Prismacolor colors come in a wide spectrum of art materials, including art pencils and Prismacolor pens.  Art and drawing is so spontaneous that I find it hard to dwell on a specific method of creating a piece of art, especially when you are using bendable materials such as Prismacolor colored pencils and markers.   I suppose, whenever I begin a project, it usually depends upon the mood I am in as to what medium I will choose to work with.  However, over the years, I have enjoyed mixing materials, such as blending art pencils, with Prismacolor watercolor pencils, and metallic Prismacolor pens.  Even though I am first and foremost a portrait and figurative artist, I find the use of several artist materials, rather than just one, more interesting to me as the artist, as well as the viewer.

I am definitely a fan of metallic colors and finishes, not just when it comes to drawing, but refinishing furniture or household items.  I have picked-up old and rusted metal shelving or plant stands, scraped them down, and finished them with wonderful metallic colors using a combination of spray paint and hand applied finishes.  I am especially keen on gold and copper.

Now, supposing I were to draw my living area or bedroom using regular art pencils, but decided to add some highlighting finishes with a metallic marker or pen. In this case, since the metallic material will draw the eye because of its shininess, I must be careful as to how much and where I apply it.  In order to create balance, it should be applied in either an overall pattern – let’s say along the center back wall, and made part of a wall design – similar to the elaborate wall designs that artists such as Klimt or van Gogh created.  This way, the eye travels all over the paper, instead of focusing in one spot.  As an alternative, I could use the metallic colors on three objects spaced evenly around the paper, such as one on the far wall, one object in the foreground, and another in the middle ground.  The idea is to keep the eye traveling around the picture plane.  The same effect is achieved with your choice of color, hue, value, shape, and saturation.  Drawing a circle anywhere on the picture plane will draw the eye directly to that object, unless you have several other circles in your drawing.  The larger the circle, the more attention it gets from the eye.  On the other hand, a smaller red circle will become the focal point of a drawing no matter how many other colored circles you have, especially if they are darker values.  However, several red circles spaced evenly around the picture plane will lose its dominate effect.  Rather, it will saturate the eye.

If you’d like to experiment, just take out a set of Prismacolor colors – pastels, art pencils, or even Prismacolor pens and play around.  Testing the circle theory, you can also prove me wrong.  Draw a bunch of red circles or different sizes on your paper, and then draw one dark triangle anywhere you choose.  You will see that your eye will be drawn directly to the triangle rather than the red circles.  However, draw a black triangle next a red circle of similar size, and see where your eye travels first.  Chances are that your eye will be drawn to the red circle first.

By BRENNE MEIROWITZ

As an artist, I can use almost any medium to express myself, but one of my favorites is colored pencil art.  Using a pencil has its advantages and disadvantages; it is erasable, but it also requires a lot of time and patience.  Coloring in a large area can sometimes get very tedious, unlike a paint brush that is made to cover areas broadly.  Yet, that said, I do think that it is the challenge that makes drawing more appealing to me.  Yet, that said, I do think that it is the challenge that makes drawing more appealing to me, although Prismacolor watercolor pencils are definitely a wonderful mixture of both.

One of my favorite artists is Austrian, Gustav Klimt (1862-1918).  I admire Klimt on a number of levels, but it is his art that speaks to me first.  One of my favorite pieces is his Pallas Athene, painted in 1898, which inspired me to draw Pallas Judea in 2006.

Gustav Klimt, 1898
Pallas Athene
Oil on canvas 33 x 16 1/2 in.
Historisches Museum der Stadt Wien, Vienna

Brenne Meirowitz, 2006
Pallas Judea
Prismacolor pencils on paper and gold leaf paint 36″x24″

My drawing is a combination of Prismacolor colored pencils, Prismacolor watercolor pencils, and gold leaf paint.  It is meant to be a self-portrait – me as Jewish artist, or as the late R.B. Kitaj would have it – a Diasporist Artist. Coined by R.B. Kitaj, in his First Diasporist Manifesto: With 60 Illustrations,
a Diasporist Artist is a member of a minority group and as such defines his or her art from one’s inner connection to one’s minority identification.  Many of Kitaj’s work reflects his inward Jewish struggle to reconcile Antisemitism, Jewish culture, history, and religion with the non-Jewish world.  For example, in his 1976 painting, If Not, Not is a surreal painting of Auschwitz, the Polish concentration camp; it depicts human suffering and destruction.

