Basket Illusion Markers

[William Rogers]

I do some basket illusion. I realize Copic, Fabre Castile and Sakura micron are very good choices, but other than Copic limited colors selection. What other brands of markers are being used? Has anyone tried using acrylic paint markers. Copic is so expensive to use infrequently and have dry up.

 

[John K Jordan]

I've never tried Copic. Have you tried wrapping in plastic wrap storing them tightly plastic bags? And may put the bag in a quart jar with the air displaced with nitrogen or argon? (if you have access to that) That seems to prevent various pens from drying out.

But I don't do basket illusions so I have no other comments other than I love the Micron and Fabre Castile pens for other uses. (Keep them wrapped up.)

JKJ

 

[Tim Connell]

Which Copic pens are you using? I used Copic Classic markers for years with my coiled Basket Illusions, but stopped as they ceased production of the superfine nibs which I need to color into the valley between beads. I've not had any of the Classic markers dry up in 6 years of use. Bonus, they have replaceable nibs (if one of the larger nibs work for you) and are refillable.

I switched to Faber Castell Pitt Artist pens with a brush nib. They work well, but even with reversing the nib and trimming it as necessary, the tips wear out before the ink runs out. I think there are 60 colors available. My biggest complaint with these is they don't make replacement nibs, even though they are reversible.

 

[William Rogers]

@Tim Connell I have never bought any, Just heard those were the best brand. The Copic classes fine nib is 0,5mm and on the edge of being usable. I have used Faber Castile and they are fine, but I only see a handful of colors from them. A few more colors available from Sakura Micron, but still limited, I did just do one using the Stadtler fine (0.4mm) and brush permanent markers that are fade resistant, but not lightfast. Put 2 coats of Krylon Kamar varnish followed by 3 coats of Krylon Archival UV finish, then one coat of Krylon UV Matte to get the look I wanted. I am hoping to slow any fading, but really have no idea how effective the Krylon UV is. I wanted to to a second one using shades of blue, but the Stadtler did not work well on the cherry wood. There are so many brands I was hoping someone discovered something useable for basket illusion with a good choice of colors.

 

[Tim Connell]

@Tim Connell I have never bought any, Just heard those were the best brand. The Copic classes fine nib is 0,5mm and on the edge of being usable. I have used Faber Castile and they are fine, but I only see a handful of colors from them. A few more colors available from Sakura Micron, but still limited, I did just do one using the Stadtler fine (0.4mm) and brush permanent markers that are fade resistant, but not lightfast. Put 2 coats of Krylon Kamar varnish followed by 3 coats of Krylon Archival UV finish, then one coat of Krylon UV Matte to get the look I wanted. I am hoping to slow any fading, but really have no idea how effective the Krylon UV is. I wanted to to a second one using shades of blue, but the Stadtler did not work well on the cherry wood. There are so many brands I was hoping someone discovered something useable for basket illusion with a good choice of colors.

I think you are using the fine tip with the metal sheath?

What many use are the FC Pitt Artist Pens with a brush tip. The brush tip is flexible, but has a very fine point that will reach down between the beads. However, that tip will fray, but you can pull it out and reverse it. Many also use scissors or a scalpel to reshape the frayed brush tip. Those pens use India Ink and are "light-fast". I don't use any finish on my basket illusions as everything I've tried adds too much contrast for my taste and my goal is to mimic a real basket as much as possible. I only use a few colors with my coiled Basket Illusions, but there are 60 colors available with the brush tip.

Here is a link to the specific pens at Dick Blick. https://www.dickblick.com/products/faber-castell-pitt-artist-brush-pens/

 

[William Rogers]

@Tim Connell Are you saying you only use the FC brush tip and get down the sides of the beads?

I’ve always bought the 4 pen FC sets that had the brush, medium, fine (metal covered) and superfine (metal covered). I have 4 colors of those pens. I would think I could not do all with the brush tip only and did see those, but they don’t have a fine tip version of them. The Stadtler permanent markers I just used are dual tip and the tip held up better than the FC tips. The do make a lightfast marker in brush tip, but the ultra fine tip doesn’t come in the same colors. I’m not trying to mimic a real basket per say, just using it as enhancement. I only bead the outside so the inside can be functional as I put a food safe finish on it. More like a bowl sitting in a basket than a basket. The two bowls I just did are cherry and cherry is a pain to bead. Pear is much easier.

 

[Tim Connell]

Yeah, it takes a steady hand, but I primarily only use the brush. I do have a superfine (0.3mm) in the dark color that I do use for some fine touchup, but otherwise it's the brush. With a new brush tip, I can get further down the side of the bead and right into the valley. Can't get into the valley with the superfine like I can with a new brush tip.

When I go into Dick Blick, I buy the pens in multiples just to always have a fresh tip. But then I'm also typically only using the same two colors on most of these.

 

[Dwayne Watt]

I agree with Tim. The brush tips can reach deep and the ink comes off the side of the brush tip. The fine tips are only good for highlighting (darkening) the valleys between the beads when burning did not darken to the degree I desired. The ultra fine tip is good for signing a piece, though. Dick Blick onlline is the only place I can find for a wide variety of color but I generally use basic earth tones and black (again mostly available at DB). My local hobby store does not carry the range of Pitt pen supplies I need..

 

[Todd Carris]

Something else to consider are acrylic inks applied with a calligraphy pen (nib C4 & C5). The calligraphy pen allows you to get down in the valley of the bead but it does take some practice to apply the right amount of ink and not paint your burn lines. I find it takes at least two coats to get it right but the vivid colors you can achieve and the ability to mix colors have been worth the extra time it takes for me. It’s really not a true Native American basket illusion as they clearly didn’t have acrylics or pigments that were this vibrant but it’s another option to consider. I use Daler Rowney inks but there are lots of good choices. Overall probably slightly less expensive but more time consuming than the Faber Castell India Ink Brush markers I was using and just has a different effect.

 

[Bob Franklin]

There are a few of us in our club that have been using bottled India inks (the come in a variety of colors) I personally have been using the Bombay set of India inks as they have a dropper so you can easily count drops and mix your own shades, I then use a very fine dip pen to apply the inks. Just a note if you are using white you may need to do a few coats and some of the other brands of white are thicker. Once finished I either spray/ apply a matte fixative if I want a matte finish or spray/ apply a very thin light coat of lacquer and then build coats from there if i want a gloss finish. Either way the color really pops when you apply your finish. Below is the last one i did with this process and lacquer

 

[William Rogers]

@Bob Franklin Those pieces really stand out. I have some India ink (not Bombay) to practice with. Bombay ink seems to be the best choice for ink. I ordered an inexpensive dip pen set to practice.

Questions; do you apply any sealer before applying the ink?

Maybe not you, but sometimes I get errant marks with the markers and use a scalpel to scrape off. Would/Does this work on the ink or does the ink go too deep.