Expanding the creative range of the Manga set of Prismacolor Markers and playing a bit

Well since the Manga set of Prismacolor art markers are packaged in a fairly flimsy cardboard box, I decided to transfer them to a sturdier travel case and partner them with the sets of gray markers and a few hand-picked colors from open stock. This custom set of 48 markers should come in handy for working in color while on the-go with its expanded creative potential.
Color chart of this custom palette of 48 colors. Always a good idea to draw your own reference chart to acquaint yourself with the actual look of each color on your chosen paper, for they do not always match the color of the labels precisely. It is also a good exercise for checking the condition of the nibs and the remaining ink load. For example, making this chart revealed that the French Grey 60% marker PM-160 was running dry.View from the back of the Lama Li paper.
While I never cared for the old studio stackers (markers tended to get stuck in them, and they had the annoying tendency of falling apart), I rather enjoy the travel cases shown above. These hard plastic shell carrying cases are quite convenient for tossing a set of 24 markers into a sketching bag right before going out the door. They set up quickly easel-style in seconds keeping your markers neatly organized and ready to work anywhere you go. One contains the Manga set of 12 markers, the range of French grays (PM-155 through PM-163), Black PM-98, Celadon Green PM-140, and Dark Olive Green PM-28. The second travel case holds the range of Warm (PM-99 through PM-107) and Cool (PM-108 through PM-116) grays along with Apple Green PM-167, Eggshell PM-72, Brick Beige PM-78, Light Peach PM-12, Bronze PM-149, Cloud Blue PM-144. Just wanted to make sure both cases held a few light hues suitable for coloring skin tones in case I felt like carrying only one of them.One minor gripe I have with these new markers is the faulty application of the colored paper labels around the barrels of some of the markers. The small wrinkles often seen near the fine nib of the markers are weak points where the labels could snag against the edge of their storage case and start tearing apart. Impermanence is one of the drawbacks of using paper label markings I suppose, but this cosmetic issue should not be much of a problem since most users are likely to use up the marker before its label is too badly damaged.
Sample illustration drawn with the 08 illustration pen and the sepia and black brush nibs on a Lama Li sketchbook , and colored with the double ended art markers.
Quick peek at the back of the page shows how much the Prismacolor double ended art markers' alcohol-based dye inks bled through the paper. By contrast the pigmented ink of the illustration markers stays on top of the front of the page and does not bleed through. It is usually advisable to select marker papers that limit bleed through when working with the double ended art markers to prevent them from drying out too quickly. Though since the colors might look quite nice and intense on some absorbent papers, you might not mind letting some extra ink soak into a non-marker paper from time to time. The illustration markers are not quite as finicky and work well on most paper supports. Yet it is best to stick to smooth surface papers to maximize the useful life of the felt tip nibs, for coarser rough paper surfaces might wear down and fray the nibs prematurely.

Prismacolor Premier Double-Ended Art Markers Manga Set review

Since I had a fairly positive experience rediscovering some newer Prismacolor markers, I went ahead a got the full Manga set of double ended markers to complement my matching set of Manga illustration markers. The illustration markers are ideal for sketching and creating cartoon images, and the double ended markers are great for coloring them swiftly and boldly with their versatile broad nibs.
The Manga set of 12 double ended markers strikes the right balance of bright colors and lighter skin hues for coloring cartoon characters effectively with a limited palette. It is a good starter set that could easily be expanded with some grey markers and some favorite colors from the open stock racks that are fairly common in most Arts & Crafts stores or through any of the many reliable online retailers. One of the main advantages of using Prismacolor products is their widespread distribution, so it is fairly easy to find replacement markers and new single colors to customize your working palette.
Both Prismacolor Manga sets of Illustration markers and Double ended markers would make a nice present for a budding artists with an interest in Manga-style illustration. Middle school and High School students (and even supervised responsible younger children) would likely enjoy the variety of line widths of the set of 8 Illustration markers and the well-balanced starter palette of the Manga set of 12 double ended markers.

Watercolor Postcard Session at the Art Center

Today, I conducted another watercolor postcard activity for a group of ladies after their docent tour.
Watercolor postcard kits ready and awaiting the 51 students touring the current exhibitons at the von Liebig Art Center: Naples Collects and Big Cypress Swamp: The Western Everglades Landscape by Clyde Butcher.
Visitors enjoying a quick watercolor postcard activity right before lunch.
Nicole striking a super hero pose celebrating the completion of yet another "Rockstar" docent tour. If you would like to continue to explore the creative potential of a compact watercolor kit and a pad of watercolor postcards, you might consider some of the tools listed below:

1. Medium or large waterbrushes efficiently combine the water reservoir with a functional easy-to-clean nylon brush (just squeeze and dab clean on any napkin or paper towel) nib eliminating the need to haul a separate heavy water container for rinsing brushes: Pentel and Niji.
2. A nice set of watercolor crayons can do double duty as convenient watercolor pans and fun sketching tools: Caran D'Ache Neocolor II Artists' crayons.
3. Lightweight portable blank postcard pads are available from several manufacturers: Canson, Strathmore, Cotman, Holbein.

Keep on painting!

Cartooning Classes - Photo Journal 1

This student creatively used the dragon coloring template as reference to create this colorful picture of "Dragon Riders".
Fourth graders displaying their drawing/coloring sheets competed during class.



Fifth graders posing with their projects completed on their third cartooning session.





