PrismaColor Markers, waste of money?

[mike@af]

Im a little hot headed right now, so bear with me. I went to dickblick today and bought $30 worth of markers I needed for a drawing Im working on.

• 10% Warm Grey
• 10% Cool Grey
• 30% Cool Grey
• 50% Cool Grey
• Black
• Clear Blender (blends...not)
• Yellow Ochre
• Canary Yellow
• Light Blue
• Tulip Yellow

I worked on shading a chrome rim with the markers...wow...it looks like shit. They work like damn crayolas. That damn clear blender doesnt seem to do shit. So far Im pissed...Im on a limited budget and it seems like that was $30 down the toilet.

Any suggestions on how to use them? I dont expect to be an expert right away...but damn, it looks like it was colored with crayolas. with little blending between colors.

[KustmAce]

Practice. But those blenders are useless.

EDIT

Heres the first and only work I have ever done with them...For an art project...

[asaenz]

Mike I am sorry to hear that.

As far as the blender. I don't know about that. I have never used one.

What kind of paper are you using?

I use Bristol Vellum, thick stuff. I can get the exact weight if you like. My guess would be that the paper is the problem. I do know that the markers will bleed when the are new and depending on the paper. Perhaps Bonz will see this thread and offer more help.

As far as looking like crayon I could see that happening I think that is why some artists use pastels for fades and such. I think that look is great (crayon) but if that isn't what you want I can understand your fustration. Post your rim

Kustmace, did you ever post those works before now? I may have missed them, they look great.

al

[castback]

Originally Posted by asaenz

As far as looking like crayon I could see that happening I think that is why some artists use pastels for fades and such.

al

thats what i do. it took me a while to get the hang of them (im still kinda iffy). i did the same thing. i bought some then tried it and sucked. then went a month without touching them until i forced myself to try it.
good luck

[lemorris]

I know Taylor uses marker and pastel together. I know you can do great things with prima markers and pencils.

It really is a matter of practice though. Don't believe me?

Look at the first car drawing you did....look at something you drew last year for that matter.

Al is on point about the paper. Try a vellum, and remember the translucency enables you to use both sides.

oh last thing...have fun! You're drawing...enjoy it, and you will be rewarded.

edit: doesn't lighter fluid extend markers? may help to dip a q-tip and use it to blend. Just a stab.

[KustmAce]

Nope, never posted em before.

And I still dont like those markers.

[stuffbyalex]

Mike, i was considering getting some prisma markers, but now that I've seen this thread, I might not. Al is probably right... it could be the paper. Btw, is there such thing as a colored pencil and marker rendering instead of pastel and marker rendering?

Alex

[mike@af]

I did some research last night, you want to use a thin paper so it bleads well. Thick stuff will also dry out your markers faster. For the blending I think I may need to bust out the airbrush and just experiment.

I'll post my rim in a little while.

Alex, yes there is a pencil and marker rendering. I've seen many...done with Prisma's too.

[Ansel Marrow]

i use em all the time, though not the blender. the paper is also what im thinking, you get professional resluts out of the box, thats why i like em. definitly try some thick (expensive if possible, 100lb or more) bristol paper. heres a peice i recently did, and it came out alot better than i thought. bristol paper.

http://www.deviantart.com/view/13844986/

[mike@af]

Originally Posted by Ansel Marrow

i use em all the time, though not the blender. the paper is also what im thinking, you get professional resluts out of the box, thats why i like em. definitly try some thick (expensive if possible, 100lb or more) bristol paper. heres a peice i recently did, and it came out alot better than i thought. bristol paper.

http://www.deviantart.com/view/13844986/

I was using thick bristol smooth, and it didnt seem to work, and some tips I read said use thin paper.

Excellent coloring! I'm just going to keep messing with it, except one of the markers I bought is dry...

[Ansel Marrow]

no doubt, i bought some cheapo crayolas for fun, man they are horrible. if you have a careful hand the prismas are smooth enough so you cant see the strokes. they do run dry though, its just the way it is. there are other cheapo brands. if you are paying more than 2.50 per marker you are getting ripped off.

[mike@af]

With student discount each marker is $2, normally priced at $2.59.

Last night, on vellum, I ran out of ink on two markers. Vellum also sucks for markers.

[asaenz]

Hi Mike,

Sometimes I noticed w/ my markers I had to work kind of fast so they would not bleed over line I didn't want them too. You may also need to account for some bleeding and not go all the way upto the line of the next section that you don't want color in.

I am getting ready to do another colored work. I will make some notes on how I use them.

Just to let you know I have two wrecked artworks from using Prisma Marker, but it is not the markers fault. I think it takes a lil practice to get the hang of them. I also test all my markers/experiment on scrap paper (same kind I am using for the artwork).

I know Taylor uses marker and pastel together.

I heard that famous cat asaenz uses them too. I think he taught Taylor a thing or two about rendering autos.

Take care, man.

al

[Hunterw450]

Have you tried Chartpak AD markers? thats what i used in school, you can really tell a diiference,they blend very well, they do cost more, but worth it i think. Once you try them you will see. another thing you could do for large areas is use a cotton pad used to apply makeup, some pastels scraped with a knife to create a pile of dust, and lighter fluid. dip the pad into lighter fluid and then into the dust and viola! cheap markers that cover large areas, vary the amount of fluid and chalk to creat different effects.

hope this helps
wes

[CalsonicR34]

I'm doing Industrial Design at University, and I strongly recommend you buy some "bleedproof paper" it should be labelled as that. If you dont use the right paper it will either everywhere and go through paper. The type of marker I use is COPIC markers, they are very good.

If your experiencing blotching thats because you are letting the ink dry out quickly, try to aim to keep the paper wet with ink, but if you are doing large surfaces mask areas off you dont want to be coloured with 3M removable tape.