DICK BLICK FEATURES THE AUTUMN SOCIETY

Dick Blick  (Philadelphia) is currently featuring artwork from local Autumn Society members. A big shout-out & thank-you to Ian Paterson for making this happen. Check it out for yourself if you're in Philly:

1330 Chestnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19107

There is possible talks for an Autumn Society mural in the store...more soon!

Markers?

One medium I have always loved is simple ink. I love using ink, the pens the quills, but most of all, MARKERS. Since using the old multi-colored, thinned-out crayola markers as a kid, I have been hooked. Around the age of eleven, I received my first set of real art markers. It was a 50 or so piece set of Design-2 markers, and to this day they probably remain my favorites. The ink came out smooth out of the dual nib sizes. The action was controllable and they never ran. As time went on, like many things, the markers didnt last, but were nowhere to be found in stores. I couldnt even find single markers to replace them. Because of this I chose to move to the product in its place, the prismacolor marker.

Right off the bat, I couldnt stand this thing. It spit out the ink like it was whiskey vomit and soaked every page I worked on. After not too long, the ink wells within the shoddy plastic jackets would burst and leak all over my fingers. This was no apt replacement for the refinement and ease of my old Design-2's. This was bullshit.

However, time went on and after winding the isles through my local Blickarts store, I found the TOMBO. I had never heard of this marker and was immediately interested in its brush end (in addition to its opposing-end pen nib). I had, for the past few years, used a simple black pen with a brush nib that an ex had brought me back from london, and to see a slender series of color markers with a similar construction was exciting. Needless to say, I wanted them, but at about $3.00 per marker, it just wasnt to be. I bought just a black to try out, and was convinced I needed more. So now, over a year later, I wrangled a full set of 96 for a little under $200, and am pleased to say, these are some of the BEST MARKERS I EVER USED. Not hearing about these before makes me think they arent widely known about, or maybe they are. Either way, I pass on this to anyone interested. Check these out if you need a good marker.