Color Chart
The Copic Marker Hand Color Chart (“Color Chart”) can be one of your most valuable Copic tools. I use mine to organize which marker colors I own as well as a guide for matching colors to designer paper and card stock.
Interested? Let’s take a look!
The chart itself is very informative. It is designed with a color block for every Copic color. On the right hand side, the Copic numbering system is explained and below that, there is a marker/color key. Each color block contains one or more of these symbols which tells you which colors are available in which styles of markers.
I begin by printing my chart on the cardstock I use with my markers. I make a note on the page of the brand and color of the card stock I’ve printed on. This is important because shades of white or vanilla can slightly alter your marker colors. Keeping this type of chart will let you know exactly what color you will get when you put the ink on your image!
I then color in the box for each color I have. Some people color the entire box, this is entirely up to you!
You can see from this picture that I have quite a few yellows. Note that all color boxes represent the sketch style since it has the entire range of colors. If you look at the YRo4 box (middle, 4th down), you’ll see that this color is available in the original, ciao, and wide styles. If you own different styles of markers, you might want to mark which style you have.
The Copic numbering system can be intimidating. The first letters tell you which color family the marker is in. The first number tells you how much gray or tone is in the color. This is a very important number and will help you decide how to buy your colors. The last number indicates the brightness of the color. I will explain the meanings of these values when I discuss the color wheel.
After I finished my chart, I placed it on a clipboard that I can keep hanging nearby in my crafting area. Whenever I start a project, I choose my image and color palette. Usually, this involves finding some awesome designer paper and matching card stock! After I’ve found the colors I’m going to use, I place them next to my color chart to find matching Copic colors for the image I’ll color. I never have to guess or waste time going through my markers. Everything is right at my fingertips!
I hope this is helpful to you. I love to hear your ideas as well so please feel free to share!
