If you've been following me a while, you know that my prefered medium is alcohol markers. The most popular and famous of these is Copic, but I actually use many other brands alongside my copic markers. Any alcohol markers can be used together, so you won't have to worry too much about starting with a cheaper alternative to copics since you can just use them all together (with the exact same technique I'm about to show you). While this tutorial will continue to say copics, here is a photo of all the brands I use.
These all range in price, but for beginners I highly recommend the Bic Markit on the far right. I started with those and they are a very cheap way to see if you even like markers.
So, How do they work?
The trick to alcohol markers is actually quite simple- you have to do everything while the ink is still wet. Confused? Don't worry, I can explain.
Every medium has a pigment and a base, and these markers are based on alcohol. If you put two colors down on the paper while the ink is wet the alcohol will blend them together. Starting with the lighter color as a base add the darker over top, then go back over with the lighter color to blend them together. You have to work quickly to make sure it's still wet, you can get streaks if it drys too soon. Here's a demo of how I do it.
In the video I also mention how using a colorless blender can make it even easier to blend by making the marker stay wet longer. To show you how I used my refill bottle, something that you can get for any color of copic- which is what makes them worth your money in the long run. While the original investment is a lot, once you have all the colors of markers and refills you need you'll rarely need to buy more. (Most refill don't come in as large a size though, as shown below.)
Remember to keep in mind that the alcohol is chemical that can react different to types of paper, ink, or whatever else you may use in your pieces. You can use this to your advantage in certain situations though- if you want a bubbly affect you can use alcohol on the ink to create it. The biggest downfall of the markers, especially if you want to use them in a sketchbook, is that they will always bleed through the paper. Sharpies are alcohol based, and it is well known how they act on paper. This is the same.
(Left photo: how the alcohol creates an affect on the ink. Middle Photo: That's two sheets of paper showing how the ink bleeds through. Right Photo: Added some water as well to show that it doesn't affect the same way as alcohol does. These are all done on printer paper as well, not the best for markers.)
If you're like me and ink your pieces before you color keep in mind that copics will smear them if you don't let them dry. You also want to make sure that the ink you are using is compatible with copic markers since some may react badly to the alcohol. Always swatch on another piece of paper first.
Hope you guys found this helpful! Let me know if you would like me to post more about using markers!
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