So here is my experiment to see which pens/pencils work best with the brownish paper of Daler Rowney Cachet sketchbook (mine is an A3, not that it makes any difference!)
Here is a photo of the paper, as you can see, it has a slight shine to it, and the paper itself has a lot of 'bits' in it, that look a little bit like hairs (hairs??), I'm unsure what else to call them, fibers maybe? Anyway here's the photo:
It turns out you can't actually see the gloss on the above image, but there is a very very slight sheen to the paper which you can feel also.
Those definitely look like hairs, I'm going to be calling them hairs from here on out!
Okay so, here are the contenders!
I've chosen the blues that were used in the photos to show you!
The Letraset Promarkers have a chisel tip, and a fine nib, the fine nib isn't a brush tip, it's rather rigid (think of a felt tip pen, but better), you can also purchase add-on nibs, which make the line even thinner, I think they're called super-fine nibs? I have a set so I can show you how much thinner they make the fine nib. here's a picture of each of the nibs;
Chisel nib:
Fine nib:
Super-fine nib:
The Copic Ciao markers also have a chisel nib, but what makes the copies different is the soft brush nib that they have, here are the pictures:
Chisel nib:
Brush nib:
Finally we're down to the Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils, they're extremely durable and feel really soft to use, since they're a pencil you can control the intensity of the colour unlike with makers,
so for this reason I'm going to show you both pressing hard with the pencil and pressing lightly with the pencil, here we go:
Pressing hard:
Pressing softly:
The colours above are:
Letraset Promarker - Sky Blue
Copic Ciao - Duck Blue (BG49)
Faber-Castell Polychromos - Cobalt Turquoise
Let's get into the drawings!
Drawing 1 - Letraset Promarkers (white used from Faber-Castell Polychromos for highlights)
This is my favourite out of the bunch, I'll give you all some pros and cons to show you why!
PROS:
- Very blendable, easiest to blend when the inks are still damp, but still blends nicely when dry also.
- The colour takes nicely, although it does dull slightly on brown paper, I'm happy with the effect and think it adds to the charm.
- Little bleed, there's not much bleed when colouring or drawing, and that's always a good thing! There is however a lot of saturation so the image does seep into the other side of the paper and sometimes onto the next page also, but that's to be expected when not using marker paper.
- Coliur variety, Letraset have thought of every colour under the sun, and probably invented a few new ones, and with the ability to blend there's an entire palette to choose from.
- Inexpensive, with there being many sellers on eBay and other sorts of market sites, you can pick these up new or second hand for cheaply, the retail prices aren't too shabby either.
- The extra fine nibs make it a lot easier to get into those pesky nooks and crannies.
CONS:
- The aforementioned seepage, seeping through to the other page is no fun, it can ruin work on the next page and also ruin the general aesthetic of your sketchbook.
- Alcohol markers smell so strongly, if you're using them a lot for a long period of time, it can give you a bit of a headache because the smell is really really strong
- Not as vibrant, whilst this is a pro for me, I appreciate others want vivid colours, so for that reason, the lack of vibrancy is a bad thing.
- Sometimes you have to go over the colour more than once to get an even coverage, but this happens and it's not a big deal!
- Rigid nibs, not a brush tip in sight!
Drawing 2 - Copic Ciao markers (white used from Faber-Castell Polychromos for highlights)
• I don't have as large a colour selection with Copic Ciaos as I do with Letraset or Polychromos, so this comparison is slightly unfair to the Copics.
This is my joint second favourite with the Polychromos, it was a really close choice!
PROS:
- Brush nibs, brush nibs galore! The brush nib is really soft to use, really easy to control and is clearly a good quality nib, very impressive.
- Equal coverage, you don't have to go over anything twice with these beauties, the coverage is smooth, even and bright with the first time you colour.
- Vibrancy, these pens proved to be just as vibrant on brown paper as they are on white paper, the consistency is really impressive, very well pigmented.
- Inexpensive, can be purchased individually from craft stores and also in inexpensive sets in stores and online.
CONS:
- Range of colour, the Ciaos don't have as large a range as the Letraset and the Polychromos, and this is a little disheartening.
- BLEED! These bleed on the paper a little bit more than the Letraset, but just like the Letraset they bleed through to the other side, which has to be a marked down point unfortunately.
- Blending, the blending just honestly isn't as easy or as effective as the Letraset, it feels like the colours sit on top of each other instead of blending.
I really like Copics, but as stated I don't have too many colours, definitely under 25, and I only had one blue! I think after this I'm prompted to get a few more.
Drawing 3 - Faber-Castell Polychromos Pencils
I love using these, you get such a nice glossy effect afterwards, and the colours are so beautiful, this one comes in joint second, but I've enjoyed using them throughly.
PROS:
- Pigment, these are probably the most vibrant coloured pencils I've ever used, the pigment in them is so strong!
- Durable, the leads are made to last, dropping them won't shatter them easily, and the wood is thick too.
- Not wax based, this means that the pencils can blend a lot easier, brilliant for multi-tonal pieces.
- Soft, these pencils feel really soft when using them, making them really beautiful to use.
- Quality, as soon as you pick one of these up you can tell that it's no run-of-the-mill pencil, and that's definitely a plus!
CONS:
- Price, these little pencils are expensive, costing over £2 for a single one, and the sets are very pricey also, the 120 retails at £120+, which is quite costly when you consider that the pencils aren't refillable and like a normal pencil, don't last too long when you sharpen them!
- The glossy effect, whilst also a pro, I know that some artiste would avoid making thier drawings look shiny, it's both a good and bad look.
- Pressing down, pressing down hard makes the pencil not last as long as if you were doing it lightly, but in order to get the full joy of the pigments you HAVE to press down hard, it's a catch 22!
So here you go! Just a small glance at some of the mediums available to make your mark with, bear in mind that these pens/pencils are just a fraction of what's on offer, I'm hoping to try out some Prismacolour pencils, as some people prefer these over Polychromos pencils, so I'd love to give them a go and see for myself.
In my heart I think I'm more of a marker artist, but the Polychromos are definitely a must for my collection, and they've served me well, I'm going to continue using a bit of all three!
~ The reason I drew the same image for all of the tests is because it was the only way to get a fair comparison of the pens/pencils, each image differs slightly but has the same main elements ~
