Any artist; young or old, experienced or new knows the struggle of finding a style and medium that fits you as an artist. Style is always changing as you improve and as you experiment with new things, and that’s why it’s so important to find a medium that feels good for you and suits your artistic needs! Sonic the hedgehog once said, “An adventure is no fun if it’s too easy” And that also applies to the journey us artists take in finding what suits us best. It’s always good to experiment with assorted styles and mediums, so hopefully, this article will help inform you a little more on how to find the best medium for you, or maybe on something new to try out. We’ll get into some basic mediums and their uses, handling, appearance and more. Without further ado, let’s dive into markers! 

 

Markers are a common medium used by many artists, and some even start off their art journey with markers, usually brands like Crayola. Markers are a good option if you’re looking for a medium that has a little less texture and a more vibrant colour, as well as one that doesn’t require much force to lay down fairly opaque on the canvas. There are many varieties of markers suited for many assorted styles, canvases and artists. First of all, we have tip variety. Bullet tips are your typical small tipped markers. The thickness of your lines won’t really vary if you apply pressure or hold it at an angle, they generally stay at the same line weight regardless of how you hold them. The tip is solid and shouldn’t bend or move. Then there’s chisel tip. These ones are larger than the bullet tips; with a thick, flat edge. Depending on which angle you hold them at, you can make thicker or thinner lines. When using a chisel tip marker, your line weight won’t typically change if you apply pressure. Chisel tips tend to be pretty good for filling in areas with colour because of their possibility to have more coverage based off handling. A similar tip to this is Calligraphy tip, which are made for calligraphy and have that same wide flat edge but are at less of an angle than the chisel tips. Next up is brush tip. Brush tip markers lay down exceptionally smooth lines, and the thickness and line weight vary according to pressure applied and the angle you hold them at. Brush tips have a lot more diversity in appearance than other tips do, making them very heterogenous and a useful tool for someone who can’t afford to buy a million different tip types. Lastly, we have fine tip, which is what you’ll see more in inking pens than in markers. They are, as the name suggests, very thin and small, making them excellent for rendering in minute details. These are the basic types of tips you’ll see on markers. There are more of course, but these are the ones you’ll see most commonly. 

 

There are also differences in markers depending on what their ink is made of, as well as of course the brand they’re from and price range. What you’ll see most commonly is water-based markers. Most Crayola markers are water based. This type of ink doesn’t tend to be waterproof, as it is designed to be soluble in water. It has similar properties to watercolor paint, (see below) as it can be reactivated with water after it’s dried and it’s not very opaque. It’s designed for paper and that’s pretty much it, it won’t really stick to anything else. TIP: If you mess up when using a water-based marker, you can usually just put a bit of water on it and wipe it with a paper towel to remove some of the ink! Next up is alcohol-based. These tend to be on the pricier side, but for good reason. They blend beautifully and lay over each other and the canvas smoothly. They’re designed for paper or other canvases, but they do stick to some other surfaces. TIP: Lay down a piece of scrap paper, cardboard etc. Under your paper when using these if your canvas isn’t very thick! Alcohol markers will bleed through the paper. Of course, like most other mediums you can get less expensive alcohol markers, but as previously stated they do tend to cost a bit more than your typical water-based marker would. Last up we have solvent-based, which usually come in the form of what we call paint markers. They are super opaque and designed to draw on all types of surfaces; like glass, wood, rock and of course paper. They come with all different types of tips and are perfect for anyone who does glass painting or experiments with atypical canvases. TIP: To prep paint markers you do need to press the tip down quite a few times! I know it’s super time consuming but trust me, you’re not doing anything wrong, it just takes forever.  

 

Next medium we’ll be going over is paints. Paint, unlike markers, is usually applied to the canvas with a paintbrush or another tool instead of directly from the packaging it comes in. Some people paint with a paintbrush, a palette knife, their fingers or a multitude of other tools! Paint can range from very opaque to basically transparent and handles quite loosely. Like markers, there are different types of paint. The 3 types we’ll be going over are Watercolor, Acrylic and Oil. Let’s sketch into it! 

 

The first type we’ll go over is watercolor. This type of paint has properties similar to water-based markers, but it’s much looser in handling. It can be reactivated with water once it’s dried and lays down on the canvas very transparently. It takes time to dry after it’s applied to the canvas of choice. Watercolors are intended for thick paper or canvas; they won’t stick to much else and will warp paper if it’s too thin. They are not designed to be used on standard printer paper. Watercolor paints usually come in one of two forms: In a tube or a solid disc of pigment in a pan, like eyeshadow. Watercolor out of a tube has a pudding-like texture and looks opaque but will lay down semi-transparent once water is applied. Similarly, pan watercolors won’t work unless water is applied to them, the pigment can then be lifted from the pan with a brush and applied to the canvas. A paint in the watercolor family that I personally love is Gouache paint. Gouache ranges from semi-transparent to very opaque depending on the amount of water applied to it, meaning it's great for layering. It can be reactivated with water too, which makes it easy to blend. It comes in pans and tubes like standard watercolor but tends to be a lot more vivid and pigmented.  

 

Next up is acrylic paint. This type of paint is extremely opaque and has a ton of pigment to it. It does not need to have water applied to it, you simply need to dip your brush into it and start painting! Acrylic also tends to be pretty thick and doesn’t blend very well, as well as if you paint over part of your drawing it will effectively eliminate anything you’ve painted there, since it’s nontransparent. It’s a lot less loose in its handling than watercolor and cannot be reactivated with water after it’s dried. You can get shiny or matte acrylics, it’s up to you and your preferences. Some artists use a palette knife to apply acrylics to make their piece more tactile and give it depth. 

