To Marker, or Not to Marker

Art Supplies as Fashion Accessories

I've been complaining for years about the poor value you get out of most art markers, especially the dreaded, ubiquitous Copic Markers.

People are convinced Copics are too convenient to give up. I even had a young woman artist dress me down for my privilege because she is convinced that fine art materials are too expensive for her! She insisted Copics were all she could afford!

Until I proved to her that my fine art materials were not only better quality than Copics, but were less expensive, too! And you can get perfectly fine alcohol based markers that perform just as well for significantly less.

Let me show you what I showed her.

Many websites had Copic Markers listed at retail and discount amounts comparable to those shown here. (Now I know some wanker will screen shot what I posted here to complain Copics are much cheaper than this, hurr hurr, what does this so-called artist know about Copics! I am showing you what was available when I wrote this, and what is available now).

Holy cow, a set of twelve Copic Markers for only...gasp, choke...$90.54 marked down from $132.49.  Er...what a bargain? 

And the 72 color set was a whopping $543.23 marked down from $794.90.

Man, that's some kind of deal. Especially for markers that WILL FADE over time. They're not going to last.

PERIOD.

But now, boy howdy, has the cost of Copics come down big time.

Well, yay. I’m glad that’s cheaper. And now Copics are refillable! What a bargain! And so much better for the environment!

But wait…if you’re going to insist on using plastic art tools that are dye based and going to fade over time, why not just buy…a less expensive brand?

This monster set of Ohuhu markers is $244.48, they’re refillable like the Copics, AND you get 320 colors for less than the cost of the Copic 72 set.

I have to assume the drop in the cost of Copics is due to the competition on the market that simply wasn’t there 5-10 years back.

I recommended the Ohuhu markers to supporters at my Patreon, and those who tried them say they found no discernable difference in quality between the Copics and the Ohuhu.

Once again, I’m not a fan of markers. MANY OF THE COLORS WILL FADE. But for comps, quick sketches, or a present that will delight a budding artist, go with the Ohuhu.

There are many smaller, more affordable cases like this Ohuhu set of 80 colors, which will probably be all you will really need.

So, let's compare those prices for markers that are going to destroy your art over time with high end fine art quality watercolor pan sets. 

Why, lookie there, that's a half pan set of Rembrandt paints, 48 vibrant colors, archival fine art quality for only $138.01!

Um...OK.

Say, what's the better value for the low income artist? The set of 12 Copic markers or the set of 48 paint colors that you can mix into hundreds of colors? 

Math is fun! 

(BTW, that's cheaper than the Rembrandt watercolor set I bought this past year on Amazon, and I thought I got a bargain.)

So, with a set of fine art quality pan watercolors being demonstrably LESS EXPENSIVE than markers, what else is the advantage to this fine art product?

Size and weight, for one thing. 48 Copic Markers can take up half of your luggage. But 48 watercolors?

They fit in my hand. I can carry them anywhere. And since they're not liquid, I can take them on a plane.

My brushes? No worry. I buy watercolor brushes with a watercolor reservoir in the handle. No worry about drips or spills and I empty them before I get on a plane. I can fill them while on the plane and keep right on working. For some reason, arting on the plane gets me better treatment from stewardesses. I don't know why. But now I do it a lot.

I can carry an entire color range and tools in one hand. Can't do that with Copics!

The pan set opens up to act as a palette. The watercolors wash cleanly away from this metal surface leaving no pigment stain as they do on plastic.

So, what if you run out of those little squares of color? Those are called "half pans" and they are easily removed. They fit snugly in the little metal sleeves. They come wrapped in a small paper cover which I cut away for access to the paint. When I want to replace the half pan, the name of the color is also on the bottom of the wrapping so I know what to reorder.

Unlike a marker, when dried out they are completely solid and are not damaged at all! Just add water. The gum arabic binder in the pigment makes them turn smooth and creamy almost immediately. There is very little waste.

Replacement half pans are kind of hard to find in the USA but this UK website, Jackson Art Supplies, sells them at very reasonable prices. Those little pans don't look like much, but the color goes a long way.

You can also simply buy tube paint and squeeze a daub into your own half pan to make a custom set. There are many places you can buy these pans.

Watercolors won’t go bad. If they dry out, you just reactivate them with water. So you can customize all you like by creating your own set.

I did all the paintings on the 65 pages of CHIVALRY without going through a single tube of paint or pan of color. A little watercolor goes a long way.

I bought extra black, white, and Payne's Grey knowing I will run out of them quicker than other colors, but the entire line is available at this site.

A lot of artists swear by their Copics because the blender marker and the brush tip make coloring easy. But I swear that with a set of the paints and a decent watercolor brush, you can get the same effects or better, and your customer will get art that lasts. I did this fun watercolor of Supergirl using this travel paint set and I think the results are as good and smooth as I would have gotten with Copics.

A big reason why many artists balk at using anything but markers is because they simply don’t understand how to mix color. They literally don’t know this very basic art making skill.

Learn how to mix color and you really won’t need many colors at all.

Anders Zorn was famous for his limited palette of only FOUR COLORS, and he was a much better painter than almost all of us will ever be.

You do not need expensive tools to make fine art. You do not need to spent a lot of money on fine art tools.

Many of the art supplies you are being sold on Youtube by chirpy influencers are CONVENIENCE TOOLS, art supplies as fashion accessories. I am certain there are some people who are buying all those markers because they have a collectible mindset, unable to say no to them like they can’t say no to trading cards.

No artist needs this stuff. No artist needs to spend a lot of money.

About the only thing I will go out of my way to spend lots of money on is fine quality paper or illustration board.

But you can get top quality paints at very good prices.

In fact, you can search ebay any time you like for fine art supplies which are always on sale for crazy deep discounts. I got a LOT of my paints there.

There's no reason for me not to give a fan a good quality sketch made with good quality materials that they can display without quickly fading!

I've shown that not only are the better quality materials less expensive, but they are easier to use, easier to carry! I hope you'll consider these alternatives to expensive Copics and other convenience tools. All it takes is more practice and more knowledge to use them.

Anyone can learn these skills.

I was not paid for these endorsements.