# Copic markers: Are they Worth the price?



## RavenReverend (May 3, 2011)

I've been contemplating experimenting with markers. I enjoyed working with them in the past, much younger mind you, but I've been out of the loop with materials. I've seen plenty of users that make great use of copics, but what makes me balk is the price! At three to five dollars for a single marker, and ninety dollars for a full set, I hesitate to get them if there is a more affordable, comparable, alternative. 

So, those of you who use markers, do you find you like a particular brand better than the others? For those who have compared, are copics really the beat all markers and are they worth the initial investment? Is there a way to test them before spending that kind of dinero on them?


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## Arshes Nei (May 3, 2011)

It really depends.
Personally I'm not really that big of a fan of them. Seemed to catch on because CLAMP artists were using them and people like the juciness of the marker. However, when I purchased them the caps fell of regularly, and gummed up or didn't play nice with certain technical inking pens and sometimes colored pencils. I know people like the skin tones and all. 

Personally I prefer the old Letraset Trias but that seems to have changed from what I know of them.

It's probably best to buy a grey/ or black color of that marker since it will be one color you use and see how it plays well with your workflow.


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## FireFeathers (May 3, 2011)

If you work often with traditional markers and medias that play nice with markers, then it's worth the investment. Though if you're only a sometimes-artist and don't use traditional medias often, then an occasional prisma might fill that void instead.


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## Deo (May 3, 2011)

I hate markers. I prefer watercolor with colored pencil. Or oil pastel.


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## Dyluck (May 4, 2011)

I'd say just get yourself a dozen tubes of paint and mix any of the colours that you need out of that.  Studio series acrylics are nice and affordable for beginners and you can do so much more with paint than you can with markers.


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## Volkodav (May 4, 2011)

idk, maybe if you buy a couple and get good at techniques and using them alongsine ink pends and whatnot

i just do digital and sometimes i sketch traditional and colour it digital


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## KatWarrior (May 4, 2011)

I certainly wouldn't buy a whole case of them, but as with my Prismacolors I buy one or two at a time in colors and tones that I actually use a lot. I personally think they work well with Prismacolors, but you want to make sure your inking lines are 100% dry before you use them, and working with the bleeding effect takes getting used to. One thing to be said about both, however, is that your face is too close to the paper you'll get a headache from the alcohol smell. XD


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## VonRedwing (May 4, 2011)

I've never used copic, and probably won't because the price is so high and they never go on sale. All I use is prisma and they work just fine for me.


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## myxini (May 6, 2011)

Get some cheap markers and practice with them first.  If you like using them and want to move up to the copics, do it then.  No point in spending the serious money for professional-quality supplies if you're just trying out the medium.  for cheaper stuff to practice with: a big set of the crayola Supertips is decent for the 'seeing if I like them at all' phase.  Prismacolor or the Dick Blick House brand are both pretty good relatively cheap ($2 each) and good quality markers.  The only real difference between them and Copics is the shape of the smaller nib, and prismas/Blick are solvent-based while copic are alcohol-based. if after a while you really like using the markers, start picking up copics as your other markers dry out. spreads the cost out and you can use up your old markers rather than letting them go to waste.


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## RavenReverend (May 21, 2011)

I've been painting, sir, with acrylics and oils for the past five years. >_> I asked about markers, not paint. And for  the record, acrylics may be affordable but considering how often i mix paint and wind up needing to throw it out because it's dried in five minutes it winds up being expensive anyway. Stretch it out with oils and some liquin. 

Also I never do furry art with paint e_e Just doesn't seem right to me.

 The crayolas streak. I've found most markers streak. Meaning that when I want them to  blend they do not and they just leave streaks of crap  Even on Bristol which is fairly easy to push ink and such around on. I've been tempted to try out some of these other markers, but lack the money to go for a  full set or anything more than a twelve pack at any one time. Budgets for art supplies is hard   I've never tried the Prismacolor or the Dickblick, but again, if I'm searching around for different brands and such to see which I like the best, it seems rather awful to spend 23.00+ on twelve markers I may never use. >.< Urgh

Colored pencils have given me varying results. I like them for some projects and not on others; the same goes for watercolors and other media. I used to work in marker a long time ago when I first started out and I enjoyed the results. I'd like to get that back but again, it comes down to budget and materials. I don't want to waste money on crap. Unfortunately it looks like I'm just going to have to.


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## Redregon (May 21, 2011)

i guess it all depends on your style and technique... i've tried pretty much all of the major brands (copic, pantone, letraset) and what i've learned is that though the copics are nice and "juicy" as Arshes put it, the downside is that they can very easily run out of ink, again, depending on how you work. (i work with a lot of blending and layers so that might be why they ran out fast.)

as for the others, my personal preference are the letraset... granted, they're the old "tria"s so the newer ones they made may have the same ink and such, but i've not had much experience with the new ones.

for the lower end, the letraset are okay. they're nice, go on smooth but don't blend all the best. also, they seem to "fight" the trias and copics if you try and blend the two together (which looks kinda ugly but it could have it's uses i guess.)  they're typically less expensive and you're more likely to find them at most art stores so they're easier to get your hands on them. 

best bet, however, is to maybe go in, try a couple markers (you should be able to get individually) of each brand in similar shades that you know you'd use (so that it's not wasted in case you realise that markers aren't your thing.) and then go from there. in the end, it all does boil down to personal preference since in the end a marker is a marker is a marker... hell, you could even go the route and get some crayolas if you're really wanting to save some coin... but, though they're cheap, they definately are one of those "you get what you pay for" kinda deals.


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