It’s March and still cold outside in my neck of the woods, but I can see bulbs peeping their little green heads above the wet dirt. It makes me sooo excited! Spring green is lush, fresh, and invigorating, don’t you think?

Last month I promised I would talk about my favorite pens and markers in the next post, so here I am!

Right about now I’m in the middle of Bonnie Christine’s Immersion course, so I’m kinda busy learning how to use Adobe Illustrator - and I’m almost a complete newbie! I took her free week-long Start Simple class last year but didn’t get to take the actual course, so that’s all I learned, and I completely forgot everything!

Some of you may not have yet taken the leap into digital art. I love it, but I also love using traditional materials because it’s so tactile. Although I don’t draw with pens, I do light sketching, planning, and journaling with them. But markers are an entirely different treat - they can help create some amazing art when paired with colored pencils. Let’s dive in!

PENS

MICRON PENS

The first pens I must mention are Sakura Microns. I think almost everyone knows about these beauties! They come from Japan (as do many great pens) and come in a variety of widths from extremely narrow 0.003 (.15mm) to 12 (0.7mm) in width. My favorite sizes are the 5 (0.45mm) and 8 (0.5mm) widths. In college I had a set of Rapidiograph ink pens that I used for ink drawings - they had to be filled and were quite messy if you didn’t mind your manners. It came with a micro .003 as well, and I can remember thinking it felt like I was drawing with a needle, rather scratching the paper with a hairline of ink - not a happy association!

Micron pens also come in a few colors such as brown, red, hot pink, green, blue, and purple, but I prefer the black and brown ones. One of the best features is that the ink is waterproof, so you can watercolor on top of your linework. This is the reason Microns sail to the top of my list!

My next favorites are the Faber Castell BroadPen and Pitt Liner. The broad pen has a large flexible nib which works well for lettering…it lasts a long time if you don’t mash the tip too much when making curves. The Pitt pen has a firm tip similar to Sakura Micron 8 (.5mm), so you don’t really need to own both kinds. However, both the Pitt and broadpens are waterproof once dry, and you can add wet media on top. On the top left you see a Staedtler fineliner. It works like Microns, but it’s not my fav as the black is less dark.

In the above pic I have several other pens that I use from time to time. I love Signo Uni-ball gel pens - they write so smoothly and give a thick enough line to be seen. But, if you keep them in a draw for too long, they end up going dry and can’t really be resusitated. So use them if you buy them! The other pens which are fun to use are the Zebra metallics. They are similar to a Sharpie marker in line thickness and how they lay down color, only they have a metallic sheen to them.

STABILO FINELINERS AND MARKERS

I first learned about these markers when I went to Germany. They come in fine tip called 88 (0.4mm) and broad or robust, called 68 (1mm). The fine tip is really a needle point and writes fine without variation. I use them to underline in my Bible - the darker colors bleed a little through the pages, but not the lighter ones. I also use these to write in cards, in journals, and the occasional outlining in artwork. The broad tips I don’t use as much, but I like knowing they are available if I need them.

FINELINER MARKERS

On the left you see Tombow markers. Sold in sets of 10 or 20, they are grouped in color families like tropicals, portrait, nature, and so on. The pigment is rich and they come in many colors, so this is a great choice if you aren’t going to invest in something like Copic markers. To me, the most outstanding feature is the brush tip which is flexible and works well for lettering. There is also a fine tip on the bottom of the marker, but I don’t use this much.

In the middle of my photo are Staedtler dual tip markers which I brought back from Germany one trip. They are a little firmer in feel when drawing with them, but they also have a nice laying down of pigment and come with dual tip.

On the right are my Artist’s Loft markers, which I had bought for my daughter when she was young - she gave them back to me when she got some Tombows and Copics. To me they can hardly be distinguished from the Tombows - except in the color choices which are available, and that Tombow markers are a bit wetter, which I like. They are an excellent choice if you want a budget option. I pull them out when I’m playing around and don’t want to use up my Copics.

On the far right are 3 Winsor and Newton markers - with fine and broad tips. These are the only 3 I own, and they work great. I bought them for the colors, and I would recommend them highly.

COPIC MARKERS

If you’ve never tried Copic markers from Japan, then you are in for a treat! These alcohol markers lay down color so smoothly and on marker paper you can lay down layer upon layer without streaking and you can even blend colors together using a colorless blender marker. Copics are the king of all markers and come in three kinds - Ciao, Sketch, and Classic - and they all have dual tips. I have the Ciao which are the least costly and have a refillable round barrel which holds 1.66ml of ink and come in 180 colors. Copic Sketch markers come in 358 colors and hold 2.08 ml of ink and are the industry standard for illustrators worldwide. Copic Classic markers are the original square shape and hold 2.78 ml of ink and come in 214 colors. A fourth marker exists, called Copic Wide, which is a broad pen and is empty, meaning you can fill it with 3.57 ml of the color of your choice.

In interior design school I learned how to render interior illustrations using Pantone markers which had noxious fumes. Our teacher taught us how to sketch lightly in pencil, fill with marker of various colors, then add texture and depth with colored pencil on top. I love this style of rendering, and like to play around in my sketchbook with this technique.

POSCA MARKERS

These paint markers are a fabulous addition to your illustration art supply toolkit as they are opaque and flow quite well. The colors are bright, and the tips on mine have never become blocked. Mine have the bullet tip (larger than Sharpie marker), but they come in 6 sizes ranging from 0.7mm to 15mm in width - the largest two have a broad chisel tip. I had a set of fine Poscas in standard colors and metallics, but I gave them to my youngest son who made some cool art with them! I have never used them for an entire illustration, but use them on top of art to add highlights and pops of color.

I have more writing pens that I love but I use them for journaling, so I will save them for another post down the road. If you would like a free Guide to My Favorite Art Supplies, then click on the form below and it will be sent to you - I made it for those who are interested in what types of supplies to use.

Stay tuned because next month I will be discussing my favorite watercolors and gouache paints!

Thanks for reading, and