R.B. Kitaj, 1975
If Not, Not
Oil on canvas 60 x 60 in.
Scottish National Gallery of Modern Art, Edinburgh

I recognize that his title, If Not, Not, was inspired by the great Jewish sage, Rabbi Hillel (c.60 B.C.E. – 20 C.E.) who wrote:

אם אין אני לי, מי לי ? וכשאני לעצמי, מה אני ? ואם לא עכשו, אימתי ?

פרק א. פסוק י”ד פרקי אבות

Translated, it means:

If I am not for myself, who will be for me? And if I am only for myself, what am I?  And if not now, when?

This speaks of the urgency of balancing one’s behavior and self-esteem in relation to other people.  Many of us are givers – givers to the point to where we give up all regard for ourselves.  If we allow others to control or overtake our lives, we often leave no room to take care of ourselves.  A person who acts only for the good of others without thinking of him or herself first, often finds that when they are needy, few if anyone will go out of their way to help him.  Throughout the chapters of the Jewish Bible (Tanach) G-d enumerates how one is to treat his neighbor – as well as one expects to be treated by others.  Therefore, the commandment, “You shall love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Devarim – Deuteronomy 10:19) expects us all to treat one another as G-d wants others to treat us. Conversely, if one is only concerned with themselves, this commandment is never fulfilled.  Waiting until your situation changes to care for yourself or another human being is another act of selfishness; either way, you are posting fulfilling the commandment to seize upon opportunities to help others, including yourself, on a daily basis.

Pallas Judea expresses my identity as a Jewish artist, a woman empowered to express herself, as well as speak and do for others.  Pallas Athene represents the West’s as well as Klimt’s admiration of the Greek obsession of the love of beauty.  The Greek warrior is a manifestation of the idealized man.  However, as a Jewish woman, I recognize that Hellenism was determined on destroying the Jewish people and our religion, which teaches humility and forbids the worshipping of people or idols.  The story of Chanukah encapsulates this effort and history confirms it.  Even though Hellenism died 2,000 years ago, its Platonic philosophy still lives. Pallas Judea is my homage to the faithful remnant of Jewish people, who have placed ethics above the material.

Even beyond the written word, I find that colored pencil art, and art in general, is my weapon of choice.  Whereas Klimt’s Greek warrior used a sword, I replace the sword with a pencil or a paintbrush.

Prismacolor colored pencils are not cheap art supplies, but do cost less than most other brands.  For example, compared to Derwent, a single Prismacolor colored pencil costs about $.95 – $1.43, whereas Derwent costs $1.34 on average. Stabilo colored marking pencils sell for approximately $1.40 each. Dick Blick has its own private label brand of colored pencils which range from $.67 – $.79 depending up the quantity ordered.  So, Prismacolor is not the least expensive, but does costs less than the leading name brand competition.  They are also made consistently from very high quality pigments, which are smooth and very rich in color saturation.

In the case of a private brand label or a generic product, quality may not always be as consistent as a specific manufacturer.  The reason – name brand manufacturers are counting on customer loyalty and satisfaction.  One the other hand, when Coca-Cola came out with a new Coke, the majority of consumers hated it.  They soon afterwards removed it from the market.  However, in the case of new Coke versus Classic Coke, the consumer knew that they were buying a different product from what they had in the past. With a generic or private label product, for example, you never know who is really manufacturing the product – it could be Coca-Cola one year and the next season it could be Pepsi!  Therefore, for the most part, my suggestion is to stick with a name brand product that has proven its quality and consistency to you over time. Not all cheap art supplies are created equal!

A set of six Prismacolor colored pencils costs anywhere from $5.89 to $9.65, so depending upon where you buy them, you may or may consider them to be cheap art supplies. The higher price is the manufacturer’s list price.  A tin box set of 132 pencils sells for about $102.99 online, compared to the manufacturer’s list price of $212.40.  That certainly is a big difference!  When bought individually, these pencils can cost anywhere from $.89 – $1.60 which is the manufacturer’s list price.  My advice, especially if you are investing in a large set, is to shop around in order to get a general sense of what the market and individual online and local stores are offering.  However, when you buy online, you also have to consider shipping and handling costs.  Some online art supply stores will give you a rebate if you buy a certain minimum amount of art supplies from them.  Others will offer free shipping if you meet their minimum purchase threshold.  However, then you have to compare the cost of free shipping to the actual cost of the goods.  Additionally, some online stores will also charge you sales tax, while others won’t.  Therefore, you will have a lot of homework to do if price is important to you. One more key point to keep in mind is the time of the year that you are making your purchase.  Right before the school semester begins, prices usually are lower.  End of season close-out sales are another good opportunity to find cheap art supplies. Happy shopping!

