Sharpie Art Workshop: Techniques & Ideas for Transforming Your World

by Timothy Goodman

“Pays tribute to the ubiquitous, universal, and highly user-friendly Sharpie marker . . . The heart of the guide is the many short creativity exercises.” —Library JournalBold and sharp, brilliant and vivid, Sharpie markers can be found in art, office, and stationery supply stores, drugstores, mass-market and crafts chains—almost anywhere writing utensils are sold. Sharpies can be used on virtually any surface, from the traditional (paper and canvas) to the unexpected (fabric, plastic, ceramics, glass, wood, stone, metal).In addition to the original fine point version, Sharpies are produced in five tip widths, several formulations, and in more than thirty colors, plus silver metallic. Their familiarity, accessibility, and clean, bold, dense line—especially the graphic impact that can be achieved with classic black—have made Sharpie markers the go-to medium for creatives of all stripes.In Sharpie Art Workshop, designer, artist, and art director Timothy Goodman explores Sharpie writing products, the materials and supplies that can be used to enhance or modify them, and the range of creative techniques and effects that can be achieved.Through a series of examples and exercises, Goodman demonstrates how to make different kinds of marks, patterns, and images on a variety of surfaces. Inspiring works by noted artists from all over the world who use Sharpie in interesting and innovative ways are also included.Sharpie Art Workshop offers ideas and inspiration to anyone who’s looking to explore the creative potential of this exciting medium. So when you make your mark, what will you create?“Slim and unique, this ‘catalog of inspiration’ enthusiastically celebrates the mighty marker.” —Publishers Weekly

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Design, Crafts, How To, Art Design, Reference

213 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 15, 2015

Reviews

[Paulina Fricke · Rating 1 out of 5]

HOLY MOTHER OF GOD this book is an embarrassment. Besides being a giant advertisement for sharpie, he lists every color each variety comes in, the writing is atrocious. He references Wikipedia! He defines what a freaking post it note is and lists the colors they come in as well. Some of his writing is copied and pasted verbatim on to multiple sections! Timothy’s brilliant drawing instruction? Draw anything. On anything. But only with a sharpie. He doesn’t give any technical advice. His “secret weapon” is tracing paper. The only good part of this book is a few of the other artists he featured, though their bios are just name dropping of clients they’ve worked with. Please do not buy this swill.

[Ayesha U · Rating 3 out of 5]

Apart from certain illustrations that kept me hooked, this book reads like one big Sharpie ad. I gave it 3 stars because this book doesn't have any solid content.

[fleegan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I give this a solid 3 stars. It has nice pictures and good ideas in it, but it really reads like a giant ad for Sharpie markers, so, I mean, meh. Not that I don't love a Sharpie, I'm no hater, but still, not a lot of substance in here. And the advice is really common sense. It's basically, "Need a thin line? Use the fine marker. Need a bold line? Choose a BIGGER marker!"

[Troy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't tell you what I was expecting, but besides the Sharpie advertising, this is a mildly interesting catalog of styles and what you can do with markers. Excuse me as I go get high off my Sharpie supply now.

[False · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have to ask: How did this book make it into print? It's not even a book. Maybe a blog entry. I gained nothing from reading this.

[AJ Vincent · Rating 2 out of 5]

This could have been so good. I was hoping for more ideas and exercises to expand my creative drawing. Loved the examples he gave, but he didn't give any real pointers for how to expand your art with creative ideas. He threw in a few. The entire book took me ten minutes to really read. Glad I got it from the library.

[Victoria · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this expecting to it to explain drawing techniques with sharpies, but it just seems to list the various things you can draw on.

[Marc · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was in the library. I saw this on the shelves. I like doodling and drawing with Sharpies. I borrowed it along with several other books from the library...

This book can be summed up, as others already have, as:
- Advertising for Sharpie
- Encouraging you to draw, write words/letters, or make patterns on paper, walls, objects, or objects you make as the workshop/technique part of the title

I didn't even find the examples all that engaging, although I am probably spoiled by the Internet where you can search for "Sharpie art" and find a lot of inspiring and amazing work.

Here's some crappy Sharpie art I made before reading this book:

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was interested in this title because I enjoy using Sharpies to finalize my pencil drawings. This book quickly covers the varieties of Sharpie pens and then introduces a number of Sharpie artists, each with a page or two of bio and examples of their art. They are grouped into similar styles and then there would be a two-page spread of how to create similar art. While I liked a lot of the ideas (making word art, writing on objects, using Post-It Notes to create a grid or comic strip, mini canvases, etc.) I felt like this was just a very brief overview and doesn't get into step-by-step technique. I wasn't aware that so many artists used Sharpies as their medium, so that was interesting. This seems to be more to inspire and give ideas rather than teach.

[A_s · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was okay. Highlights a few ways to be creative, and a few artists.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to look at but didn't learn anything new. Ironically, I'm actually allergic to Sharpies! I could almost smell them while looking at the pages...

[Toni · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book and say nice things about all the contributors who seem like solid, talented people. It’s just that I feel slightly dirty, like I did when I worked in advertising where a bunch of admittedly talented people rip off actual street artists and are well compensated for it while they hang out with their clique sipping artisanal beers in a gentrified east village and the people who provided the original inspiration remain unheralded, unknown and uncompensated. The fact that this is a long form ad for sharpies no doubt contributes to this feeling. It’s nice to have friends in high places. I found a couple new artists to explore though and a few marketing tips, as well as what not to do. I didn’t realize overly arty websites that take forever to load are still a thing.

This would definitely have a place on as a coffee table book in the common area of a hipster agency. And I feel like if you actually buy Sharpies after you read this then the joke is on you. Especially since most of the examples aren’t particularly Sharpie specific. If you’re just going to doodle, any old marker will do just fine.

