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.

Canson Fanboy Comic & Manga Trading Cards Review

As I continue to try the pre-made Artist Trading Cards (ATC) blank packs available commercially, I picked up a couple of Canson Fanboy Comic & Manga Trading Cards boxes on my last visit to the Jerry's Artarama store in Miami. Each box contains 20 cards (2.5" x 3.5" 150 lb/250 gsm acid free paper) with their protective sleeves.
A two-sided instructional sheet is included in each box. One side is printed in French and the other in English. It is more of a quick primer and a bit of inspiration to get a budding manga artist started.
The front and back of each card is printed with non-repro blue grids for framing miniature art and recording the name of the artist and contact info.
Used the Prismacolor Archival Illustration Markers with a chisel, 03, and 005 nibs to ink a ninja character on the blank Canson Fanboy manga card. For a tighter cleaner image, it would be better to draw the coloring outline first with pencil, ink it, and then erase any remaining pencil marks that are still visible.
The Prismacolor 005 pen nib is quite delicate and bends rather easily under my normal drawing pressure. Thus, I had to periodically rotate the pen to bend it back to its original shape. I should probably stick to the 03 nib as my smallest regular pen nib, but all of them feature a steady ink flow and smooth performance on all the ATC stock tested. Even the bent nib retained its functionality throughout the test, but I would not expect the 005 nib pen to last as long as the larger nibs in the long run. Already decided not to get the 005 eight color set because of this experience.
Couple of finished cards drawn on Canson Fanboy manga paper. Once in its protective plastic sleeve, the card is a tad more difficult to photograph.
Not really happy with how this mermaid card turn out on the Blue Line stock. Yellow was not a particular good choice for rendering shadow areas of skin tones. Faber Castell Pitt Artist pens can be difficult to blend and apply evenly. I actually prefer the uncolored stage of this particular example.Selecting the colors more carefully and working from light to dark hues resulted in the cleaner image of this dragon sketch card drawn on smooth Strathmore 300 Bristol board.
The small size of the ATC format allows for their design and completion in a short time with very few tools almost anywhere. Managed to do a few of these sample cards while waiting at the hospital and auto shop.
Using the thickest pen nib, 08, to outline the figure and separate it from the background more clearly.
Sketching with the Prismacolor Archival Illustration Markers to create waterproof coloring outlines and coloring them with the water-based Faber Castell Pitt Artist pens is a pretty effective combination of art materials.
Finished custom manga set of ATC in their protective sleeves.
The Canson paper readily accepted H and & 7B graphite marks and erased fairly easily without damage to its surface .
A pack of Canson Fanboy Comic & Manga Trading Cards is quite a suitable addition for a field sketching kit. Its compact size and performance works well while on-the-go with a variety of drawing and coloring tools. The box of 20 cards with their sleeves is often priced quite competitively for 2-4 bucks, so it can be a pretty efficient option for when you lack the time to cut your own ATC cards.

A few Sample Warm-up Worksheets for upcoming After-school Manga Cartooning class

Ok guys if you dropped by to get a head start on the material for the After-school Manga Cartooning class, you could try using the following worksheets as a reference for your daily practice doodles which I trust you have been doing all summer. By now, I expect most of you should have used up at least half of the pages from your sketchbooks.Sample doodle sheet drawn with a graphite pencil.
Worksheet with a large selection of facial traits and head shapes that could be used to draw many distinct faces for a basic cast of characters. Let your imagination fly and create a few characters for your next manga project or short story. These last 3 pages were drawn with a 08 Prismacolor Archival marker.
Constructing assorted faces by starting with different types of head shapes. Round faces with thin necks would be suitable for younger characters while square faces with broad necks would better fit older characters with greater physical strength.
Step-by-step head construction sequence with a bit of age progression in the final step. When sketching in a typical manga cartoon style, just a few wrinkle and expression lines can add several years to the character. Youthful characters tend to sport slender necks and pointy chins. To age them to adulthood: try broadening the chin, thinning the hairline, and widening the base of the nose.

Sketching in color with Faber Castell Pitt Big Brush Artist pens

Just having a spot of fun sketching a manga version of Peter Parker unmasked with Faber Castell Pitt Big Brush Artist pens on regular printer paper. The outline was drawn first with the black brush pen, and it dried pretty quickly since it did not smear at all when coloring in the flesh tones with the lighter Pitt pens. In general, I find these Pitt Artist Pens (both the regular and Big Brush formats) to be efficient tools for sketching and coloring manga subjects.This manga Batman was actually drawn with a Prismacolor Archival Illustration brush marker which does smear a bit when colored over with the Pitt Artist brush pens. This second sketch was drawn on white card stock.Kaiju (Japanese Giant Monster) that combines traits from Wolf & Tiger (a bit inspired by some samurai manga and Naruto) drawn with Copic and Prismacolor markers and colored with the Pitt Big Brush Artist pens.

Suggested year-long project for improving your drawing skills

Borrowing the idea from German graphic designer Manuela Hoffmann, I have been using my Moleskine weekly planner as a sketchbook and doing some test doodles with my Pentel Color Brush pens and Prismacolor Premier Archival Markers. The former were hard to control as their dye inks bled through the thin planner paper, but the latter worked just fine with their pigmented inks barely showing through the back of the page.
While thin planner paper might not seem like an ideal choice for a sketchbook, it can handle pigment liner pens and most dry media like color pencils and wax crayons quite well. Now with New Year day long past on the year of the Ox, most retailers are significantly marking down calendar planners and many journals. Found a couple of nice choices at Borders this afternoon, a 3.5" x 5.5" Moleskine Daily Planner 2009 and a A5 size Paperchase multicolor journal. Either one would make a suitable replacement for my current Kolo journal which I use as my main travel sketchbook.
These small formats allow for the completion of small doodles and sketches on a regular basis anywhere: daily or weekly. So here is the mission boys and girls if you choose to accept it: pick your planner in a size small enough you can carry around comfortably and commit to doodling or sketching a page-a-day (or a page-a-week as your schedule allows). The prize: by the time you complete your sketchbook journal you are bound to have improved your drawing skills and at the very least sharpened your dexterity. The proof will be conveniently documented chronologically in your planner turned sketchbook. I would recommend picking subjects you enjoy to keep you focused (pets, fairies, mermaids, ponies, robots, dinosaurs, cars, rockets, etc), with some challenges mixed in to work on areas you might find somewhat difficult to draw (like "hands seen from different angles" and/or anything you know you want to draw better). By the end of the year, you are sure to end up with your own menagerie of fantastic sketches and greater confidence in your drawing skills.