Part 1: Exercise - Less is More

For this exercise we were to choose a limited palette, that went well together to create illustrations. I have wanted to practice with Posca pens as they are a new medium to me and I've seen how other artists such as Apple Cheeks/Tiffany Tan and Angela Pan use these pens to create stunning illustrations. I received a small selection of these pens for my birthday so I chose to use these for this exercise. I was fairly limited in that I just had my favourite pastel colours and no darker or lighter shades of each colour so I needed to use other colours to create my light and dark tones. I firstly did research on how these illustrators used these pens and the kinds of illustrations they could produce. I watched some YouTube videos as well to help me learn how to use the pens.

How Other's Use Posca Pen's Using a Limited Palette:

Apple Cheeks/Tiffany Tan:

Alison Felice:

Researching Other Artists Who Have Completed 3 Marker Challenge:

Collaboration Between Kattvalk and Baylee Jae:

https://youtu.be/_aJ7FOQ13Hg

https://youtu.be/Vj-6ZIT2aC0

Kasey Golden: https://youtu.be/-iAmnLXYZps

Apple Cheeks/Tiffany Tan - Limited Colours Posca Pens:

https://youtu.be/vvHeH7OkAac

Posca Pens:

Copic Markers:

3 Colours:

2 Colours:

Reflect:

I had high hopes for the Posca pens and despite all the research before using them, I found them quite hard to use with the limited colours I had to choose from.  I felt they either weren't different enough in colour value or they didn't go together well. I also struggled with highlights and shadows. Whether to put them in or have solid shapes, or when I did try to shade they came out garish.

I had more success with the Copic markers, I think this was down to the facts that I had used them many times before and I have a large colour range so it was easier to find colours that went well. However I think it was still hard to do the three colours. I got too caught up in trying to do the shading and some of them didn't work at all.

When I got to the two colour challenge I actually found it easier and used the colours to layer for shadows. 

Overall I think I need a lot more practice with both of these mediums but it was a fun challenge to try to do. It's helped me to start using the Posca pens and hopefully in time I will become more confident in using them.

Using a limited colour palette definitely can make a striking illustration, I've seen it used very successfully by other artists and have dabbled with it myself with acrylics in the past. It's something I'd like to experiment with and see if it fits my own personal voice.