Tombow 56171 Dual Brush Pen Art Markers, Grayscale, 10-Pack. Blendable, Brush and Fine Tip Markers

I bought these right before October, which was perfect timing for using them in the national Inktober challenge (where you draw something in ink every day for the entire month). I’d been looking for some way to easily shade my ink drawings without resorting to watercolors or expensive prismacolors, and these are a good middle ground. They are tricky to use at first because of the lines they create when you overlap strokes, but once you’ve taken the time to practice on a few drawings they become a good go-to. The trick is to treat them like watercolors, and start with the lightest shade and work your way down, layering the same shade if need be in order to achieve an even look. Not for the faint-hearted, because if you mess up there’s no way to fix it. I recommend using a light box to create duplicates of original drawings to shade until you’re confident with these. Most of the markers have green undertones while a couple have blue, so I suggest creating a swatch sheet where you can make sure you use the right values that will blend easily. Honestly it was tricky enough to learn how to use at first that I don’t think I would’ve conquered them if I hadn’t been doing Inktober. It really encouraged me to keeping at it until I got it, which I’m really grateful for. The shading is excellent and really livens up my art pieces.Update (one year later): due to the nature of these markers and how you can create different values just by overlapping the same color, I’m sworn to these for life. They’ve utterly spoiled me. I can get any shade I want just from this small set. I bought some color markers through a different brand, but I’m pining for my Tombows. Definitely going to invest in getting some of their color sets next.