I sketched my own house for this exercise. Using markers I first sketched a value study. Then I did a full color version with markers.
In each version I first did a quick pencil layout and then worked with markers - light grey, middle grey, dark grey, and black for the value sketch and lightest colors to darkest colors in the color sketch.
I'm starting to feel more confident that I can get the colors and values I want using markers. They are very different from watercolor.
Materials: Canson Mix Media 7x10 inch paper, pencil, Faber-Castell PITT Artist brush pens, Micron Pigma 02 pen.
Before doing these I did a series of marker value tests in order to find out the values of the color markers.
I used an image editor to drop out the color. There aren't a lot of dark values right out of the pen.
So, in this next test I did grouped the markers by color and experimented with getting the dark values by mixing colors.
I experimented with ways to get additional colors and values by mixing colored markers. On the left I tried getting shades of colors by mixing color with greys. I discovered that if you lay down two layers of the same color, it is darker than just one layer. On the right I made additional values by double layering colors. At the top I mixed compliments - yellow and violet, orange and blue, red and green. At the bottom are experiments with blending two or three colors one on top of the other. On the far right I tried making a wash of color (light blue) without streaks. It's possible, but you have to work fast, scribbling back and forth wet into wet. I tried a single layer, two layers in different directions, and three layers in three directions.
Later I learned how to thin and blend markers. The trick is to gesso the paper first. The ink stays wet on the surface of the gesso so you can push it around, blend it, and even lift it off until it dries (several minutes or until you blow dry it which is what I did). This allows you to build up the color gradually and achieve subtle effects. You can also use a plastic palette, blend two colors on the palette, and then use a blending brush pen or waterbrush to transfer the color to the paper. The other trick I used was to use a white wax pencil as a resist. I drew in the areas I wanted to remain white. PITT pen ink beads up over the wax and even after it dries you can wipe it clean, back to white, with a tissue.
I did a sunset sketch to test my new knowledge of how to thin and blend colors.
Jim
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