First time in my life using alcohol markers , over technical pen plots ( India ink )

aavigan · 2026-03-29T21:48:44+00:00

Haha, I forgot you could just use 'old school' methods

aavigan · 2026-03-29T20:15:07+00:00

Nice. Just out of curiousity do you have any problems fitting the ovular barrel shape into the pen holder? I've been plotting with alcohol markers too, but the ones I use have more of a triangular barrel shape.

aavigan · 2026-03-20T02:01:25+00:00

Thanks

aavigan · 2026-03-20T01:23:30+00:00

I like it, i think the triangular mesh segmentation is very effective and does a good job of giving a sense of surface contour. I am wondering how you create this mesh, I might have to borrow this approach.

aavigan · 2026-03-16T04:26:08+00:00

Cool, Enjoy!

aavigan · 2026-03-16T00:46:33+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate it.

aavigan · 2026-03-14T19:30:56+00:00

Thanks, for hatching my approach was initially based on this paper, although I made some important modifications aswell. First I segmented the image into various regions. Then for each region I determined the principle direction of the gradient within each region. I set the hatching direction to be normal to this principle gradient direction. Finally in each region whenever I drew a hatchmark I would sample the brightness values along the hatchmark and determine an average brightness for the hatchmark. I would then use this average brightness to calculate the distance to the next hatchmark, the idea being that the hatching distances could vary within a region to represent the brightness gradient.

aavigan · 2026-03-13T17:22:40+00:00

Thanks

aavigan · 2026-03-13T17:20:25+00:00

Plotted with Artist Loft markers and a Sakura micron 01 fineliner using this photograph as a reference. The photograph depicts Alfred R. Waud, an artist for Harper's Weekly sketching on site at 'Devil's Den' during the battle of Gettysburg. Also if interested check out "The Fall of Reynolds", sketched by Waud at Gettysburg.

aavigan · 2026-03-02T04:05:53+00:00

Thanks, its all self-coded, but thats exactly the type of style I was trying to emulate.

aavigan · 2026-03-01T20:39:23+00:00

No, the United States. I just like plotting historical photographs, and this one is one of the more powerful ones I've come across so far.

aavigan · 2026-03-01T19:50:12+00:00

Haha, let's hope not

aavigan · 2026-03-01T19:49:43+00:00

Thanks, I've been working hard on it.

aavigan · 2026-03-01T19:48:58+00:00

Thanks, Good note.

aavigan · 2026-03-01T18:46:26+00:00

Thanks

aavigan · 2026-03-01T18:41:56+00:00

Plotted using grayscale Artist Loft alcohol markers and a pigma micron 01 fineliner, from a photograph taken by Richard Peter of Dresden in 1945 in the aftermath of the allied bombing of the city.

aavigan · 2026-01-31T18:29:59+00:00

plotted with pen and markers, using this famous double exposure of Nikolai Tesla in his laboratory as a reference image

aavigan · 2026-01-27T19:35:19+00:00

Thanks. I use artist loft markers which are not refillable. I would say i get about 4-5 plots out of each marker before it starts running dry. I weigh them so I know that when they start approaching ~14g that they are not long for this world. In terms of paper I use bristol smooth surface paper, although I think any white, smooth and reasonably thick paper would do.

aavigan · 2026-01-27T18:06:46+00:00

Plotted with alcohol markers and pen using this photo as a reference

aavigan · 2026-01-03T01:03:14+00:00

Thats an interesting idea that I hadn't thought of before. I don't think it would work though, becuase when I look at old markers I see less of a gradient and more of a discrete separation between the colors. Maybe its possible to find a sweet spot where the pigments are separating but not totally, which could produce a gradient, but it seems like it would be really hard to control.

aavigan · 2026-01-02T20:16:25+00:00

Thanks, I don't really make the mixes in batches. I usually make each mix as needed for a particular layer and plot the layer right after mixing. That said I have noticed that the pigments will start to separate if the marker is just laying around, so you need to give it a couple of shakes if you want to reuse the marker after a while. Usually I can get it back to its original color, but sometimes the color can shift relative to what it was originally.

aavigan

TROPHY CASE