Sharpie

The best pens in the world for permanent markings, such as your favorite little dots on your golf balls. Tiger Woods uses an illegal device (well, it should be) of drawing a line on his balls so that he can lay them down on the line on which he wishes the putt to roll. (You really should see this in your mind and not have to rely on a line on a ball, but God bless him for his effort.)

Duffy Waldorf does the most imaginative markings in several different colors. His kids and wife help out with different themes to fit the season.

I prefer three black dots to remind me of the Holy Trinity: Bobby Jones, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus.

But, back to Sharpies:

Do not expect something written with these pens to outlast the elements. Put a sign outside and it'll be washed out in a couple of months. One word: Paint.

I look around my desk and see dozens of black Sharpie markers. Fine point, thick, the new ones with clear bottoms and plastic grips.

Sharpies come in dozens of colors (including metallic silver and gold), shapes (fine, thick, flat, bold), and sizes. Why do I love the black ones so much?

Probably because they are actually BLACK. Its a rarer thing than you may think. As an artist I am always on a quest for the right color. The hardest thing to get right is black. Often times black markers end up looking grey, or like a darker version of some other color like red or blue. Worst of all, different permanent markers have different tints.

Sharpies are the best because they are dark. Really dark. I have also found that they last longer than most other permanent markers I have used (in terms of how long you use them, not how long the marks stay. I haven't tested that yet). The Sharpies with fine points are great for outlining illustrations and the thicker ones for coloring in large areas. They are water resistant and dry quickly which is a big plus because then one can color over them with whatever medium one prefers.

For more information about the technical stuff behind sharpie markers visit the sharpie website: www.sharpie.com.

Sharpies, the best permanent markers in the world, now come in a variety of colors, as well as the traditional black: they are available in yellow, blue, green, orange, red, brown, purple, turquoise, lime, aqua, berry, olive, marigold, navy, plum and burgandy.

There is also a metallic SharpieŽ marker. The Sanford Company recommends that you store your metallic Sharpies tip down, to increase the fluidity of metallic flakes (In case you were wondering about that). The SharpieŽ website - www.sharpie.com - contains all kinds of useful information, such as:

"The ink in the SHARPIEŽ Ultra Fine point is the quickest drying ink of the entire SHARPIEŽ marker line."

Boiling Point: 207 degrees Farenheit
Specific Gravity: 0.80
Vapor Pressure: 13 mm Hg at 20C
Water Soluable: Yes
Evaporation Rate: 1.3

Sharpies come in a variety of sizes. There is Super, Chisel, Fine, Extra Fine, and Ultra Fine. The company also sells "Twin" Markers, which have two tips, one on each end. There is the normal Twin, in which one end is Fine and the other Ultra Fine. In the "Super Twin," one end is Super and the other is the Chisel size.

Various Uses of a SharpieŽ Marker:

• Labeling Freezer bags, Livestock, Underwear, Tupperware, Slaves, Bus Seats, and anything else that can conceivably be labeled.
• Touching up a shoe scuff
• Drawing comics (or anything else, really)
• Making Moustaches, Fake - but hard to remove- Tattoos, and Pimples on sleeping persons.
• Addressing Envelopes/ People
• Covering gray hair Combine the colored or metallic sharpies and hair for interesting results!
• Ruining Dry-Erase Boards
• Autographing footballs, body parts, peices of paper, etc.

Sharp"ie (?), n. Naut.

A long, sharp, flat-bottomed boat, with one or two masts carrying a triangular sail. They are often called Fair Haven sharpies, after the place on the coast of Connecticut where they originated.

© Webster 1913.