Markers, markers, markers.

So, I got myself some markers, about roughly a little under two weeks ago. Haven’t been drawing much. Not enough, anyway. I have been busy with modding on Unreal Tournament III. It’s great fun.

After a few pictures with the markers initially, I went and bought the CG4 and WG4 to fill in the gap - so the picture shows my entire collection - currently. I have to be honest and say, I’m really not comfortable enough with value reduction, and these markers are pushing me to the limit. I can’t blend them without leaving a stroke. Very hard.

(CG stands for Cool Grey; WG, Warm Grey.)

So I drew a chart - that’s the picture - and experimented with blending, both with the same marker and with other markers I have. Here’s what I learned:

1. Apparently, they cap out at around 4 repeated strokes.
2. Markers close to their values (like CG2 and WG4, as opposed to WG4 and CG9) seem to override each other in terms of temperature. If you look at the table I drew, the line was made vertically first, and then horizontal. That means the lower left corner has the cool first, warm second, while the upper right corner has warm first, and then cool. What’s interesting about this, is that the last stroke applied determines the temperature. For example, CG2 first and then WG4, it’s cooler, while WG4 first and then CG2 second, it’s warmer.
3. The warmer ones blend less well. I don’t know why. It’s a feeling.
4. Even though the 120 Black is supposed to be . . . well, black, it still blends somewhat. As you can see, I can apply it over and over to about 4 times before it caps out. So it’s really not “black”.
5. I should have bought CG8 instead of CG9, so the gap is not so obvious. Stupid me.

I’m really tempted to fill in more markers. I’m looking at CG1 and CG8, as well as the warmer tones. I think CG1 would make a great blend between pure white on paper and CG2, while CG8 would be a plain better substitude for CG9, since I can never stitch CG6 and CG9 together. If you look at the test chart to the left, the darkest CG6 is barely darker than CG9.

Just ranting again. If you want to see something I did, it’s here.

Tags: Art, Experiment, Markers
Posted in Fine Arts |