Which markers should you choose?

Our students often ask us which marker to buy.

In drawing and coloring, several categories of markers exist. We will describe them to you and recommend what we use and have tested.

We will first tell you about the stages of drawing to know when to use these markers as well as the support adapted to its markers.

  1. Drawing steps

The drawing can be started in pencil and then once well-constructed and well set up, it is possible to resume the contour lines with a liner pen.

The contours are precise and regular. Regular does not mean uniform because you can modulate the thickness of the lines by choosing tips of different diameters.

The liners are indelible and once dry, the ink does not pass into other colors. You can erase the pencil and continue with the coloring.

However, if you are not using a permanent marker, it is advisable to finish your drawing with the outlines in black, once all the desired colors have been used.

We will follow these steps: penciling, inking, and coloring.

  1. The appropriate medium

A thin paper is smooth, 90g to 120g can be suitable for liner and water-based markers but for alcohol markers, it is recommended to use a thinner paper.

There is a paper suitable for the alcohol marker. Layout paper. This paper prevents ink from bleeding through the sheet and staining the next table or sheet. The paper also prevents the ink from bleeding or spreading.

If you are not using this paper, use 75 or 80-g printer paper. Do not put cardboard under your drawing sheet but laminated support or one that is not afraid of ink.

If you use thick paper, the paper will absorb a lot of ink and your pen will run out faster.

3 . the different types of markers

  • We can mention the water or watercolor markers, which is color that also has the advantage of having bright and transparent colors.

Some markers offer double tips like alcohol markers.

  • Most alcohol markers have double tips.

Either a fine tip and a chisel tip, or a fine tip and a brush tip.

These alcohol markers are sometimes sold with a blender supposed to mix the colors. Do not expect to really mix the colors but rather merge them slightly.

If you color too quickly with an alcohol marker, it leaves traces on the drawing which sometimes give the form of halos.

To color evenly without a trace, you should not stop until the whole shape is filled.

  • Last category, is acrylic markers.

Their acrylic ink goes on any medium. For coloring drawings the fine and medium tips are interesting. Count a unit price equivalent to that of alcohol markers.

  1. Which brand would you recommend?

Those found in fine art and graphic arts stores are good references but expensive. The unit price starts at more than 3 euros for alcohol markers.

Those found in “Discount” stores are worth it for very affordable prices. The difference may be in the amount of ink in the pen reservoir.

Another solution: buy refillable markers.

For us at Las Vegas Netto Franco Artist, there are no bad markers. Knowing how to draw is knowing how to do wonders with your means. But don’t give up on having fun with markers.

How does a drawing class take place?

It’s a story that begins at the theatre, you go through the doors to see a ballet, a concert, or even an opera. You sit down, make yourself comfortable and your senses are awakened. 

Your eyes and ears open and become attentive. You let yourself be transported by the music, your gaze rests on the sets and you pay attention to the details. 

One more moment and everything lights up, your vision expands and you manage to appreciate the whole show. Over the minutes, the actions follow one another, and the emotions transport you, lulled by the music. This star’s dance steps or Mozart’s aria interpreted by this diva succeeded in making you travel beyond the opera. 

When you stand up to applaud the performers, your hands struggle as if you want to translate the strong emotions you have felt. The performers were able to perform on stage thanks to their intensive training and their rigor. Getting on the boards is a pleasure that they want to pass on and share.

But then, what is the relationship with our drawing lessons, will you ask me?

The teachers in our workshops are committed to passing on their knowledge. A knowledge that they have worked with difficulty and that they are still developing every day. 

Here, in our school, the gaze is put forward. Our apprenticeship goes through making them understand that, even if they don’t find talent in drawing, the look and the work of beautiful works are the key.

How to see it?

Knowing how to take a step back, observe, and analyze what you see. What is interesting is that “seeing” in our workshops applies outside and is beneficial for everyone.

After this initial learning, we strive to improve the students’ perception of proportions, their sense of direction, and their way of identifying indicators on their models.

Our teaching:

We teach students to pay attention to clues and indicators that may escape them. Our teachers accompany them to identify, each, of their abilities and offer them appropriate training. 

Thus the students are assisted so that they open up and discover their own faculties, we then enlighten them so that they develop. Thanks to our teachers, they will be better able to express their skills.

At the beginning of the beginning:

Your lessons or those of your children will always start with a warm-up which will be used to repeat and work on line or surface gestures in order to be able to master them at the end. They will also help you, little by little, to have different drawing tools in hand: graphite pencils, charcoal, pen and ink, brush, felt-tip pens, colored pencils, etc. 

The follow-up:

For the first lesson, the teacher can leave the field open to the student so that he can draw the model he wants. This will allow him to make constructive and thoughtful feedback during the next session and which will indicate in particular:

→ what was missing in the observation phase (benchmarks not seen or poorly assessed).

In this case, the teacher suggests training by doing certain activities.

→ What can be deepened or improved in terms of shadows? 

This can lead to observing and classifying values ​​(degrees of color) and translating them onto paper.

→ What can be improved in the gesture and handling of tools?

The feedback highlights the positive aspects concerning the interpretation, the graphic style, and the use of tools.

Sensitivity and the part of intuition are also part of the sessions.

Thanks to these tools and benchmarks, students will be able to more easily translate and express what they feel.