Written by artists Tammy Machmali and Becky Coleman
Markers are a fun medium to make art with! They can be used to create a different range of styles and are great for both finished art and sketching. I love to carry them with me whenever I travel because they are light, don’t make a mess, they are affordable, and they work efficiently. The best part is the ability to apply bold colors quickly and easily!
Yet, if you're new to markers they can be scary because they are so permanent. There is no eraser on the back of your marker, so what you put down on the surface will most likely be staying there.
Before you go out and spend your time and money, read these six tips for beginner working with markers. I’ve collaborated with marker artist and painter, Becky Coleman of Naturally By Becky, we’re giving you our most helpful tips to assist you on your way to enjoying creating art. So here are 6 tips to help if you are just beginning your artistic journey.
Get familiar with different markers and nibs
My favorite marker brands:
Posca Paint Markers: Featuring an extra fine tip, these markers use a water-based pigment ink that is non-toxic and waterproof. And unlike alcohol-based marker ink, the ink does not bleed. These markers are an essential part of any artist's supplies as they have many different uses, since they work on any surface.
Tombow Dual Brush Pens: These are ideal for fine art, calligraphy, illustrations, watercolor illustrations, journaling and more! You can beautifully blend the colors to create cool effects. These pens have a flexible brush tip AND a fine tip in a single marker. They are non-toxic, non-bleeding, and great for blending and softening colors to create a watercolor effect due to their water-based ink.
Copic Markers 12-Piece Basic Set or the Copic Marker 16-Skin Ciao Markers,Skin, 6-Pack different colors with both a brush and chisel tip. These are great for beginners. Copic markers are known to be one of the highest-quality alcohol-based markers available. These markers feature a permanent, non-toxic, acid-free ink that produces beautifully smooth and easy-to-blend colors. They are known for their blending capabilities and rich color in a huge variety of 358 shades and 5 different types of markers–Original, Sketch, Ciao, Wide and Comic. Additionally, the ink is refillable and can even be mixed to create unique colors. They are well saturated, and blend easily over many types of surfaces so you can use them on a variety of art or home decor projects.
Becky says that these markers are not the same as school markers. One of the biggest differences between the markers you used in school vs. the markers you will use in art is the solution that the ink is in. School markers are water-based markers, which makes them washable and great for kids who tend to color on things besides paper. The type of markers you can use as an artist have a beautiful flat finish on the right kind of paper and are able to be easily blended because the ink is suspended in an alcohol solution.
Different nibs
Different brands of markers will behave differently, so familiarize yourself with the different types of markers that are out there and specifically, the different types of nibs (tips) that they have. Different tips are good for different styles & techniques. Test the markers first on a scratch piece of paper, coloring in some squares or lines to get a feel for how the different nibs work. The Ciao markers Copic Marker have double-sided tips, including a broad chisel at one end, and a brush on the other end.
Fine Point – great for thin lines and details
Brush Tip – great for spreading ink smoothly, their flexibility is similar to a paintbrush for softer lines and to create a watercolor effect
Chisel / Broad Tip – great for large area coverage (ex. backgrounds)
2. Best paper for markers
It is essential to choose the right paper since not every type of paper is suitable for markers. I try to avoid watercolor paper, as it will easily absorb the ink and may bleed.
My favorite paper is the Strathmore 300 series Bristol smooth pad which is an affordable thick and smooth paper designed for final renderings. It has a smooth texture that is suitable for pens, markers, or colored pencils, making it more of a multimedia paper. You can also try Canson XL Series Marker Paper Pad. This paper works beautifully with pens, pencils, and alcohol or solvent markers (which will not bleed through!).
If you are using your own paper, before you color on it, make sure you have a few more layers of paper underneath to test how severe the bleed might be.
3. Find the right speed/rhythm
The best way to get even coverage and prevent streaks is to regulate your speed while you color. Learn to build a rhythm by practicing and being mindful, in order to prevent your strokes from showing. The right rhythm will help if you are going for a controlled stroke pattern that is both regulated and consistent. Otherwise, if you color too slowly you may have visible starting and stopping streaks, bleeding edges, dark patches, blending more than necessary, and wasting ink in the process.
Coloring too fast, on the other hand, will cause sketchy streaks and some choppy areas that remain unblended. Not to forget the weird textures and dull coloring in unexpected places.
4. Rethink, test colors before working on your art
When you are using markers, keep practicing until you learn to use them comfortably. Markers, like most drawing and painting mediums, apply a build-up technique.
It is best if you use a separate sheet of the same paper you're going to work on next to you so you can test colors first, before applying them on your artwork.
Remember as you're working:
The same marker looks different on different types of paper. In the examples below, the same marker is used on 3 different types of paper. You can see how the color varies depending on which paper is used. This is why it's important to test the color first on the same type of paper, before you use it for your art.
When Becky creates she uses smaller images to test out how a color combination is going to look or to work on the shading in an image. She likes to create multiple small images of the same thing and try many different combinations before starting a final image.
5 . Work from light to dark
Always start LIGHT! First color in the lightest shades, then build up to darker colors. You can always add more color and go darker, but you can't go the other way around. Make sure you use the lightest colors first and gradually work toward your darker shadows. If you color with darker colors first, it will be difficult to fix mistakes. Plan out highlights in advance and know which areas you’re going to keep white, light, medium, and dark. (Remember, you can’t erase markers!)
6. Use colored pencils or thin pens to finalize your art
When you feel you are done with your markers, use colored pencils or ink pens like the Sakura Pigma Micron-Pen Fineliner or Faber-Castell Colours Pen to add a twist and finalize any details with fine lines. If you choose to use ink pens to add detail or outline your work, it won’t bleed once in contact with the markers. It is a great way to finalize details. I love using colored ink pens and sometimes colored pencils because I can add details and apply more precise marks with crisper edges. For example, when I am drawing hair, eyelashes, leaves, or flower stamens. Colored pencils provide more accurate and realistic textures than a wet marker can.
Becky loves using a simple white gel pen in the end to add small highlights, polka dots, or sequins on dress designs. She says that adding different weighted lines with illustration pens like Prismacolor Illustration Markers in different sizes helps to make your image more clear and stand out on the page.
Enjoy the process, after all you are making art! And the most important tip is to have FUN and practice, practice, practice!!!
We hope you enjoyed these marker tips. We encourage you to give it a try and when you make & share your art, PLEASE tag us on instagram @naturallybybecky and @Tammymachmali
