#but your question reminded me i should experiment with gradients more with my traditional art haha

[crabsnpersimmons]

Hello! I noticed you have Ohuhu markers, too! (Seen in a picture of your New Do Same You AU <- super cute and lovely designs, by the way!!)

I was just wondering if I could ask you how you blend with them...? I have a bit of trouble doing so, and I'm not sure if it's my paper or if I'm doing something wrong (like being too slow, trying to blend too many colors, trying to blend opposites, not enough ink, etc.)

Truthfully... I don't really know if I'm using my colorless blender correctly, either 😅

hello yes! i DO use ohuhu markers! i use the water-based ones tho not the alcohol ones, so i'm not sure if the same techniques work with alcohol markers, but maybe!

honestly i'm still new to blending techniques cuz i haven't played around with them enough but what i DO know:

paper does matter, but more like how the colours absorb into the paper and how well the paper can take multiple layers of colour and the friction from rubbing the marker on the paper multiple times (the temporary sketchbook i've been using is actually not very good at that, but i'm making do) i nearly tore a hole though the page trying to get this gradient right for this fish, the paper got sooooo damp:

speed is key for a smooth gradient. i usually start by laying down the darker colour first, and then quickly going over it with the lighter colour to blend out the dark colour into a gradient a good example of this is Bloodmoon's arm, i started by putting down a bit of dark brown near the cuff and then i went over with the red to spread the dark brown into a gradient:

you'll also notice that the areas where i do have these gradients are usually small, because smaller areas are easier to work with like here, Giant Sun's rays, which are like about 0.5 inches long, have a gradient. it's a tiny area

if you find that the colours are drying too quickly for you, one option is to treat the markers like watercolours. Scribble the marker onto a palette and add some water (not too much, it will also desaturate the colour) and use a brush to apply the colours onto the paper. Painting gradients is easier than using markers because the water does most of the work for you - but it may be a little more challenging to control if you're not familiar with watercolours. but i do think this is probably the best option if you want to do gradients for a bigger area, because if you just use markers, the ink will dry too quickly to get a smooth gradient.

also you reminded me that there's a colourless belnder in the set haha i should experiment with that some more!