After a 10-year break, I finally started painting again. I just finished a few new pieces. I took a break because I went all-in on digital art, but it feels great to be painting again. I'm really happy with how this one turned out.
I hope it makes you smile. :)
Acrylic markers on canvas (24 × 30 cm).
Just finished this one and varnished it. It is my second painting after 10 years of doing digital art only (before that I did a few paintings but mainly pencil art).
Made with acrylic markers.
(available)
Title but before I elaborate I want to state the "why" incase something else suits it perfectly I am unaware of. I work in a drawn fashion typically sketching with a mechanical pencil before wanting to color it. I also want some good lightfastness to what I color with so it last well enough. I do stuff that asks for detail and don't work on a really large canvas (its 9 by 12in or smaller) so oil pastels don't quite work for me. For the aforementioned lightfastness reason, I don't want to stick with my current goto colored pencils. Furtheremore I am not gonna be able to use a sealant after erasing my undersketch some to prevent the poor muddying of tones that occurs normally, which effectively keeps them from being in my future even if a super lightfast line came about. I have 1 acrylic paint marker (a walmart "painters" fine tip) used for a different task in the past and tested it and it seems to work just fine (in terms of how it goes on my paper and such. Not feeling it for illustration) and covers the graphite well. So I decided this ought to be what need.
Now on to what I am looking for: I in learning with it will likely get a 24 set, as that is what I am used to, and I will be blending the colors from the sets to make the rest of the colors i'd need. (I also am not organized enough while coloring to manage larger sets and all the colors they offer.) So I would like to find a brand with good color mixing properties as well as blending so I can do that and keep gradients relatively smooth. It should be good for character style illustration (if you can do portraiture well and blend out edges if needed and mix skin tones that is on the money.) Really just want an upgrade to my cheaper colored pencils that will cover better and mix as well if not better.
I have been trying to find good reviews on brands but really just find the usual surgical test blending lines which is okay but I have gotten good blending lines for tools I have that really haven't worked well for me in practice. And those doing full pieces tend to be more on the lines of adult coloring which doesn't demonstrate what I need. I have found one so far demonstrating. Mixing colors so far and those were with Ohuhus so those already are on my radar. I also wouldn't mind if I need a few layers as it would make mixing a bit easier.
I am currently thinking about Ohuhus and Winsons. Winsons I hear maybe lacking a tad in saturation but are comparable to Ohuhus. I hear a lot of Arrtx but I have also heard they may lack in terms of paint in them. This would be an issue since I would be just using them to fully color what I am drawing so capacity is a concern. Jusart is another one that seems to be pretty cheap but not cheaply made from what I have seen. It appears to be not as wet so it might not mix colors or blend as well; (Can't find a good review testing it) so I need more info on them. Grabie I am also not so sure on and I really only find general sets for their dual tip, which I presume will have very little ink due to it being basically half of a marker. Price is a concern cause beyond that I rather not buy a set I end up not using due to something I can't forsee making me turn from acrylic markers or me needing different tips than I thought. (Although I will still find a future use for them in the same vein as the 1 marker I do have I likely won't run them dry that way)
Thanks for reading and for any suggestions in advance.