Two years ago I came across the Kickstarter page for Chameleon Markers. One magical marker that can give you multiple gradients of that color?!
By now I'm sure you've seen these or maybe even took the leap and bought them/ backed them. It's a simple cap system that's well.. rather gimmicky. I instantly thought about BLO pens and shrinky dinks back in the mid 90's. Blo Pens were a fun idea for kids or folks that couldn't afford to sink money into an air brushing kit. Shrinky Dinks really took off when they were able to add licenced characters to them.. oh they were soooo much fun and really made having one of a kind charms/swag possible.
Could these pens be more than a gimmick or fad? Could they be a new art supply staple?
Chameleon Markers are alcohol based markers with a 'mixing cap' chamber. The 'mixing' cap chamber is loaded with a substance similar to blender fluid you would find from COPIC or Winsor & Newton or even a simple alcohol and water mixture (or nail polish remover if that is all you have on hand) for dilution of color. You place this cap on the marker color you would like to create a 'gradient' effect with. The liquid in the cap of the marker then pushes the color out of the tip of the marker and back into the barrel. When you take the cap off and start to color on your paper, the color slowly starts to return to the tip of the marker. When I say slowly I mean within 5-10 seconds. That is it. That's what they are, a marker with dilution cap. The pigment is nice with these markers and the tips aren't the worst I have tried but certainly not the best. HOW EXCITING!?! Eh.
The creators of the Chameleon markers have recently updated their kickstarter page for their new product. It is a smaller version of the original marker at a slightly lower cost. The fact that they have refills available certainly does make it more enticing to start buying these. Alas, I am not fully sold on the hype. If you're into lettering or coloring pages these are going to be a really fun marker to own. I am not much into either of those things and can't justify buying these to do full illustrations with.
With the high price tag in mind I decided to do a little at home 'testing' and see if I could get the same effect of the Chameleon Marker without their fancy cap system or marker base.
I found out that...
Here is the video, below, from my youtube channel. It is a very simple and quick way to hack your alcohol markers with household items. No clickbait, just a quick and to the point video tutorial. In the video I go over using this technique with Copic, Winsor & Newton, Touch 5 Twin, Sharpie, and BIC markers simply because they were all the alcohol markers I had on hand.
If you try it at home and love the result leave a comment to let me know. If you love it enough to go buy a set of the Chameleon Markers, that is awesome too! I'm a consumer that likes to try things before I sink money into them. These markers are not something that I feel like I need to buy more of but from time to time is fun to play around with the ones I got.
INCONCEIVABLE, I thought!
The video I watched, amazed I was. Such a fun and helpful idea that had been executed simply. My inner child was over the moon that such a thing existed! Then I watched it again and my adult brain took over again. I was less impressed on the second look. This wasn't exactly what I thought it was going to be. I thought it was going to be a marker that was a light toned color from the start and as you passed over the same area would darken more and more...kinda like a colored pencil would. Someday that technology will exist, I'm sure of it! This might be the main reason I was less impressed the more I learned about Chameleon Markers.By now I'm sure you've seen these or maybe even took the leap and bought them/ backed them. It's a simple cap system that's well.. rather gimmicky. I instantly thought about BLO pens and shrinky dinks back in the mid 90's. Blo Pens were a fun idea for kids or folks that couldn't afford to sink money into an air brushing kit. Shrinky Dinks really took off when they were able to add licenced characters to them.. oh they were soooo much fun and really made having one of a kind charms/swag possible.
Could these pens be more than a gimmick or fad? Could they be a new art supply staple?
What Exactly are Chameleon Markers?
Chameleon Markers are alcohol based markers with a 'mixing cap' chamber. The 'mixing' cap chamber is loaded with a substance similar to blender fluid you would find from COPIC or Winsor & Newton or even a simple alcohol and water mixture (or nail polish remover if that is all you have on hand) for dilution of color. You place this cap on the marker color you would like to create a 'gradient' effect with. The liquid in the cap of the marker then pushes the color out of the tip of the marker and back into the barrel. When you take the cap off and start to color on your paper, the color slowly starts to return to the tip of the marker. When I say slowly I mean within 5-10 seconds. That is it. That's what they are, a marker with dilution cap. The pigment is nice with these markers and the tips aren't the worst I have tried but certainly not the best. HOW EXCITING!?! Eh.Are they worth the price?
Seems like a lot of hype for a product that is at times a bit uncontrollable, had [decent but] limited colors available, but has a price tag of high end markers, like Copic. My experience is mine alone and may be similar to other folks out there. I thought I would share my experience, as brief as it was, with you. Finishing an area with the same exact tone if you didn't get the area covered quickly enough is nearly impossible. For that simple reason I feel these are a passing fad item. This size of the marker was seriously uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time. I wanted to love these markers, really I did. That doesn't mean they aren't a fun product to play around with. Still not sure the cost is really worth having something to just play around with for most artists or novices.The creators of the Chameleon markers have recently updated their kickstarter page for their new product. It is a smaller version of the original marker at a slightly lower cost. The fact that they have refills available certainly does make it more enticing to start buying these. Alas, I am not fully sold on the hype. If you're into lettering or coloring pages these are going to be a really fun marker to own. I am not much into either of those things and can't justify buying these to do full illustrations with.
With the high price tag in mind I decided to do a little at home 'testing' and see if I could get the same effect of the Chameleon Marker without their fancy cap system or marker base.
I found out that...
It can be done!!
Here is the video, below, from my youtube channel. It is a very simple and quick way to hack your alcohol markers with household items. No clickbait, just a quick and to the point video tutorial. In the video I go over using this technique with Copic, Winsor & Newton, Touch 5 Twin, Sharpie, and BIC markers simply because they were all the alcohol markers I had on hand.
If you try it at home and love the result leave a comment to let me know. If you love it enough to go buy a set of the Chameleon Markers, that is awesome too! I'm a consumer that likes to try things before I sink money into them. These markers are not something that I feel like I need to buy more of but from time to time is fun to play around with the ones I got.
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