I put in an order for some new art supplies this week. Just a couple of weeks ago I put in a big order to dickblick.com but that order was mostly paper. I was running low on 14×17 and 9×12 inch Bristol pads so I ordered some. This week’s order comes from jerrysartarama.com and has no paper in it. What it does have is a lot of markers.
I already have a lot of markers. My collection of Copic markers runs to about 130 different colors. Plus, earlier this year, I added some Dick Blick house brand markers and Artfinity brand markers. I have about 15 markers each of those two brands. All three of them are alcohol based markers and can be used together.
The main thing I use the markers for is to color my “Dreams of Things” faux comic book covers. I’ve been getting one cover drawing a week done of that series for a while and having lots of markers helps. After I bought those 30 new markers earlier in the year it really did change my color schemes. With new colors to choose from new color patterns emerged in the finished drawings.
In general I like Copic markers. I use the sketch marker type because I like the brush tip best. When I first was trying to develop a finished marker technique back in 2010 or so I tried out a lot of different brands of markers. The Copics won out not just because of the quality of their markers and inks but because the markers were refillable. I could buy a bottle of marker ink and refill my marker. That made them much more economical.
This year I bought the Blick and Artfinity markers and inks not just because I like to try out new art supplies but because Copic changed the size of their ink bottles. The got rid of the bottles that held 25ml of ink and replace them with 12ml bottles. That’s less than half the size and they didn’t lower the price much. The new price is about $6 ($5.40 at Blick) a bottle. I don’t remember what the old price was but it was right around that. I think I was paying $7 a bottle for 25ml.
I actually read a press release from Copic saying that they made the bottles smaller due to customer demand. People were complaining that the bottles were so big that they were never running out of ink. That’s a complaint? I’m pretty sure that press release is a made up bunch of baloney.
I also find the new Copic ink bottles much clumsier to use.
Both the Blick and Artfinity ink bottles are 25ml. That is the main reason I decided to get new markers from those brands rather than new colors of Copic markers.
At $6 a marker the Copic markers are also more expensive than $4 a marker for the Blick and Artfinity markers. The Blick refills are about $7 a bottle but the Affinity refills are only about $4 a bottle. That’s a pretty big savings going with Artfinity.
When buying new markers I always buy a marker and refill at the same time. So it’s about $11 for a Blick marker and refill, $7 for an Artfinity marker and refill, and $11 for a Copic marker and half size refill. Marker prices can really add up as I pick more and more colors.
What got me buying new Artfinity markers this week was a sale at Jerrysartarama. The refills went on sale for $2.50 a bottle and the markers for $3.19. So less than $6 for the pair. So I ended up ordering another 18 new colors. That ended up being about $108 but that’s better than $126.
It turns out that Artfinity doesn’t have bottles of ink for all of their colors (neither does Copic). There was one color I wanted to try, Amethyst, that had no companion ink bottle for it. But Artfinity does sell their markers in three packs for $6. So I bought a three pack of Amethyst. That way I won’t get caught short on that color if I like it.
Of course I ended up adding other things to the order too. I got some extra brush tips for the markers. The brush tips wear down over time but are replaceable. Just pull the old ones out and put the new ones in. They come in an eight pack for $7. I bought two packs just to have in reserve. I’ll put them with my Copic replacement nibs.
I also bought an official Artfinity 48 marker storage case for $17. I already have an $8 generic marker stand for them but the case looks so much cooler. I know that’s a silly thing but the case is probably easier to use too. The generic stand is occasionally frustrating as sometimes the markers get caught in it and are hard to pull out or put in. Sometimes a cap gets pulled off by the stand as I’m removing the marker and then I have to go track down the cap. That doesn’t happen often but when it does is really annoying.
I also bought an Artfinity chrome marker with the order. At $7 for the marker that’s not too bad but I also bought a 30ml bottle of chrome refill ink for $22. As I write this I’m not even sure why I bought that except that I got carried away with art supply madness. I’m going to have to find a use for a chrome marker because I sure don’t have one now. I do have some black paper though.
The last thing I got with this order is some New York Central Black India ink. It is 16 ounces for $13.39. I’ve never tried this brand but it says that it’s the blackest India ink that you can find. In my last Blick order I bought a 16 ounce bottle of Super Black India ink so I really didn’t need any more black ink at this moment but I like to try out new stuff so I bought it.
One last word on my markers. The Copic, Blick, and Artfinity markers are hardly the only markers that I have. They’re the main ones for sure but I also like to try out other types of markers. I like cheap markers such as Sharpies, Bic Mark-Its, Amazon basics as well as other types of art markers such as Prismacolor, Windsor-Newton, and Letraset. I also want to try out the new Pantone markers.
But to get in my starting lineup markers have to have refills. I mostly draw on Bristol board and that paper can drain a marker dry fairly quickly. It’s paper that soaks up ink. Without refills I’d always have to have at least two markers of the same color on hand and be constantly ordering them. Not to mention I’d be throwing away a lot of dried out markers instead of refilling them. I can do without that kind of expense, inefficiency and waste.