A few months ago, I went out and bought a really nice 24-piece set of Berol Prismacolor Premier Markers. After staring at/admiring their sheer coolness for twenty minutes, I decided to take them for a test-drive, by creating a mega-doodle.

After a few days work, this is what I came up with…

Ouch, My Hand Hurts!

The markers flow evenly and smoothly, especially on the very smooth Bristol 14″ x 17″ 2-ply vellum that I was using.

Nevertheless, today’s computer-centric lifestyle really kills one’s ability to hold a pen for more than ten minutes at a time, and I really noticed how out-of-practice I was (see comment fields below for making sarcastic remarks!)

Regardless, it was good to be back in the physical world. Here’s what I doodled:

So as not to completely hose your bandwidth, here are some close-ups. The top-left corner: an exercise in purple patience:

The lower left went green and somewhat organic. The markers are not water-based, but seem to be some sort of alcohol-like chemical. The colors can blend together, but it’s not as “wet” as watercolors.

And the purple plant-like tendril grabbing at the fractal-like green pond scum. You can see the effect of multiple coats in the green and sky-blue areas. I like the fact that the paper never really becomes wet in a way the destroys it, no matter how much you color in one spot, the paper never bunches up with these markers.

Berol Prismacolor Premiers Pens

This is what you get (pickle-jar sold separately:)

As the design on the side of each marker suggests, the pens have a broad tip and a fine tip:

If you look back at the doodle, you’ll see evidence that both ends were used both extensively! Here’s the broad tip:

and the fine:

Not a lot more that you can say or show about these pens. But I like ‘em and can’t wait to find time to create some more work!