Review Of The Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pens And Metallic Acrylic Marker Pens
Free Giveaway Details At The End Of The Review
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Free Giveaway Details At The End Of The Review -
Review Of The Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pens And Metallic Acrylic Marker Pens.
In this review we take a look at the Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pens, both the tradition color set and the metallic color set. As I am sure many of you are aware, the two mediums I have never used or reviewed is Acrylic and Oil paints, not for any reason in particular other than the preparation time and cleaning time required before and after use. None of them are really mediums I can walk away from when my pain levels increase and return to a couple of days later with everything the same, I would have to clean equipment etc.
As a result I have had to turn down a lot of companies who have reached out to me in the past asking if I would review their acrylics or oil paints, on the basis that I could not do their products justice. When Arrtx sent me their Acrylic Marker pens, although I had plenty of expereince with markers, I was still a little bit hesitant to review the Arrtx Acrylic Markers simply based on the medium and not really knowing how or what art I was going to complete.
Nevertheless, as you can see I over came my fears and cracked on with the review as well as completing what I thought turned out to be pleasing art, at least art I was really happy with but more importantly really enjoyed creating.
Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pen Characteristics.
As I mentioned in the title, we are taking a look at the Arrtx Acrylic Marker set comprising of traditional Color’s and their amazing set of Metallic Acrylic Marker Pens. For the most part they are exactly the same markers characteristically speaking with one or two minor differences, so when I am describing the Acrylic Markers where needed I will highlight any difference between both pens.
When a lot of people think about the Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pens I am sure there are a lot who automatically think “POSCA Pens”, which is a reasonable assumption to make, however the Arrtx Acrylic Markers are different from a lot of acrylic type markers available.
The first major difference is that you do not have to shake the pens to mix the pain and nor do you need to pump the nib vigorously until the paint starts to bleed through to the nib. With the Arrtx Acrylic markers, simply remove the lids and you are good to go.
Next up is the fact that the Arrtx acrylic pens are double nib, sporting a brush nib and a bullet nib, similar configuration that you would expect to find on an alcohol marker only different style of brush nib. The Brush nib on the Arrtx Acrylic marker is dainty, yet powerful 3.2mm diameter and the bullet nib or fine nib as they are often referred to is a precise 1.9mm dimension.
The barrel of the traditional Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pens are a glossy black and the Metallic pens are a glossy white barrel. Along the barrel there is printed the company name “Arrtx” and this is closely followed by “Acrylic Marker”, in-between the print is a decorative star formation.
On either end of the barrel there is a clear depiction of the brush icon and fine nib icon, clearly indicating which nib is positioned where on the pen. On the side of the brush nib icon there is a large band highlighting the color id for that particular pen and on the opposite end where the bullet nib is located there is a much thinner band, also highlighting the color present in that marker.
On the very ends of both lids, there is also a color identification marker, making color selection very clear. The barrels for both metallic and traditional markers is round which is why Arrtx have placed on both lids a small wedge protruding out, preventing the markers from rolling of studio desks.
On the opposite side of the traditional Arrtx Acrylic Markers, there is printed an alpha numeric code, this code is also placed under the printed swatch that comes in the set, under the pigment name of each marker. The actual pigment name is not printed on the barrel, only the code, but this allows you to create your own swatch and using the supplied list of color names in conjunction with the code printed on the barrel, you can marry up color selection going forward.
The metallic markers for some reason however do not have this feature, there is no pigment name to be found either on the packaging or barrel. There is a small swatch card in the metallic box and a completed swatch on the back of the metallic box, however, only the code is present on the swatch card and the rear of the box, but nothing at al on the barrel. Therefore it is pretty much a guessing game as to what actual colors are in the metallic set and when you create your own swatch, you need a way of identifying which pen created the particular color on the swatch you have just created. For the life of me I am not sure why the metallic set wasn’t manufactured in the same way the traditional Arrtx acrylic markers were.
Arrtx Acrylic Marker Performance
As always, one of the first things I do when reviewing a product is to create a swatch, in the box of the Arrtx Acrylic Marker traditional color set there was a printed swatch, but as I mentioned earlier it is always better to create your own swatch and see what the colors truly look like on paper. However, in fairness to Arrtx, they have actually got printed on their swatch, to create your own.
The Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pens are water based ink making them very easy to remove from clothing when caught in time. That being said, one of the many wonderful things about the Arrtx Acrylic pens is that they can be used on almost any surface. You can turn your ordinary run of the mill stone in the garden, into a beautiful sunset scene. You can decorate plant pots and other such surfaces using a number of different materials to permanently seal it.
Initially I created my swatch on Bristol Velum paper and the art work I created I also used Bristol Velum, however in the future I would prefer to use a Bristol Smooth paper and would actually recommend it. Incidentally, the artwork I created, I first drew out on Strathmore Mixed Media Toned Tan Paper, however, when I tested the markers brush nib on said paper, I just didn’t like the coverage; I think this was more to do with the fibrous texture of the Strathmore Mixed Media Toned Tan Paper. The Strathmore Mixed Media Toned Tan Paper is exceptional paper for so many art projects, a really thick sturdy paper, but just not perfect for this medium.
