China White

Okay I don’t condone the use of drugs at all but I thought this would be a suitable title for this kawaii painting of Little One. All in a different context! Whilst following some classes by Juliette Crane, I noticed that she uses black marking pencils in her paintings to enhance her characters. I then thought I’d order such pencils on Amazon and try them out myself! Out of curiosity, I also bought white as well as black, both by Sharpie.

China Markers

So what is a marking pencil? They are soft greasy pencils made of hardened wax, used typically for marking on hard, glossy non-porous surfaces such as glass, porcelain and china. As such these marking pencils are also known as China Markers and hence the title of the painting! Although marks could somewhat be wiped out on non-porous services, these pencils are are permanent on paper as well as being heat and water-resistant and colorfast. Another added feature is that as the lead is so soft and easily runs low, you can obtain more by pulling them down the string that is attached onto the pencil itself so the layers unravel and peel off to provide more lead.

Pleasant Experience

Let’s put it to the test then! It’s been a while since doing some “black paper art” and hence I pulled out my black-paper sketchbook and thought I’d try sketching with some white China Marker. Once I started sketching, I noticed how smooth it all went. You need not press hard as the lead is soft and waxy. The consistency is quite even when filling in shapes too. The fact that the pigment comes out strong really makes the subject of the sketch pop out, especially with the white against the black background. At the same time the pencil is not too soft that it gets messy. I think of it as being a cross between crayon and colored pencil! And here is my doodle of the day:

Now that was a quick and easy drawing! All I wanted to do was to experiment with this new product and at the same time see what it would look like on black paper. I’m well pleased with it and will definitely be incorporating the China Markers in my artwork, be it solo or mixed media. Glad to be able to share with you my experience. And of course, the drawing was too cute that I had to introduce it here too!