Jethro In Colored Markers

Yahoo, I've just finished my final portrait in the "9 Lives" series of my little Jethro. Each of my nine portraits of Jethro presents a different art medium on a 3.5" x 3.5" Claybord™ Tile, created and manufactured by Ampersand Art Supply. I have exhausted my supply of various mediums among my art supply stash with the first 8 portraits, so this time I splurged on a new medium.

After researching various types of color markers I purchased a couple of sets of Tombow brand water-based pens. Each color has dual tips, one end with a nicely pointed brush and the other with a fine tip like other markers. I got a 10-set of primary colors and another set with 'tropical' colors; each set included a blending pen with the same two end tips.

It was time for a profile view of Jethro, so I selected one from my growing collection of Jethro reference photos - he loves to pose for me! I wanted to emphasize his eyes and create the image of an intense stare. I used a little sprig of blossoms from our lovely spring-flowering red bud tree as his focus, to repeat some of the colors I'd use in Jethro without stealing attention from him.

The colored markers went down like velvet on the Claybord surface, although it took me some time to adjust to their blending property. The clear tip of the blending tool picks up color as you use it, and even when the stain remains you can wipe the tip on paper towel and easily clean it off. As with my other paintings, I paid attention to the value changes, here substituting bright colors for realistic color. Like watercolors, the markers can be lifted off the surface, with the blending tool or a dampened paintbrush or a slightly wet piece of a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (the original kind, with no added cleaner). As usual, I couldn't resist finishing touches with a scratching tool, this time using a Slice-brand ceramic blade tool. The markers built up enough coating on the white clay surface that I needed a bit more pressure to scratch through the colors than I do with watercolors or ink.

I struggled with my first attempt at my colored marker portrait, as I got adjusted to the markers. I wasn't overjoyed with my initial results - which you can see in my collage below. The 3.5" square won't be wasted though... I sanded the corners to round them slightly, then glued a piece of cork, cut to size, to the back of the Claybord Tile. I sprayed the surface with Krylon UV archival gloss coating. Now I have a cute Jethro coaster! I am happier with my second attempt at a Jethro portrait with colored markers and delighted to complete my Jethro series.

NOTE: I discovered after using my markers that the Tombow company made a slight error in one of my colored Brush pen packages; my 10-set of Primary Palette colors had two 'blender' pens instead of one, and the standard Red pen was missing. I contacted the Tombow company via a form on their website and their customer service was prompt and excellent. Bottom line, they quickly responded and shipped me the missing red pen at no cost to me. This is the type of company I like to support and share.

Read about my upcoming Claybord presentation below.

Claybord Art Tiles are the same white kaolin clay-coated, ultra smooth, highly absorbent surface as original Claybord but in unique small sizes. This surface and size is amazingly versatile, for a variety of painting applications, jewelry making, collage, coasters, magnets, ornaments, scrapbooking, embellishments, and much more! I love Claybord for the unlimited techniques is allows: painting, drawing, etching, erasing, reworking, glueing, stamping, inking, transfering images, applying skins and more!