The dragon template was given as a take-home assignment the previous week.
From time to time, I pick a student photo at random and sketch cartoon portrait like the example above. It was drawn with Prismacolor Illustration markers and colored with the double ended markers.
6th graders class working on assorted sketching and coloring sheets depending on their interest.
The small size of the coloring artist trading cards (ATC), allow for their completion within the class period.
The coloring pages featuring 9 ATC designs each contained a mixture of character types and creatures often found in Shonen and Shojo stories. Thus providing the students with an assortment of characters, robots, and fantasy beasts that could be used for reference to create their own stories in future sessions.


Coloring their trading card templates with the Crayola Super Tip markers is a good way of fine tuning eye-hand coordination.

Students were encouraged to add their own drawing elements and color their ninja or mermaid sketching templates as an in-class exercise.

"Learn to Draw Manga - Project Book & Kit" and Staedtler Graphite 771 Automatic Pencil Review

Spotted this compact Walter Foster "Learn to Draw Manga" Drawing Kit by Jeannie Lee on the 75% off clearance rack of a local Borders.
Since I am still sporting my braces, I realized the audio on the video review might be hard to make out. Thus I'll also cover the main points in this blog entry.
The 32-page instructional booklet has a nice layout and packs enough fundamentals and techniques to serve as a fair introduction to Manga for elementary students (4-6 grade) that previously have not had much exposure to anime and manga. Even some middle school students might find it as suitable reference given the pleasing art style that is clearly influenced by popular conventions of Shonen and Shojo comics.
The tools featured in the kit: a pencil, an eraser, and 4 felt-tip colored markers are fairly disappointing and barely adequate for elementary students to get started. The lead core in the pencil was off-centered, so it would be impossible to sharpen it evenly. The eraser works, but not as cleanly as a foam eraser or the reliable Staedtler Mars Plastic eraser. The limited markers' palette of black and 3 primary colors allow only for some crude coloring. Students would probably had been better served with a range of gray markers and a skin colored marker. Thus unless you can find this compact Manga kit on clearance, I would not recommend it and would direct you instead to the full version kit if you like the drawing style of this author. The larger kit packs a few more tips and techniques and seems to have a wider marker selection. For middle school students it would be better to bundle the instructional book with a more substantial manga drawing kit like the Sakura Pigma Sensei kit or a set of Prismacolor Illustration markers.
For children that tend to break the leads on 0.5 mm and 0.7 mm mechanical pencils too often, it might be worth switching to the larger 1.3 mm lead used in the Staedtler Graphite 771 Automatic Pencil. For more photos and another review of this mechanical pencil you might want to visit Dave's Mechanical Pencils.
While I regard the erasers in most mechanical pencils just as simple plugs meant to keep the leads inside the barrels, the Graphite 771 twist-up 1.5" eraser is actually quite functional and efficient in removing pencil marks cleanly without damaging the paper surface just like the classic Staedtler Mars Plastic eraser.
The thick 1.3 mm graphite lead resists breakage better than thinner leads, and it can still be used without sharpening to produce a range of line widths by simply rotating the pencil. Yet if a finer point were desired, the lead can still be easily sharpened with a 2 mm lead pointer as shown above.
Some test sketches inspired by the Manga project book.
The Staedtler Graphite 771 Automatic Pencil is a fun comfortable 1.3 mm mechanical pencil that would serve children well for writing and drawing applications with its well-designed ergonomic triangular grip, break-resistant lead, and substantial and efficient 1.5" twist-up eraser. Its lanyard hole (at the base of the pocket clip) might be useful to prevent accidental loss by securing it to a larger sketching kit or backpack especially for kids prone to losing their smaller school supplies. Adults that prefer pencils with wider bodies are also likely to enjoy this value-priced Japanese pencil bonus pack with 2 spare erasers and tube with 6 spare HB graphite leads.

Prismacolor Premier Double-Ended Art Markers mini review

Finally got around using my Michael's gift card (Thanks Toni & Tori!) remaining from my X-mas loot.
Latest additions to my sketching tools collection. I can never have enough Sakura Pigma Sensei sets, for I can use up my favorite 0.6 mm pen within 4 hours of continuous use when speed sketching at public events.
Also picked up several lighter hues of Prismacolor Premier Double-Ended Art Markers to complement my travel sets of gray markers. My original Prismacolor marker set was rather heavy on darker hues and lacking light base colors. Lately I have been relying more on my Copic Sketch markers, but given their higher retail value I prefer to limit their use to controlled environments like a studio. The recent release of the Prismacolor Manga set of 12 double ended marker caught my attention, so I selected several of the colors included in this set from the open stock rack to use in my regular field sketching kit.This shot shows the differences between the new markers and my older markers. The barrel graphics have been updated, so it is a bit easier to tell the nibs apart at a single glance (the broad base of the black triangular Prismacolor logo corresponds to the broad nib size, and the opposite vertex clearly points towards the fine nib). The current fine nib itself has been redesigned to be wider and without the metal sleeve of of the previous marker version. The latter had an annoying tendency to dry out in no time, so I hope the new fine nibs will have a longer useful life.
Using both nibs to draw a reference color chart for the new markers and the set of French Greys.
Coloring test doodle.
The Prismacolor double ended markers are fun sketching and coloring tools. They lay down color smoothly and can cover broad areas quickly with their versatile broad nibs that can readily produce 3 different line thicknesses by simply turning the marker. While their color coding and barrel markings might not be as permanent and durable as the ones on the Copic Sketch markers, they are still fairly functional for their expected useful life. Ultimately they are fairly nice disposable markers since they can not be refilled, and their nibs are not replaceable.