Marker paper has a smooth tight surface that makes colors brighter and uses less ink. A rough paper absorbs too much ink, bleeds along the edges and often puts extra wear and tear on your marker tips. Marker paper has two distinct sides. The finished side provides crisp, clean lines and intense color. The reverse side works well for soft tint effects, backgrounds and blending.

Marker paper's translucence gives you the convenience and ease of tracing paper, but is much stronger and holds up to multiple layers of ink. Thanks to these qualities marker paper has long been the choice of illustrators and comic artists. You can shop Utrecht's selection of marker paper, vellum, tracing paper and bond here.

Testing Tombow Brush Tip Markers on the two sides of marker paper.  

Huzzah! Artist and illustrator Andy Suriano took some time out from his VERY busy schedule to talk to us about the process he uses when markering his comic book pages and illustrations! We're very lucky to have an award winning character designer who's worked for such shows as Samurai Jack, Star Wars: Clone Wars, Fairly Oddparents, Duck Dodgers, Fosters Home for Imaginary Friends, Powerpuff Girls and countless others. He’s also developed and produced his own pilots and helped along several other projects for Warner Bros. Animation, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon and Disney. Andy is the artist and co-creator of the Image Comics publication Charlatan Ball and designs for the Cartoon Network Show Batman: Brave and The Bold, as well as the Brave and the Bold comic book.

Andy's work was featured in the 2009 Utrecht Resource Guide, you can see a short bio here, as well as a marker comp from Charlatan Ball. Let's get to our interview with Andy...

Learning Center: What do you like to work with for your marker comps?
Andy Suriano: My recent favorites: Copics! I love the Copic "sketch" w/the brush nib. Because they're alcohol based, they blend really, really well together. I also use the Copic refill inks  to lay down tones (more on that below). Also the Copic wide. That being said, I couldn't work without my Prismacolor markers. As for paper, almost always Bienfang Graphics 360, 100% rag, translucent marker paper. The black pens I like to ink with are Tombows, if possible, I'll ink on a separate paper stock (usually a toothier animation paper), then use a copy machine to run that image through onto the marker paper. Although, more times than not, I just continue to marker directly on top of my original inks, which sometimes feels like a fresco painting.

LC: Can you walk us through your comp/illustration process?
AS: Well, I do 2 types of marker comps: 1) the kind I use for my comic books and 2) the kind for illustration and animation development.
For the comic book page comps: After inking the original page in blacks with usually a Tombow or whatever other manner of black pen, brush or more likely brush pen I can get a hold of, I load some (Bienfang Graphics 360) paper into a copier, and copy the page down about 65% or so onto that paper (usually two, just to be safe). I'll then take one of my Copic refill bottles and dab onto a paper towel and work over either the entire page or individual panels with the color tone I want as my "base" (like an underpainting). Since markers are an unforgiving medium, it then becomes an "additive" process, meaning: I work from light to dark. All the while trying to adhere to a light source. 
For the illustration: Underlaying my original sketch under the marker paper, I pretty much work the same way as with the comic page roughs. Once again starting off with the refill vile and using the natural textures of the paper towel, I create textures. I usually use the same piece of paper towel for different colors, accepting the happy "accidents" or bleeds from mixing or picking up the darker color on the towel. I then start the additive process, working light to dark--knowing what my highlight or lightest color will be and where. I work broad then build into details. Finally, I will polish off with some Prismacolor pencils, crayons and even white out over top of everything.

Here is a look at the process...

LC: Do you have any tips for other marker artists out there?
AS: Don't forget what SIDE of the marker paper to use! With the brand I like, it's the underside (so I have to tear and flip). TEST each side of the paper as each take the marker differently. One way is to fold a triangle, marker over both: one is waxier than the other and doesn't bleed through as nice--you want the side that bleeds all the way to the other side solidly. Mark that side and you're good to go.

Since markers are so final, leave room around your "live area" to test the colors first, also test how each blends or lay on top of each other, sometimes you want that stark contrast, but usually you need something closer in shade. 
 
Work light to dark, always "adding" another layer. You can't lay a lighter color over a dark one (although you CAN sometimes brighten one if you have a really strong yellow!)

Also, a little plug for the dying medium that is marker comps: the thing I like about illustrating with markers vs. digital computer coloring is: 1) Sometimes limiting your palette gives a better, cleaner, stronger read. 2) The tactile, organic feeling of marker on paper. Digital illustrations more times than not read "dead" to me. I'll stand behind my paper towel and ink against "manufactured texture" any day.

LC: Thanks Andy!
AS: Your welcome and thank you! It's so much fun to talk about my process.

Many thanks to Andy for that great information and behind the scenes look at his process. You can keep up with his many projects by visiting his blog Andy Updates. Be sure to check out his book, The Art of Andy, and go to your local comic shop and ask for Image Comics' Charlatan Ball...

This month in the Utrecht Learning Center we'll be working with Tombow Brush Tip Markers to do some blending and layering. Our favorite part of these sets is the Blender marker included in each. It cleans up easy (by scribbling on a scrap paper) and can give some very nice watercolor-looking effects. We put together a quick drawing sample that shows the layering process.

Starting with a pencil sketch and a quick color study that helps determine the markers that will be used in the final drawing. You can see some experimentation with the blender marker's reaction to various colors at the top of the color study.

Next we'll tape some marker paper over our color study and get the essentials down with a thin drawing pen. (Be sure to use a low tack artists' tape to avoid tearing your paper.)

Now it's time to start playing with color! Working from light to dark we add layer after layer, using the Blender marker to soften the edges and blend two (or three!) colors together. Remember that there is no "white marker" so any areas you want to remain white need to be left alone for the paper to show through.

Things are starting to come along and have a nice feel. We can now start working in some darker layers of color. (Keep an extra sheet of the paper you are using handy to test your markers and layers on. Another great thing about the Tombow Brush Tips is how nicely you can blend using a light colored marker as well as the traditional blender). We used a light yellow to blend the reds and oranges together with nice results.

The final steps of this marker comp involve adding the darkest color layers and doing a light treatment of the background. The shadow underneath our turtle is established by using the same blue from the sky and laying two different browns over the top. The fading in the sky is done by using a light blue marker to blend out a darker blue.

There is lots of room to experiment with these and different papers will give different results. Try marker paper, bristol, vellum and even right into your sketchbook. Good Luck and happy blending!