Next up I wanted to swatch the Arrtx Acrylic Metallic set, first of all I swatch the 18 metallic colors on white paper and although you can see the metallic shimmer in some of the colors, they were nothing like the black paper swatch. The Arrtx Acrylic Metallic set was obviously designed to stand out on darker backgrounds and so I was really looking forwards to seeing the metallic pens in action.
As you can see from the results, the Arrtx Acrylic Metallic Markers are absolutely gorgeous, the black paper really allows this medium to shine, no pun intended. I strongly recommend you check out the YouTube review were I use the metallic pens on black paper in real time, just so you can see how the water based ink flows from the pen, it is like liquid mirror.
One of the reasons I was a little bit reluctant to review the Arrtx Acrylic Maker pens in the first place was due to not knowing what artwork I was going to create as a way of helping to demonstrate. But then my youngest daughter Amelia came up with the idea of drawing Lisa from the Simpsons, which I loved and that immediately set my mind racing as to what I was going to do with the acrylic markers.
At the time of doing the review, I was in the middle so moving my studio around and so I originally wanted to use a Bristol Smooth paper but was unable to find any pads, so in the interest of time, I grabbed the Bristol Velum pad.
As I started to color in the sketch I had completed, it was just so easy and fast, the laying down of color was effortless, the flow of color from the pens was fast but controlled. I know that statement sound a bit vague, but what I mean is, coverage was instant and there was no over loading of color onto the paper as can sometimes be the case with alcohol markers. Using the Arrtx Acrylic Markers for this particular project was an absolute joy, the speed and ease at which you can finish a project is incredible.
Arrtx Acrylic Set Sizes And Pricing
With regards to the set sizes, Arrtx have kept this really simple. As things currently stand, there is only the 32 set of traditional colors from the Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pen set and there is only the 18 marker set in the Arrtx Acrylic Metallic pens.
Considering the type of medium that you are getting, the mountain of surfaces that you can use the Arrtx Acrylic Markers on, I think the pricing is really reasonable, in fact better than reasonable when you compare their pricing to other similar products on the market.
Here in the UK for the 32 set of Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pens you can expect to pay approximately £28.99 and for the 18 set of Arrtx Acrylic Metallic Markers you will pay approximately £19.99, which is just incredible given the vibrancy and shimmer from the pens.
At the time of writing this review, on Amazon US and EU the prices were not available as they were out of stock, however you can go directly to the Arrtx Home page, but I am sure if you look about in your local stores, or the bigger branch stores, you might find them. As always, every Sunday I search through all my links and make sure they are still working, are the cheapest on Amazon and create links that may not have been available at the time I wrote the article. Given the huge number of reviews I now have on The Art Gear Guide and the YouTube Channel, I may miss one or two but I try my best to ensure I keep links the cheapest and up to date.
Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pen Conclusion
Overlooking the small minor issues such as there not being any way of connecting the metallic markers to a color name or color code, I absolutely loved using the Arrtx Acrylic markers. They were so bright an vibrant, I love how you can use them on so many different surfaces, the versatility is amazing.
If you would like to check out more about the artwork I completed using the Arrtx Acrylic Marker pens, select the link to my speed painting video on YouTube or if you would rather inspect the artwork a bit closer and in your own time, I have added still images of the artwork from start to finish; this way you can click on the image which automatically enlarges it, allowing you to zoom in and inspect the brush strokes etc much closer. Finally check out the YouTube video which in conjunction with this written review, should give you a complete and balanced review of the markers.
Free Global Giveaway
I always try my best to show you guys just how much I appreciate all the support and love I get from you all, saying it all the time in videos and blog posts is nice, but I always try to show my appreciate in a more substantial way and I can only do that by providing free giveaway as often as I possibly can.
In this giveaway there will be one lucky winner and I will be giving away a 32 set of Arrtx Acrylic Marker Pens and an 18 set of Arrtx Acrylic Metallic Marker Pens.I have a set of 32 acrylic markers for myself, but I really feel the metallic markers need to be in the hands of someone creative enough, that knows what to do with them, how to utilise them and show them off in their best light; I am absolutely not that person and so I would feel terrible having them sit wasting in my studio.
So… both the 32 set of traditional colors and the 18 set of metallic colors are going to a new home. The giveaway is global, no matter where in the world you live, so long as you have a postal service, I will get the sets to you. I never like leaving anyone out of giveaways so young artists can also take part in the giveaway. My only rule is, if you are under the age of 18, you must make sure you have permission to take part from your parent, grandparent or caregiver, because if you win you will need to provide private details such as your address. When talking with whoever takes care of you, explain to them that I am more than happy to discuss matters with them further either via email, phone or Skype. I will provide my email and from there we can arrange to talk on the phone, Skype or FaceTime to clarify this is legitimate and there will no cost whatsoever to you and your family.
The only thing that you must do in order to be in with a chance of winning is click on this link and leave comment in the comment section. The only reason this is a must is because I use software to select the winner and the software collects all the names from the comments left and randomly selects the winner. You can leave anything in the comment section, even just your name or say hello, it doesn’t matter what you put, the software will collect your YouTube name. The winner will be announced on the 30th of September 2022. I will make a video announcing the winner, please make sure you check back on the 30th of September no matter how unlikely you think you are going to win. I will hold on to the items for three months and if the winner has not contacted me after 3 months, the items will go back out for another draw. Good luck guys and thank you all so very much for the continued wonderful support.
