Mark Off! A Professional Marker Comparasion (2013)
Comparing nine professional markers from yesterday and today.
Article Transcript
If you make a living drawing caricatures at parties or in a retail setting like a theme park or zoo, chances are you have had to invest in a good, black marker that you feel comfortable using and can rely on every day. The quality of your marker can make or break the quality of your artwork. It needs to be durable enough to hold up to daily use indoors and out. It also needs to be delicate enough to allow you to draw razor-thin lines or quick, thick strokes. The ink needs to flow quick enough to cover large areas, but it has to dry fast enough so that it won’t slow you down. We are talking one very agile drawing tool, ladies and gentlemen.
Personally, I have used many different markers over the 27 years I have been drawing caricatures. Some I replaced because I found better ones. Others have ridden into the sunset, never to be seen again. The latter has been a really annoying issue as of late. It feels as though every time I find a marker I love, the manufacturer either stops making it or changes the design and renders it useless. It feels as though we are left with fewer and fewer options as professional caricature artists when it comes to our choice of drawing tools. As grim as that may sound, there still are quite a few options out there for artists who need a good marker for their craft. In this article, I’ll be discussing nine permanent markers that vary in size, line weight, nib type and reliability. If you are trying to find a decent marker, I hope this guide will help.
Sharpie Fine Point and Extra Fine Point Permanent Markers
$1.00 each
There is a reason why I have listed both of
these Sharpie Markers together. In order to get
any variable line weights in your caricatures,
you will need to switch back and forth between
both. Neither will allow you to vary your line
width at all. Plus, the Fine Point turns into a
Mush Point marker after about three drawings.
I used to do all of my studio work using
Sharpies, because they were cheap and easy
to find. They still are. However, they are my
least favorite because they are unforgiving and
smell pretty bad to boot.
DE SIGN Art Marker 229-LF
discontinued
This marker is considered by many artists
to be the best art marker that was
ever created. The 229-LF was manufactured
by Eberhard Faber and was mainly
used in ad agencies for storyboarding
and ad comps. Ahhh, those were the days;
overworked graphic designers burning the midnight
oil creating artwork for client pitches with a table full of those
awesome markers. They came in a variety of colors. They had
only one major drawback: They used a nasty ingredient called xylene. Xylene
made the ink dry quickly. They also were thought to be toxic and had a pungent
odor as well. Imagine a small room with multiple artists using several of these bad
boys until the wee hours of the morning and it gives a whole new meaning to the
term “Madmen”… and women.
Alas, when the digital revolution came, the demand for these kinds of markers fell sharply. First, Eberhard Faber eliminated all but their black markers. Then, around 1996, they stopped making them as well. It was a sad day for all caricature artists as well as cartoonists. This marker used a flexible but very durable bullet tip. It allowed you to draw very fast, going from thick lines to hair-thin curves in a single stroke. The barrel was made of metal and was quite sturdy. The xylene fumes were simply a bonus. That may have also been a factor in their disappearance. They are now very rare to find in working condition.
Dixon Markette Thinrite Permanent Ink Marker 690
$2.30 ea.
To the rescue! I was introduced to this reliable
marker at my first caricature convention
in 2004. Lar DeSouza pulled one out
of his shirt pocket and said it was as good
as the Design 229-LF. He was right. This
marker used the same dynamic bullet tip
as the Design 229-LF but in a longer-barreled
marker! It soon became the most
popular marker for caricature artists in the
U.S. It lasted longer than the 229-LF and
tended to be a bit juicer than its cousin as well.
Its only major limitation was the issue with the
same main ingredient, xylene. It also used a long,
metal barrel that was hard to hold after a couple hours. My
hand would get sore from squeezing it while bearing down
on the nib for thick lines. I had to invent a spongy grip to wrap
around each marker to allow me to draw for extended periods
of time.
Aside from that, it was a solid replacement for the defunct Design 229-LF. That is, until about three years ago. That’s when the manufacturer, Dixon Ticonderoga in Canada, decided to begin using factories in Mexico to produce the marker for less money. Almost immediately, the quality suffered. Dixon could not produce enough reliable markers to ship. Then it got even worse. About a year ago, Dixon decided to replace the reliable nib with a cheaper version. It was an artistic disaster. The new nib created thick, bulky lines with no variation at all. The marker was now useless as a caricature marker. Back to the drawing board.
