Copic Sketch Marker And Refill Review

(This is a guest post by Nick Folz. You can find more of Nick and his work on his blog, Smallberry Drive, Twitter, and Instagram.)

My first brush with Copics was a review about their excellent doodle packs, which I was smitten with. I really dug the Ciao Dual Tip Marker, which was the meat and potatoes of the set. So I wanted to dive into another marker of theirs a bit more and test out the refill system. I went with their Sketch Marker color R29, Lipstick Red.

Copic’s reputation in the marker industry usually precedes them (if you are unfamiliar let me summarize: they good). Their Sketch series is very similar to the Ciao, both have the dual tip and both are refillable. The Sketch are a bit more expensive but have more color options and hold more ink.

The chisel and brush tips are great and add levels of versatility to the marker. The Copic ink is amazing, it is thick and impressive and you can layer it for added saturation and darkness. It plays well with most types of ink, both under and over, and can be blended with other Copic colors. I don’t do much with the Copic blenders, but I have seen miracles preformed with those things.

The Copic Various Ink refill is great. A narrow tip delivers new life to the marker and is a must have to get the actual value out of the pricey markers. There are a few ways to refill: slowly drip ink onto the chisel tip to fill the reservoir, or pull the tip out and fill directly into the middle of the marker. The later is the quicker, if possibly messier, option. The chisel tip is easy to remove and replace, so I recommend that method.

I LOVE the color of this thing. It has unlocked so many options for me. I have been doing silhouettes in red and inking details in black. I am smitten with this technique. The consistency of the ink makes this possible without looking like a streaky mess. Adding pops of color to black and white is joy and I am glad I have the refill to keep the party going. I have refilled the marker twice and haven’t even used a fourth of the refill ink.

If you have tried out Copics and like them, then I highly recommend you go for the refillable variety and stock up on some ink. You can find Copic refills and Copic Sketch markers and sets at JetPens.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Stabilo Pen 68 1.0 mm Neon Marker Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

The Stabilo Pen 68 Markers are a favorite of many marker lovers. Their huge variety of vibrant colors allow for infinite creativity and they're priced at a point where you don't have to feel too weird for collecting multiple, similar shades of the same color.

Stabilo's latest addition to this marker line is neon shades--six electric bright colors for when your work needs an extra pop or highlight. There's neon red, pink, orange, yellow, green, and blue. The ink is much brighter than it appears in pictures--these could even be used as highlighters, with the 1 mm tip perfect for highlighting finer print. The tip can also be held at different angles to produce different line widths. The tips are bullet-shaped and quite firm for felt tips. They hold up well for sketching, coloring, and lettering, and they're great for coloring books.

The ink is super bright. It's odorless, water-based, and dries quickly with no smearing--so it's great for lefties. Though it dries quickly on paper, through some sorcery it doesn't dry out in the tip. They can be left uncapped for up to twenty-four hours without drying out. That's insane. And great for long coloring sessions. A twenty-four-hour coloring session sounds pretty nice right now. This feature also makes them good kid markers, where creative enthusiasm can sometimes lead to forgotten or lost caps. The small caps are a choking hazard, though--so keep them away from younger kiddos.

The body of the pen is hexagonal, so it won't roll on tabletops. It's a rather long marker at 6.6" capped, 6.2" uncapped, and 7.1" posted. It's also fairly narrow--similar to a pencil in feel. There is no clip and no specific grip area. The body itself serves as the grip section, which allows for some nice flexibility in grip preference, and the hexagon angles are subtle enough that they aren't uncomfortable to hold. Which is good if you're planning that twenty-four-hour color-a-thon. The cap is ventilated and clicks in place. It also clicks to post, and is nicely secure there. The cap is really small, though, and it twists freely so that the hexagon angles don't line up. I confess I've lost some valuable coloring time to fiddling with the caps so that they line up with the body. But I'm also aware that if they put the engineering into aligning the caps, the markers would probably cost more. So I'll let this one go. I mean, I'll probably have to fix it every time, but I'll try not to complain about it.

I generally prefer colored pencils or gel pens to markers, but if I was going to invest in a big set, I'd consider these a good value. I'd personally prefer a finer point, for the tiny spaces in adult coloring books.

I think everyone needs a little pop of brightness and fun in their day--and there's not much more bright and fun than neon art supplies.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Uni Pi:s And Zebra Mackee Double-Sided Marker Showdown

Markers make my handwriting look awesome. Maybe it's the larger, faster arm movements that are required to keep pace with a wide tipped, fast flowing pen, or maybe it's as simple as the design of the tip itself. Either way, pens like the Uni Pi:s and Zebra Mackee are fun to have around for when you need them.

When you actually need markers like this is the key. These aren't every day writers like the Sakura Pigma Micron. They are task specific, meaning you should know how you will be using these pens before getting started. Both the Uni Pi:s and Zebra Mackee are made to write on many surfaces, such as paper, fabric, glass, metal and more. The oil-based ink allows for this, and makes them water resistant as well.

What sets these two pens apart? Not much to be perfectly honest. They are very similar in design - so much so that I have to find the brand logo on the barrel to determine which one I am using. Each is double-sided, both with fine and extra-fine tips, with the tips on the Zebra being slightly firmer and finer. I doubt I could tell the difference in a blind test though.

The Zebra does have the lone differentiator in the pens with refillable ink cartridges. For a pen like this that is a big deal because you will burn through markers if you use them heavily. The cartridges are a long cylinder with wide openings on each end for good ink flow.

And the ink flow is huge, as you would expect with this type of pen. Any use of these pens on normal paper will result in bleed and feathering. Writing with them is fun, but they are most suited for heavy duty materials like posterboard, fabric, and plastic.

For $2 a pop, the Uni Pi:s and Zebra Mackee both come in a rainbow of colors and will make your inner artist squee with delight. Check them out the next time you have a project that calls for some color.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)