I decided to collect general principles drawing, this post will be useful for those who are about to try drawing with markers and don’t know where to start. All pictures in the post are from the Internet.
We will mainly talk about drawing with alcohol markers. Let me remind you: the main difference between alcohol markers is that they are refilled with alcohol-containing ink and when you draw with them, the paint dries very quickly and does not warp the paper.
There are several basic techniques:
Drawing with liners- became popular thanks to Anna Rastorgueva’s master classes. First, the main outline of the future drawing is drawn with a waterproof liner (this is important!), the degree of detail depends on your plan, but it is better to stick to large details. Then the colors and tone of the design are added with markers and finally the final accents are placed with a white pen. White pen You can replace it with white acrylic or gouache, but many people use a pen simply because it is convenient and you can draw thin, neat lines. The technique of applying an outline at the end, after drawing with markers, also works. If you don't have liner, you can try waterproof mascara, but this can be more labor intensive. On this moment, in my opinion, this is the most common technique.
Drawing with a contour, but not with a liner, but with colored pencils, colored pens so that the outline does not stand out from the overall tone of the drawing. It looks interesting, but for some reason few people draw like this.
Drawing without outline, using markers only. It is less common because it is not always possible to draw neat small details with markers. However, large-detailed drawings look very cool in this technique. The fairly famous Pomme Chan paints using this technique.
Another example 
Also, drawn by Ryan Spahr and the process is shown step by step here. 
Combining markers with other materials. Here markers act as secondary material, but nevertheless play an important role. You can draw a background for the picture with markers multi-colored pencils, on the contrary, you can use pencils on top of markers (I mostly draw this way). This technique allows you to make the shades smoother and the colors richer. In this case, it’s not scary if you lack some colors of markers - pencils perfectly compensate for them. Plus I like the rough texture of the pencil on top of the relatively smooth texture of the marker.
In general, markers can be combined with watercolors, pastels (backings), gouache, and ink. This is excellent material for those who are not afraid of experiments and know how to invent different techniques drawing.
For those who are just starting to draw, here are a few tricks and secrets: 
Finally I collected useful videos with drawing techniques to help you get started.
Basic lesson on mixing colors.
And one more basic lesson about markers.
Lesson from Lisa Krasnova, one of the leading sketchers. Lisa is always very bright and beautiful drawings, I recommend looking at everything you find.
An interesting technique for drawing a white cat.
Another amazing artist Volha Sakovich shows how to draw with copics, check her out channel, there is a lot of interesting things there. I like the artistry of the technique and the minimal outline.
A delightful tutorial on how to draw beautiful skin.
And finally, another wonderful example of the painting technique with markers.
Feel free to experiment and come up with something of your own; there are no strict rules in drawing with markers. On the contrary it is relative new material and it's in your hands to try to make it a great tool for your style.
I think the debate can go on for a long time - what is easier, to draw with a felt-tip pen or paints? However, the answer to this question is unlikely to be found, because everyone will defend their own type of art. And it’s not that important, the main thing is that you can draw with both interesting pictures.
Although both disadvantages and advantages can be found in both methods of painting, for example, with the help of paints you can perfectly convey color scheme, because they can be mixed. You can’t do this with felt-tip pens, so all the work will be a little one-sided in color combinations. Even if you buy a set of two hundred markers, thanks to paint you can create a thousand times more shades of the same color. But drawing with a felt-tip pen is really easier in terms of technique - you don’t have to use water, there’s nothing to mix, which means the process itself is simplified.
And the artist Antoinette Fleur prefers felt-tip pens in her work, and we can say that she is great at it. Thanks to them, she creates quite cute and sweet works, perhaps not filled with deep artistic sense, but sensual and sincere. The lines are not clear, the details are not so noticeable, but she succeeds with the images with a bang. However, the combination of colors has already been said - it seems that they are too bright.
But is this a minus? I think not, because someone will certainly be delighted by this brightness and novelty. Unfortunately, much is unknown about the artist herself, except that she is French. But we hope that she will delight us with her works more than once, because this, if not new, is definitely unusual way self-expression.
The highest quality felt-tip pen with a wear-resistant, very durable tip. Guaranteed shelf life - 3 years. A rich range of bright and rich colors with the highest light fastness. Does not dry out without a cap for 24 hours.
Long service life, a rich palette of bright, rich colors and high reliability of STABILO felt-tip pens. Water-based ink is odorless and can be easily washed off with water.
To draw a house we use a simple pencil medium hard(NV), STABILO markers, drawing paper. We carry out the image of the house in stages. We start by drawing a diagram on drawing paper and drawing out the details of the house. Then we make the drawing with colored felt-tip pens.