Prismacolor colored pencils are not cheap art supplies, but do cost less than most other name brands.  For example, compared to Derwent, a single Prismacolor colored pencil costs about $.95 – $1.43, whereas Derwent costs $1.34 on average. Stabilo colored marking pencils sell for approximately $1.40 each. Dick Blick has its own private label brand of colored pencils which range from $.67 – $.79 depending up the quantity ordered.  So, Prismacolor is not the least expensive, but does costs less than the leading name brand competition.  They are also made consistently from very high quality pigments, which are smooth and very rich in color saturation.

In the case of a private brand label or a generic product, quality may not always be as consistent as a specific manufacturer.  The reason – name brand manufacturers are counting on customer loyalty and satisfaction.  One the other hand, when Coca-Cola came out with a new Coke, the majority of consumers hated it.  They scrambled to remove it from the market.  However, in the case of new Coke versus Classic Coke, the consumer knew that they were buying a different product from what they had in the past. With a generic or private label product, for example, you never know who is really manufacturing the product – it could be Coca-Cola one year and the next season it could be Pepsi!  Therefore, for the most part, my suggestion is to stick with a name brand product that has proven its quality and consistency to you over time. Not all cheap art supplies are created equal!

A set of six Prismacolor colored pencils costs anywhere from $5.89 to $9.65, so depending upon where you buy them, you may or may consider them to be cheap art supplies. The higher price is the manufacturer’s list price.  A tin box set of 132 pencils sells for about $102.99 online, compared to the manufacturer’s list price of $212.40.  That certainly is a big difference!  When bought individually, these pencils can cost anywhere from $.89 – $1.60 which is the manufacturer’s list price.  My advice, especially if you are investing in a large set, is to shop around in order to get a general sense of what the market and individual online and local stores are offering.  However, when you buy online, you also have to consider shipping and handling costs.  Some online art supply stores will give you a rebate if you buy a certain minimum amount of art supplies from them.  Others will offer free shipping if you meet their minimum purchase threshold.  However, then you have to compare the cost of free shipping to the actual cost of the goods.  Additionally, some online stores will also charge you sales tax, while others won’t.  Therefore, you will have a lot of homework to do if price is important to you. One more key point to keep in mind is the time of the year that you are making your purchase.  Right before the school semester begins, prices usually are lower.  End of season close-out sales are another good opportunity to find cheap art supplies. Happy shopping!

As primarily a figurative artist, I really enjoy colored pencil drawing.    One of the best things that I like about using colored pencils is the portability.   Unlike other medium such as paint or clay, all I need to do is to throw into a canvas bag a good set of pencils, a kneaded eraser, and of course – paper!  Well, sometimes I prefer using cold press illustration board, especially if I am also using Prismacolor watercolor pencils.  However, when on the run, I don’t usually apply water to my drawing until I am in the safety of my studio.  The main reason is because if I apply water to either board or paper, it will buckle or wrinkle if not securely taped down.  Also, a wet surface is much more vulnerable to tears, scratches, and foreign particles adhering to the moist area.  Yet, if you’re lucky to be drawing outdoors near a water fountain, and plan to stay several hours, then go ahead and apply water – and have fun!

In the long run, drawing is much more challenging than painting, because I have to account for every stroke of my pencil. In other words, a pencil artist must be a good draftsman.  When using oil paint, it’s pretty easy to fix mistakes even after they have dried. On the other hand, traditional watercolor painting is particularly challenging, especially when using a wash technique.  Once that wet brush is put to paper, it is difficult to correct mistakes.  Nonetheless, I have sometimes produced some of my finest pieces of art with these so-called mistakes.  Little foibles can contribute a lot to learning new techniques.

