Marker rendering on bristol board

When I first started writing books for Watson Guptill Publications the editor was intrigued with the fact that I had done a lot of marker renderings and suggested that my first book should be Landscape Painting With Markers. This is one of the step by step demos from the book. It is a marker rendering done on bristol board. Markers can be used on a variety of interesting paper surfaces, which I demonstrated in the book.


I began by doing a very tight drawing with a Pilot Fineliner pen, then the sky area was put in with a pale blue Magic Marker, using the fibrous core inside the bottle. Then I colored in the bright clothing of the people. I begin to add a yellow green color to the grass area. The sky was a flat blue, I don't know why the scan has a yellow color running through it.


I finish the grass area and add shadows of olive. Next I add a few black areas so I have some darks to work against. I add the tree and the background buildings. Then I fill in many of the smaller areas as well as define some of the details.


I continue to accent details throughout the picture with a black Markette pen. I used colored pencils to add detail on some of the clothing. This pretty much is the same technique that I employ when doing marker renderings for my advertising clients. It is a fast, clean-looking technique that is well-suited for working under the pressure of a tight deadline.