Markers: A Buying Guide for Beginners and Artists! — Art is Fun

The Best Markers

I’ve provided links below to the relevant products so that you can easily find them on Blick Art Materials, my favorite art supplier. If you make a purchase after clicking on one of these links, I’ll receive a small commission (at no extra cost to you). Read my disclosure statement to learn more.

When buying art supplies I prefer to shop from Blick because you know you’ll get authentic products from respected art brands. Buying from Amazon can sometimes be a mixed bag because many products are sold by third-party sellers who might sell imitation products of questionable quality or even counterfeit products disguised as name brands. Thankfully that’s never a problem when buying from an established art supplier like Blick!

The Best Alcohol-Based Markers

My overall pick are the Copic Sketch Markers. As I mentioned, I have the complete set of 358 colors and I have been using them to create colored art for my books since 2014. Although they’re among the most expensive markers you can buy, you can refill them and change out the nibs, so they’ll last a lifetime.

You can often save money by buying them in sets. I acquired all 358 colors gradually over the course of 1-2 years – there’s no need to rush and buy all of them at once (unless you can afford it and want to). I like that Copic Sketch Markers are double-ended, with the brush tip on one end and the chisel on the other. Read above to learn about how well they perform when it comes to coloring and blending. To learn more, check out my extensive review of Copic Markers.

My budget pick for professional-quality alcohol markers are the Blick Studio Brush Markers. They’re very similar to Copics (they’re refillable and the brush and chisel nibs can be replaced), but cost $3 less per marker than the Copic Sketch! I’ve tested them myself, and it’s honestly hard to tell the difference! They can’t compete with Copic Sketch’s color range, but you still get 143 colors plus a colorless blender – more than enough.

For those of you on a tight budget who are keen to try out alcohol markers, Ohuhu alcohol brush markers (shown below) are my ultra-budget pick. They’re even cheaper than Blick Studio Markers but I would hesitate to call them “professional-quality” because (at the time of this writing) they’re not refillable, the nibs aren’t replaceable (and tend to fray much more quickly than the pro-level markers) and they’re only available in sets (whereas Blick and Copic Markers are available individually). However, for beginners and hobbyists looking for an introduction to alcohol markers, they’re a great buy! Plus, Ohuhu is considering offering refills and selling their markers individually, so they are certainly a company to watch if those factors are important to you. Read my in-depth review of Ohuhu alcohol brush markers to find out if they’re right for you!

Another excellent ultra-budget pick are Arrtx Markers (shown below), which are a good choice if you prefer the bullet/fine tip over the brush tip that comes with the other products mentioned above. Like the Ohuhu markers, they aren’t refillable and the tips aren’t replaceable, but they come with a handy carrying case with an individual slot for each marker. Read my detailed review of Arrtx Markers to learn more!

The Prismacolor Premier Double-Ended Art Markers have a lot going for them: reliable brand, huge range of colors (200 + blender), they’re available in open stock, and they cost less than the Copics. However, they’re not refillable and the nibs can’t be changed out. They’re double-ended, but only with the chisel & bullet or fine tips (no brush tips). I strongly favor the brush tip, but if you don’t, these should be high on your list.

The Best Water-Based Markers

My overall pick are the Zig Art & Graphic Twin Markers. They’re double-ended (brush and fine bullet tips) and offer an impressive 80 colors. The nibs can’t be changed out and they’re not refillable, but they’re fairly cheap for being artist-quality (around $3 per marker) and even less if you purchase a set.

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My budget pick are the Akashiya Sai Watercolor Brush Pens. I don’t know much about the brand and they only have a color range of 30, but I just had to recommend them because they’ve been a joy to use and they’re cheap. I got the set of 20 because they were on sale, and I immediately loved the flexibility and smoothness of their brush tip. The color glides off the nib and their blending capabilities are amazing for the price. As I write, the 20-color set is around $20-30 and the 30-color set is $50.

I also recommend the Sakura Koi Coloring Brush Pens, but they lost out to the Zig markers because they offer fewer colors (48 vs 80). I also like the Tombow Dual Brush pens, but despite their superior color range (108 colors), they lost out because they didn’t seem to blend as well and the brush tip was a bit stiff and as a result, tore nearly every paper I tried to blend them on. The Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens come from a reliable brand, and contain pigmented India ink (which is more lightfast), but I found that they didn’t blend as well as I would have liked. I can see why they’re popular with people who like hand-lettering though.