Marker advice needed
 

Hi Everyone,

I am looking for new markers to buy and need help with which ones to choose. I am looking between Promarkers, Shinhan Touch Twin markers (or the brush tip ones), or the new Prismacolor Brushtip markers. I would love advice from others to see how they like them. I have used Copics and the regular Prismacolor markers before, but am really considering some of the other brands.

Thanks!
Catherine

You might check out Spectrum Noir markers. I've been collecting them in sets of six from here:

ConsumerCrafts - Search - spectrum noir | ConsumerCrafts

They also have them at Joanns for $14.99 for a six pack, but you can use a coupon at Joanns.

The only downside I would say about Promarkers, is that they don't have enough pale colours. The Spectrum Noirs mentioned above seem to have way more pale/pastel shades.

For me, the alcohol markers are easier to blend colors. I am not an artist by any means but I just don't think water based markers are meant to blend. The alcohol markers don't 'rough up'/make the paper pill.

I have some Copics, Bic fine point and just bought some Spectrum Noir. With any of them, practice, practice, practice. Each type of markers seems to have its 'quirk'. The alcohol markers bleed/soak into the paper and I think this helps them blend easier. The SN are my newest pens and I have to practice being a little less heavy handed because they seem to release more ink.

SN can be purchased with a coupon at JoAnn and Michael's. Don't have any other store near me that carry them.

Good luck on whatever markers you decide to purchase.

Isn't the paper half the battle when using markers? My friend is a Copic addict and she always uses Copic paper with hers? Is it the same for other brands??

Alcohol markers
 

Hi Catherine! Markers, markers & more markers! Which ones right?? So many to choose from! I have a lot of markers myself. I'm into the alcohol markers because of the blending. I have quite a few copics but haven't purchased any in quite awhile due to the cost. They seem to raise the prices on them every year. The Spectrum Noir markers that Bugga mentioned in her post are definitely worth the money in my opinion. I also feel that they work just as well. Joanns & AC Moore carry them and I believe they run $14.99 for a pack of 6. The nice thing about those is you can use a coupon for them if they are not on sale. Over time I purchased all the 6 packs that Joanns carries! You could purchase a couple packs reasonably to see if you like them and if not you wont be out a lot of $$$!!! I know at one time there was a post on here in regards to these markers and quite a few of the people on here have them and like them.

Good luck and have fun!

I now am using Spectrum Noir, Am getting the sets of 6 at Joann's, and the "in between" sets at Crafter's Companion (what a nice company to deal with) Went to their site, when they offered Splitcoast Members the discount. They sent my Senior group some catalogs and we have since made a group order of their stamps. I am very pleased with these markers. I like the shape, they don't roll off my desk.

I actually like my Prismacolor markers more because they work better with lower priced paper, but I don't love that the colors don't really fit into "families" so I also have most of the Spectrum Noirs. If I'm choosing a main color, I tend to lean toward the prismas, but the SN's blend with them quite well. I just had to fit them into my chart. It's hard for me to advise between the two, I guess it depends on what you'll do with them. If you plan to color more cartoony style, the prismas are the way to go; if you're okay with the learning curve that comes with the SN's, go with them. The SN's are pretty inexpensive for the 6 packs, but I found they didn't come with enough to learn with so it gets expensive when you want to buy the rest which are only in 24's at about $50 a pack for each of the 4 packs.

Thanks ladies! This definitely helps me when considering which markers I should buy.

Catherine

I just bought a pack of 24 from consumer crafts las week on sale for $25, I am kicking myself I didn't buy all the color sets! They were juicky and wonderful and blended with my copics, trias, and prismacolors. You can't beat the price. I got a pack of the flesh tones at acmoore (on sale this week for $8) a few months ago and they were quite dry so they must have got a bad batch. I might grab some more this week and return them if they are dry, You can can't beat the price! I just colored this image with them:
http://thefrugalcrafter.files.wordpr...as_1.jpg?w=468

I just started ordering the refills for my Spectrum Noir markers...They are wonderful to use and a lot less expensive than other brands...

I too have been buying the Specturm Noir Markers.

I looking to purchase more.

I agree...I have the complete set of the ProMarkers and alot of the Flexmarkers, and they don' seem to have alot of graduating paler shades in bewteen color shades.

Copic seems to have more to choose from.

I don't have any experiece with Prisma or Spectrum Noirs.

I bought most of the ProMarkers from the beginning and honestly did not like them. I had a hard time understanding how to get the right look with them. I thought maybe I needed more colors to achieve that, so I bought them all along with some of the Flexmarkers to fill in for the lighter shades. Worked with them, watched tutorials and still found it hard to achieve a nice look. (I did like the Flexmarkers better- fine brush tip-ProMarker tips are not fine- so small, fine images you are trying to color look sloppy, unless you have the Ultra fine nib. That costs extra.)

It's probably just me, but I like easy...I want to have fun coloring! :)
I bought some of the Copics and have found they are easier for me to work with. They seem to blend together a little easier and have a bigger color range than the ProMarkers.

I would buy a few from each brand and play with them and see what works for you.

Here is a video comparing Copic, ProMarkers, and Spectrum Noir:
Marker Comparison (Copic, Spectrum Noir, Promarkers) - YouTube

Spectrum Noir:
http://youtu.be/VtiQf2Iqt9M

My personal preference is for the Touch Twin brush markers. I like the way the ink behaves, and the price-point is better than Copic. My preference is also for a brush tip over a bullet tip (although they can have their uses too).

The nice thing - you can use your different brands of alcohol based markers together. So, why not pick up a few of the Touch Twin, a few of the Spectrum Noir and a few Prismacolor and see which YOU prefer?

I'm with Elaine - I love my Touch Brush Markers!

Lots of samples of my marker coloring here: Mama Dini's Stamperia: Touch Twin Markers

I have and use the Promarkers as that's what's more widely available over her. I LOVE them. I love the smaller end and have some of the fine tips which I just interchange when I need. They blend really well, but you do need to get a good colour chart so you can be selective when buying the colours that blend well together. And they are a great price. Joanna Sheen.com has free shipping for any order 9 pound and over and their promarkers are 1.50(pound) each.

Just a shout out for them as not many people seem to use or like the promarkers much but I LOVE them.