Many artists and crafters have not heard of the Too company. It began in 1919 as the Izumiya Art Supply Store in Shibuya, Tokyo. In 1950, they incorporated as the Izumiya Limited Company and in 1965 began exporting art supplies to Europe and the U.S. The Magic Marker Corporation of Japan was established in 1968 as a joint venture with Magic Marker Corporation in the U.S. The COPIC design marker was developed in 1987.

Browns. I wanted to experiment with different tonal values. Since Micron makes two different brown pens, I though combining those with black would be interesting. I shaded this tile with brown colored pencils. Zentangle drawn on Official Zentangle tile using brown, sepia and black Micron pens. Tangles: Centipede Flora Isochor Lacy Locar Purk Ripple Shattuck

Where will we go? Echo Lines is a technique developed by CZT Eni Oken. While it‘s a simple concept, it creates very complex, flowing, dimensional shapes. This is my first attempt. Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Bristol Vellum using a black Micron pen. Zenstones created with colored pencil, highlights with Sharpie Poster Paint marker. Tangles: Echo Lines

I already told you some of the history of the Kuretake company in the post about the ZIG Real Color Brush markers. Today I want to talk about another of their products, this time in the Memory System product line. This line of products was designed to preserve memories and archival materials. The ZIG Memory Writer pens have been around for years. The available colors change from time to time, but the twin-tipped, Memory System Writers are a staple in almost every scrapbooker‘s toolset since 1977.

Rotation. It‘s interesting the way the design feels like everything is wrapped around the Bunzo as if it‘s surrounded by a mini cyclone of patterns. Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Bristol Vellum using a black Micron pen. Tangles: Ambler Bunzo Ennies Florz Indy-Rella Jetties Knase Purk

The very first Sharpie marker was a black, indelible ink pen introduced by the Sanford company in 1964. Since that time, the brand has grown to include almost 40 different colors and more than 100 products. While you‘re most familiar with the ubiquitous black marker, today we‘ll take a look at a different critter in the Sharpie lineup. I‘ve been using the Sharpie Water-Based Paint markers for art journaling for some time now.

Tomorrow is St. Patrick‘s Day. So, even though it‘s a day early, I‘m using this tile, which looks like a basket of shamrocks! Zentangle drawn on Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen. Tangles: Fescu Keeko Munchin Sh-Rock Twing W-2

The Faber-Castell company was originally established in 1761 by a cabinet maker named Kaspar Faber. While the company produces many different products, their primary focus is on wood-cased pencils, producing over 2,000 million per year. They are the world‘s largest pencil manufacturer! The company is still family run by the eighth generation member, Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell, who took over as head of the company in 1978. Today we‘re going to take a look at the Faber-Castell Pitt® Big Brush Pens.

Schway in Schway. In this tangle, the string is Schway and the tangle is also used as a pattern in the tile. My goal here was to create a tile in which the tangles were basically symmetrical. Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Bristol Vellum using a black Micron pen. Tangles: Schway Eye-Wa Chard Cootie

The Winsor and Newton company began with the partnership of a scientist, William Winsor and an artist, Henry Newton, in 1832. They developed the first glycerine based, moist watercolor cakes which they started selling to other artists in 1835. Prior to this, artists either had to buy their paints from a “colourman” or had to grind their own pigments and mix them with various mediums, such as gum arabic.

The Kuretake company was established in 1902, so it‘s a company with a long history of making art products. The original name was Kuretake Sumi and began with the production of “sumi” brushes. The Kuretake ZIG Corporation was established in the United states in 2014. Now days, they make a wide variety of pens, brushes, watercolors, inks and markers. A line of products that may be of particular interest to tanglers (people who like to create Zentangles) is Kaleidolines.

Spiders. Everytime I see this, I think there is a spider lurking about, waiting for her eggs to hatch. Zentangle drawn on Official Zentangle tile using a black, Micron pen. Tangles: Aah Afterglow Black Box Black-eyed Peas Centipede Hibred Huggins Munchin Poke-Root

The Tombow brand has been around since it was founded in 1927. The parent company celebrated it‘s 100th Anniversary in 2013. They began with the production of pencils and sharpeners and manufactured those for over 20 years. The production of felt-tip and ball-point pens began in 1958, and the solvent-free Tombow marker in 1974. The ABT Dual Brush Pen, originally in 72 colors was launched in 1984. I‘ve been using Tombow Dual Brush Pens for as long as the company has been making them.

Relaxation. When I hold out this tile and squint at it, I get the feeling of a daybed, or the corner of a couch in an atrium. It feels like I could snuggle against the pillows with a good book or a sketch pad! Zentangle drawn on Strathmore Vellum Bristol using a black, Micron pen. Tangles: Chillon coral Seeds Evoke Façade Onamato Orlique Prestwood Scena Vega

Today‘s marker review is all about Ranger‘s Tim Holtz® Distress Markers 61 Color Canister Set. This is a set of 61 differently colored, double-ended markers. I purchased these on line from Amazon because they weren‘t available in any local store that I knew of. They arrived in a couple of days. The markers arrived in a cylindrical plastic container with a removable black plastic top. There were two stickers on the sides of the container reminding the owner to store the markers horizontally.