2 User Questions!

Two of our CMC followers had some questions which Kim & Amy kindly answered:

Question #1
I have some fantastic Geisha stamps that I'd like to color. As you know Geishas wore white face powder. What colors could I use for the white faces?

KIM:
Two things I would suggest... as for 'Edward's' face I used the lightest fruity colour E000, it's just a hint of colour which will give the contrast to complete white,
If that's too dark for you, you could try using E000 as the shadow and soften the colour further with your 0 colourless blender. E000 would also make a light tint for the cheeks.

AMY:
I use E40, E41, and plenty of blender 0 when I want a dull 'white cotton' kind of look. I'm thinking this could work for face paint as well especially if you are trying to mimic the older lead based face paints that were used before people realized they were poisonous. The only other combo I can think of that might work is W00, W0 maybe some W1 for stronger shadows with lots of blender 0 too.

The trick is going to be keeping it warm and natural looking and that is why I think combo choices that include B0000, G0000 or C00 will come out looking kinda otherworldly.


Question #2
Although I have followed all the tutorials, I am getting very "grainy"/"pixellated" results when using the techniques and colour combinations suggested, especially with skin where I am using E00,E11, R20.
I have tried; Copics own smooth card, Stampin' up Whisper White card, Bristol Board and Fabricano Artistico Hot Pressed/Satinata watercolour paper and have the same problem on all the different types of card.
Are the results meant to be "grainy" like this or is it possible to get a smooth result like the effect with promarkers?

KIM:
I think it would help to see the finish you're getting, I find sometimes the grain of the paper itself can materialise a few white dots on my coloured images.
Maybe you could try altering the order you are using the colours, start with the lightest and work up to darkest, or try darkest colour and work to lightest.
It might be you could try layering the mid tone colour again until the paper is evenly coloured.
If the pens are a little dry they may cause some streaking, but I have not noticed any grainy results unless I use a lighter colour over a dark and not blend them properly. some ink colours simply clash on the paper, E000 will not blend as smooth as E00, E000 lightens the base colours much more.
I don't know the true result from pro markers, my cousin has a few which I tried but I personally found the copics are better for me at blending. Do you colour with the pro markers in a circular motion or in lines? Do you colour with copics the same? Some will use the copics in a circular motion to saturate the paper. Maybe creating a few tester images, applying various techniques, would show different results!

AMY:
My first suggestion is Paper Trey Ink cardstock. I know the pixel look she is talking about and had to deal with it back when I was using Georgia Pacic. Since making the switch to PTI it is much less problematic. But the biggest fix to that problem was getting an E000 and adding it to the mix... for me it smoothes everything out so much nicer between the E00 and E11 giving those two a more gradual blend into each other.