Still considering myself a newbie I have gone through a lot of wonderful tutorials posted in this forum.
I wondered what markers were and found this tutorial:

http://design.tutsplus.com/tutorials/qu ... -cms-20639

A fast trial - and obviously I am doing something wrong. I have tried to rotate objects before using them as markers but with no luck.

This is my result:

That pencil was inspiring indeed.

Keep in mind the direction to be set right before converting the objects to markers -they need a 90° turn to the current ones.
Could be done after with the xml editor I guess, but much easier to have it right from the start.

Some other articles (with hints for a smooth transition) may also help you with it:
Fake a Curved Gradient, Using Markers

Bending a chrome rail

gradient bending with diffuse lighting filter

Thank you, Lazur - I'll try again. And yes, that pencil is beautiful!

Problem solved - thank you again, Lazur

Great fun and something to play with