The key to becoming a competent artist is to learn to relax and enjoy the process.  If you are too concerned about ruining your drawing, then you will never enjoy what you are doing and probably will eventually quit altogether.  Drawing, like almost any other skill, takes time, practice, and patience.  Recall, if you can, when you first started to learn how to write. It took rows and rows of practice to perfect the technique of forming letters and numerals.  Once your hand memorized the shapes, overtime your handwriting improved.  If you still have any of your old penmanship sheets, take a look and compare it to how you write now.  I think that may help you gain perspective (pardon the pun!) on your drawing.  Or, if you have young children at home who are now just learning to write, that will work just as well.

So, now let’s back to colored pencil drawing, shall we?  If you do have kids at home, creating art together is a great way to strengthen relationships – even with those difficult teens!  Some of my fondest childhood memories are of drawing or coloring with a parent, grandparent, and my favorite cousin.   Okay, I’ll admit that my mother was a professional artist, who designed packages for Revlon, but it was not her skill that brought me the enjoyment.  It was her company and collaboration.  My cousin, on the other hand, was a competent colorer, but no gifted artist.  However, my fondest memories are with her because I felt at ease because it was all about fun – not judgment.   Therefore, when drawing alone, in a class, with friends or family members, remember not to judge yourself, but just enjoy!

Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils are water-soluble and made of professional artist quality grade pigments.  They are sold individually or in sets of 12, 24, and 36 pencils.  Used with or without water, the smooth and rich colored leads lend themselves to creating dynamic drawings.   Additionally, all Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils precisely match the color palette of Prismacolor’s other products – Premier, Verithin, and Art Stix.

The technique to using water-soluble pencils is up to the individual artist’s imagination.  There is no wrong way to use these pencils, except to avoid over saturating paper with water, which can lead to tearing, especially when using light weight paper.   Artist grade watercolor paper is recommended, rather than drawing paper.  An alternative to watercolor paper is cold press illustration board, which is a thick, high rag content paper similar in thickness to cardboard.  It has what artists call, tooth, which means that the surface is textured and not smooth.  The textured surface will absorb water better, allowing for greater artistic control.  A smooth surface will cause running, because there is no place for the water to go.  Pencils in general work much better on a textured, porous surface.  When purchasing either watercolor paper or cold press illustration board, be sure to check that it is made from 100% cotton fiber and is acid free.

Illustration board can be used with a combination of media and is much more resilient to water than watercolor paper.  When using either, particularly if you plan to apply water, it is best to secure your paper to a hard, smooth surface such as Masonite board.  The reason for this is twofold; first, when paper absorbs water and dries, it expands and buckles.  If taped down, your drawing surface will maintain better integrity.  Secondly, the tape allows for a border, which will come in handy when it comes to framing your drawing.  Some artists prepare their watercolor paper by first gently immersing it in lukewarm water before they tape it down.   Soaking time is generally no more than 10 minutes, and should be less with lighter weight paper.  Always handle your paper by the corners when removing it from water.   Allow the excess water to drip into a basin before placing it on your board.  Before taping down your paper, you will want to remove excess water using a sponge, applying smooth, even, straight, and gentle strokes across the surface.  Once all bubble and bumps are removed, tape down one side using drafting tape.  Make sure to use only one piece of tape; multiply pieces will cause your paper to dry unevenly.  You will need to hold the tape taught, and begin in the middle of one edge of the paper, working it evenly from the middle to the edges. Once one side is evenly taped down, again use your sponge to smooth out your paper, but this time, apply even strokes away from the taped side.  When you are satisfied that the paper is bubble free, apply tape to the opposite side of the paper.  Depending upon whether you are right or left-handed, will determine which side you will begin your taping – keeping in mind that you want to use the sponge to stroke away from the taped side.  If you are left-handed, you may want to begin on the right side of the paper.  Once the right and left sides are taped down, your paper should be adequately stretched, and won’t require further sponge work when taping down the top and the bottom of your paper.

In order to avoid making a hole or tearing your paper, it is probably best to wait before you paper is fairly dry before applying your first markings with Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils.  Once the paper is dry, you may begin your drawing!   Applying water to your drawing will require at least one watercolor paintbrush.  Brushes come in a variety of sizes and shapes; a fan brush is especially useful for pulling your pigment away from the point of pencil saturation, in order to create a wisping or fanning effect.

