Basically it's a marker trying to transcend it's markerhood into something close to paint. Its tips are made to act like paintbrushes, and the colors made to be blended. Whatever binders they used is "top secret" because they are trying to still patent it- it's that new. At least that's what the lady at the booth at CTN was saying.
Now, I was excited to see something entirely new on the market. When it comes to markers, especially those used for fine art or illustration, it usually comes down to two categories: Copic markers and then markers trying their darndest to be copic markers. (No really. Prismacolor changed their ENTIRE MARKER DESIGN to include a brush tip instead of a fine tip so that they could be a little more like Copic. And if they say that isn't the case, they are lying because they didn't change it until Copic was wiping the floor when it came to the market)
So seeing a company throw everything over their heads, say "SCREW IT, WE'RE DOING SOMETHING DIFFERENT" and going all out on making something new is very admirable. Whether they did it WELL... Well, that's something to be debated.
The first thing they mention on the website is not the color capacity of these, but their outside. They explain that it's a very sleek easy to grip and easy to control marker with a chisel tip and fine tip.
Honestly, focusing on the outside first is like saying "Look at this gift! Isn't the wrapping paper nice? So well wrapped!" I mean, I get it. The different outside marks that this is a "different marker" but as an artist I'd rather hear about the color first.
The second thing they mention is the archival quality of the marker. The pigment is made to last under intense light- (Also known as Lightfast) and should last well at least 100 years. (Which, this marker hasn't been around for 100 years let alone a drawing done by these markers so that's to be debated how well they hold up)
They work best on coated paper- paper that has a smooth, slippery surface that works best with markers. Winsor and Newton has come up with their own paper pad that fits the bill, but paper for pens/ink or marker paper works. Vellum bristol is likely to work well too.
UNFORTUNATELY, the Winsor and Newton Pigment pen paper WRINKLES. BAD. It's very thin paper, but with the smooth coated surface. I would actually not suggest using this paper besides testing the capabilities of the marker.
(Seriously. You know it's bad when the REVIEW VIDEO has the paper wrinkling.)|
Here is my test drawing on the Winsor and Newton pigment marker paper. The color is not absorbed at all, keeping it rich and fine. The coated surface allows it to blend evenly. However, it DOES wrinkle, and eventually eats at the paper giving it a bumpy, fibrous surface. More than that, you can see that the colors do start coming through on the other side. Overall it wasn't my favorite. I went ahead and bought a much thicker and durable pad of Staedtler marker paper.
Anyways, that's Pigment Markers at a glance. Let's talk the nitty gritty and application.
First off- These markers are WET WET WET. It's not uncommon to have pigment leaking out the sides messily, especially if the tip is loose. The fact that it has a loose tip is interesting because it doesn't exactly have a refill.
The chisel tips sides were often frayed. This is because of it constantly rubbing and scraping against the tightly-fit lid. It didn't affect how the marker worked at all, it just wasn't very appealing.
However, on thicker marker paper, it seemed to retain the color without damaging the paper at all. It kept the vibrancy and the wetness/blendability of the marker. I also tested it on copy paper, and sure enough, it ate and bled through it like anything.
(Of course, my test drawing is an anime eye. Those are far too fun to draw)
The next big test was what inking pens held up with it. This is an important test when using ANY marker or paint to ensure the colors don't get muddy or the lineart isn't destroyed. Unfortunately, I have to say that very few inking pens lasted under the test. The most unfortunate was my Pilot VBall bg 05 which has become my favorite inking and drafting pen.
SURPRISINGLY, the pens that worked the best was Sharpie and Le Pen. Le Pen I've had a hard time working with my alcohol based markers, but it works surprisingly well with this pen. The muddiness you see is actually because I didn't clean the pen before moving on to the next color. The Sharpie held up the BEST of them all- while Faber Castel held up the worst.
SURPRISINGLY, the pens that worked the best was Sharpie and Le Pen. Le Pen I've had a hard time working with my alcohol based markers, but it works surprisingly well with this pen. The muddiness you see is actually because I didn't clean the pen before moving on to the next color. The Sharpie held up the BEST of them all- while Faber Castel held up the worst.
For my next test, I tried to blend it with and over other brands of marker, specifically alcohol based to see what the effects would be. It worked surprisingly well with Prismacolor when it came to layering colors, but overpowered the softness of the Copic. Copic caused some smearing and blending when layered on top of it.
When layered with itself, I noticed the tendency for the dark colors to overpower the light instead of ending up in a smooth gradient. The best suggestion I can give is to actually work dark to light when it comes to blending and layering these markers.
As far as the stroke of these markers go, it's nigh impossible to hide the direction of the stroke due to the kind of ink it is. It reminds me of painting with oils, and how each stroke left an impression. Perhaps it'd be easier to hide a stroke with the tiny fine tip, but I was unwilling to cover large areas with it to see. Perhaps the directional issue could be solved if there was a brush tip instead, but I'd like to think that there is a beauty in seeing the directional strokes- you just need to be mindful of where your strokes go.
