Help sketching with markers

Hey guys, I’ve just started working on my portfolio for college admissions and plan on applying in the winter. I’ve gotten decent at sketching with pens lately (taking in consideration that I have no experience in concept art). Now the challenge is using Prismacolor markers… how would I approach perfecting the skill? I know practice makes perfect, but where should I start off?
Is it best to use markers in the final rendering?

I attached my first trials with markers. For the iPhone case, the bottom one was a mix of marker and pencil shading.

also any critiquing on my sketches are welcome and appreciated

Any help would be great!


Scott Robertson is a great start if you don’t really know where to begin. Especially the “Basic perspective form drawing” and all of the “rendering matte surfaces” give you a great theoretical foundation you can build upon.

And don’t worry too much about the marker shading. I think it comes to you automatically while understanding perspective (not just “knowing” it, but rather “understanding” it, if you know what I mean). So focus on your drawings first because it is way harder to ruin a good sketch with bad marker work than ruining a so-so sketch :wink:
Try to really nail the basics first, the rest will come to you almost naturally. Starting with complex, curved surfaces first is just frustrating if you are not entirely sure how shading actually works.
Keep it up!

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Thanks KenoLeon! I just purchased sketching (12th printing) because I remembered that the advisors at ACCD recommended the book

For making or drawing border then marker make your statement clear headlines in any creating article or design main feature to draw up bold watching very clear point but in which main demerit are curving tinny point not to draw them.

The best way I’ve seen people introduce markers into their skill set is to use them extremely sparingly at first and then start incorporating more color coverage as their comfort level increases. So in the beginning, your arsenal could be just a cool gray and a light blue and yellow, and just barely add subtle touches of shading and/or accents.

Really in 2013 I don’t much see the point in incorporating fully finished marker renderings into one’s pipeline, unless it’s as a hobby or if it’s a major stylistic priority. However, throwing little dashes of color into your sketches adds hardly any time to the process, and can add a wow factor.

+1

You might also want to try Chartpak / AD markers at the beginning. They are very flowing and if you just scribble inside of a shape, the ink will blend after a minute and you won’t be able to see the strokes … great watercolor-esque effect. That being said, it’s good to learn how to work with strokes too. In either case, these kind of sketches often have more life if you don’t worry about coloring perfectly inside the lines … think “loose.”

It can help to mimic an existing style before you get your own. With the image below by Syd Mead, it’s pretty simple actually – just blocks of shading. IMO certain forms like this might lend themselves better to marker sketching rather than something like a pebble.