Markers - brands

It seems fitting that my first post be about my passion - Markers.
I've been using them for many years now, and I've learned a lot along the way! I'll give a a run down of all the tools I use with my markers, and the pro's and Con's of each brand of marker or marker related material.

Paper
A lot of people don't fully understand markers, or find them to be difficult to control, and I think its mostly because people are using the wrong papers. The most ideal paper to use, is a bleed-proof marker paper! hands down, its the best!
Its initially off putting to most artists because some of its flimsy thin weak feel, but its really ideal!
I use Letraset Bleedproof paper. It has many benefits! but for my main illustrations I use Aquabee Bleed Proof Marker paper. Its bleed proof but heavier like cardstock so you get to lay down tons of colour without it pooling or blobbing.

• The most obvious benefit of the letraset is that its bleed-proof. You get crisp smooth lines of vibrant colour, and they don't bleed into each other.
• The colours blend easily. Because its bleed proof, the paper doesn't absorb the ink immediately, so you can layer colours and blend them together quite easily.
• Markers last longer. That's right! If you use a heavy paper that is absorbent, you are literally wasting your markers!! As you use the markers, the paper is drawing out more ink than it needs. draining your markers dry! When people complain to me that their markers don't last long, the first thing I ask is "what paper are you using?" and in most cases a change of paper solves that problem! This of course lowers costs.
• Colourless Blender! Most people use them with success, but there are things you can do on marker paper that you cant do on other papers with the colourless blender. You can actually erase your markers to an extent. I did that a lot on my Stag Drawing Because I was experimenting and reading online about markers at the same time! haha :D

So that's Bleed proof paper, but you can also use other paper. Bristol board is OK, but I wouldn't use it. It pulls a lot more ink, as its an absorbent paper, but it doesn't bleed too much. If you are doing mixed media like adding pencil Crayons (coloured pencils for the Americans) or watercolour with your marker work, this is ideal. the smoother the finish, like a vellum finish is best, since tooth can be a little rough on marker nibs.

Marketing
I have a pet-peeve in regards to how markers are marketed. Every single line of markers I use has at least some reference to Manga art in their advertising. Give it up already! a Real artist chooses a material based on techniques, styles, and personal preference. We don't pick up markers simply because as a certain genre of style, its dictated that that's the proper use. No, If you are an artist of any style, genre, or walk of life, you choose a material based on how it performs! Worse, is in some cased they market the student lines of the markers as being the Manga artists pens.
Show me how the pen looks on paper, don't show me how to colour a picture of a lolita girl.
(In no way do I think Manga is not art, I like manga, but I think the marketing ploy is terrible)

Markers
Now onto the actual Markers! I've used 6 brands of markers, and 5 of them are ones I still use on a regular basis. Each has pros and con's, which is why I don't stick to one marker brand.

Tria: Letraset has displayed the biggest product self sabotage since coke changed its original recipe. I just keep waiting for Letraset to re-release the Trias as "Tria Classic." I'm losing faith that they will. Having said that, the New line of tria markers is actually truly amazing if you get ones that are fixed. They had batch issues when they released their new marker design that had faulty brush nibs (the ink seemed the wrong consistency to make it through), caps that didn't seal and caps that damaged the chisel nibs. When I wrote and complained about the product to Letraset, they offered me a pack of 25 markers in the zipper case for free, for my trouble, which I gladly accepted. Unfortunately the markers they sent me were from the bad batches so I have very few of those that survived. Unfortunately for them this ruined their credibility. However, I still use and buy them. The new batches are nothing short of brilliant! I got a set of "brights" that seem to all be from the "fixed" batches, and the colours are vibrant, smooth and exactly what I look for in a marker. The Swatch I have posted here is the "r465" colour, the first swatch is the brush tip overlapped slightly and the other swatch is the chisel nib with built up layers. The inks are transparent, alcohol based and non-toxic. Tria has the largest colour range I've ever seen! They base their colours labeling on a Hue, saturation, & luminosity scale. From the website:

HSL is represented as numerical values - meaning accurate colour specification that can be interpreted by a computer.
Most graphic software applications use HSL, so by sharing this method, the Tria colour space works alongside the digital design process.

