Have you ever tried watercolor markers yet? We were recently introduced to watercolor markers and have been duly impressed! The one featured in the photo is by Winsor & Newton and is professional grade, it was the first we tried and we wanted to give you our first impressions. The one we purchased is a dual tip, one for detail work and a brush tip for covering larger areas. As you can see from the photo you do get a beautiful even wash of color that is very true to the original watercolor medium. For sake of convenience, we are putting together a quick PROS + CONS, this is by no means extensive as we have only tried this one brand but we are eager to try more!
PROS:
Super convenient/portable
No mess really, clean up is a breeze
Nice color selections available
Blendable
CONS:
Super spendy, for professional grade one color can run $8-$10?!
On hotpress we were unable get the lines to blend
A little bulky size wise
Brush is not as flexible as a real watercolor brush
If you are like us and don’t need a professional grade product because you will be scanning and digitizing (I don’t know how light fast the colors are for archival purposes) there are some craft level options as well. We have read the Tim Holtz Distress ink pens are water-soluble, there are some very on trend colors available and even an opaque white marker that I am dying to try out! We have also read about Crayola washable markers working really well. I did a test with my daughters regular Crayola markers and had some pretty dreamy results. Our conclusion? This is an awesome new tool to add to your art/craft arsenal. I am going to be testing these out on some illustrations that I need more line control with but still want that watercolor vibe, but I could totally see this working really well for anyone wanting to try their hand at watercolor brush lettering, an easier entry into it. Let us know if you have used these and if you have any thoughts to add to the mix, we always love hearing from you! We listed some resources below for further exploration!
//RESOURCES//
Winsor & Newton Watercolor Markers
Akashiya Sai Watercolor Markers (I think I may be investing in this)
Zig Clean Color (real brush tip)
Tom Holtz Distress Markers (water-soluble)
Coldpress watercolor paper (we use this a lot, it’s nice quality + affordable)
Reviews/Tutes
Washable Crayola Marker in action
Winsor & Newton Watercolor Markers
Tristan B. is the co-creator of the world’s best + easiest product photography editing tool-Foto Rx | Shopkeeper’s Helper and one of the writer’s of this delightful blog.