On a piece of drawing paper on the left with a simple pencil draw a square. Above it we draw the angle of the roof line.
To the right of the bottom corner of the square and the ends of the right roof line we draw identical straight lines parallel lines. We connect them with a vertical and inclined line. We got a schematic image of a house with a roof. Parallel vertical lines in the first square we draw a door rectangle with a handle and a threshold line at the bottom.
From the top line of the square downwards, draw the visor above the door with oblique lines. Parallel to the lines of the bottom edge of the house, add foundation lines with a slight protrusion beyond the edge of the walls.
We draw the windows to the right of the door and the attic window on top in the triangle. Add windows on the right side of the house. Add a rectangle for the bottom step of the porch.
On the left above the ridge of the roof we draw a pipe. On the right side of the roof we draw an attic window. Using a brown felt-tip pen, we outline the edge of the roof and the canopy above the door. Draw rows of tiles. We outline the outline of the walls and windows with a gray felt-tip pen. Shading the tiles with a felt-tip pen orange color. The pipe is brown.
Using free figures we fill the foundation of the house with a pattern of stones. Shade the door with a brown felt-tip pen. The drawing is ready.
*Dear non-Russian speaking readers (if any), this post covers sketching with alcohol-based markers which has been my new hobby this fall, please let me know in the comments below if a translation is needed.*
This summer in Spain, I saw some wonderful collage prints on the theme of travel and couldn’t pass by: I took a couple of notebooks as souvenirs for my friends, and in addition to the notebook, I also bought myself a cosmetic bag, a traveler’s envelope (for documents and tickets) and a bottle.
In general, collages and similar watercolor and marker sketches have always attracted me, but for a long time It never occurred to me that I could draw myself, but when it finally came and when I became interested in alcohol markers, I was stopped by their cost, lack of self-confidence, and lack of idea of where to actually start. But this autumn changed everything.
I’ll even write down this historical date here: September 20th - it was on this day that I learned about the free online course from Veronica Kalacheva’s school (a list of lessons, but access to them is already closed) and was hooked: after all, it was Anna’s sketchbook that I spent so much time licking my lips in, and The format of webinars at this school is always such a drive, I know from my own experience, since I have already participated in watercolors a couple of times. True, I later found out that the course consists of pre-recorded lessons, but this was no longer important, and the finale actually included a webinar. In general, isn’t this fate?.. And I ran to look for materials - especially since it’s much easier to start when there is a specific list of them, and the palette of markers recommended for the course included basic gray and brown shades.
Professional alcohol markers are not cheap: the most famous and considered the best - Japanese markers - in Moscow cost 500-600 rubles apiece, but you don’t need 2-3 or even 10-15 pieces. To begin with, I decided to buy 12 “copies” indicated in the list of materials for the course, and in addition to them, I ordered a bright set from AliExpress, the shades of which I chose myself based on what I planned to draw: red, green, mint, turquoise, blue , purple and a couple of yellow ones. By the way, when choosing shades of Chinese markers, you need to focus primarily on real colors (for example, in reviews or), and not on the colors of the caps, since the latter do not always correspond to the shades of ink; on paper, these markers give much more saturated, sometimes vibrant shades .
Returning to the cost of markers: there is another point that influences it - different markers have different ink volumes, and some manufacturers (Copic, Touch, Molotow) produce separate ink for refilling markers, so in the long run, using this feature makes the cost of the marker cheaper, but this approach requires quite serious financial investments. Here is an educational test of the ink volume of markers from different manufacturers.
What colors of markers do you need first?
The following approach with the definition seemed reasonable to me the right colors to start:
- gray and brown shades are always useful, especially since they can create the desired tonal difference on top of other colors (I’ll remember this later when I talk about the portrait of Deadpool);
- we need to think about what exactly we want to draw, and then it will become clear what other colors are our priority;
- you need to take at least 3-4 tones in each desired color, from very light to dark - it is the combination of several tones that makes possible the effect of a beautiful smooth gradient and natural shadows.
I didn't have light red or pale pink shades, and while painting this peony, I had a hard time trying to achieve a light tone by washing out the dark tone. blender- such a colorless marker that is needed to blur the color and create different effects. In the end, I didn’t like the result at all, and I painted over all the light areas of the drawing, except for one successful one, and the flower turned out flat.
