Next stop, pen station

Expression, May-June, 2005 by Hilari Ford

Okay, so I admit it. I'm a marker hound. And even though I'm not the type of artist that can draw particularly well, I love playing with colorful markers--even if I'm just doodling. So imagine my wa-hoo when I found out I got eight (that's eight!) sets of markers to review for this issue!

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

First up is Marvy Uchida's Fabric Brush Marker. These markers are great for clothing, quilts and art dolls. If you've poopooed fabric markers in the past because you just couldn't get enough ink coverage, I highly recommend Marvy Markers. The pens are available in bold and fine point as well. The range of colors (24) is versatile and beyond the ordinary. The instructions suggest heat setting and washing/drying on delicate.

Marvy's DecoColor Glitter (Opaque Marker) pens claim to write on a variety of surfaces--leather, plastic, metal, wood, stone and paper. I decided to test them on a small scrap of black leather. These are the type of pens you have to shake to mix the ink and then press the tip several times to ink the nib. I found that if you gave the barrel a light squeeze, the ink flowed faster. On my black leather the color was opaque, bright and quick to dry. The pink ink looked better (sharper) with a second coat. The leather remained soft and pliable. Yummy.

There are two other fabric pen offerings from Marvy. First are the DecoFabric Glitter (Opaque Marker) with a 3mm nib which worked well on both light and dark fabric. The glitter is more of a pretty shimmer rather than the super glittery kind that gets all over you when you touch it.

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Second we have the DecoFabric Primary Color set of six. The ink is similar to the brush markers I talked about earlier--very opaque but easily applied. You don't have to dig at the fabric to get even coverage.

Moving on--Faber Castell makes a lovely artist pen and we're testing three of their PITT artist pen sets: Basic, Terra and Sepia. I did a little research on their Web site to find out a little of the background as there is a lot of information on each pen. First of all, PITT "derives from the English word 'pit' meaning earth colors mined from the earth. The range is used for working in contrast areas: light-dark or black-white."

Each ink is rated for lightfastness--either very good (50-100 years) or maximum (100 years). I like that the Terra set has a nice variety of browns in six pens. The color is dense and smooth. The brush retained its fine point and shape even after I deliberately pounced it a few good times. The ink dried quickly on glossy paper and didn't have a strong odor.

The Sepia set consisted of four pens in various point sizes--superfine, fine, medium and brush.

The pens are not refillable but the price point is definitely reasonable enough to replace them when needed.

The last set to try were the Copic Multiliner SP markers. Here's the perfect gift for a budding artist or a fan of Japanese Manga art. These pens are a true, dense black. They are available in a variety of sizes and are refillable. The caps close tightly with a good click so they won't dry out or get lost in your artbox.

The inks are waterproof, alcohol and pigment based. The aluminum barrel has a nice heft to it and is easy to hold and control. They work on a number of materials such as (shrink) plastic, leather and glass. They are waterproof so you can use them in conjunction with any watercolor medium.