Y15 Cadmium Yellow is a warm yellow Copic Marker which closely resembles Cadmium Yellow Light watercolor. This is an extremely useful and versatile color and highly recommended as a first purchase. Y15 is available in Copic Sketch, Ciao, and Classic marker styles.
Every Copic Marker has unique characteristics based on its unique ink formula.
Knowing how a color behaves will help you blend effectively and make art with confidence.
Y15 Cadmium Yellow
Let’s take a closer look at this Copic Marker and it’s ink characteristics.
Temperature: A slightly warm-shift yellow
Resemblance: Cadmium Yellow Light watercolor.
Actual Value: N3
All Copics are measured on a Neutral Gray value scale. The last number on the cap is supposed to indicate value but we’ve found discrepancies where the actual ink value is different than cap designation.
Cap Accuracy: Close. The plastic on a Sketch cap matches 2 coats of Y15.
Buildup: Y15 is has a low amount of colorant and can be layered with ease.
Shattering: Does not shatter at all.
Chromatography testing shows this ink’s behavior when it comes in contact with #0 Colorless Blender (solvent). High shattering colors may leak unexpected color when you make corrections or attempt to blend with any color that has a high solvent to colorant ratio. Shattering is not bad, it’s just something to be aware of.
Staining: Y15 has just a bit of grab so it may stain papers of lesser quality.
Lift: It took a few coats to start lifting but Y15 is basically a correctible color with patience.
See staining swatch. Sample was given 6 stripes of #0 Colorless Blender, drying between each stripe. Results indicate how much lifting you can expect.
Lightfast: Mild fading but we’d expect this color to be badly damaged if we doubled the test time.
Samples were swatched on X-Press It Blending Card. 1 layer of ink was exposed to windowsill sunlight for 21 days. Approximately 10 hours of sun per day based on weather conditions. Note: we do not recommend displaying original Copic art under these conditions.
Natural Ink Family: Y15 is dilution of Y19 but the mother ink which forms both markers is likely far more mustard-brown looking than anything Copic currently produces. Y11 is the palest dilution in this family but we would love to see a Y10 in the future.
Family Members: Y19, Y18, (Y17*), Y15, Y13, Y11
*Please note that Y17 is a cuckoo-bird color that has been badly shoehorned into the group. The other markers in this family are all standard dilutions
We include this information because many Copic users never think deeper than the letter groupings (R, BV, G, etc.). Every ink has its own temperature variations and underlying flavors. Understanding what an ink looks like in its different dilutions helps when creating your own blending combinations.
Complement: A warm blue violet like BV04
Underpaint: We suggest BV00
This is simply one suggestion. Many possible colors exist. Test to find a color that pleases you.
Pushing Pencil: Prismacolor 1026 Greyed Lavender can be used lightly. It’s an opaque pencil so be careful not to accidentally mask this beautiful yellow.
VanillaArts.com (our sister site) teaches a Push & Pull technique for dimensional coloring. This is simply one suggestion. Many possible colors exist. Test to find a color that pleases you.
Vanilla Arts Classes using Y15:
Oopsie Daisy: Start your marker painting journey with Oopsie Daisy and follow Amy as she covers the flick technique and how to use it with both marker and colored pencil to develop depth in floral images. Find more info here.
Copperbanded Butterflyfish: Amy explores the difference between pattern and texture. Find more info here.
Lemon Zest: Amy shows you how to modify the underpainting technique to shade yellow objects with realism and beauty. Find more info here.
Vanilla Arts Digi Stamps using Y15:
Color palettes and swatches using Y15:
We are building our palette and swatch collection a little more each week and will update here as more become available.
Visit the color resource page at our sister site VanillaArts.com for a wide variety of Copic palettes and swatches.
Looking for beautiful color palettes?
We absolutely love The Color Catalog 1 & 2 from Sarah Renae Clark. It puts hundreds of Copic friendly color palettes at your fingertips.
(note: affiliate link)
