Using other/further Materials
You can of course use other markers, paper and pens. I suggest at least one of the top brands of markers: Copic, Tria, or Prismacolor. In my experience Copic blends best, Tria is great for details, and Prismacolor is good for large solid colors. With paper keep in mind that the more the paper bleeds the more your color will blend but the harder it is to control where the color goes. You also want to be sure that your paper can stand up to several layers of marker.

For inking I use whatever pens I have around - if you are using marker over ink MAKE SURE THE INK IS WATERPROOF or your ink will run/smudge. The brands noted above are the brands I like best, I use a number of sizes and I also like Copic and Faber-Castell's Brush pens a lot (though brush pens take some practice). Also you can use Gouache or Liquid Paper or sometimes Gell Pens instead of the inks noted. In some of my other pieces I use more mixed media and also layer colored pencil over the marker.

Thumbnails & Sketch
Normally I begin with at least one (and often more) quick thumbnail sketch. In this case I wanted to do a newer version of my "Elf Hatter" which I did back in 2002. So I used the older picture I had for reference and sketched the newer portrait as shown on the left (Note I've darkened the sketch in scanning so you can see it - sketch lightly so you can erase the lines after inking).

Inking
Now I begin inking with blue. Please note that at this stage I don't worry about making the inking perfect or thick even if I plan to have thick lines later - I will adjust the ink further AFTER I've colored the picture.

Here I continue with the maroon inking. I've inked the areas in the colors I plan to color them (this is why a quickly colored thumbnail can be useful for reference).

Coloring!
Okay time to break out the markers! At left I show the colors I selected to use. I wanted a mostly Blue-Blue/Violet color scheme so I picked colors that started with B or BV and only one warmer color (Dark Pink which starts with RV and thus is a Red Violet).

How to color an area: You want to make one "layer" of marker color over the area, or section of the area, as rapidly as possible. Move your marker in small, circle-like motions - NOT back and forth. Try to cover the whole area as smoothly as possible. For larger areas build the color out always trying to keep the edge of the color wet by overlapping the last strokes a little. You don't want to be putting wet marker over a dry area (unless you want that area to look different) - this is what can make marker look uneven or streaky.

I start coloring with the checks on the hat using Lavender and Grayish Lavender. Notice, as shown in example, you can put in an area of Lavender, do the shading using Grayish Lavender and then darken/blend it by using Lavender over the shaded area again.

Here I have colored in most of the areas that will be Lavender and Grayish Lavender. You can see I used several layers to get the darker area for the underside of her hat. I also shaded in the face with Grayish Lavender.

Now moving on to the next set of colors - Mauve Shadow and Smoking Blue. Please note when shading like this I make one quick coat with the Mauve Shadow, then add the Smoking Blue and blend it in with the Mauve Shadow while it is still "wet". This means you want to work one small area at a time where possible.

Okay, on to the hair! Same sort of deal, this time with three colors Mauve Shadow, Smoking Blue and Baby Blue. I start with the lightest color (Baby Blue) and make sure to leave highlights, then I use Mauve Shadow to add some variety to the color and Smoking Blue for shadows.

I continued coloring with the colors noted above working through all the areas of clothing etc. In the second image I also added in Sky blue for more color variety in the clothing. IMPORTAINT NOTE: I don't be all that careful during this process to stay "In the Lines" - it's more important to get smooth color and the look/texture you want. Don't worry too much if you go outside the lines a little, this can be corrected after the coloring is finished.

Now that all the coloring is done I add in highlights using Copic Opaque White and a small paintbrush. This can really make an image "pop". Note, you can also use Copic Opaque White for correcting mistakes where you've gone outside lines.

NOW I go back in a re-ink some areas, bolding the lines I want to etc. Since I like having a more messy "inky" look to my drawing I use an eye dropper, paint brush, some paper towels, and Indigo FW Acrylic Artists Ink and Copic Dark Pink marker to add in a texture/background. Now the image is pretty much "done". You'll notice in the version in my gallery that I used photoshop to add a border and title.