Mark Making

Materials

Mark Making refers to creating textures, patterns and yes, marks on a surface. The materials used are so numerous and range from traditional drawing tools, like pencils, pens, charcoal, pastels to all kinds of paints, inks and gel mediums. Also, tools to scratch a layer of paint are popular utensils. There are even stamps and stencils that mimic manual mark making.

Adding marks, usually done as the last step, can enhance any artwork as eye-catching elements.

Collages

This is a collage where the different marks are enhancing the contrast between the paper pieces.

Simple Doodling

Doodles are random patterns usually drawn with a marker. Next to being fun, they can be a meditative activity and lead to stress reduction. Try it out without intention!

Tea Bags

A simple technique to add marks without the risk to have permanent marks on your artwork that you don't like, is to use dried tea bags. They unfold into rectangular pieces where you can draw on with markers. After cutting or ripping them into smaller pieces, they can be moved around on your project. Once you find the right spot for them, it's best to glue them on with mat medium using a brush. They become translucent after drying and create the effect of the marks being directly drawn onto the surface.