Are Copic Markers Worse Than Cheaper Brand Markers?
Are Copic Markers Worse Than Cheaper Brand Markers?
I know this may sound like a silly thing to ask, silly because COPIC markers have been the industry standard tool for many illustrators and Artists the world over since 1987, almost 35 years in total. when COPIC was developed in Japan in 1987, they first introduced a palette of 71 colors, the markers were purposefully developed as illustrators needed a tool too help them create their design
During their 35 year reign as the industry standard tool for artists and illustrators, the COPIC palette has grown to an impressive 358 gorgeous colors. Until very recently, it has been COPICs impressive palette, understanding of pale tones and darker colors that has made them such a desirable tool for artists.
When I first started out with art, I would watch artists on YouTube, mainly Manga and Anime artists and I so wanted to get a set of COPIC markers. After watching these amazing artists blend and layer with what looked like to an untrained eye, the Rolls Royce of felt-tips, the only medium I had used until that point. I eventually purchased my first set of Copic Ciao and I can still remember to this day the first thing I drew with them was a close up of the Hulks face.
I have already added some reviews to The Art Gear Guide and The Art Gear Guide YouTube Channel explaining in detail the various COPIC markers on the market, how to use the number system and the controversy surrounding the replacement of the COPIC refills, if you would like to know more about the COPIC markers and the system they use, follow the links.
The Problem With COPIC
Before I get into whether the cheaper brands of alcohol markers on the market are better value with the same standard for illustration purposes, let me get straight into the issues I am having with my COPIC markers and in particular, they are all COPIC Sketch.
It has taken approximately five or six years I think, of purchasing individual markers here and there or buying sets when I have been able to afford them, but I finally completed my set of COPIC Markers. I started out with the Ciao and realise that the Sketch were more appealing from a display and functionality perspective, so as I purchased invdividual COPICs it was always sketch. I also decided that rather than buying a refill whenever one of my Ciao’s would dry up, I would simply replace it with a new Sketch.
Although I have the full set of 358 colors, approximately 30 of them are still Ciao and when they run out I will of course replace them with Sketch markers, or at least that was the plan. Over the last year or so, I have discovered COPIC Sketch brush and chisel nibs drying up and developing a mould on the nibs.
Ordinarily when a marker drys from use, you would buy a refill and simply apply more ink, but with these markers, applying more ink does not work. The inner core of the markers, the element that absorbs and releases a steady flow of ink when in use, also drys up and never reactivates when a fresh supply of ink is applied.
You can see from the images that the markers in question seem to have some sort of mould growing on them, rendering the nibs, both chisel and brush useless and thus in my case, the necessity to purchase replacements.
So far this has happened to five COPIC Sketch Markers, which doesn’t sound like a lot, but from a monetary stand point this is almost £35 worth of art supply useless and I have no idea why or how to prevent or rectify the issue. Two of the markers this happened to were never actually used, I purchased them as part of my collection obsession and when I went to use them, this had happened.
Never Happened To The Cheaper Markers
I have wracked my brain attempting to work out what is happening and if anything I am doing is the cause, however, the way I look after my other cheaper branded markers, is all exactly the same as the COPICS. Given the cost of my COPIC’s I never leave them with the lid off allowing them to dry out; the second I finish using them I immediately replace the lid.
I entertained the notion of perhaps an environmental issue, perhaps the room was too cold or warm, but again, all of my markers are kept in the same environment and none of them have developed this mould. I also have all of my markers resting in cases horizontally, as many marker artist suggest. The reason behind this is storing them vertically will naturally all the ink to flow to the lower nib, thus gravity would dry out the nib facing upper most, hence the idea of resting them horizontally.
COPIC or Alternative Brands
Obviously deciding to chose an alternative brand over COPIC is a choice that can only be made by the artist and given the number of artists using COPIC products, it would appear COPIC don’t really care if someone like me decided to use a different brand or not, an artist like me is hardly going to make a dent in COPICs profit. It is only when other Artists who may or may not be experiencing the same issues highlighted here start using other brands, will COPIC as a company publicly do something about this
When COPIC created the palette of 358 colors, understanding the need for incredibly pale tones as well as the darks, this is what I believe gave COPIC the edge and their gorgeous brush nib. However, as recently as three years ago now, more and more companies are producing their own cheaper version of COPIC markers.
