What Are Alcohol Markers?

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So let’s talk about alcohol markers. What are alcohol markers? Just like the name suggests, alcohol markers are markers with alcohol-based inks. They are famous for their amazing blending capability which you can’t get from e.g. pigmented markers or acrylic markers

If you want to know more about what types of markers are available on the market, click here.

Alcohol markers were famous among mangaka artists, architects and designers back in the days. I don’t know how it all started, but they have gained so much popularity over the years, they’ve slowly become favorites of every hobby artists.

When I first started my Youtube channel, they weren’t alot of options to choose from as there were only 3 big players in the market if I still remember correctly; Copic, Promarker & Winsor & Newton alcohol markers. Now that they’ve become so popular, you have so many options and that makes the decision-making even harder!

Table of Contents

Alcohol markers brands

My go-to alcohol marker has always been Copic markers. They’re high-quality markers made in Japan. Copic is one of the biggest brands for alcohol markers out there and has been in the industry for so long. If you were to buy alcohol markers from them, you would definitely not be disappointed.

That said, Copic markers are very expensive, especially if you’re buying them outside of Japan. In Japan, they cost about half the price of what you normally pay for. That was also the reason why I bought a huge amount of Copic markers and Copic refills the last time I visited Japan.

What scares artists away is their price tag. If you’re just trying to test out alcohol markers to see if they’re for you, you probably wouldn’t want to spend so much money for an alcohol marker starter set.

Luckily, there are so many cheaper options nowadays, you could get something like this:

Ohuhu Alcohol-based Marker Pet Set

Alternative alcohol-based markers for Copic. Best option for beginners.

120 colors + 1 colorless blender
Dual tips, brush tip and chisel tip
refillable

Ohuhu Alcohol Markers Brush Tip -Double Tipped Art Marker Set for Artist Adults Coloring Illustration – 120 Colors- Brush & Chisel Dual Tips- Honolulu of Ohuhu Markers- Refillable Alcohol-based Ink

Buy on Amazon

I’ve seen a lot of artists on social media using Ohuhu markers and I’ve only been hearing good things about them. I didn’t have the chance to try them out yet, but I would probably get my hands on a couple of their markers so I could compare them with my Copic markers. If you would like a comparison test between Copic and Ohuhu markers, please leave me a comment!

Pros & Cons of alcohol markers

Before investing your money in alcohol markers, you should learn about their pros and cons, so you know what to expect. Alcohol markers are very unique and are the best of their kinds, but while they excel in certain areas, they perform poorly in other areas.

Pros

1. Blending ability

For artists, blending is the most basic, yet the most essential technique in coloring. Alcohol markers are the best at blending. With alcohol ink, you can create that perfect gradient effects and smooth transitions which you can’t normally achieve when you use other types of markers. This feature is probably their best selling point.

With alcohol marker’s brush tips, you can achieve this effect even more effortlessly. You can see how I blend the colors in the video here:

2. Evenness of color

With alcohol markers, you can apply a lot of layers of alcohol ink without changing the color too much. Unlike watercolor markers for example, the more layer you apply, the darker or more intense the color gets. This can get annoying if you simply want to color in one shade.

The colors don’t get saturated that easily, so you get that smooth, even shade of color, doesn’t matter how many strokes or how many layers of color you apply.

3. Color range

The colors of alcohol markers are vibrant and bold. Your artwork will pop out and thanks to the amazing blendability and the evenness of color these markers provide, your artwork will look as though it was colored digitally. You can easily make someone think that you just printed your artwork with a printer.

They come in a wide range of colors. Copic markers are available in 358 colors and Ohuhu markers are available in 320 colors. That’s a lot of colors! But believe me, you will want to have those different shades of colors.

I own a complete set of Copic Ciao marker, which comes in 180 colors in total. There were so many situations where I just couldn’t find the color that I wanted and wished that I had more. I’m currently expending my Copic collection and am buying one Copic Sketch marker at a time hoping that I will complete it someday.