[Sherah · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was very shallow and did not deliver much in the way of "techniques" or "ideas". It was more like a magazine or blog. Most of the pages contain giant text on a one-color flat background and there isn't a lot of substance. The meat of the book is the author listing out which Sharpie artists he likes, photos from their stuff, and then 2-4 page sections with weak 1-2 sentence attempts at history lessons or background for half-formed (or at least half-articulated) ideas. It even repeated itself verbatim in one section, and several of the book's pages showed hand drawn designs that were copied or flipped images of themselves, which is like, ok maybe that's a style, but given the subject matter ("I suggest drawing all over everything, just draw tons of stuff!" - good suggestion), I expected more. It just seemed like a rushed and careless project. I expected lots and lots of ideas for a book of this size, and for the art that was being shown to be more carefully chosen.

[Marcie Lovett · Rating 2 out of 5]

I expected a book with Sharpie in the title to read like an ad for Sharpie, but I didn't expect to get an ad for the author. Rather than a book, it felt like an extremely long resume, with photos of his work, thoughts about his work, and all the Important Clients he has worked for. He may be a talented artist but he does not write well and no one had the nerve to tell him. Who edited this book? Too many exclamation marks, too much self-love and too many instances where the exact same text was printed on more than one page. The book is so lacking in content, you can finish it in an hour.

The only thing missing from this compendium of Timothy Goodman's work was the Workshop part - short on techniques for using Sharpies, which is the reason I picked it up. I can't recommend the book unless you are inspired by looking at pictures of someone else's work.

[Cindy Pham · Rating 2 out of 5]

A cute and fun short book, but it didn't really need to be a book at all. Would have sufficed better as a blog post, as the writing is very sparse and most of the content is just references that you would need to seek online anyway.

[Bookish · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sharpies plus skill development. Win-win.

[Jason · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is in no way a workshop. No techniques just scribbling and doodling. I already knew how to do that, since kindergarden. Luckily I checked it out at the library first. Don't waste your time.

[Jenni · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a fun little book for anyone looking to build a creative habit, but feels like choosing materials and making time for sitting down and arts-ing is too daunting (or has failed in the past in building such a habit). I've always had some Sharpies around, but I hardly ever use them because I tend to have other pens around - and I never quite realized why Sharpies are so ubiquitous (I don't think they were available where I'm from, growing up).

This little book has a ton of examples of how to get into a doodling habit, or how to decorate everyday items with Sharpies (why have I never thought of doodling on my envelopes? or on brown paper bags that I love to use as gift wrap?). The examples range from simple and attainable to someone who hasn't drawn a thing in a while, to more elaborate examples of impressive Sharpie murals made by design professionals.

And honestly - you can use any old marker. I'm seeing a bunch of people in reviews hating that this is essentially an ad for Sharpie - which yeah, it is - but people use Sharpie a lot, and it's super available in the US in any old corner store, so... why not write a guide on how to make the most of it?

[Kyttee · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've really liked this book. An introduction in the beginning on the author, the types of Sharpie pen and what they could be used for as well as the best surface for each one, the quick history of the brand. It contains a lot of visual, some artists portfolio. There are some exercises as well after some showcase for you to take action and they encourage practice. It's a fun and quick read that I would recommend to everyone looking into doodling or just to explore your creativity.

[Riana Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even with its brevity & overview/synopsis style I really liked this book!

A good portion of the book was photographic examples of work from artists working in the genre, with short explanations of artistic prompts and jumping off points. The author's past teaching experience, coupled with his lighthearted, conversational tone, made it feel as if your peppy friend just stopped by to color with you.

[Oscar · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love Sharpie markers and am never without at least one, so I should be more bias to enjoy this. It is well produced and enjoyable, but also very much for beginners to the field of crafting, doodling and generally drawing. The one great takeaway that I hadn't thought of before is to buy blank kraft paper and doodle on it for gifts. Just wonderful!

[David Poon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a book about Sharpie art and the artists that use Sharpies. Simple as it is, I got to see different style of art by the artists introduced, some of which I’m only learning about through this book. I did not expect this book to be anything but a sort of advertisement for Sharpie, so I wasn’t disappointed or surprised.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not an artist and I was hoping this book would have more of a tutorial-style workshop, instead of a 'what-to-write-on' workshop. However, I did like the ideas and the featured artists inspired me to start doodling more often. A quick read for some artistic motivation.

[Mintsocute · Rating 3 out of 5]

Timothy give some general idea about sharpie. He gave example of different artists' works. The book titled can be somewhat mislead. This book is not a good book for learning, but for some basic idea and basic reference. Though, the layout and color of the pages are appetizing.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author writes about bAsic information about the Sharpie and the uses. The book seemed simple in uses of the sharpie but loved the introduction of different artists and they way they use these markers.

[Melissa Myers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Didn’t really give good examples of finished products. Kept repeating itself over and over. Was happy when the book was finished!!! Did give me a good idea for a Christmas present. So it gets 2 stars for that.

[Amanda · Rating 2 out of 5]

This did not impress me. It was a nice catalog of some graphic design work, with the requisite "you can do it" and "be creative" encouragement every few pages, but it felt seriously light on content.

[readwithsyll · Rating 2 out of 5]

I kind of expecting more from this book.
This book mainly talk about sharpie (details on products and history) and some references that has been done by several artist. Wish to have more tips / step by step on this book though.

[John Ross · Rating 3 out of 5]

not as instructional as I wanted

It was fine to read, but not as rich with techniques as I personally wanted. Maybe 20? suggested exercises with a few images of examples but no mind blowing secrets to my eyes.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave it two stars based on the quality of some of the artists he references.
Otherwise there wasn't any technique.