I have added a selction of markers in this post to show you just how similar the other brands have become regarding quality nibs, but more importantly, as recently as the last year, these other companies have been releasing pastel tone sets and introducing paler tones to their range.
This has absolutely been a game changer and one would think that in COPIC HQ, they are sitting down in board meeting after broad meeting coming up with ideas of how to stay ahead of the up coming competition. One would also like to think that COPIC are becoming sympathetic to artists spending large amounts of money on their products and being left high and dry by defective products forcing duplicate purchases or in some cases many replacement markers.
I have used the Stylefile Markers, Winsor and Newton Brush Nib Markers, Art-N-Fly Markers, Spectrum Noir Illustrator Markers, Arrtx Oros Markers, Sketch Marker, Touch New, Ohuhu Brush Markers Finecolor Markers and more. All of them are stored in the same environment as the COPIC’s, they are used in the same way, used on the same paper, stored horizontally; everything is the same, yet only the COPICS are experiencing this issue.
All of the markers mentioned above however are what I would consider COPIC alternatives if not all out replacements. Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying that COPIC Markers when working are bad markers, far from it, they are amazing and I love mine; but with issues like this only happening to COPIC markers and given the cost of COPICS, can we as artists really afford to simply accept and make do with such defects.
Cost of COPIC’s Against the Alternatives Markers
The prices that I am going to list below are approximations, there is no doubt that you will be able to purchase the markers perhaps a little cheaper or a little bit more expensive, depending on where you live. The list I am providing is just a guide showing the difference between the various markers and to help other artists determine should they want to try markers, are COPIC the best choice for them.
I personally think, at least for me personally I felt this, but I think there may be self induced pressure as new artists to purchase COPICS. I know many young artists who feel that the only markers they can buy are the COPIC’s but when asked, they have never tried any of the cheaper brands, their focus on on buying COPICs is primarily driven from watching their favourite artists using COPIC’s.
COPIC Sketch Marker Prices - UK = £6.25 US = $6.53 EU = €7.95
COPIC Ciao Marker Prices - UK = £3.80 US = $3.61. EU = €4.39
Ohuhu Brush Nib Marker - UK = 0.90 US = $1.25 EU = €1.15
Winsor & Newton Brush Marker - UK = 3.60 US = €3.57 EU = €4.20
Stylefile Brush Markers - UK = £2.50 US = $2.61 EU = €3.15
Spectrum Noir Illustrator - UK = 2.49 US = $3.95. EU = €3.29
Art-N-Fly Brush Marker - UK = £2.15 US = $2.49 EU = €2.50
Arrtx Oros Brush Markers - UK = £1.09. US = $1.05 EU = €1.05
Sketchmarker - UK = £0.00 US = $4.00 EU = €4.50
Its also important to note that the COPIC system allows you to purchase refills once your marker runs dry, however quite recently COPIC changed their refill bottles to smaller bottles but slightly more expensive comparatively speaking.
The alternative markers also have refill systems but some have adopted the method of simply replacing the marker when the ink runs our, Winsor and Newton being one and they have been very successful in this system.
Conclusion
As I stated at the beginning of this article and the YouTube video I have made to accompany this article, I am not beating up on COPIC, far from it, I have spent a lot of money over the past six years or so collecting what I always considered to be the best marker system available.
As I have demonstrated, so far five markers have gone like this and every time I open a marker to use, I dread the notion that when I remove the lid am I going to be presented with yet another COPIC marker that is rendered useless. I am having to buy a new marker and as I pointed out, two of the markers had never actually been used.
If any of you have experienced the same issue I would love to hear from you and if you did experience the same problems, what did you do about it? Did you simply have to buy a new marker like me wasting a considerable amount of money? or were you given a replacement by COPIC? Do any of you know if COPIC have made a statement on this matter and perhaps offered solutions? I would really love to know what is going on and if COPIC are going to be addressing the problem.
I refuse to believe that this is just happening to me, there must be other artists this is happening to. Check out my YouTube video on the matter and you will be able to see first had the state my COPIC markers have developed into.
