A Joy of Acrylic Markers: Mixing Things Up!

This is a three-blog-post story of my experiments with acrylic markers from Arrtx - part 3.

After some pages of marker-only sketches, things started to mix in - below you will see how my main joys of gouache and printmaking, and ink, started mixing with the markers. Pencils and crayons chimed in for additional texture, and soon I did not even know what I used where :)

A Joy of Acrylic Markers: Limited Palette Experiments.

This is a three-blog-post story of my experiments with acrylic markers from Arrtx - part 2. (part 3 is here)

After the initial joy of having all the colors in the world (and quickly beginning to list the colors that I need in addition), I decided to take a disciplined approach and picked two limited sets to work with for a period of time. It helped me to try more things with these few markers than I did with all 160 of them :) 

Here are some examples:

I found it very useful in drawing people - even though colors are wildly off, having a limited set of tools forced me to see some things differently:

But then I started mixing markers with other techniques!

A Joy of Acrylic Markers: Two DIfferent Sets of Arrtx Reviewed

I've seen many people enjoy Arrtx Markers and I wanted to try them for some time. A month ago, my wish came true, and I got a package from Arrtx with two gigantic boxes of Arrtx markers - of two different types- to compare them! 

Let me introduce you to the two different sets and the differences that I found: the top marker in my sketch below is a more well-known type of Arrtx marker (I was sent a 90A Cotton-Core Acrylic Marker Set). And the bottom marker in my sketch below is 60-Color Direct Liquid Acrylic Marker Set.

After a month of experiments, my main thought is that having this brush tip dramatically widens my relationship to acrylic markers, which were dominated by bullet nibs or chisel nibs of Posca, Molotow, and Liquitex markers before. 

Quick drying speed is a new benefit for me, and I liked it a lot. Overlapping colors, materials, and techniques have never been this fast! I can fix an edge on a sketch and immediately go back to working with wet media or overlap it with dry without contaminating layers.

Some colors are very opaque, and some have transparency in them (layered, they become opaque) - but I personally really enjoyed this option of having a range of opacities to play with. 

I now did a whole bunch of experiments with these markers, shared these with various friends to broaden my horizons for how different people use markers, and am finding more and more options as I go. Now it is time to share some of the results!

My first challenge was: how do I choose which color to use when you have so many??!!

This is a great problem to have, of course, and I enjoyed having so many colors to capture all the colors I see! The images (and read notes) below are the result of "let me try everything" drawings! You will find layering examples, smudge tests and all sorts of notes on what I am enjoying and wishing for.

I will share my limited-color experiments separately. 

This is a three-blog-post story of my experiments with acrylic markers from Arrtx - this is part 1, and here are part 2 and part 3)

On My Table: Beginning of September 2026

September found me with several sketching experiments happening at once. Some inspired by ideas for new workshops, some by the markers I recently got (thank you Arrtx for sending me two sets to play with!), and some inspired by an ongoing conversation about limiting the number of tools I carry in my backpack (it is heavy!), and some CMYK brushpens I've been playing on and off.

In addition to that, I learned that my white Uniball Signo pen can be brought to life after refusing to write (I will draw the exact process in my sketchbook today!), and my craft knife needs new blades urgently. I've been using stretchy electric tape to track which markers I use most. And I have picked 2 lovely colors from Ukrainian Watercolor manufacturer Rosa to include in my experiments this month. All that will show in blog posts very soon! 

Sketching on a Campus of San José State University

Two views from the same bench on the campus of San José State University. 

Stencils, printmaking tools, ballpoint pen and actyling markers. Click on the image to see a larger version and some finger smudges (somehow drawing with markers always ends up being a finger painting ordeal for me!).

On My Table: Beginning of August 2023.

This is a special - travel edition of "On My Table" as I was traveling at this time and this is a photo taken during one of the evening "sketch sorting" sessions at the kitchen table in one of the places where I stayed. 

I will do a more thorough post about tools that I took with me, what worked and what did not - but for now - here is a photo with some comments:

On My Table: Beginning of July 2023.

It's July. In Ukrainian the name of this month (Lypen) is tied to the name of the linden (aka Tilia - Lypa in Ukrainian). I am walking the streets of California smelling Tilia blossoms and thinking about this amazing name for the month - it means way more to me than Julius Caesar ;)

As I'm working in a large (A3) sketchbook it took me some time to come up with a way to fit it on the table with the other things that I wanted to share and still show a part of it. This sketchbook is being filled with lots of summer sketching adventures!

I got some amazing books for my birthday and am obsessed with looking at the lines and colors in the art of Joaquín Sorolla, Tove Jansson, and Beatrice Alemagna:
Book 1: Sorolla and the Paris Years
Book 2: Tove Jansson: Work and Love
Book 3: On a Magical Do-Nothing Day

This new pencil sharpener (Swordfish The Triple 3 Hole Canister Pencil Sharpener) earned a place in my plein air set (Emma Carlisle mentioned it on her Patreon - for me the winning point was that it can sharpen Woody 3 in 1 Pencils as well as normal and medium-sized pencils). 

I am mixing more colors for my acrylic markers, drawing lots of people and treasures, biking, walking, sketching and having an amazing summer! And I'm trying to pick my art supplies for an upcoming travel (hence limited palette ideas you can see on the table).