I realize that the first step in curing any unhealthy obsession is to admit you have a problem. OK. I admit it. I have a problem. I have too many markers, I am drawn to art stores to buy more. At night when I should be asleep, I browse the internet for "marker sites." So, yes, I have a problem as this image reveals:
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| Part of My Studio |
I'm not proud of it, but it isn't all my fault. The marker-industrial-complex has to shoulder some of the blame. In one of my marker pigeon holes I find:
Green Gray
Warm Gray
Cool Gray
Three "Natural" grays.
Two "Neutral" grays.
Yellow Gray
Blue Gray
Use them to draw on a sheet of paper and they all come out black.
Oh, you wanted something that actually looks gray on a sheet of paper? I tested all my markers and I have those that actually look gray. Step right this way to the next pigeon hole where we find:
Three "cool" grays
Three "warm" grays
Three "neutral" grays
Green gray
Blue gray
Obviously some duplicated labels from the group above. But put them on a sheet of paper and they come out a rather undifferentiated dark gray.
Oh, I'm sorry again. You wanted something in a light gray? Let us consider these fine examples from yet another pigeon hole:
Five "cool" grays
Four "neutral" grays
Two "green" grays
Four "red" grays
One "ash rose"
And four unlabeled markers with gray tops.
But yes, applied to paper they all reveal a light gray color.
So, I have 42 markers that yield, basically, 3 discernibly different colors - black, dark gray and light gray. But at least those markers usually have the word "gray" on their labels.
I do have another couple dozen markers that do say "black", but those come in a staggering variety of thicknesses from Yard Sign width to .005 that lets you draw designs on your contact lenses.
Oh, you have become disenchanted with grey and you want to go to a happier color? Pink? Are you sure? Alright. Here in this barrel we have:
Basic "pink"
Cerise "pink"
Peony "pink"
Aurora "pink"
Deep "pink"
Thistle
Light Hot "pink"
Hollyhock
Vivid "pink"
Calamus Color
Pastel Rose Cherry
Vivid Purple
Dahlia
Tender
Pale Purple
Blush "pink"
Dark Blush
Pastel "pink"
Florescent "pink"
Jacaranda
Rose "pink"
Coral "pink"
Dark "pink"
Vivid Reddish Purple
Light "pink"
And a few Sharpies with "pinkish"tops but no labels.
So at least 25 markers - I stopped counting duplicates - that give me maybe 4 shades of pink.
I have so many yellows - or with the nom de guerres thereof - that they collapsed my new storage system! Yellow collapsing down into "Light orange."
Blues, oranges, yellows, its all the same. Many different names for essentially the same colors. Which is why, give the devil his due, I spent a number of years painting on the computer. There you really could get "millions of colors" on the "color picker." The challenge there was finding a printer that could discern and replicate on canvas the million colors you had created on the screen. The option was - back then, I don't know the current technology - to go to a professional printer who had a giclee printer who could capture all the colors on canvas. At a significant cost!
But back to markers. Why do I keep getting more when I realize - deep down inside I am just buying more chocolate, vanilla, licorice, cherries, double-bubble gum, lemons, limes and oranges? Maybe eight basic colors?
It's the marketing. Put me in an art supply store and I lose all self control. Michael's, Blicks, Jerry's Artarama - makes no difference. It's like putting someone who is starving into the middle of Whole Foods. I mean just look at them! How could one resist?
But yeah, basically maybe 8 colors on paper. So, admitting I have a problem, what am I going to do about it?
NOTHING!
No, wait that is wrong. I know that is wrong. Here is what I am going to do: I will stop sneaking into art supply stores. I promise I will buy no more sets of markers - even though you can buy them on line with just a simple click or two and a credit card!! Just touch the screen!! No. Wait. That is wrong. I will not do that anymore.
I will only replace single markers when they have dried up. And only primary colors. Roy G. Biv - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indio, and Violet. And only markers that have those simple names and look like those colors on the cool blank pages that they leave next to the markers in art stores - where you could try out every single marker they have!!
No. That would be bad. I will not do that anymore. Really. Promise.
OK. I am done now. Let me know if you feel like sharing.
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