ProMarkers are artist-quality markers made by Letraset.   These twin-tipped markers use alcohol-based ink, which has some interesting advantages over “regular” markers.  The two most notable are the evenness of color and the ability to layer color.

When I talk about evenness of color, what I mean is that these markers do not streak when you color with them, as other markers do.  Actually, it’s kind of fun – they sort of do, while you’re coloring with them, but then you can watch the color sort of meld together and even out as it dries.

The following two patches of color were colored with an identical stroke pattern.  (Unfortunately, I don’t own exactly equivalent colors.)  The ProMarker patch (at the top) looks as though it was a single stroke with a broad nib.  It wasn’t.  See how flat and even it looks, compared to the streakiness of the one at the bottom?

Or compare them in this example of some bells I colored, first with regular (but high-quality, not school-type) markers, then with the ProMarkers.  You can see the difference.

See how much more even the color is in the second picture?  You can also see here another feature of the ProMarkers: the ability to layer the color.

Once the ink has dried, you can go back over it to deepen the shade.  I’ve done that with the inside of the red bow, and with the shadowed parts of the bell.  These bells were colored with exactly three markers: one for the bow, one for the bells, and one for the clappers.  Here’s another comparison:

Again, this is just three markers: one for the leaves, one for the “petals,” (which technically are also leaves) and one for the yellow center.

They do bleed through, so be sure to protect the surface you’re coloring on.  (This is the back of the bells image.)

I even stamped with them.  The manufacturer says the ink doesn’t stay wet long, but if you work quickly, it does just fine.

(The slight unevenness at the top there is because I was stamping on top of a binder, not a solid surface.  That’s what I get for working at the computer!)  If you’re coloring in an already-stamped image, be sure you’re using water-based ink for the stamping.  If you use alcohol-based with alcohol-based, it will bleed.

The markers are supposed to be very good for color blending, too.  I, personally, didn’t have as much success with blending colors.  It could very well be ineptitude on my part.  I suspect it is at least partially due to the particular color selection I have.  Colors blend better in similar hues, and I have a basic set.  It is a great set of basic colors, but they’re all very different from each other, so they don’t really “mesh” well.  You do, for instance, get green if you color with a light blue marker over yellow, which doesn’t effectively happen with other markers.  Lighter colors blend much better than dark.  (If the colors are too dark, they so overpower the underlying layers that you can’t really see the combined color.)

It is also worth noting that the colors are clearly marked.  Each marker has its color number and name printed plainly on the label.  There are a lot of colors available.  My set has twelve colors plus a blender marker, but there are other sets available, and a total of 148 colors.  One set, designed with cartoonists in mind, emphasizes skin tones.  Letraset makes some other items, as well.  There is a LetraJet “Air Marker” tool, which will turn your ProMarkers into an airbrush.  There is an add-on extra-fine nib.  They also have a water-based fine liner for adding line work to your colored designs without making the ink bleed.

One final note: because of the alcohol-based ink, you don’t have to use these just on paper.  You can color/stamp even on a nonporous surface and the ink will stay.  (Just be sure to leave it time to dry.)

Some of the ProMarkers can be found on Amazon.  A more extensive selection is available through HSN or Carpe Diem, or, of course, through the manufacturer’s website (with free shipping).

I am pretty sure I will be picking up some more of these markers. 🙂

Disclosure: Letraset provided me with a set of markers to facilitate this review.  As always, all opinions are entirely my own.