Alcohol markers are a wonderfully-blending medium; some like Sharpies can be permanent, water-resistant, and fade-resistant, though most art markers are fugitive. The pigment in a marker is suspended in alcohol, which makes the color vibrant and smooth, it dries quickly and bleeds through many papers.
These markers now come in so many brands – as with all art supplies, know that you can use any of them (including for any class here) but the higher quality your pens, the more likely you’ll be successful!
- Tap on any CATEGORY TITLE for a list of terms and definitions.
The Markers
- Brush nib – a mostly soft nib excellent for blending. Different brands will have a harder or softer nib.
- Chisel nib – a squared-off type of nib.
- Fugitive Colors – colors that can fade entirely, change color, darken to black, or other results when exposed to light over time. Alcohol markers are, in general, fugitive, so be careful and price any art you’re selling as if it will change or even disappear in a small number of years.
- Hex Chart – a color chart showing the visual relationships between colors.
- Opaque – alcohol markers are not opaque at all.
- Pigment – any coloring agent, made from natural or synthetic substances, used with a binder in paints or drawing materials.
- Refills – some markers can be refilled with ink repeatedly.
- Staining Colors – cannot be fully removed from paper; most colors can only lighten with colorless blender, not turn completely white, so another medium should be used on top for lightening.
- Vehicle – the carrier that makes a medium flow; for alcohol markers, it’s alcohol.
The papers
- Acid Free or Archival – good papers that are archival can help preserve art a little longer.
- Cardstock – 80-100lb paper appropriate for alcohol markers
- Marker paper/sketchbooks – formulated specifically for alcohol and other types of markers.
- Paper weight – alcohol marker ink blends within the fibers of the paper, so an 80-90lb works best; however some artists don’t like anything that bleeds through so will use a heavy paper. This can lead to puddling of alcohol ink so beware.
- Smooth paper – a paper with little tooth, works best for alcohol markers.
- Textured drawing paper – allows for a rough textured look with colored pencil by leaving the white paper showing evenly beneath color.
- Tooth – the surface texture of paper.
Color Theory
- Adjacent hue – next to another hue on a color wheel. Also known as analogous.
- Analogous colors – colors next to each other on the color wheel; easiest to blend.
- Chroma – The purity or degree of saturation of a color; relative absence of white or gray in a color.
- Color Wheel – a circular diagram that shows colors and their relationships to one another.
- Complementary hue – opposites on the color wheel; complements create neutral colors when combined.
- Desaturation – dull colors, more neutral.
- Hue – another name for color
- Intensity – a color’s saturation, brightness or strength; saturation.
- Muted – suppressing the full color value of a particular color.
- Primary colors – three colors (red, yellow, and blue) that are the basis for all other color combinations.
- Saturation – a color’s strength or brightness. Also known as intensity.
- Secondary colors – colors created by mixing equal parts of two primary colors (red, blue, and yellow); the secondary colors are violet, orange, and green.
- Temperature – the visual warmth or coolness of a color.
- Tertiary colors – created from adjacent secondaries and primaries.
- Tint – created by adding water or white to the original color; the more water added, the weaker the intensity
- Tone – a hue with gray added.
- Value – the shade (darkness) or tint (lightness) of a color.
Art Terms
- Background – 1) the area within a composition that appears further away from the viewer – smaller and with less detail; or 2) a flat color filling in between objects
- Cast Shadow – The dark area that results when the source of light has been intercepted by an object.
- Form Shadow – The shadow created due to the rounded shape of an object as it moves further from the light source.
- Highlight – the side of an object that is closer to the light.
- Landscape – 1) subject matter is natural scenery. 2) orientation of a rectangle, wider than it is tall.
- Linear – a composition in which line is the dominant element in defining form as opposed to mass; the opposite of painterly. This would describe most rubber-stamped cards.
- Motif – A term meaning “subject.” Flowers or roses can be a motif.
- Negative space – 1) the area around an object or 2) the areas of an artwork that are NOT the primary subject or object.
- Nonrepresentational – abstract
- Painterly – a loose, fluid or textured style
- Portrait – subject matter is human; also, orientation of a rectangle, taller than it is wide.
- Realism, Representational – The depiction of figures, objects, or scenes with minimal distortion or stylization.
- Shading – the side of an object that is on the opposite side from the light source.
Other supplies
- Alcohol-marker safe stamping inks – these won’t bleed when stamped images are colored over with alcohol marker.
- Colored pencils – can be used to add detail on top of alcohol marker art.
- Isopropyl Alcohol – used for cleaning/maintenance only (don’t put it IN a pen) and for certain techniques
- Multiliner – any of a number of brands of alcohol-marker-safe pens. Any kind of black pen can be used on TOP of a marker drawing.
- White gel pens – can be used to add white highlights, but often reds will bleed through. A Presto Jumbo can cover red, or certain bleed proof white materials.
Technique Terminology
- Blending – joining two or more colors to create soft transitions..
- Charging – forcing a light color into a dark to create blooms
- Layering – adding one color on top of another to create a third, usually lighter over darker.
- Lifting – removing pigment from a drawing with colorless blender.
- Monochromatic – drawing with a single color (hue) and its tints and shades.
- Strokes – the marks with which color pencil is applied.
- Texture – the actual or drawn physical surface appearance.
Troubleshooting Terms
- Bag Trick – rejuvenate a brush nib by putting 6-8 drops of colorless blender in the corner of a sandwich baggie, and stick the brush end of the marker in it. Massage until the crust is gone. This can help some nibs, try it before replacing them.
- Bleeding – alcohol marker color that so saturates the paper that it feathers at edges. Reds are particular culprits! Stop before the edge of a shape to avoid bleeds. Also put an absorbent piece of paper beeath any artwork so ink doesn’t puddle on a wood or plastic table and soak back upward into your art.
- Cracks – some markers dry out quickly due to air sneaking inside the caps, sometimes due to hairline cracks in the cap manufacturing.
- White crusty nibs – alcohol markers can develop crystalline formations; use the ‘bag trick’ to repair.
Add to (or clarify!) our list of terms.
If something seems incomplete or missing, let us know.