 

The last type we’ll be going over is oil paints. Oil paints are most likely the most recognizable to you. They were used by artists like DaVinci, Van Gogh and Picasso in some of their most famous paintings. They can range from opaque to translucent and blend very well. Oil paintings are very time consuming however, as they need to ‘cure’ in lieu of drying. This process takes a minimum of 2 days and can range all the way to over a week. While other paints dry with the process of evaporation, oil paints dry through oxidization. You must wait for it to dry (2-5+ days) and then varnish it so that the paint doesn’t fade (at least not as quickly). Oil paints allow you an astonishing range of opacity and using different brush sizes will allow for a ton of detail. This type of paint is particularly good for realism and abstract realism, so if that’s your style and you have some extra time on your hands maybe try it out! 

 

That’s our section on paints done, let’s move on to Pencils. Now, there’s a lot to cover here and as Sonic once said, “I’m a hedgehog, I Thought that was obvious”. So, bear with me as I explain to you, pencils! 

 

We’ll start by explaining your basic graphite pencil. Many artists start out drawing with a pencil. It’s a basic bread and butter medium, good for sketches and rough copies, and some artists decide to stick to it and make full art pieces with just pencil. Pencils are similar to markers, in the way that you apply them directly to the canvas in lieu of using an applicator like a paintbrush. Some pencils have their tip on one side and an eraser on the other, some have no eraser. The graphite in the pencil that you use to draw with is easy to blend with your finger, a paper towel, a tissue or a designated tool for blending graphite and charcoal, appropriately named a ‘blender’. Pencil applies a bit less fluidly than paint or marker, and grips to the paper a bit as you draw. They’re designed for smooth paper but can be used on a wide variety of surfaces. They range from translucent to semi-opaque depending on how much pressure you apply and how many time you layer it. Graphite is grey and has a slight sheen to it, making it look brighter when the light hits it. 

 

The other type of pencil I’ll be talking about here are Coloured pencils, also known as pencil crayons. These handle almost identically to graphite pencils, but there are a few main differences. Number one is of course, the colour. Coloured pencils, as implied in the name come in pretty well any colour you can think of. They usually don’t come with erasers on the other end because they don’t erase as well as graphite, they also don’t have that same sheen that graphite does. Depending on which brand you buy from, they can either blend and layer really well, or terribly. I find that coloured pencils are really where you see the most variety in quality depending on price or brand. The cheaper options you’ll find are usually wax-based, which tend to have less pigment and not blend as well. Higher end brands often sell Oil-Based coloured pencils, which blend and layer really well and have a ton of pigment but are really expensive. The third variety is water-soluble. The way water-soluble coloured pencils work is that you colour in an area with coloured pencil, and then add water to that area to essentially turn it into watercolour. TIP: DO NOT ADD WATER DIRECTLY TO THE PENCIL. It causes them to fall apart. 

 

Final medium I’ll be talking about today is Digital. This one’s quite a bit more complicated than the others, but as Sonic once said “I feel like Vin Diesel”, so I’m determined to explain it the best I can. So, let’s hit that ‘Create New’ button and get started! 

 

Digital art is very different from the other mediums I’ve gone over up until this point. Basically, digital art is art that you do on a computer, phone, Ipad or other device instead of on a canvas or object. In order to do digital art you must download or find online an art program on one of your devices. This allows you to create artwork that is then stored digitally, instead of being a physical art piece. Some things that make digital art really great is that you can get LITERALLY ANY COLOUR IN THE WORLD and use it to make art. You can also use a ginormous library of brush types that other digital artists have made, which allows you to draw with pretty much any art tool. You can also ‘undo’ mistakes you’ve made, as most digital art programs have an undo button. Another advantage is layers. You can draw UNDER things you’ve already drawn, which removes to limitation in traditional art of only being able to add on top. You can also zoom in our out of the drawing, and edit the pixel size of the canvas to created pixelated art. I could talk for hours about clipping masks, selection tools, resizing and more, but I’ll give a basic summary here. Using digital you can scribble all over a page and make sure it only shows up on the layer below it with Clipping masks. (Example below) 

 

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You can also select certain parts of your drawing and move them around, resize and rotate them as much as you’d like. Personally, I think digital art gives you a ton of advantages and allows you to experiment with a ton of different mediums, but some artist prefer to have to tactile experience of using a traditional medium and that’s alright too! I would definitely recommend digital art to beginner artists, or anyone who’s looking to expand their artistic horizons. It does take a little while to get used to and to figure out the software that you’re using, but it’s really fun once you understand how to use the program! I would recommend IbisPaint X to anyone trying out digital art for the first time. It’s a bit easier to understand than some programs and it’s completely free, with a huge online community and thousands of available brushes to draw with. 

 

With these mediums, you really do get what you pay for most of the time. Higher quality tools do often come with a larger price tag, which unfortunately makes some art supplies less accessible for beginners. Luckily, I’m here to help! So here are some quick art hacks and recommendations for creativity on a budget. 

 

1: mix cheap acrylic paint with cornstarch to make it handle and look high quality! 

2:watch tutorials online on how to use mediums you’re trying out for the first time so you don’t waste your resources  

3: If you have paint left over on your palette after a painting, put the palette in a ziploc bag to preserve the paint. If it’s watercolour it can be reactivated with water later! 

4: If you’re using a kneaded eraser and it gets coated in graphite, you can wash it with soapy water 

5: Check out our sponsor SupplyFrog today for inexpensive art supplies for beginners! 

 

Thanks for reading! I hope this helped you out a bit, whoever you are and maybe you found something new to try! 

As Sonic once said, “Gotta Go Fast!” Adios!