Brittle Wings

So I treated myself to some new ProMarkers by Letraset. I have not used markers before, so I thought it would be better to go in at the shallow end and buy the cheaper version, rather than splash out on a set of Tria or Copics only to find that I don’t like using them. The set I bought was the Comic Art Set 2. I’d like to share my experiences since using them.

The Box Set

Comic Art Set 2

I chose Set 2 because most of my art leans towards the colours favoured in this set. Set 1 seemed a little too “shojou” for me (I likes it gritty). Set 3 was too “chibi”. However, one problem I picked out before ordering was that there is not a single green tone in Set 2. These are the colours listed:

Cool Aqua, Poppy Red, Henna, Dusky Pink, Sandstone, Saffron, Petrol Blue, Cool Grey 2, Cool Grey 4, Black

I ordered the following additional pens as singles:

Lime Green, Grass, Moss, Lemon, Pumpkin, Blender

One colour set I completely forgot about though was purple. I do not have a single purple tone. This is mostly my own fault, as I was the one who forgot to order one, but looking at the ranged available in each set, the only one offering a purple with it is Set 3, which is just a little too pastel for my tastes and needs. Also, looking at the additonal 5-pack sets you can buy, I would be doubling some that I got in Set 2 up. That’s why I bought some individually, though of course I forgot a purple (and thinking about it now, a nice pink, since the only thing close is Saffron and it is more peach than pink, but I’ll discuss that later).

Ordering

Since I ordered from the official Letraset site, I thought I’d include a little section on them too.

I’m not overly keen on the different sectioning on the site. Searching “ProMarkers” brings you to the Manga section of the site. Unaware that I could view ProMarkers in the Design section (yes, I was being slow, but bare with me – It was Hogmanay after all!), I missed out on looking at the Aqua ProMarkers before buying. I strongly urge anyone who’s looking to buy ProMarkers to look at them before purchasing. The Manga section of the Letraset site does not offer the full range of ProMarkers available from them. I don’t know why (maybe they assume that manga artists have no interest in the watercolour look), but I thought that it was a bit shorthanded of them.

Saying this, buying from the Letraset site was a joy. I am a bit funny about buying online. I normally choose to buy straight from the official sites, even if it means it costs more. They have a very secure payment system, though I will say that they do not clearly state on their main site what types of card they accept. This ultimately wasn’t a problem for me, but I can understand how it could be to a younger artist who perhaps only has a debit card (don’t worry, they accept them) and no Paypal account.

Delivery was sharp. I ordered on the 31st of December and had them on the 6th. Taking into account the holiday’s plus the weekends, it was a quick delivery. No complaints there!

Performance

To start with, don’t kid yourself that you can use markers (alcohol-based ones anyway) on regular paper. You can’t. It won’t neccessarily soak the paper and rip, but they will ruin whatever you have below your paper (as the living room table found out the moment I had them out the box). You will need to get some bleed proof stuff. Letraset of course sell it, but I bought a Daler Rowney from my local art shop.

Despite the initial problems with my colour-selection, Set 2 offers enough for me to experiment with. The first problem that I come up with, however, is that the fine liner Letraset supplied me with in the set is next to useless. The word “smear” comes to mind (Heh… Smear…). After one quick sketch with it, it has been abandoned, never to be used again. Not only did it streak all over the paper as the ball of my wrist swept over it, but black fingerprints magically appeared too. Even after allowing it to dry onto the paper, the ink from the fine liner bled horrifically with the ink from the actual markers (and this was on bleed proof paper). Suffice to say, I am sticking with Staedtler Pigment Liners, which have been good to me for a very long time.

Anyway, once I discovered the problem with the Letraset fine liner and prompty binned it, I got onto sketching and colouring with the markers. Soon, another problem reared it’s head.

Bleed prood paper is not very scanner-friendly.

Having to photograph sketches makes me a sad panda

This means that everything I have done with markers, I’ve had to photograph. Not really something you think I should be complaining about, since it’s not Letraset’s fault, but marker work does not reproduce very well. After changing umpteen settings on the scanner and the camera, it still comes out looking nothing like the original piece. There may still be a way around it, after all I have only been experimenting with them for a few days. Overall, they are very easy to use. My only other problem is that I am used to using 0.05 fine liners, and the thin-ended tip of the marker is just a little too fat and clumy to fill detailed line art.

Conclusion
I would still recommend buying ProMarkers to get a feel for using them before spending a small fortune on a set like Tria or Copic. However, I don’t feel that any of the three sets offered by Letraset give you “what you need” to make comic art (or flash). Therefore, I would suggest buying individual markers first, and if you are using it for comicking, buy the 5-Set Skin Tone set. Out of the two flesh tones I recieved in Set 2, only Dusky Pink is of any use to me. As I said earlier, the Saffron is a little peachy for my tastes. I would rather have just had a proper pink included.

I don’t think I’m going to go much further with markers. I will use them for sketching and designs, but as for serious artwork, they are just not fine-tipped enough for me. As fussy as I am, I will only draw on A4 paper (unless it’s for a fitted piece of flash). Therefore to get the amount of detail that I am happy with, I would have to draw on A3 plus. Then there is the fiasco of making copies of the original line art to take into account… No sir, the marker and I don’t look as though we have much of a future!