For a lot of my drawing I have given up the ghost on ‘ye ole sketchbook’ when marker pens are involved, purely because they bleed more than a zombie in a shoot ‘em up. I have instead resorted to leaving my sketchbook for design ideas and pre-concept work and turned to a few different marker pads to guide my work into realisation.
I have both A4 and A3 pads depending on the size of the drawings and the amount of drawings i’m doing and whether anyone else will see them or not. I use three different brand name pads. Goldline, Letraset and London Graphic Centre own brand Premiere.
Each pad contains sheets which are smooth and as bright a white as you can imagine. They are all 70gsm, a fine weight of paper if i do say so myself. So what makes the difference in the quality of the renders on these pads? I have no idea but there is definately a difference.
The Goldline and Letraset provide a quality which is high and consistant with paying top dollar. The London Graphic Centre own brand has a good price but it just doesn’t hold pencil and marker renderings just seem to become blotchy and random. The London Graphic Centre pad just seems to reject the marker fluid instead of embracing and absorbing it into the confines of the area to which it is applied.
So my advice to you, don’t go for the own brand. Shell out the extra few quid for the top of the line and you won’t be skimping on quality. Besides, you’re probably more likely to re-draw on the budget pad anyway and go through much more paper. Design with quality paper, it does make a difference!
For more check out the Goldline Marker Pads or the Letraset Marker Pad Collection.
