My Copic Tools - The Hex Chart

We've talked about what I wish I'd known and we've talked about my swatch book. Today we're going to discuss Sandy Allnock's Hex chart.  I was a later adopter of the hex chart and today I'm going to talk about how I use mine.

Above is my hex chart for my Caio markers.  If you're really observant you may have spotted my two small errors.  I wasn't willing to color my chart all over again, so I drew a couple small arrows to show notate the colors I transposed.  Ok, housekeeping out of the way, on with the discussion.  

I use my hex chart as more of a color wheel than I do for color selection.  I often start with colors in mind and select colors from my swatch book, but when I want to blend something a bit more unusual or if I use a marker that I don't have a "blending buddy" for I turn to the hex chart.  For example one of my favorite blends is B99 with BG09.  These are both deep dark shades and they create a stunning dark blend.  I also use BG72 and G21 together for leaves, which creates a shade that reminds me of eucalyptus.  These are both colors I wouldn't have blended together on my own.  There is an advantage to being able to see all the shades laid out on one sheet, it opens a lot of possibilities.  

The other advantage of hex chat is that it helps me see which colors I have can be swapped in for similar colors I may not have.  If you look at the chart above you'll see that B29, B28, and B18 at the bottom left of the chart are nearly identical.  Do I need all three of those?  No.  Any of those shades could be interchanged in a blend to get a similar result in your coloring.

Regardless of how you plan to use the hex chart or which style of Copics you use, I think this is a valuable tool.