Prismacolor Colored Pencils rate high on the scale of fine art products and come in eight distinct product lines, four of which are briefly reviewed here. These include Art Stix®, Premier, Lightfast, and Scholar® pencils.  Each product line can be used exclusive to the other lines, or mixed to create multiple textures and visual effects.  For example, because of its flat and broad surface, Art Stix® are terrific for covering large areas.  While similar in shape to a pastel stick, Art Stix® are made of the same quality texture and pigments as Prismacolor colored pencil leads.  Unlike pastels, Art Stix® can be sharpened using a razor or knife, and can even be shaped into a fine point using fine sandpaper or newsprint.

The Premier is a line of colored pencils that comes in 132 different colors, which can be purchased either individually or in a set.  Sets come in quantities of 12, 24, 36, 72, 120, and 132.  Premier colored pencils are made of rich, high quality pigment leads, suitable for artists from beginners to professionals.  The Scholar® line is only sold in sets of 12, 24, 36 and 48 pencils, and is not sold individually. Premier leads are thicker and heavier in weight than Scholar® colored pencils, and resist breakage better when dropped.  That is particularly an advantage to most beginning artists, who tend to drop their pencils more often than experienced artists.  When a pencil is dropped onto a hard surface, the lead inside the wood encasing easily shatters into small splints of lead.  One drop can sometimes damage an entire pencil, which when sharpened will crumble.  Because Scholar® colored pencil leads are thinner, they tend to break more easily.  However, if you work in an area where the flooring is not made of hard concrete, an occasional drop will probably not do quite as much damage.

If you are looking for a pencil which will preserve its overall tonal and color quality, especially when exposed to light, the recommended pencil is the Prismacolor Lightfast series.  The Lightfast colored pencil line was designed to resist fading even when exposed to light for prolonged periods of time.  Lightfast complies with ASTM D 6901 for light fastness – a standard established by ASTM International, a not-for-profit organization that publishes voluntary consensus standards for materials and products for quality, including the labeling of artists’ colored pencils. Prismacolor Lightfast colored pencils are sold in 48 rich colors, and are made of rich, light resistant pigments.  They can be purchased individually or in sets of 12, 24, and 48.

In the case of Prismacolor colored pencils or any other artist pencils, never use an electric pencil sharpener to sharpen your pencils.  Electric pencil sharpeners tend to eat-up pencils, as well as shake-up the delicate lead inside the wood casing.  If you must use a pencil sharpener, use a sharpener such as the Prismacolor Colored Pencil Sharpener, which is engineered specifically for artist pencils.  Most first art students will learn to sharpen their pencils using a straight edge razor or knife – sort of in the style of wood whittling.  For safety as well as quality, always hold the pencil away from the body, pointing the pencil point towards the floor while making light, gentle, even shaving strokes.  Make sure to rotate the pencil after each shave in order to achieve an evenly sharpened pencil, and never made deep incisions into the pencil. If you require a precisely pointed pencil lead, you can gently sand the exposed wood and pencil lead with a piece of fine sandpaper or newsprint.

The phrase cheap art supplies can mean many things to many people.  Advertisers, especially on the Internet, use such phrases to entice buyers to their website or their store.  However, this does not mean that the prices or products are any less expensive or of a lesser quality than competitors, but in some cases it may.  Most art suppliers carry a standard stock of the most popular art supply manufacturers, such as Prismacolor.   Prices usually are adjusted according to season, primarily following the school calendar.  Seasonally, i.e. fall, spring, and summer, manufacturers send pricing catalogs to their distributors and retailers, which reflect their specials.  Normally, the retailer will pass this savings onto the consumer – but not always.  Sometimes, it’s just a way for retailers to make extra money.

The best strategy that I can offer the consumer, is to do a price comparison online for the products you are interested in buying.  Using my browser, I open up multiple tabs for each retailer, so that I can easily compare prices.  If you are unfamiliar with tabs, it is a much easier way to work than working with multiple open windows.  Simply right click the ad or hyperlink on a web page for the company where you want to do your comparison shopping.  A drop-down menu will appear with the choice of opening the new page in a new window or a new tab; choose new tab.  In addition to product price comparison, also compare shipping costs.  Some online retailers will offer very cheap art supplies, but may charge higher shipping fees than their competitors that charges slightly higher prices for their products, but less for shipping.  The difference in shipping fees may make a big difference in the overall cost of your order. Also, some companies will offer free shipping if your order totals a specified minimum amount.  The total, however, does not include tax and shipping fees – only the total price of the items ordered.

