As mentioned in previous articles I’ve been really enjoying doing skies with the Albrecht Durer Watercolour Markers. So I thought I would do a quick study to compare them with watercolour. Note: All of these skies were created using a Faber Castell waterbrush and done on Stillman and Birn Alpha paper.

This page shows:

A. Ultramarine Albrecht Durer Marker:
Marker strokes were applied to the page (filling approximately half the shape) and then water was added liberally to move the pigment around. I also blotted the brush and then used it to pick up some of the pigment too. It’s easy to apply too much marker when working this way.

B. Ultramarine Albrecht Durer Marker:
I pre-wet the page and then applied the watercolour marker strokes. If the paper was too wet the marker didn’t work as well and if the paper was almost dry I quickly applied more water with the waterbrush to soften the marker stroke. This is the method I used for most of my skies recently.

C. Daniel Smith Cobalt Blue Watercolour:
Once again, I pre-wet the page and then applied the paint using a waterbrush.

Hmm…

It’s interesting how good the marker skies are in comparison with the watercolour one, isn’t it?

Of course, using a ‘real’ brush (with some natural hairs) and using watercolour paper would create a greater difference between the markers and the paint – the Cobalt watercolour paint is able to produce granulation that I can’t get with the markers. But I am loving all the backruns/blooms that I get with the markers!

Which sky is your favourite?