Here is my second YouTube video, in which I sketch with Copic Sketch Markers. I’ve been dabbling with markers for architectural presentations for years now, but for the last few years I’ve been using them more often, especially on location. I know how intimidating these are, so I want to share some of the things I’ve learned.
1. Never use the fine tip. Some markers come with two tips, usually a chisel tip and a fine tip. You can achieve many strokes with the chisel tip, so the fine tip is unnecessary. Trying to fill in a color block with the fine tip yields terrible results.
2. Do not buy a basic set. Basic sets come with only six to twelve colors, so it is very difficult to achieve something that looks good with such palettes. Unless you are a product designer who uses color simply as a highlight, a basic set is not worth it. A few values of greys provide more versatility and are way less expensive. If you fall in love with markers after using grayscales for a while, then go ahead and get a color set.
3. Copic is king. I’ve used a lot of marker brands, but my favorite is Copic. These markers cost about twice as other markers (such as Prismacolor) but they are refillable and have replaceable nibs. A bottle of ink will cost about the same amount of a new marker, but will refill them about 13 times. No-brainer.
4. Jump one or two. You don’t need all the greyscale values. You can jump either one or two values within the same family. For example, I use Neutral Grays, N0, N2, N,4, N6, N8. You could also use N0, N3 and N6 but gradations are not as smooth. To achieve the missing values you do a second layer after they dry. I also sometimes just use a black marker, pulling or pushing values to create a high contrast image rather than a line drawing.
5. Streaks or not. I like juicy markers, but I prefer to see the strokes rather than an even color. Sketches get a wonderful character if your strokes are confident. On the contrary, if you prefer even blocks of color, you need to keep the area wet by continuously going over with the marker. It’s something similar to wet-and-wet watercolors, so edges will be a little blurred. It takes a lot of time and patience.
Also here are some sketches I’ve done on location with markers:
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