jshoer's workshop

[elboe]

Very nice. I really like the coloring and your mixing of the markers and pencils.

I did noticed on some of these, and in some of your finished maps, you are getting a lot of bleed and puddling of the markers. I know many of these are just quick studies and sketches, but that's the paper's fault. It looks like you are using sketch books and drawing paper. A good marker paper will do wonders with the Prismacolors. You can layer and blend the markers for smoother shadows, and they don't bleed as much.

And maybe you know this, but I noticed it so I thought I'd mention it. But if you haven't used marker paper and you want to give it a try, you may end up buying a few different brands before you find your favorite. I haven't done marker for awhile but Bienfang Graphics 360 may be a good one to try first.

[jshoer]

Very nice. I really like the coloring and your mixing of the markers and pencils.

I did noticed on some of these, and in some of your finished maps, you are getting a lot of bleed and puddling of the markers. I know many of these are just quick studies and sketches, but that's the paper's fault. It looks like you are using sketch books and drawing paper. A good marker paper will do wonders with the Prismacolors. You can layer and blend the markers for smoother shadows, and they don't bleed as much.

And maybe you know this, but I noticed it so I thought I'd mention it. But if you haven't used marker paper and you want to give it a try, you may end up buying a few different brands before you find your favorite. I haven't done marker for awhile but Bienfang Graphics 360 may be a good one to try first.

Thanks!

I don't usually work with markers - my typical line art tools these days are Pigma Micron pens. I have a couple Copic pens, and I still favor some dip pens (which I used in the challenge we both entered). I use Bristol vellum most of the time for the pen-and-ink-and-colored-pencil work. Puddling of the ink from the dip pens is something I kind of see as a feature, not a bug; that challenge map had a big blob in the center-north, but I think it accentuates the hand-drawn nature of the map. Of course, that doesn't stop me from wishing I had been more careful and prevented the blob!

These studies from my last post are my most extensive use of Prismacolor markers yet - and they are actually in a Bee Paper marker notebook! It seemed to work pretty well with the pens, though I think I shot myself in the foot with the brush pen - I don't really know what I'm doing with that tool yet. Anyway, without too much marker experience, I certainly don't have a favorite marker paper. If I keep doing marker stuff, I'll have to look for some.