Colour Pencils and Markers – My favourites

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Colour Pencils and Markers or Paper – indulge in the smallest of life’s pleasures!

When you consider the hours of entertainment art or colouring gives you – irrespective of any materials you buy, it is not expensive at all!

Pages take hours or days to colour and pencils will last for months or years to use up!

You do yourself an injustice using art materials that give you a less-than-satisfactory result or fight against you. If you are going to spend hours creating any art or craft using tools that you can easily control if half the battle. You don’t always have to spend a fortune but please do yourself a favour and use materials that give you the best outcome.

Use good markers or pencils and good paper if possible. It does make a difference to the end result. I have made sure the paper in my colouring book, Positively Quote Colouring Book is gorgeous but if you like using nice pencils or marker you have an advantage.

I received my advance copy this week and have begun colouring a page in pencils. I can’t tell you how beautiful this wood free paper is! The pencils are flowing on so smoothly and there is enough grab in the paper to built up layers and blend nicely. I can apply pressure without damaging the paper and it has a lovely amount of sponge in the thickness. It is lovely to colour on. I think I’ll cry if I see anyone using photocopies and copy paper to colour my pages! It isn’t the same experience at all. It is only paper – use it! It is only about 50 cents per side – use it! Enjoy your creative time by indulging it all it has to offer including nice tools and books 🙂

Colouring pencils and markers: My favourite pencils and best option for my new colouring book, Positively Quote Colouring Book is oil-based pencils like Polychromos
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I’m often asked what colour pencils and markers to buy so I am sharing my current favourites here. The best colour pencils and markers for colouring depend on their use. I’ll explain. But first…

Markers I DON”T like

First, let me start with what I advise you NOT to buy: connector pens.
I am sorry to anyone who used them but I find them awful! I purchased a large set to colour with and within 10 minutes they were heading for the bin. If not for my kids rescuing them, they’d be at the tip. I almost feel sorry that they my kids are using them but they insisted. So why the passionate distaste for connector pens? Because hey are inclined to scratch up nice paper and always lay down obvious stripes as you fill in colour. One lady in a colouring group defended them stating she like the texture – but I don’t. I want my ink to flow evenly and to created texture when I chose, not because I have no other option. I’d rather have less but quality goods than lots of rubbish. But markers don’t necessarily demand big budget anyway.

Price of markers and cheapest options

There are three things to consider when buying ink markers:

1. Usage and permanency

1. Flow and quality

1. Cost and budget

Usage and permanency: I am a professional illustrator and sometimes my work is sold to a client as art. If this is the case I need to consider the permanency of the pigment I use and buy the best there is in this area. For that reason I own an expensive set of Copic markers and permanent inks. If am colouring in a colouring book or doing something that may only be saved as a final digital memory or file I don’t need to worry about this and can use the cheaper options like textas from the supermarket where permanency is harder to define.

Flow and quality: If the ink flows nicely and settles into the paper evenly this is really all that need to happen. We want markers that don’t dry up too quickly, break the paper and give good colour. Depending on your preferences the size of the tip may matter as well. Test your markers in a patch to see if they leave excessive lines behind to determine if they meet your needs. I personally don’t like lines in my work unless I deliberately create them. My favourite markers are Copics but they are hundreds of dollars to buy and not affordable for most.

Cost and budget: Most people reading this will be colouring book enthusiast, not professional illustrators selling work so won’t be overly concerned about archival needs. I will talk about less expensive options. I haven’t tried them all but have found a few I like.

Bic Markers

I do like Bic’s Mark It permanent markers. They are thick but with a fine point so you can fill in quickly if you tilt them or use the point for smaller areas. They flow on evenly and have lovely strong colour. They are aggressive bleeders. Like Copics, they’ll bleed through the thickest papers (including my book) so you’ll sacrifice the back of a page if you use them. Note: My book has 2 copies of each design so you have the option to use any marker without loosing the back illustration (there is another in the book). The gatefold provided can be inserted between the pages to catch bleed-through. I paid about $16 at the supermarket for this set of Bic Mark Its but I am not sure how readily available they are.

Fineliners

I have also invested in 10 Staedler triplus fineliners which good for ink drawing. They are very fine and good for small details. Though less aggressive, they will bleed through most papers. I haven’t used other markers that don’t bleed so I don’t know what the pigment is like.

Gel Pens

I have seen some lovely coloured pages created with gel pens – particularly the metallic ones. For this reason I have bought a large set and some smaller sets. They are very inexpensive but do not last long. You may find that you run out of a particular colour inconveniently mid-way through a page and have to buy a whole set to replace it. They can be hit and miss too. I have seen people complain about them not working properly but others say they have had no issues. I have yet to use mu large set but use gel pens in my sketches occasionally and like them. I use my white one a lot over dark base colours for decoration.

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Pencils

Last but definitely not least are pencils. This is my colouring tool and I use them much more than markers. I love to use markers for drawing but not so much for colouring. I much prefer to work in pencil – they are blending champions! They can be controlled easily to blend colour or shades and more  colours can be mixed without turning into mud! I always keep mine very sharp to get into small details and close to the edge of the lines. I have several sets of pencils but not all pencils are the same. These are the ones I use all the time:

Faber Castel Polychromos

I own a large set of 120 Faber Castel Polychromos which are oil based. This makes them perfect for blending and burnishing.  I prefer them to the Primacolours as they blend quicker and (in my opinion) better quality pencils and softer.  They are pricey (retailing from $260 – $500+) depending on where you buy them. I would recommend you start with a small set if you want these pencils and are on a budget or take a look at the next alternative…

Macro Raffine

The less expensive alternative to Faber Castel Polychromos is Macro Raffine pencils. I recently bought a 72 set for my daughter as they were oil based people were raving about them in colouring groups. When they arrived I tested them and couldn’t see much difference between them and Polychromos. If you are happy with a set of 72 instead of a larger set of Polychromos these are a great option. remember, I am using pencils with the best pigment permanency I know of and have to buy artist quality as a proffessional but if not – I’d buy Raffines. Macro Raffines will save you  a bucket load on money at $30-$50 delivered from sellers on Ebay. In fact, I liked them so much, I’d probably stock them myself if I could locate the manufacturer.

Derwent Inktense

The Derwent Intense are water soluble ink pencil with strong pigment color.  I use them like watercolour but not often as a pencil. For this reason, I would likely buy the ink sticks instead next time. I use the pigment diluted with a water brush and pain the colour on rather than draw.  I dip a water brush into the tip of the pencil and paint with them. I use them in my art more then my colouring but they are really nice for colouring; giving a strong colour and options of application with or without water. The pencils are grainier than the oil based pencils and as smooth on the paper’s surface. They are artist quality. I have a set of 72 but would recommencement a small set as if using as I do. They are at a higher price point, up there with Polychromos.

Minimum spend on pencils

If you want to spend the least amount any pencils a set of Faber Castel’s Classic Colour won’t break the bank at about $30 for a set of 48 pencils. These colour well, don’t break easily and blend nicely. They will do the job just fine if oil-based pencils are out of your budget. I used them on my sample page with good results and wrote about them here: http://wp.me/p4FVY3-1Jl
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