June 10 #Art Supply Review: Touch New Alcohol Markers Are They Any Good?

Art Supply Review: Touch New Alcohol Markers

3 out of 5 Black Cats

 My husband bought these alcohol markers for me as a gift for Christmas. For being alcohol markers they are very reasonably priced compared to Copics that cost $399 for only 72 markers. They do work, however there are some issues with them.

Some of the markers were dried out and didn't work very well right out of the black bag they came in. Some of them reactivated when I soaked them in rubbing alcohol, but not all of them. They are not refillable and you can not buy individual colors so if a color runs out you will have to buy a new pack with that color in it. You might be able to use the Copic refill ink to refill them, but I did not try this myself so I don't know if it would work. It also takes a lot of work to blend the colors. I used printer paper, card stock, and Xpress it blending paper. The ink formulas don't seem to be consistent either. Some are very streaky and they don't match their lid color so you will need to swatch them for a true color.

The blending marker which is a clear marker with alcohol in it doesn't actually blend the colors. It lessens the color almost erasing the color if you use it long enough, but doesn't blend them together. This seems true for all alcohol markers even the expensive ones. The blender marker doesn't actually blend colors together.

I know that all sounded very negative, but these markers do work and would be perfect for someone starting out with alcohol markers that doesn't want to spend hundreds of dollars. Although, I have  heard that ohuhu is a better choice for around the same amount of money. So you may want to check them out as well and they come with a brush nib.

To show what your work can look like here are some pieces I made using the Touch New markers.