Help with Drawing Materials?

Question

I'm having a slight dilema with some drawing materials I bought last week. The most frustrating are my Sharpies. Well, the problem is that when I try to line art with them they bleed to much ink, making the lines look to unstable. Then, the regular pens start skip places, even though I bought them 2 days ago...

Well, I tried everything I could with the sharpies, including soaking them in alcohol... didn't work though. And the regular pens I shake them, and after a few minutes they start to skip. This makes me feel frustrated. Please, anyone know a solution?

Answer 1

Try paper for marker pens, it doesn't bleed much. It's about $20 for a 100 sheet pack. Are you using the thinnest Sharpies? Some pens may be too large for your project. Also, when working with marker pens you should put down newspaper, or other scrap paper so you don't stain your working surface.
Sharpies are a permanent ink.
By "regular pens" do you mean other types of marker pens? Or do you mean a generic ink pen like a Bic? One thing I find is that standard ink pens do skip, even when new. Try scribbling on another piece of paper until the ink is flowing consistantly before you use it on your project. I also buy only sets of pens because so many places that sell pens allow people to test them out. So by the time we buy them, a lot of the ink is used up already. In the sets, you can't open them to try out the pens, so at least we get to use them ourselves. If your Sharpies are still not giving you what you want, switch to PrismaColor pens that have 2 different sizes of nib on each pen. There are other brands as well, but don't bother with the pens that have 3 nib sizes, the smallest nib doesn't work that well, it always seems too dry to do a good job. Good Luck

Answer 2

when doing illustration, I have never used sharpie because first they bleed and than they dry quickly. I don't think sharpies are made for drawing on art paper or illustration. They made for dense surface not porous materials. You can use alcohol to dissolve it, because sharpies are not made from alcohol. There is a special solvent for that. you can ask art supply store if they sell them.

When working with markers, I use art marker like Prismacolor Premier Double Ended Art Markers, Prismacolor, Chartpak or Tran art markers. I used Bienfang bleed proof illustration paper. other brands of paper like strathmor or crescent may work as well but i like the smooth texture of the Bienfang.

hope that helps.

Answer 3

Micron Pens, they come in many different colors and sizes; not to mention smear/waterproof. They're amazing! I'm also a fan of the Blick Studio art markers, very vivid colors.

Answer 4

try a pigement liner sort of pen, different brands given them different names, Faber-Castell just calls them "artist pen"

Answer 5

try using a tighter bond paper.

Answer 6

TRY MICRONS & CHANGE PAPER .