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  Art store rampage -> Copic MultilinersFeb 21, 2012 3:18 AM PST | url
 
Added 1 new A* page:^ That by the way is the end of episode 15! Episode 16 starts tomorrow, whee!
 
So I did bombard the local art supply superstore with my pen-testing presence over the weekend, and man there was this dude there just like on a regular patrol route through the marker section, and EVERY TIME he came through he asked me if I was finding everything okay. Yes. YES STOP BOTHERING ME I'm trying to spit-test your markers, okay? :PP Finally on his last pass (his fourth or fifth) I said "yes, almost done" and he gave me kind of a funny look while not stopping on his ceaseless patrol.
 
I hadn't thought they had Copic Multiliners, which I'd read good things about, because they don't have them on their web site, but they do in fact sell a set of them. So I tested those alongside Faber Castell "Pitt" markers, a four-piece Staedtler marker set (German company; the lead holder, leads and eraser I use are made by them), and a bunch of Sakura Pigma Microns; basically I took a couple comparable sizes of each, drew short and long lines on what I guess were price tags but were also handy paper surfaces, and wet my finger and smudged them to see how waterproof they actually were.
 
And guess what, they all did about the same! At least in terms of line quality, ink flow, and water resistance. But the winning set had two important differences: the smallest marker size, and a slightly darker ink. And the winner was...
 
Copic Multiliners! Here's the set I got--these are the disposable ones, not the more expensive "SP" aluminum ones with replaceable nibs and ink:
 
Image
 
(Eraser not included--that's just there to show scale. :P)
 
The set includes nine markers: 0.03, 0.05, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, 0.8, and 1.0 mm markers, plus small and medium "brush" tips; here's a close-up of the tips, alongside the 0.25 mm Rotring Rapidograph on the right, above a regular ball point pen:
 
Image
 
From that, the "0.03 mm" size claim seems a little suspicious, hm? Well, it does make quite a thin line, and the 0.03, 0.05, and 0.1 are all thinner than the Rapidograph, so I guess it's at least accurate in that respect! The Pitts and maybe the Staedtlers "only" went down to I think a 0.1 mm size, and the Microns maybe 0.05, I don't remember exactly--definitely not 0.03 though.
 
I also did a bunch of doodling with them on the weekend, but it's already later than I wanted it to be, so I'll just have to get those scanned and uploaded eh well hopefully tomorrow but tomorrow is the kick-off of a new episode which is always a bit of extra work so we'll see!
 
At any rate, I'd for some reason been a bit shy of using "markers," maybe because I hadn't been too thrilled with the Pitt "brush" markers I got a while back; and they do have a bit of that sort of stodgy felt resistance moving over paper, but not much since their tips are super dense; and they can make quite solid black lines if you're holding them right and exerting the correct pressure, so in fact I'm having quite a bit of fun with them; they finally let me do hard lines to complement the brushy lines of the brush, and they also let me kind of do sketchy work too, which is nice. And loads of cross-hatching potential, woo! And I think all of that is going to let me get back to a bit more of a hard black and white style; the brush-only ink wash was getting a bit gray and washy, really. I suppose it will take me a while to figure out exactly how I want to use them, but hopefully today's page is a positive step. :D
 
 
 
 
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