Choosing the manufacturer and the desired colors, as it turns out, is only half the battle, since within one manufacturer of markers there can be different lines, differing, as a rule, in the shape of the writing unit (tip). For example, Copic markers are divided into 4 types:
- (on one side there is a small hard tip in the shape of a bullet, like a felt-tip pen, on the other there is a chisel-shaped tip, quite wide, with a beveled edge),
- (flexible brush and chisel),
- (flexible brush and “chisel”, but the color palette is more modest than that of Classic and Sketch, and less ink volume, and due to this - a more affordable price),
- (only one writing unit - a very wide “chisel”, convenient for large areas fills; I have not seen any mention of the actual use of this type of markers).
Since the city was experiencing the consequences of the “Kalacheva school effect” - future students swept away the necessary colors of “copies” in stores - it was problematic to buy all the necessary shades without going beyond one line. But I took it as great opportunity to test different ones, as a result I worked with three of the four types and now I’m inclined to choose Sketch.
What is the difference between markers and felt-tip pens?
In the short time that I have been drawing, I have come across quite a lot of comments like “wow, I didn’t expect that you could draw like that with felt-tip pens!” :) You can’t use ordinary felt-tip pens, you need alcohol markers - they have a huge number of shades (Copic has as many as 358, Korean Touch Twin - 204, English Promarkers - 148, Japanese ZIG Kurecolor - 135), and high quality markers implies the ability of ink different shades mix well with each other, forming smooth transitions.
What else do you need for sketching, besides markers?
Liner(actually pronounced “liner”, but, according to my observations, among Russian-speaking sketchers the pronunciation with “and” has become established) is a capillary pen for drawing contours that are not blurred by marker ink. Liners come with rods of different thicknesses, I like the recommended thickness of 0.2 for the course, but outside of “Extreme Sketching” I have already encountered the fact that for drawing some small parts(faces) finer lines are also needed. I wasn’t particularly impressed with the Copic Multiliner SP, especially since for some reason its writing unit quickly deformed; I like the Sakura Pigma Micron better.
White gel pen to correct minor defects (for example, ink leaking outside the outline) and add interesting details - dots, strokes. I have two of them: Sakura Gelly Roll and the Chinese nameless one, and I don’t like both of them because they give bald lines and generally don’t behave very predictably, so I’m looking for a replacement.
White watercolor or pastel pencil It was useful to me not only for depicting the texture of glass on the course, but also, for example, for later drawing the light of the eyes and headlights of the cat-bus from “Totoro” (picture in).
Paper: before the course, I was embarrassed to open the sketchbook I brought from Spain, and drew on regular paper for a laser printer with a density of 80 g/m2. By the beginning of “Extreme Sketching,” I finally believed in my abilities and began working in my treasured sketchbook, the paper of which is thicker - 120 g/m2, but not some unusual, not special paper for markers. In general, marker ink usually saturates the sheet right through, forming a “wrong side” with a rather bright imprint of the design on the back side of the sheet. This feature of the ink is almost independent of the paper density, but there is paper for markers with a special impregnation that does not allow the ink to reach reverse side leaf. So far I have tried 2 types of such paper: Canson the Wall 230 g/m2 (I really liked it) and Molotow One4All Pink Edition (the first experience was not very pleasant, but I will try again). It is not recommended to use watercolor paper for markers due to the high consumption of ink.
I also found them useful simple pencil for applying a preliminary contour (I have not yet grown enough to create a contour with a liner directly on bare paper, without marking with a pencil) and nag- a soft and easily wrinkled eraser, which, after applying the outline with a liner, removes the pencil outline, which is important, since under the influence of ink the pencil line is blurred, forming dirt. At all the essence of sketching is a quick sketch in between, the ability to grasp and convey the most important things and not get hung up on details, but I have this weakness- I haven’t learned how to draw quickly yet, I need to sit down and sit thoroughly while drawing, draw everything carefully... On the other hand, I won’t be too strict with myself, I’m at the beginning of my journey and if I’m not lazy, everything will definitely work out!
Well, I finally became the owner of my starter set of markers, and I was immediately itching to start trying. I found video recordings of Anna’s last year’s webinars on the Youtube channel of Veronica Kalacheva’s school and started practical classes with them:
Here's what I got:
I was also interested in another video on the channel that touches on the topic of perspective, and now I recommend it to everyone:
And speaking of perspective, I’ll mention another free mini-course that clearly explains the construction of space:
I also drew the peony, which was already mentioned above, in preparation for the “extreme”.
And then “Extreme Sketching 2” began and away we go!
I drew objects from the lesson, repeating after the teacher, and then did “ homework”, using your references found on the Internet.
Lesson 1. A delicious cup of hot latte.
Well, such an unpretentious first experience.)
Lesson 2 (bonus for completing the first task quickly). Coffee with whipped cream in a glass mug.
And here, in my opinion, growth is already visible.
Lesson 3. Fresh chocolate cupcake with buttercream.