I believe that the trias are Pigment based inks, so they should be archival, but I don't recall where I heard that, and I couldn't find that information on their website. Trias are refillable by replacing the actual shaft of the pen, and the nibs are replaceable by replacing the nibs as well. It seems like a rather wasteful process to be honest. Why replace the whole shaft, when you can replace the whole pen? it doesn't make much sense to me. So their replacements are nice, but i find them pointless. They also carry a line of inks to match their pen colours, so you can fill brush pens with the ink as well!
So Tria has a great deal of benefits for its use. The only Con is that they've destroyed their reputation with some bad batches that were not corrected quickly enough.

Copic:

Everyone seems to love the Copics. They sure are nice! they Have a great line of colours (Up to 310+ colours, and growing), and styles of markers. I believe they also made the Brush tip as popular as it is today. My only complaint comes from a comparison. They are not as vibrant as the Trias for a straight primary colour. you can see that this swatch, on the single stroke lines, its barely red at all, its almost pink! and even on the built up swatch, it doesn't have nearly the purity of colour or vibrancy of the Tria. That's my only complaint. Otherwise the colours are amazing! the range is fantastic. The reliability of the product is consistent and I think they have the best reputation of all the markers available. With good cause, I've only had one marker that has upset me, My Africano colour tends to pool in the brush tip when I use it. Its okay though, I just open both caps for a few minutes and equalize the pressure! HA! its a beautiful rich colour. The pens are a good shape and size for holding and prolonged use, and they last a fairly long time with proper use. The actual markers are ciao, Sketch, and wide. each one offering different nibs, all are refillable, and all have changeable nibs! They also have a line of ink as well, so you can refill your markers and they also have a fantastic line of Drawing pens! (I'll save pens for another post!) The inks are dye-based so aren't UV safe, so keep them out of the light!
They're an amazing marker. The con I mentioned are extremely minor and I recommend them to anyone!
They are also more expensive than other markers but you make up the cost 100 times over with the refills. They actually work out to be less expensive over time!

Prismacolour Markers:
I never have much to say about these guy. They are a pretty good marker. they have a good selection of colour, very consistent and very smooth lay down of colour, and very reliable. Double ended markers, with a chunky chisel and a fine point tip as well. The drawback is the lack of brush tip, but the chisel and fine tips get you a good range of pen strokes from your markers. They're artist quality, and fairly accessible. The awesome thing is that they also have a line of fine line pens for drawing, that are the same as the markers! finally marker proof coloured pens that don't cost a fortune! Again, I'll save this for a pen review.
Non Toxic, and a good range of colours. What more could you ask for really?


Letraset ProMarker:

These are by Letraset, the same company as the Tria. This is their "student" line, but They're every bit as good as the Trias! They have a great set of colours and they lay down smooth and true! my swatch is from a pen thats starting to dry out, haha! but you get the idea, Its a good colour, builds up nicely, and smooth. They ave a fine and chisel nib. I use them mostly for base coats of colour, and they serve me well.
Not much more I can say about them except that they also work with my Letrajet Airbrush system ;)

Touch Markers
These are fairly new to me, and I don't have a swatch. They so far, seem to have really good colour laydown, a good range of colours, but they're pretty expensive here in Vancouver so far, so I haven't had a chance to play yet. i have a grey set thats nice!


Letrajet Marker Airbrush:
Now here is a product thats fun to use! Its an air canister and nozzle you shove a Promarker into and it forces air across the nib creating a rough aibrush effect. with less pressure on the trigger you get a more spatterly look, while if you plunge the trigger down all the way, you get a softer airbrush look! Its great for stenciling little highlights and soft shadows. There are similar products for other lines of markers, but I've yet to try them. This one is pretty cool. It wont replace a real airbrush, but it sure is a neat addition to a marker set!

Marker Care
Taking care of markers is pretty simple. Carefully recap them if you aren't using them, store them laying flat, instead of standing up. I'm of course guilty of leaving mine standing up, but It's better for them to lay down. then the ink doesn't pool into one tip or the other. I've opened markers to have ink run down my hands and arms before. it's fun, but only once. Don't mash the nibs, and show them some love.
If the Pen shafts get too dirty for your likes, you can clean them with colourless blenders, or alcohol, but a dirty marker is a well used marker in my opinion, and I like em dirty!

I did a marker tutorial a while back, maybe someone will find it useful.

This is just the first of many entries on markers so I hope you find this useful!

if you have any marker reviews, tutorials, or information on other brands of markers please feel free to comment and leave links! I'll add them to the post!