The *one* tool I’m just obsessed with right now?
Markers!
Yep, that’s right. Good old-fashioned markers. The kind you played with as a child. Maybe there’s just something nostalgic about coloring with markers, but I am currently in major l-o-v-e with them!
Now, I say the kind you played with as a child, but what I really mean are markers like the ones from Posca and Molotow. These markers are opaque and can be layered up to create lighter strokes on top of darker backgrounds. Think paint! They are basically bottled-up paint in a marker and they work wonderfully on all thicknesses of paper.
I fell in love with paint markers a few months ago when I bought a handful to take on my Danube river cruise (you can read more about that trip here!). I didn’t want to load my suitcase down with paints (plus, not sure TSA would let me get through security without confiscating my hard-earned stash). Granted, I buy cheap acrylic paints, but still…
So, paint markers became my next-best-thing. And boy, did they ever! Let’s just say, I am completely smitten with this new medium! Now I know paint markers aren’t nothin’ new, but for me they are. And that’s all that matters.
Of course, I don’t get to work with markers all the time because different clients have me working on different projects and in different mediums. But that’s OK. The markers sit on my desk in pretty containers (by Modernly Planted). And the whole aesthetic of these colorful gems just makes me happy.
Now I realize that might seem odd — I like the markers for “how they look” on my desk. But yes, when I walk into my studio and see these “easy-to-use” markers displayed in the cool concrete containers, I just breathe a sense of ahhhh…
But moving beyond the zen vibes I get from the “look” of the markers, I’m seriously obsessed with these tools. They are the perfect art medium to use when you don’t want to think too hard about how you’re going to draw.
Or maybe my paint markers are my favorite tool because I know they will be my go-to medium for when I travel. So I’m not sure if it’s the travel, the vibe they give to my room, or their ease of use that makes me love these colorful tools!