Great Art Starts with Great Paper

The artist in the video purposefully chose an even and somewhat glossy paper to create her drawing with markers. Everblend Art Markers work best on a smooth paper with a density of at least 90lb (200 gsm). Since this paper doesn’t absorb the marker’s ink as quickly as a rougher paper would, it allows you to mix colors and make beautiful and fluid gradients from light to dark. This will also reduce the amount of ink you use.

Take Advantage of the Wide Range of Shades

The best thing about having a set of 36 gray tones is that you have a full grayscale value range at your fingertips. From the coolest grays to light shades and midtones, gray-blues and -greens, and warmer gray-umber tones to black, you will have all the shades, plus some, you need to use in your work.

The picture in the video stays within a limited gray palette. The artist used А1505 and А1503 as her lightest hues; А633, А634, А635, А636 and А637, the neutral gray shades, as a middle tone and for overall detailing; and A158 and A159 for deep shadows and contrast. She used these gray shades, A151, А154, at the end to liven up the picture.

Masterful Mixing — Balanced Blending

Everblend Art Markers are exceptional for mixing and blending; and, their triangular barrel is ergonomically designed to make the marker easy and comfortable to grip during either process. You’ll notice in the video that the artist begins her work with the intricate details and then moves on to more general areas. As long as the paper remains wet with ink, she is able to mix and blend for subtle effects. You need to work quickly because as the ink dries, it becomes more difficult to get a smooth and consistent filling. As long as it’s wet, it is possible to continue to blend different shades, create smooth color gradients, and to make corrections.

Work From Light to Dark

Since alcohol markers are semi-transparent, the basic marker technique is glazing, which is a method that involves color layering. This is the reason why, when you are making art with markers, you should start with the lightest markers and darken with subsequent layers. The additional layers blur the previous marks and little by little darken the area.

A good example of this can be seen in the way the artist leaves a white space in the main portion of the drawing where the light would be brightest on the face (i.e., the nose, cheekbones, and upper jawline). She then uses the lightest markers to fill in that space, gradually adding dark areas through continuous layering. A good thing to remember is that there is always the opportunity for darkening, but lightening dark areas is almost impossible.

With such a large variety of values to choose from in this set, you can experiment with different shades and see what they look like after adding a few layers. You will see that you can make shadows that are very pale to dramatically dark, and everything in between, which will add realism and interest to your drawings.

Use Wide Tips for Big Elements

The wide chisel tip of the EverBlend Art Marker allows you to cover large areas evenly on your drawing. It leaves a nice, smooth line for continuous and consistent color. It’s important that you keep the pen firmly on the paper without lifting or you may get separations in your strokes. Unless you are trying to create a pattern or texture, make full and sweeping marks for a solid mass of color that fills the entire area.

Use Fine Points for Details

These dual-tip markers also feature a fine tip (bullet tip) on the opposite end from the chisel tip. This tip is great for coloring in small spaces on your picture, but is especially valuable as a detailing tool. These markers can add the right nuances to make your drawings more realistic, such as the artist did when she added a darker shade under the mustache, defined the crevices on the face, and added lines to indicate the irregularities in its stone surface.