn every stamp into a complicated scene but you’re missing opportunities for realism when you don’t add texture or wrinkles to your objects or when you don’t color a cast shadow.

TIP: Two objects, side by side will always interact with each other, even if they don’t physically touch.

Picture a Dalmatian sitting next to a fire hydrant. Even if the line art leaves space between them, they’re still sitting on the same patch of ground and sharing the same light and air, right?

Build a relationship between the two things for more realism. Maybe the dog is casting his shadow onto the fire hydrant. Maybe his fur near the fire hydrant is picking up a bit of bounced red light.

TIP: What kind of research did I do for this carrot image?

If you want to know where the seeds came from and why they’re there, be sure to watch the video!

NEW Digital Stamp

During the livestream, I draw an original image… but then I color over it!

So after the stream, I recreate the original line drawing, making slight improvements.

Carrot Seeds: a simple still life

Clean and minimalist digital line art

I keep my drawings simple with no texture marks or decoration. Your coloring should be the star of the show, not my line art!

Color Inspiration:

Vanilla Undercover is my series of underpaint blending combinations— creating realistic color with unusual markers.

I’ll be coloring our carrot with a slightly different blending combination (I’ll explain why in the video).

But if you don’t like mine, this one will work too. It’s a different interpretation of the same photo reference!

My Marker Journal

I use a Zeta journal in the Draw & Color livestreams.

It’s hard to find good paper for my mixed media illustrations. Markers like ultra smooth paper while colored pencils need tooth. Markers and pencils are opposites, so any paper that works for both mediums will always be a compromise.

And once you find a good compromise, it rarely comes in journal format.

This paper is pretty good for markers— it doesn’t feather, bleed, or discourage blending.

It also has enough tooth to add a few layers of colored pencil.

Is this the paper I’d use for an all-marker illustration? No.

Is it the paper I’d use for an all-colored pencil illustration? No.

But this is one of the best journals I’ve found for marker + pencil.

(affiliate links)

Copic Markers & Colored Pencils for “Carrot Seeds”

SEED PACKET:

Copic: W2, E42, E41, #0 Colorless Blender

Prismacolor Colored Pencils: 936 Slate Grey, 941 Light Umber, 1076 90% French Grey

CARROT GREENS AND GREEN DOT:

Copic: YR21, YG63, YG61

Prismacolor Colored Pencils: 109 Prussian Green, 901 Indigo Blue, 918 Orange, 931 Dark Purple (Amy subs Derwent Lightfast Purple), 914 Cream

CARROT ORANGE:

Copic: YG61, YR68, Y38, Y35

Prismacolor Colored Pencils: 109 Prussian Green, 931 Dark Purple (Amy subs Derwent Lightfast Purple), 938 White, 1011 Deco Yellow, 1032 Pumpkin Orange

CAST SHADOWS:

Prismacolor Colored Pencils: 918 Orange, 936 Slate Grey, 931 Dark Purple (Amy subs Derwent Lightfast Purple), 109 Prussian Green

Related Reading

click above to read

CARROT SEEDS: SUPPLY LIST

(This is an estimate of what I expect to use during the livestream but colors may change live! This list will be updated after the stream with actual supplies used)