My Copic Tools - Swatch Book

I recently talked about What I wish I'd known about Copics, today I'm going to start a series on the tools I use when working with my Copics.  Make no mistake, I love my Copics, but there was a bit of a learning curve and tools have helped me learn to work with my markers and improved my blending skills.

My swatch book came before Sandy Allnock's Hex chart.  I created my own swatch book, inspired by a few ideas I'd seen.  I wanted my swatch book to be grouped by color family in a certain way.  When I designed my book I included a check box for tracking refills and a "C" for the colors available in the Caio style.  I have the Caio collection of colors, all 180 of them, so why did I care about including other colors?  Because I share nearly all my craftiness with my bestie over at By Grace Everett, and she's invested in the Sketch style.  I included all the colors, except the fluorescent colors.  

Once I was happy with my simple design, I took my PDF to our local office supply to have copies made.  I had the copies printed on the paper I use for Copic coloring.  News flash, I don't use Neenah Solar.  You can read about my paper choice here.  Once I had my copies I brought them home, cut the pages in half, cut sheets of acetate for covers, and used my binding machine to create our books.

One copy stayed in my studio and one traveled to my Bestie in Wyoming.  I can also say I use this book how I assume other Copic colorists use their hex chart.  My swatch book is my Copic bible so to speak.  This is where I turn when I have an idea and need to match colors with ink pads, paper, embellishments, etc.  I'll discuss how I use my hex chart in a future post.

Before I had 180 Copic markers I wasn't much of a color swatch gal.  I had swatches for my Distress Inks and Distress Oxides, but that was about it.  Building this book has changed that.  Now I swatch a lot more things, including marker and ink blends.  Next week I'll talk about the hex chart.