My Favorite Markers
- Andy Schwartz
- Feb 26
- 2 min read
If you're anything like me, you've probably tried a lot of different art tools. I've used acrylic paints, wax crayons, colored pencils, markers, ink pens, pastels and watercolor paints to list a few. Lately, I've really enjoyed the use of acrylic markers for my coloring projects.
I only discovered paint pens somewhat recently, by watching artists on social media coloring amazing projects. What struck me most from watching these artists online though, wasn't the quality of their art, though often that was impeccable as well. Watching them color, I became aware that their markers were different from the ones I normally use.
Acrylic markers are great because they handle like markers, so. no mess and easy to hold, but they paint like paint. Good ones will dry quickly too. Acrylic markers are fantastic for coloring because they allow the user to paint over previously colored areas and the colors wont bleed, as they do with ink markers. You also get the added benefit of being able to do anything with the markers that you could normally do with paints, so you can blend them to get intermediate colors and make gradients. Paint pens will also work on many surfaces ink markers will not.
My first paint marker set, and the one I am currently using, was made by Pagather. I picked this set up on Amazon for the very reasonable price of $19.98. The set comes with 48 colors and a nice case. I was concerned over some comments on the product listing which said the markers dry up quickly. For the price, I decided it was worth the risk. So far, after several coloring sessions, this has not happened to me, though I would guess it depends on how much you use them. Here is youtuber, pikarar, reviewing three other popular brands: Posca, Shuttle Art and Sharpie.
Based on the video, it looks like Pagather has the best selection of colors for price. However, pikarar mentions other considerations, such as wetness of paint. I think I would be interested in trying out the Shuttle Art pens if I was going to try another brand.
Here are links to the Pagathers and the sets mentioned in the video
What are you favorite tools for creating art? Do you use acrylic markers? What are your favorite brands?
I tend to use artist loft brand or sometimes spring for the more nicer art pens . My style of art is more black and white vs color.