Are you new to Copic Markers and starting to build your collection?
Your first marker purchases can be nerve wracking! Copic makes a ton of markers, how do you know which colors to start with?
I struggled with the same decsions. This red or that red, this blue or that blue? Sure, the color is pretty but will I use it much? To be honest, I made mistakes. Many of the markers from my first box of 72 are colors are barely use. What a waste!
If I could go back in time and be smarter, I’d focus on useful blending combinations rather than buying boxed sets and grabbing any Copic in the clearance bin. Economy buys are only economical if you actually use the marker!
In the spirit of helping you avoid my mistakes, I started to wonder:
What’s the best blue-green blending combination for Copic Marker beginners?
I asked three of my favorite marker instructors about which aqua or turquoise markers they recommend for first time colorers.
Which blue-green markers offer students the best value?
Which Copic BGs are versatile enough to color many different turquoise items?
Which aqua blending combinations do we teach with?
Which BG markers do we use in our own work?
Which Blue-Green Copics are Best for Beginners?
We highly recommend Copic’s BG-Zero series of blue-green markers for beginners and those building a small, versatile alcohol marker collection. BG09-BG07-BG05-BG02-BG000 are excellent first purchases— they blend well and cover a wide range of aqua values.
Let’s talk to four Copic instructors to learn more about Copic blue-green blending combinations.
“Key to My Heart” by the author, Amy Shulke. Copic Markers and Prismacolor Colored Pencils on Cryogen Curious Metallic White 89 lb. paper. This project is featured Amy’s online class teaching how to develop realistic texture and shine. More info here.
Michelle Houghton’s Favorite Blue-Green Copics
Find Michelle on her Copic in the Craftroom channel at YouTube and at Scrapweaver.com
Asking a teacher for their favorite marker combination often leads to two totally different answers.
The markers we teach with may not be our personal favorites.
Sometimes we teach at stores where we’re obligated to use only the markers sold at the store. Sometimes we teach with an image that requires an unusual color palette.
Michelle uses the stamp “Woosh” in her Copic College course. Michelle limits the supply list to only versatile colors which can serve several functions. The tail on this mermaid is no exception.
Michelle teaches Copic College with BG57, BG53, and BG000.
But she freely admits that her own personal favorite BG markers are slightly more muted and sedate.
I’m a big fan of the BG75, BG72, and BG70 blending combination. It’s a soft, icy, almost grayish BG blend.
I also use light BG markers for a lot of backgrounds. When I want to color blue skies or give an image a neutral background, I often reach for BG000 or BG10. They’re both quiet colors which don’t interfere with the other colors in my images.
Watch Michelle use a photo reference to find a matching BG blending combination here.
Michelle demonstrates simple BG water here:
Here Michelle samples all the BG marker families side by side— an excellent comparison of each natural blending combination.
And here’s Michelle’s handy comparison of the different blue-green groups:
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Michelle is an elementary school teacher (BS Fine Arts, MA Education) with over 20 years of paper-crafting experience. She’s is a former Copic Certification Regional Instructor for Imagination International. Michelle runs the Copic in the Craftroom website and YouTube channel. Her Copic College events are favorites with Copic fans at all levels.. Visit her at Scrapweaver.com.
WE ASKED YOU!
What’s the favorite BG blending combo for Vanilla Arts readers?
Readers submitted 23 different blend suggestions; you really love unique BGs! In the end, BG15, BG13, BG11 was voted best overall.
Cordine van der Touw’s Beginner Aqua Blend
Find Cordine’s latest projects on her Facebook page here. You can also find her at Copic Marker Europe and Cordine’s latest classes for Copics at Colourstock.
Cordine recommends BG09 - BG05 - BG02 as your first blue-green blending combination.
Cordine says:
I love this combination! It blends so easily!
In her doodle image here, Cordine demonstrates how this BG blend can change, depending upon how much BG09 you add to the area.
The center dome feels deep and mysterious because she used more of the darker BG09 and BG05.
Then around the edges, Cordine used more BG02 and left room for the white paper to show. The addition of white makes the same blue look clean and clear.
This is another example of how a good teacher helps you maximize every dollar you spend on Copic Markers.
Cordine helps her students create multiple looks from the same markers.
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Cordine is an office manager in The Netherlands. She’s an avid paper crafter who loves card making, scrapbooking, and coloring stamps with Copic and colored pencils. She has taught Copic since 2013 for Colourstock as the Benelux region representative (Netherlands, Belgium, and Luxembourg). Contact Cordine here.
Psttt… the ducklings shown above are standing in front of circles made from BG10 plus a few colored pencils.
Elena Cazares’ Favorite Turquoise Copic Blend
Elena recommends BG18, BG15, and BG13 for beginners.
Her customers must agree because BG13 is her top-selling BG marker at Violeta-Ink.com
Elena says:
BG13 is that classic aqua color and it blends so well with BG15 and BG18. I like to use this combination together with E blends because it looks very natural. That’s what I did with my butterfly here. But then the same combination can look like a birthday party next to RV pinks.
Let me suggest another combination too: BG09, BG07, BG05. I’ve been using this combination a lot in my own projects recently. The caps for these markers look more blue than green, so I think maybe customers assume they don’t need more blues. But if I’m thinking of super-easy blends, this is the first one I think of. A great value!
I think Elena’s point is a good one, we often look at Copic blending combinations as swatches, alone on white paper. We spend a lot of time trying to decide if we like the three colors and whether they blend well.
But very few people color an entire project using only one blending combination.
Elena likes her BG18-15-13 combination not because it’s pretty by itself but because of how it works well with other blending combinations.
Beginners often find themselves stuck with a collection of oddly clashing, circus colored markers.
This is because they shop for pretty blending combinations rather than combinations which work well together.
