More yellow is not shade, it's just more yellow. You add to your depth problems when you “shade” according to the Copic +2, +3, or 10+2 formulas. If it’s 102 degrees and you’re sweating like a sumo in a sauna, should you turn on the furnace? If the twelve chili dogs you ate at lunch are starting to haunt you, do you yell “One more time around!” to the roller coaster carnie?

There's nothing wrong with saying 'this isn't my thing!' We’re about to go in-depth and do some serious art-talking which will complicate life. If you are in the first category, if you’re a Pure Colorer who just likes to play with markers once in a while, then this series of articles is not for you. The goal for an Artistic Colorer is to color with greater realism and freedom. Now that they finally have time to color, they’re deeply frustrated by the limitations of most marker instruction. This group has untapped drawing or painting talent. A great many of them were discouraged from following art as a career but some of never even realized they were artistic until late in life. Artistic colorers were born to be artists and yet ended up in dentistry, banking, or teaching.

Last is a deceptively large category and if you're reading here, you're likely one of them. They’re also picky about mediums because appearance and aesthetics trump everything else. Style Colorers are selective about coloring images. Many want to create a unique coloring style for themselves OR to accurately recreate the feel of gorgeous coloring they see from illustrators, manga specialists, or other admired artists. They’re not necessarily on a quest for drop-dead photorealism, they’re simply looking to improve the look of what they color. Then there Style Colorers (again, my name for them) who want more than copy-cat coloring. Their goal is to color for the love of color.

They’re not looking to challenge their personal limits. They love trying other mediums, not just Copics. They take joy from the use of pretty materials and get intense pleasure from the blending process. Pure Colorers are what I’ll name those who keep it simple.

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