DeMar Quickdraw Marker Pro
Chartpak Finepoint Marker
$3.49 ea.
This marker is only sold from Art Supply Warehouse in California.
But fear not. If you really like it, you can also buy the
Chartpak Finepoint Marker for less money at multiple retailers
on and off the web. In fact, if you scan the UPC code with an
IR reader, it will come up with Chartpak as the manufacturer.
So the two are identical. Only the labeling and prices are different.
That being said, these markers use a large, conical nib
that will allow you to vary your line weights. It lays down nice,
solid black ink without any skips or dry spots. Your fingers will
get a workout, however. Mine begin aching after the first hour.
These markers do have a long lifespan so it’s likely that you
will wear out before your marker does.
Prismacolor Premier Brush Tip PB-98
$3.99 ea.
This new brush-tip marker is manufactured by Berol Prismacolor.
I only recently picked one up and tried it out. It has two tips:
a brush tip on one side and a fine point on the other. I almost
never use both sides of any marker because I hate having to
stop drawing and turning my marker over when I am at a gig.
So my comments will concentrate on the side I tend to use the
most; the brush tip. On the plus side, the marker lasts longer
than many others. The ink dries well and the black ink is solid.
On the bad side, the tip will not allow you to draw very thin
lines. It isn’t as supple or nimble as the Utrecht Design Marker.
Utrecht Design Marker
$1.99 ea.
A year ago, one of my retail artists turned me on to this little beauty.
It is a dual-tipped marker with a brush tip. After using several brushtipped
pens, I was skeptical about its performance. However, I was
pleasantly surprised to discover that the tip allowed for the most
delicate line work while maintaining a stiff nib for daily work. The opposite
end has a chisel point for covering broad areas quickly. This
is my current marker of choice. They are inexpensive, agile and
available in multiple colors. Plus, they use no xylene. They don’t
even smell bad if you like a soapy aroma. Its only drawbacks: The
ink life is a bit shorter than some other pens, so I use a very smooth
paper to get the most out of it. And the cap falls off the other end
when you are drawing.
Sharpie Brush Permanent Marker
$1.61 ea.
Sharpie recently came out with a line of brush tip markers.
It’s a smart-looking marker with only a single side. Those
are its selling points. Everything else about the marker is a
huge disappointment. Even though it looks like a brush tip,
it draws like every other Sharpie. The lines are broad and
offer no variation at all. Take a regular Sharpie Finepoint and
mash up the tip and then squeeze the nib into a brush shape.
That’s the new Sharpie Brush Marker. Next.
Crayola Classic Broadline Conical Tip Marker
$6.99 for box of 12
I am adding this one to the list, but I have hardly ever used them.
I can only pass along the opinions I have heard from some of
the artists who work for me. Some of them love their Crayolas.
Why? First of all, they are super cheap. Secondly, they have a
large cone nib like the Chartpak Finepoint Marker. They require
less pressure than the Chartpaks as well. But the black ink is the
weakest of the bunch, in my opinion. It smears easily on certain
paper stock, and you can’t rework your caricature if you’ve added
color, like Prismacolor Art Stix, to your drawing.
Copic Sketch Markers
$5.59 ea.
Another popular brush tip
marker is Copic. They have
been producing professional
markers for a long time.
Personally, I do not use them
and have only tried them a
few times. Many caricature
artists swear by them. You can
draw very quickly and vary your line
weights with little effort. They are also
refillable. However, they are also the most expensive
marker of the bunch. They also tend to run out quickly
and can get messy once you start refilling them.
Well, there you have it. That is my rundown of nine of the most popular markers from today and yesterday. Keep in mind that there are other markers out there that are used by some caricature artists. My goal was to cover the ones that my artists or I have been using over the years. Hopefully, it will save you some time and money as well as get you drawing with a marker that makes you happy.
Robert Bauer is a former ISCA president and owner of Goofy Faces at www.goofyfaces.com
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