Art Supplies: Price Does not Equal Quality

And some are priced like aspirational fashion accessories

A series of questions I answered about art supplies for the San Diego Comic Con Museum, which is sponsoring maker events and classes. My work is currently on exhibit there, and I will be a guest at Wondercon in March.

I always use Daniel Smith watercolors. They cost a little more, but worth it.

My hot tip for buying art supplies: eBay. Look for Art Supplies LOT or Daniel Smith watercolors LOT, etc. You can find some real bargains.

Many young people know nothing about color theory or mixing colors. It is a major reason why they feel they have to turn to expensive markers. If kids learn to use about a dozen watercolor colors, they can literally mix just about any color they want, and the paints will last a long time. I’ve done entire watercolor graphics novels and not gone through a single tube of paint.

Teach kids about color.

Pens for inking: I highly recommend Faber Castle Pitt  Artist Pens. The pens use real inks and not dye, and they are more lightfast than alcohol based markers. I sometimes use the Micron Pigmas as well. They are also listed as lightfast.

I know a lot of young artists rave about Copics, but they are not only NOT lightfast, they are ridiculously expensive. If you insist on using alcohol-based markers, try Ohuhu instead. They are much less expensive, have a growing line of colors, and a growing line of refills available. As far as I’m concerned, they are as good as Copics but are half the price!

I recommend Strathmore 500 Bristol for drawing. It is acid free.

The Canton Comic Art Boards are printed with blue lines so you can just get right to drawing without measuring. The lines are in US comic art proportions. I also recommend the Canson Comic Book Layout paper for doing thumbnails.

As for brushes, I recommend the Winsor Newton Sable size 7, but if you are squeamish about using sable brushes, many of the modern substitutes are pretty good. They tend to be expensive.

For corrections, Deleter White. I usually use #’s 2 or #3.

For black ink, I recommend Dr Martin’s Black Star India Ink. (I mention color problems with Dr. Martins in the article below, but I’m referring to a line of “concentrated watercolors” that the company made back in the 1970’s-1980’s. This fading issue does not apply to a current line of Dr. Martin’s watercolors, nor does it apply to this black ink.)

Here’s an article I wrote about Copics on my Patreon page:

What is your problem with Copics?

1: Copics are a design tool, not a tool for making long-lasting original art. My problem is not with Copics per se, but with alcohol based markers. Alcohol based markers are great for quick, brightly colored drawings, because the alcohol is a solvent that makes blending easy. Unfortunately, because the markers are dye based and not pigment based, the colors are impermanent. They will fade much faster than pigment based art tools because dyes are unstable and particularly susceptible to fast degradation under UV light. But they will fade even if not exposed to light.

2: Many markers like Copics are marketed as "archival". This is a meaningless term in an industry with no industry standard to define it. Generally, "archival" means "this marker will not adversely effect what it is drawn on". This is not entirely true.

Copic markers have a PH rating of from 6-8. PH determines acidity. A PH of 6 is mildly acidic. Though the markers are touted as "acid free" even mildly acidic is acidic. It's not going to eat a hole in your paper tomorrow, but it's still not acid free.

A PH rating of 7 is also not acid free, though it will do no harm to your paper. Many art tools with a PH rating of 7 are marketed as acid free, which is incorrect. 7 is actually acid neutral. 8 is a true acid free rating.

When I wrote the Copics manufacturer to ask them what was in the marker alcohol solvent (or dye) that rendered it mildly acidic, I got no answer.

3: Many art tools are marketed as "professional". This is a pretty meaningless term, too. Just because professionals use it, that doesn't mean it is the right tool for you. Many commercial illustrators over the years have approached their originals with a "whatever works" attitude, and in the fast-paced publishing world, that's more than fine. But when original art has value and that art is being sold for high prices, the archival properties of the art become an issue.

I've bought original art from major illustrators where the paint has chipped off and the colors have badly faded in less than a decade. If your only concern is getting the picture made by deadline, then archival matters are of no concern. If you truly care about what happens to the art when it leaves your hands and goes into someone's collection, then archival matters are important.

When I got started in comics, many of my original pages sold for only about $5-$25. Those same pages can sell for $2500.

I bet the person who pays $2500 for a page of original art doesn't want the paint to chip off and the black lines to turn sickly brown or green.

And while it is true that many commercial artists over the years were pretty cavalier about the longevity of their originals, just as many others have been careful to produce original art with the long game in mind. 

4: Copics don't scan true. That is, the colors often contain fluorescent dyes that the eye can see, but a computer scanner cannot. Which means a colored Copic page will look one way to your eye, but very differently when you make a copy of that page or print the art in a book.

This is a common problem with dyes, and even though Dr Martin's Concentrated Watercolors (which were not a true watercolor, either, but also a dye,) were the go-to comic book colorist's tool for years. Dr Martin's also used fluorescents that did not print true, and the results in print were usually garish and shifted towards the magenta range.

This did not stop many people from using them for painted comics, which gets back to what I was saying earlier about, "Just because professionals use it does not mean it's the right tool for you".

In order to get a true color match with art made with dye, you have to photograph it, and that's something many people are not able to do.

I always make color swatches and scan and test any new tool to have a look at how the scanner is going to read the color. Copics don't scan true, particularly within the red range.

5: And OK, in truth I do have one thing against Copics. They're freaking expensive. In fact, they are more expensive than high end archival quality, lightfast paints I use.

If you just want to make quick, inexpensive sketches and you don't need to worry about the longevity of your art, then why bother buying something marketed like an aspirational fashion accessory? 

There are a lot of decaffeinated brands on the market that are just as tasty as the real thing.

People are lured in by Youtube videos of fetishistic unpackagings, chirpy influencers touting a product they get for free for which they get a cut, and a collector mentality push designed to make you feel as if you are losing out if you don't get every freaking color in the coloring box.

When you were little and you had a big set of crayons, how often did you use every single color? 

Not so often, I bet.

Other brand markers - Ohuhu, Arteza, Spectrum Noir, Dick Blick and more - cost a fraction of what Copics cost and you can do the exact same thing with them.

Also, the whole point behind alcohol markers is that they are blendable. You know what you can do when colors are blendable? YOU CAN MIX COLORS. You do not need every nuance of every pink that Copic ever sold. SAVE YOUR MONEY.

6: But everything fades, isn't it silly to make a big deal about fading in Copic Markers?

A Pinto is just like a Porsche because they're both cars, they both get you where you want to go, and all cars run out of gas.

All art fades, therefore all art fades in exactly the same way under the same conditions over the same time period, and a piece of art you paid $20 for is the same as a piece of art you paid $25,000 for.

The Mona Lisa will fade, so this oil painting is the same as your Copic sketch.

Now see how silly "everything fades" sounds?

7: It's pretentious for nobody cartoonists to care about longevity in art, right?

Because some jackass on twitter actually posted that.

My art can sell for significant sums of money. My art is in museums and galleries.

Comic art has cultural significance. Quality and longevity is the mark of a professional craftsman.

It is true that the vast majority of people who make pictures will never see those pictures sell for significant money, and they'll never end up in a gallery or museum. If these are not your concerns, then use whatever. 

But if you're going to use whatever, then why the hell are you buying the most expensive thing to do your whatever with?

Save your money. Buy cheaper brands.

That's all.