Picking Between markers part 5 - Wide

Today I want to finally finish up my sequence of posts on picking between marker types. The Copic Wide Marker is an oddity in the world of coloring, and very uniniqe.

Wide markers were introduced in about 2002. There are 36 colors and empty markers available to custom fill your own marker. What makes them so unique is that their firm chisel nib is about 3/4 of an inch wide! So what can you do with a wide marker?Remember back to this post, one of my first few showing a fun application for the wide marker. You can make a lovely plaid by touching a second color to your marker tip (or any marker tips for that matter).

See that black band near the middle of the part that holds the nib? That is a rubber seal keeping which prevents these markers from drying out just sitting there. No ink will get wasted if you don't use these for a while.

Since Wide markers are so large they suck through ink quickly. However, sets of Wide markers come with the matching various ink bottles. See that little curve in the gray part that holds the nib? That is exactly the size of the tip from our various ink bottle. Simply squeeze 3 cc's of ink onto the nib in that little notch and your marker will be nice and full again.

I would not choose a wide marker as my main marker style, simply because they are clunky for coloring details. However, what Wide markers were intended for is backgrounds. A juicy Wide marker makes perfect backgrounds. I would suggest picking up a good assortment of the lighter colors for backgrounds, and this is why the colors available in Wide are so strange. They are mostly earthy or pale colors- background colors or Architecture colors. Ground - E31/E33, Sky - BG10, Water - B32/B34/B24, Cool and Warm grays, then a few other colors that are thrown in for good measure.
Wide markers are commonly used by architects and designers who need to fill in large areas. A very effective way to make a background (which I won't show today) is if you are drawing a building for instance, mask off the main image and make large, flowing swatches for the sky or ground. The blues are perfect for simulating large bodies of water (like a lake or pond) that your structure is reflecting off.

Wide Markers will also come in handy once I get into special effects using the blender solution, but you'll have to wait a while for those posts- I have way too much to cover before I get back into blender effects. For now, here's a simple squiggle background made with 6 overlapping squggly lines from a B34 wide marker. These markers are great for making your own custom papers and simple patterns. Isn't this the perfect background for a mermaid?

In short, Wide markers become a "Must Have" accessory when using Copic markers for large areas. They are also loved by calligraphers- that wide juicy swatch has such life to it- perfect for large, illuminated lettering. Although I am weak on practicing my lettering skills, here's an example of the Wide used for calligraphy. Markers: R27 Wide, R27 Sketch, Multiliner SP Wine Brush pen.