As you’re shopping for new markers, take time to think about how each new combination looks next to the blends you already own.
Amy Shulke’s Favorite Teal Markers
Hey, that’s me! You can find me here at MarkerNovice.com or at my artistic coloring site, VanillaArts.com.
My favorite BG blending combination is an unusual mixture of two marker groups: B99, plus BG49 and BG45.
No, that’s not a typo. That’s one very dark blue combined with two bold blue-greens.
I’ve been in love with Duck Blue BG49 since it appeared in an expansion set in the early 2010’s. The problem is, there’s only two markers in the BG-Forty series. To teach with Duck Blue, I had to find a third partner for the combination.
Most instructors would add a lighter marker but to be honest, I don’t use many of the pale Copics. Going darker is more my thing. Adding a deep navy blue to teal feels very fresh and almost preppy-nautical.
Now I know, many beginners think blending combinations should all start with the same letter. Mixing a B into your BG blend breaks the rules.
But would you look at that ribbon? And look at that gemstone!
Broken rules are beautiful!
Like my blend here, I’m an oddball in the Copic teaching community. Because I come from a fine arts background rather than crafting… and because I was in art school before some of you were even born…
I learned to use alcohol markers before blending had been invented.
Yep. Markers were a required study for illustration majors back before art went digital. We used chisel nibs to draw color studies and quick design sketches back in the 1980’s and before. Old school markers were used on thin paper, any blending we did was completely by accident.
Because I was already a professional by the time I saw my first blending combination, the whole light-medium-dark combo concept never made sense. I’d been layering markers to make colors lighter, darker, or genuinely shadier for years.
I’d already been treating markers like paint and I didn’t see the point of changing when I started teaching marker classes.
So if I was painting, BG49 is very similar to a color called Cobalt Teal…
If I had Cobalt Teal on my palette and I wanted to make a slightly darker version, I’d add a color called Prussian Blue…
B99 is the Prussian Blue of the Copic world
B99 - BG49 - BG45 is a blending combination born on a painter’s palette, not looking at marker cap numbers.
Most of my favorite blending combinations mimic the colors I’d use in watercolor or oils.
I don’t really care what letters my markers start with, I’m looking at the color of the ink.
I make blends based on what looks good rather than what conforms to a mathematical cap-numbering rule.
learn with Amy:
What Are The Best Blue-Green Markers for Beginners?
Uh oh— we asked four marker instructors and got four different recommendations:
BG57 - BG53 - BG000.
BG09 - BG05 - BG02
BG18 - BG15 - BG13
B99 - BG49 - BG45.
They can’t all be best for beginners. What’s the best of the best?
Copic BG markers are all incredibly beginner friendly. These inks blend easily, even with markers from outside the BG family.
There really isn’t a bad marker in the bunch, but still, the four of us had to come to an agreement.
We’ve settled on recommending the BG-Zeros— that’s anything from BG09, BG07, BG05, BG02, BG01, BG000, or BG0000 because this is a number-group with a wide range of values. This group gives you a lot of bang for your bucks.
But if you like the look of another Blue-Green group, go for it!
The BGs are such easy blenders, you really can’t go wrong.
The Key to My Heart
Learn to develop a range of realistic textures in Amy’s “Key to My Heart” class for intermediate Copic users. Class covers matte and shiny metals, grosgrain and satin ribbons, plus gleaming gemstones and dynamic cast shadows.
Color isn’t the key to amazing coloring, it’s the texture!
Which BG’s should you avoid?
Oh boy. Maybe it’s because I’m a Pisces but it’s really hard for me to name a bad aqua marker.
I don’t just love them all, I regularly use them all.
I’ll admit, BG0000 (quadruple-zero) is such a faint color that it should be named “Thin Air”. There’s no there there. Of all my BGs, I use this one the least.
And if I had to name an entire group, I think beginners can wait on the BG-Ninety family. The 90’s are a group of greenish grays which don’t usually appeal to the birthday card coloring crowd…
… but I use them on landscapes a lot. A LOT!
Last, I think if you have BG49 & BG45, then skip BG57 & BG53 or vice versa. They’re not duplicates of each other but they’re very similar and have the same teal vibe. Placed side-by-side, I’d have trouble picking which are 40’s and which are 50’s— they’re that close.
So there you go,
The Best Blue-Green Copic Marker Blending Combination:
If you’re new to Copic Markers, we highly recommend Copic’s BG-Zero series of blue-green markers for those building a small, versatile alcohol marker collection.
BG09-BG07-BG05-BG02-BG000 are excellent first purchases— they blend well and cover a wide range of aqua values.
Amy Shulke is a professional illustrator who has used Copic Markers since 1990. She teaches artistic coloring classes online at VanillaArts.com and locally in mid-Michigan.
Marker Novice is Amy’s completely free resource devoted to beginner marker education. For intermediate/advanced artistic coloring articles, see her Studio Journal here.
Learn to develop a range of realistic textures in Amy Shulke’s “Key to My Heart” class for intermediate Copic users. Class covers matte and shiny metals, grosgrain and satin ribbons, plus gleaming gemstones. More info here.
Marker Testing: Colors Mentioned Above
Ready to try challenge level coloring?
“Key to my Heart”
A lesson on finish & shine, two of the most under-appreciated elements of texture. Finish and shine are important to telling stories with your artwork.
Intermediate Marker Painting Workshop
Real time coloring, recorded live
Live Workshops are unscripted demonstrations which provide a real look at the authentic coloring process. You’ll see mistakes being made and corrected. Nothing is scripted or over-rehearsed. It’s just like visiting Amy in her home studio.
Log in and color with Amy at your convenience. Anytime access. No expiration dates.
Class was recorded in January 2021 and featured a live student audience. Amy answers questions from the students and offers tips for better marker and colored pencil art.
