AD MarkerThe Original Chartpak, Tri-Nib, Blender (Colorless), 1 Each (P-O)

Ok, so the marker didn't rob me and I don't think it had rabies, it wasn't showing any symptoms at least. I ordered it wanting to transfer prints to leather and heard that a blender pen would do so. I read the reviews and saw a number of people complaining about receiving their markers dried out after the cap popped off. I like to live dangerously so I ordered it anyway. After opening the package I was surprised to see the cap still tightly in place, and thought well this must be my lucky day. I went to the bank, cleared out my savings and checking accounts and went to the casino. Which was a few hours away, and i forgot to get gas before I left. Strolling up to the roulette table I remembered an old quote by Confucius who said "always bet on black". Or maybe it was a movie I heard that in, either way I knew it was my lucky day. I plopped down 3 months rent, 2 car payments and grocery money for two weeks on black to win. Yeah Confucius was wrong, 7 red....So now I had no gas money, well no money really, so I did what any reasonable man would do. I called my wife, who is now in the process of divorcing me, she was yelling something about being irresponsible with money, I don't know I wasn't listening. After she refused to come and get me with her car that had a full tank of gas I started back home on just under a quarter tank of gas. I ran out of gas at a rest stop out in the middle of no where and decided I would have to hitch hike home. But it was hours before a vehicle would pick me up. Getting hungry I found half a bag of hot cheetos on the back floor board. My lucky streak was still going hot because I met a new friend. His name was Harvey, well that's what I'll call him because I don't know how to spell out raccoon sounds. And well I don't speak raccoon, and when I asked him his name he just made that weird laughing sound. At any rate I guess he could smell the cheetos because he immediately ran over to me and held out his little paw like I better pay up. While I was giving him a few of the cheetos some mangy old fox came up and started giving Harvey the stink eye, and Harvey noticed. I tried to tell Harvey to let it go, he was just some crazy old fox, but Harv wouldn't let it go. He ran over and got all up in that fox's grill and it went down. Of course I had to back up my friend so I jump in, getting bit and scratched in the process. The highway patrol finally showed up while I was recreating a scene from bumfights animal edition, something about a guy in torn and bloody clothes covered in raccoon and fox bites asking people for rides is apparently frowned upon. Also don't get so excited to see someone in a cop car that might help, that you go running at them yelling "i'm going home!" Tazers hurt. After relaying my story, and finally convincing them that I'm not mentally unstable they were able to get me a ride home, to an empty house, and a quarantine notice because Harvey had rabies. Wish he would have told me that before he bit me.Great Marker, glad I bought it!

This is a great blender- REALLY great for transfers- but I purchased another one solely to try it out as a blender for color pencils (I mainly use Irojitens, which have a harder lead than pencils like Prismacolor) and it did a so-so job. I think Gamsol and Prismacolor blenders do a smoother job. I have to try it out a few more times, but it seemed to sort of flatten the layers of color rather than blend them together.A few notes about the pen itself: it's POTENT. If you like the smell of xylene (think paint markers) you'll be in heaven with this pen because it REALLY smells. You need adequate ventilation, especially if you use a lot of it to cover a wide surface or keep the cap open. I kinda like the smell of xylene (which I know is odd) but this pen makes me turn on the fan and get frequent gulps of fresh air outside my studio.Second- I was kinda concerned about the nib because I tend to like a fine nib, but the chisel comes to a fine point at one end, and it's very firm and doesn't fray easily, so the pen can easily be used for detail work and for getting into tiny areas. I use it with a Ranger Nib holder and disposable nibs, so I touch that to the tip of the blender pen to get a little of the blending solution going and can change the nibs for warm and cool colors, so no mud and accidental color transfer.It's a powerful pen, great for blending Charpak markers and for transfers, but it's not the very best for color pencils.

I had always used Prismacolor Colorless Blenders in the past for all my marker and colored pencil blending needs, but thought I'd give the Chartpak Colorless Blender a try. Boy, am I glad I did! While I still do enjoy the Prismacolor blender as well, I think the Chartpak has become the new favorite. It blends my colored pencils with an ease and precision unparalleled to even the Prisma. As a bonus, I've been experimenting with transferring photocopied images with these markers. There are easy-to-follow YouTube videos with the process and I've had great results with what I've tried based off those tutorials. I highly recommend trying it out for a fun and easy way to spice up your art life.

Of all the transfer methods I’ve used for printmaking and stamp making, the blender method is the easiest. The marker itself does a great job, but the smell is very strong. It’s okay for small stamps, but after doing 1 larger transfer, the smell stuck around for a while and was very noticeable in my studio space

I’ve been using these markers for image transfers for several years now, and they used to last quite a while. Now they dry out in minutes. I’ve tried them from different vendors, individual and multi packs, and it’s always the same crap quality. I even contacted Chartpak, who responded but didn’t provide any explanation as to why they dry out so fast or any help with reimbursement. So basically another company whose quality declined substantially and who doesn’t stand behind their product.

As a collage artist I have tried numerous transfer mediums and methods and this is by far the best for transferring laser copies to fabric. I just transferred a B&W copy of a John Lennon photo to a piece of white muslin and it looks terrific. Of course, transferring to paper or the collage substrate is a breeze. I'm ordering two this time -- mine is still good but none of the big online art suppliers (i.e. Dick Blick, Jerry's Artarama) have it, so Amazon gets the sale once again. I love this product and would recommend it to a friend or fellow artist. And, I love Amazon for stocking it!

These work great! Have a fan blowing the fumes away from you. They're not too bad, but better to be safe. The sooner you use the transfer pen after printing the laser copy the better it works! Some parts of the attached collages were done using the pens.