3. Color Code
Added 2017-06-28 08:00:00 +0000 UTCClick here to return to the course index
Let’s talk code here for a moment, shall we? And by that I mean, “what the hell do the letter/number codes on the Copic marker caps mean?!” question we all have. There’s lots of articles on the internet about this but some are more confusing than the code so let me first make it as plain as possible and then we’ll get all technical, m’kay?
The Letters are the Color family: (see image attached below)
B – Blue BV – Blue Violet V – Violet
RV – Red Violet R – Red YR – Yellow Red
Y – Yellow YG – Yellow Green G – Green
BG – Blue Green E – Earths C – Cool Grays
N – Natural Grays T – Toner Grays W – Warm Grays
The numbers are saturation & shade (or hue):
The first number is for the saturation. Lower numbers are vibrant; higher numbers have more grey. This simply means that the lower the number, say BG18 will be a more vibrant color on white paper than BG53, which will start to have a grey hue to it the higher the first number is. Where this gets confusing is when looking at the marker caps, BG53 doesn’t technically look grey at all but they aren’t talking about the color (that’s the letters, remember). They’re talking about the underlying tone and how it works with other markers. To keep your colors vibrant, pick colors with all the same or close to the same first numbers. As you blend them on the paper, they’ll stay vibrant in color. But once you start using a marker with a drastically different first number, the color starts to grey or look “muddy”. Always test your overlapping colors on the same color and type of paper as your project.
The second number is for the shade. Lower numbers are light and the higher numbers are dark. This means that BG18 (Teal Blue) is a darker color than BG53 (Ice Mint). Different hues of the same color.
