Organize your Marker Collection

A few weeks ago, I tried to make a copic marker order and realized that I couldn’t because I had no idea which markers I had in my collection.  I don’t think that I had updated my marker chart since I first started coloring.  And when I was starting out, I mixed all my alcohol markers together in one chart.  Since then, I have purchased at least 50 markers and have removed all non-copic markers from my collection. At that moment, I decided that I really needed to get a handle on my markers.

 When I first started coloring, the class I took recommended using the copic marker chart which can be found at http://www.copicmarker.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/358_Color_Family_Chart2.pdf.  This worked for a while, but I found it very difficult to keep track of which markers I had purchased to work together, since some of my families are not necessarily in numerical order.  It is also geared for someone who wanted to collect all the colors.  Since I had no desire to have that many colors (too much choice inhibits my creativity), this chart and the wallet style version never worked for me.  To help in my organization, I  searched the web for options for organizing which markers I had, and which I wanted to aquire.  I finally settled on a chart I found  on I like markers, which is one of my favorite resources for coloring. The chart can be found at this address. http://ilikemarkers.blogspot.com/2013/08/helpful-color-chart.html. 

I liked this chart because it could serve a dual purpose for me.  I can use it to catalog the markers I already have and those that I see myself purchasing in the near future to complement what I have.  And, because of how she designed the charts, they are extremely useful when determining which markers match a particular paper that you might want to work with.

.As you can see from my photo, I made a different chart for each color family. I did an extensive research on blending families, and then made an honest assessment of which markers I needed to complete blending families that complement those markers that I already owned.   I then colored in those markers I had, leaving room to add markers as I acquired them.  This process took almost a week to complete.

Once this task was complete, I thought through to determine how best to bind my charts to make it as useful as possible for both of my goals.  I finally decided on a top bound book.  Beware, the charts are wider than an average staple and hole punch.  Therefore, I had to pull out my Crop a Dile II Big Bite which I had never used to punch the holes in the charts, and create holes at the top for my twine binding.  Once I had the book bound, I found a Kenny K stamp (Color Me Jeanette) to decorate to front of my book.

Supplies: Patterned paper: Recollections and Echo Park; Cardstock: Prism; Copic Markers as follows: E99,15,18 skin; E29 eyes; Y 21, 32 Shirt; Y 19 shoes; R29 lips; YR 07 marker tips; W3,5,7 marker barrel; C3,5,7,10 hair; B93,95,97,99 Jeans; YG 91,95,99 Jacket.

So, are your markers a hot mess like mine were?  If so, make yourself a cute little marker booklet to keep track of which colors you have and what you want to purchase.  If nothing else, it will prevent you from having 3 R29’s in your collection (blush!).