(As I said- there's no hiding the fact that this is done in marker and the direction of each stroke. However, this particular piece looks like watercolor and is certainly beautiful in its own right.)
Now, in order to test the capacity of the markers, I decided to try a full illustration.
At this stage, I tried to keep it entirely Pigment markers aside from the inked lines. Only the base skin color for the girl was done with copic markers since I didn't have a skin pigment suitable for what I was wanting.
My previous notes on having to blend light-with-dark and dark overpowering light undercolors still apply to this. I started with a base of yellow for the ground and sky to match with the golden design of the deer, and the cream of the little girl. The yellow was far too overpowering, so I added pint to simulate migh lighter violet tones. Pink and yellow do not read wilderness, however, and so I went on to add greens- including the dark green grass on the edges of the paper. The center turned into water as almost an afterhtought.
While working, It's clear what stroke or blending technique I was using. In some places I used my fingers, and you can definitely tell what was finger blended and what wasn't. Also, it gets to a point where it gets hard to layer any more color. After picking it up again after a day I realized I just had to let the colors dry and set for longer, as it was able to layer a lot better after horus of being left alone.
After I was done with the pigment markers, I looked and asked myself "Is this a finished piece?" And to me, no it isn't. I wasn't able to reach a completely finished look with the markers I had. Maybe if I had more colors I could have done more with pushing the dark and the light of the drawing, but as it was I really couldn't.
My next step was to layer it with prismacolor pencils. Prismacolors DID NOT react well with either the paper's coating or the markers, or both. While I often layer colored pencils with watercolor or the alcohol based markers, it didn't like this. I will have to further test if it will respond better on different paper. But that caused me to hit another roadblock as my normal layering technique was stopped.
I then tried to layer it with a variety of different markers and pens. Most inking pens jammed when in contact with the marker, and refused to work. Even my VBall was having some issues layering on top and it usually runs as smooth as anything anywhere else. It then turned into "what marker/ink will work with this?"
Acrylic ink seems to work the best, though prismacolor markers was able to work over it quite well after it had taken some time to dry. Acrylic ink was used to push the gold, and white ink was used for the outlines and highlights. I also tried things with pouring various materials on the background, including Copic Various inks in purple, rubbing alcohol, Ken Oliver liquid metals, and gold ink. Rubbing Alchohol didn't make as much of a difference as I thought it would- it mostly washed away the top layer of the Pigment in the places applied. It didn't affect the more dried and set areas. The various inks also didn't do much. The Liquid Gold didn't blend with it, instead layered on the top of it, covering anything underneath. Gold acrylic ink was both able to blend and layer on top, which made it the most favorable out of all of the mixed mediums that I used.
When I realized that the Acrylic ink layered well, I decided to try using my Derwent Inktense pencils to layer on top, which worked wonderfully. (I will write a more in depth review of hte Derwent Inktense pencils later, but for now those of you who don't know what that is they are colored pencils made of ink that acts kind of like watercolor pencils.)
The end result was this:
An overall beautiful piece, but one that relies on mixed media to make up for the markers shortcomings due to the lack of experience, the kind of paper used, and the lack of range of color of the pigment markers. However, the color and use of the pigment marker is still very prevalent in the especially in the textures of the background.
OVERALL, the pigment markers were definitely different. They will not be my go-to medium for mixed media, but I can see great potential. There's pros to them, but also cons.
PROS:
-Vivid pigment
-Archival quality
-Blendability
-Unique stroke
-Layering ability after drying with itself.
-Works amazing with coated papers
-Less expensive than copic
CONS:
-Cannot hide directional strokes.
-Doesn't play nice with many other medium
-Melts or smears most inking pens.
-Having to wait for it to dry before layering
-No refill inks that I know of.
I want to try a few more experiments with these in future mixed medium work, like using them with textured papers or with texture paste, adding them on top of a colored pencil or watercolor piece, or adding it on top of a copic "underpainting." Who knows what possibilities there are?
OVERALL, the pigment markers were definitely different. They will not be my go-to medium for mixed media, but I can see great potential. There's pros to them, but also cons.
PROS:
-Vivid pigment
-Archival quality
-Blendability
-Unique stroke
-Layering ability after drying with itself.
-Works amazing with coated papers
-Less expensive than copic
CONS:
-Cannot hide directional strokes.
-Doesn't play nice with many other medium
-Melts or smears most inking pens.
-Having to wait for it to dry before layering
-No refill inks that I know of.
I want to try a few more experiments with these in future mixed medium work, like using them with textured papers or with texture paste, adding them on top of a colored pencil or watercolor piece, or adding it on top of a copic "underpainting." Who knows what possibilities there are?
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