An edited photo of two black markers on white paper.

Stylefile Fineliner

Easily on the third place of all the markers reviewed here. Stylefile fineliners have relatively intense black. It has slightly harder tip than many similar markers, but in general it has a good flow. Markers have alcohol-based ink and it dries fast, just not immediatelly. So if you’re drawing over pencil sketches, let the ink …

Many sketchbooks on top of each other, most of the books have stickers on their covers.

Sketchbooks and Papers

Just like with copy paper, there’s no shortage of sketchbook options out there — prices range from just a few euros to thirty-something. Personally, my pain threshold is around 15 euros. I try to buy my sketchbooks from the same stores where I get my fineliners, if possible, which naturally limits the selection I’m reviewing …

Many sketchbooks on top of each other, most of the books have stickers on their covers.

Sketchbooks and Papers

I’m not that picky about these. As long as the color of the paper is correct, the paper is acid free (doesn’t yellow) and it is smooth and thicker than regular copy paper (80g/m²). Especially with sketchbooks you don’t want the black ink bleed through the pages below. And when scanning the sketches to the …

Markers

Most of the markers I reviewed have water based ink, some are alcohol based. Even if the latter, they are very neutral in smell. I mostly use sizes 0.5 – 0.8 for drawing, but for filling in the larger areas I naturally try to use the larger ones, 0.9 – 1.2. I also noticed that …