Some of the larger art supply retailers also sell their own brand.  Depending on the product, this may or may not be a good buying decision.  It’s similar to buying generic or supermarket brand products.  The standard of generic or store brand art supplies may or may not live up to your expectations.  If in doubt, it’s usually best to buy a name brand product, such as Prismacolor colored pencils, unless you already have firsthand experience with the retailer’s store brand.  Store brands may not always deliver consistency either, as they may change the manufacturer that produces their products.  In other words, a store brand colored pencil may not be made by the same manufacturer that made the pencils the year before.

Another thing to beware of when shopping for cheap art supplies is the retailer’s return policy.  Some retailers may charge a restocking fee for returned merchandise.  Be careful of final sale policies, with wording such as no returns or exchanges.  Alternatively, some retailers may only give you a store credit, rather than your money on returned merchandise.  On the other hand, if a product arrives damaged, retailers will usually issue a DOM (damaged on arrival) return label, in which they take full responsibility for all shipping costs of returned items.  In such cases, retailers should not charge a restocking fee for products damaged during shipping.

If you have been following this blog, you may have noticed that I alluded to using Prismacolor watercolor pencils in my last article, “Prismacolor Colored Pencils Drawing Techniques.” Prismacolor watercolor pencils are made up of water-soluble materials, which enable an artist to create watercolor like effects within a drawing.  By applying a damp paintbrush to a composition drawn with water-soluble colored pencils, rough areas can be gently smoothed away.  Rather than use an eraser to try to remove or lighten areas of a drawing, applying a damp brush to these so-called mistakes, can actually enhance a drawing.

Here is an example, suppose you are drawing a landscape.  Rather than worry about having to cover a large area, such as the foreground, simply color the area gently with pencil, and then apply your brush to smooth out the spaces.  You can also draw on top of the water brushed area, but make sure that your paper is not too wet, or the paper will tear.  An alternative would be to wait until the paper is dry, and then apply a second layer of pencil to the drawing.  This may only be a few pencil accents made with yellows, violets, or reds to indicate flowers.  Once you have drawn in your flowers, use the damp brush again to blur and smooth the area.  You will find that brushes will pick-up some of the Prismacolor watercolor pencil pigment, so you can use that color to add additional color and texture to your drawing without having to put your pencil to the paper.  Remember always to keep a cup of clean water near your drawing area, in order to rinse accumulated pigment from your brush.  Dry it gently using a soft rag; paper towels will come apart and leave pieces in your brush.

Before you begin a watercolor pencil drawing, make sure to tape the paper to a smooth surface, such as a piece of Masonite.  It is advisable to use drafting tape, because it is easy to remove from your finished drawing. The reason why you will want to tape your paper down to a board is because once paper is moistened, it will curl.  Even if you are only using a dampened paintbrush for highlighting purposes, those areas will bubble.  Therefore, make sure to tape down your drawing.

Drafting tape comes in a variety of widths, so depending upon the size of your drawing will determine the tape width you will want to use.  Larger papers will need wider tape to secure it to the Masonite board.  Additionally, once the tape is removed, the unpainted area will be the border of the drawing.  To make sure that you have an even border, use a T-square and ruler to mark off the area.  You can adjust the border as it pleases your eye and the dimensions of your paper.  A slightly wider border on the bottom is preferable.  Most artists sign their drawings on the bottom of their drawing, so leave enough room for the signature.  Also, keep in mind, that you will also want to mat and frame your drawing after it is finished, so leave enough room around all the paper for this as well.  Use one strip of drafting tape to mark off the border.  Longer is better; you can always cut the excess away.  Make sure to smooth out any bubbles in the tape once it is laid down.

To make sure that you have a nicely even border, be sure to first measure and mark your paper using a pencil – preferably a 2H, non-water soluble pencil, i.e. not a Prismacolor watercolor pencil. A 2H pencil is hard enough not to smudge your paper, and if you do not press down very hard, it is hardly noticeable. You also do not want to use watercolor pencils when drawing the border, because the pigment can run into the drawing area.  The pigment can also run onto the tape, or into bubbles in the tape, and smear your border.