Want to know what’s the difference between Copic Ciao and Copic Sketch marker? Read about it here.

4. Ink refills

Popular alcohol marker brands usually offer ink refills. It’s a perfect solution if you don’t want to buy new markers every time they dry out. It’s more economical and it’s friendly to the environment too!

Alcohol inks are made of dye, not pigments, which means that you can refill the markers continuously and almost indefinitely.

Pigments are tiny, tiny particles that give color to ink. Imagine if you refill pigmented markers continuously. Over time, these tiny pigments will eventually clump together and clog your marker.

That’s why markers with pigmented inks are not suitable for refill. That’s not the case with dye inks. Since alcohol inks are typically dye inks, you don’t need to worry about your markers clogging.

5. Quick drying

Alcohol is a solvent that is known for its quick drying property. Your perfume for example, is made of alcohol and notice how quickly it dries after you apply it on your skin?

Alcohol inks dry fast, so after you’re done coloring one layer, you can quickly continue coloring the next. If you work fast enough, you can still blend the colors. Just don’t wait for too long!

Quick drying time can be advantageous to some, but it could also be a huge disadvantage too.

Cons

1. Quick drying

As mentioned previously, alcohol dries quick. Pure alcohol will quickly evaporate as soon as it’s exposed to air. Knowing that, you should always quickly recap the marker after using it.

Do not let your markers uncapped for too long. The last thing you want is to buy new markers because your markers dried out on you.

Alcohol markers are not as forgiving as other types of markers so please recap them tightly after use.

2. Not lightfast

Since alcohol inks are dye inks, they are not lightfast. So if you’re planning to sell your artwork, alcohol markers are probably not the best choice. Chances are, your artwork might fade over time.

If lightfastness is a decisive factor to you, you want to get pigmented markers for that.

If you still want to sell your alcohol marker drawings, you still could! In such case, you should scan your artwork and print them using a printer with archival quality inks. That way you can rest assured that your prints will stay vibrant for years and years.

3. Bleeding

Alcohol inks are notorious for bleeding through paper. If you’re not using a paper that’s suitable for alcohol markers, you would most definitely see the ink bleeding through the underside of your paper.

Worse, if you draw on drawing pads, you could ruin your new unused paper underneath it. So you want to make sure to put a scrap paper underneath your drawing, or something that you could throw out later.

The ink can even bleed through some marker papers so always keep that in mind. What I do is, I use one paper at a time, and I use an acrylic plate as my drawing mat.

You could get one for less than 10 dollars and it will save you a lot of trouble.

4. Hard to clean

If you’ve ever drawn with Copic markers, you quickly realize that the dried-out inks on your workspace, on your fingers, even on the markers themselves, can’t just be wiped off or cleaned with water.

They can leave a nasty stain that could last for a while.

One way to remove the stain is to use some type of alcohol solution. There are several alcohol solutions you can get for this purpose. If you buy a large set of alcohol markers, chances are, that you will get a colorless blender in the set.

A colorless blender can be used to blend your drawing, but it can also be used to remove any stain left by your markers.

This is perhaps the most expensive way to remove the stains. I wouldn’t want to waste the ink of my precious colorless blender and neither should you.

The cheapest way is to get rubbing alcohol, something like 70%-99% Isopropyl alcohol in big bottles. That way you’re making the most out of your money. The downside – you have a huge bottle of rubbing alcohol lying around ruining your workspace aesthetic.

What I did is, I got disposable alcohol prep pads. They are individually wrapped and come in small size, making it easy for me to store the packaging box somewhere out of sight.

Alcohol Prep Pads, 75% Alcohol Cotton Slices, 100 Pcs Alcohol Gauze Pads Individually Wrapped Swap Pad Wet Wipe, 6 x 6cm/2.36in x 2.36in

Buy on Amazon

The pads are already pre-soaked with alcohol solution so all you need to do is to take them out of the wrapping and use them to wipe the stains off. I know it’s not the cheapest way to do it, but certainly the most convenient.