Clement Gets Abstract, ink on paper, 2008 by Sarah Atlee. Some rights reserved.
In which I discover that cheap markers are just as useful as the expensive ones.
A poor carpenter blames his tools, right? I often draw with Prismacolor markers, known for their vast chromatic range and luscious blendability. And I've been known to paint with a W&N Series 7. But I also love tools and supplies I find for cheap or free. It's all in how you use them.
In 2008, on a whim, I picked up a 36-pack of thin markers from the kids' aisle at Hobby Lobby. They turned out to be some of the best pens I've ever used. These off-brand beauties had soft tips, a variety of colors (that tended toward the magenta end of the spectrum), and showed surprising versatility. Not long after I began using them, they dried out and began acting more like colored pencils. Suddenly I could layer, layer, layer. Just like using washes of acrylic paint.
Alas, Hobby Lobby changed their off-brand-brand of cheap markers (the newer ones have chiseled tips that don't play well) and I haven't found another set of these since then.
Clement Gets Abstract was created in July 2008 as part of a community journal project about Flat Stanley.