For my homework, I couldn’t decide on one cake, and this is what happened (there are a couple of black stripes here, made by accident and ruining the drawing).
Lesson 4 (bonus). Sponge dessert covered with powdered sugar in a glass bowl.
Lesson 5. Cozy interior of your favorite cafe.
Lesson 6 (bonus). Wooden stool.
Here I combined the main and bonus lessons on one spread.
And for homework I chose a rather complex object - the interior of a wonderful Romanian coffee shop.
Lesson 7. Facade of your favorite cafe.
I was waiting for this lesson according to the pre-published schedule, but it was very inconveniently postponed to the next week, which promised to be already busy, so I had to be smart: find a photo reference from a small preview of the lesson and do it myself in advance. Such a cute cafe, judging by. Having posted a photo on Instagram (and it is customary to post all work from school webinars under a special hashtag, for example), I tagged the cafe itself on it, and after some time it published this picture of mine, nice!
And there is no story with “Bakery No. 5”, I just took such a photo 4 years ago and now it was such a good reason to draw it. True, you can’t call it her favorite cafe, as in the title of the lesson, I’ve only been there a couple of times, but the facade is one of my favorites!
Lesson 8 (bonus). Evening cafe.
On homework I didn’t have time anymore, and somehow I couldn’t find an inspiring reference.
If all previous lessons were recorded, then the final lesson was a festive Halloween webinar, everyone drew in live and it was very cool!
Creative activities are an indispensable condition for the harmonious development of any child. Drawing is one of the main aspects of children's self-expression. It becomes the toddler’s communication tool, a reflection of his world. When drawing skills are still very small, and a child is unable to masterfully use a sharpener and regulate the pressure of a pencil, felt-tip pens come to the aid of a novice artist. Bright and light, they will help bring your baby's idea to life. However, today I would like to talk not about ordinary, classic felt-tip pens, but about very unique air options.
This type of felt-tip pen is interesting because with them you will not be able to draw in the usual sense of the word. Drawings with air felt-tip pens are created using paint blown onto paper. It must be blown out from a distance of approximately 8-10 mm. This way you will get funny splashes and blots of various colors.
At what age can you draw with these markers?
The recommended age indicated on the packaging is 4-5 years. However, if your baby is a little younger, but you are sure that he can already be trusted with air markers without damaging the wallpaper and surrounding objects, then the child will be happy to create with the help of magic paint tubes. With their help, he will create truly unusual and original masterpieces.
How to draw with air markers?
Each air marker is designed the same way. Inside it there is a rod with paint. In addition, it has two caps: transparent and colored. When the air markers are closed, the colored cap protects them from drying out. In order to prepare an unusual felt-tip pen for drawing, you just need to swap the caps. And you can blow!
Air markers are a reusable creative material. They must be collected before each use and torn apart after use. However, this is done so simply that it will not be difficult even for your baby! Air felt-tip pens with a stencil are included. However, it is best to first try to draw with your baby as usual - without them, so that the child gets used to the new material. In addition, by creating in free mode, you can create a very beautiful background for your applique. Then you can use stencils.
Idea for creativity
Find some simple black and white pictures, print them, cut them out and use them as a stencil. During the drawing process, you can use one color or several: to do this, you need to blow on the same area of the drawing, first through one felt-tip pen, and then through another. Then you will get a beautiful mixture of multi-colored splashes. In order to control and adjust the saturation and intensity of color, you can blow weaker or stronger, raise the felt-tip pen higher or lower it lower above the paper, and linger longer in some places. You can make the paint coating more delicate and blurry or more dense and uniform. It all depends on your patience and imagination!
With air markers you can express your Creative skills and experiment with the end result if, for example, you cover part of the drawing with a piece of paper during the coloring process, brush it with a slightly damp brush, or use pieces of lace or braid as a stencil. In a similar way, original backgrounds for appliqués and postcards are obtained. You can supplement the drawing, which is obtained using air felt-tip pens, with other materials: watercolors, gouache, colored pencils. Or you can go further and use colored paper, glitter, colored tape, other materials.
Air markers and speech gymnastics
One of the main advantages of this material for children's creativity- in its beneficial effect on the baby’s speech apparatus. If a child regularly draws with air markers, he can significantly strengthen his articulatory muscles and learn to control them better. This will also prepare the basis for clear sound pronunciation. So parents can supplement traditional articulation gymnastics with such an interesting and creative exercise.
Despite the age limit, these markers can also be recommended for those kids who are just learning to speak. In this case, the lesson must be supervised by adults. Older children will be able to improve their diction and public speaking skills with the help of air markers.
