Marker Sketching

The art store at my house had a 40% off sale on Prismacolor art markers this weekend. I’d never really used them before, but concept artists like Doug Chiang and Feng Zhu love them for doing sketches, so I thought I’d try them out.



I used 10%, 30%, 50%, and 70% cool gray markers, plus a black Micron pen. First I roughed in the form with the 10% marker, and then added more and more darks as I dialed in the shading and proportions.

These aren’t exactly my best drawings ever or anything, but I did have a lot of fun experimenting and will probably continue to use them for sketching. They seem to combine the control and portability of a pencil with the solidity and coverage speed of paint.

One tip: It’s best to use paper specifically designed for markers. Marker paper doesn’t absorb the ink, it sits on the surface. That keeps the tone more even, and doesn’t pull as much ink from the marker. Canson makes marker paper that you can find most places.