As some of you may have noticed, no sooner did I obtain a Wacom Cintiq than I almost completely stopped posting digital work. I have been taking a several-month long diversion into real media, and in particular watercolor and markers. Not to worry, I am still putting the Cintiq to good use in sketching and planning my real media pieces, and I have some pure digital works in progress as well.

Markers are awesome for me because of the discrete color patterns, which for me is a cross between my vector art and real media art. Color choice is important and there is only a limited amount of color mixing possible, so it is a fun challenge. For color sketching, it can't be beat in terms of convenience. Unfortunately, markers can get very spendy very fast, especially if you have no guidance as was the case for me.

I have tried several different brands of markers and have finally chosen a winner. Unfortunately I cannot get my money back for all the other brands. Hopefully this review will help someone out there get started much more cost effectively than I did!

Pictured above are the brands I have tried. At the top is the winner: The Copic Sketch marker. It has a chisel tip at one end and a brush tip at the other end. The ink is transparent, so you can layer on the color in about 2-3 shades for each marker. The brush tip is good for details and creating thin layers of color. These seem to be the prevailing choice of the pros online. Each color has a name and a number code, which is a big help in choosing colors since sometimes the name doesn't say much about hue and value. Each marker costs about 5-6 dollars, but they are refillable. So I think you can get the cost down to about $1 per marker over time by refilling. There are 322 colors, which gives plenty of room for growing a collection.

The next marker below the Sketch is also a Copic brand, specifically, the Copic Wide marker. It only comes in about 36 colors and has a hard, chisel tip that is about 2 mm by 2.5 cm (wide and long). It is good for filling in large areas quickly, and the point end can even be used on relatively small details, however I have found that using it to put down light, consistent layers can be difficult in detail areas.

Next down the list is the Prismacolor marker. It comes in lots of colors and has a large chisel tip at one end and a round point at the other end. It was my original choice and comes in a close second with the Copic Sketch. The colors would be more layer-able if there was a brush tip. Also, there is no convenient color code, so you may waste money trying out colors that aren't what you were hoping for.

Below the Prismacolor marker is the Chartpack marker. This marker has only a very large (but very pointy) chisel tip. It has a gloriously flowing ink and it is great for background work where you need to fill a large area with a consistent shade. But stay away from detail areas as this ink typically bleeds a lot more than the other brands. This may be a function of the paper I use, but I have learned to give about 1/8-1/4 inch clearance from details with this marker. It is the smelliest of the brands.

Next down is the Faber-Castel PITT artist pen big brush (and below it is the regular PITT artist pen). These come in a relatively limited number of colors and you have to use trial and error to purchase the right colors for you. The have only a brush tip and I bought them for detailing, which they are great for. The ink is somewhat layer-able, but with only a brush tip it is almost impossible to lay down a large, consistent area. Also, I have noticed that they seem to eat into the paper and ball it up when I do too many layers. I highly recommend having the small, black brush tip for details like nostrils, eye lashes, eye brows, etc., even if you are only doing pen-and-ink work.

The last item on my list is the Gelly Roll white pen. This little guy has fixed many a mistake, since the white ink is opaque and can cover even black marker ink. In addition to covering mistakes, it is great for specular reflections and sometimes you can even color over the white ink. It is not great for large areas, so don't count on it for fixing a total disaster. I have noticed that when mixed with Prismacolor gray shades it tends to turn greenish over time, but otherwise I have not noticed any color-fastness problems.

If you want to get into markers, I recommend choosing a brand very carefully and then building up a consistent collection within just that one brand. It will take a lot of trial and error out of color picking and can solve storage issues since you will have only one size of marker to store. Here is how I would start out my collection if I were doing it over again.

In your first budget period, you should by 9-10 gray tones in your chosen brand.

Next budget period, you should be ready for some color. But don't go straight for the Crayola 8 color system! Choose instead about 10 earth tones ranging across the same value scale as your grays, with an emphasis on skin tones if you do a lot of figure work.

Next budget period, you should choose about 9-10 saturated but very light toned markers.

Next budget period, you should choose about 9-10 saturated, pure primary, secondary, and intermediate colors.

Next budget period, you should choose about 9-10 saturated, dark shades of the previous colors.

That would give a terrific start and may even be all the colors you ever need. The order is important because you can get started making great marker paintings and sketches right off the bat. If you just buy pure, bright, primary and secondary colors right off the bat, you will end up being very limited and will have to wait until your collection builds up before doing serious work.

Finally, a word about "colorless blenders." Copic, Prismacolor, and Chartpack markers all have colorless blenders. It is a complete and total misnomer. They do not blend at all, but rather they can be used to push any ink that has spilled out of lines back into the proper area. It is like an eraser for markers but is most effective when used on small boo-boos where you accidentally stray into a white area. A better name would be "Boo-boo fixer." The blenders for Copic and Prismacolor inks are compatible, but the Chartpack ink and blenders only work with each other and not with the other brands.

I hope this is helpful for someone out there!

Cheers.