Craft Product Review: Prismacolor Premier Art Markers

Markers, markers, markers! Besides being all the rage in the craft industry, they are a staple in every artist’s workshop (and most households, too!) Today I’m going to share with you Prismacolor Premier Art Markers– an alcohol-based, dual-tipped marker that is arguably the most popular marker with professional artists and illustrators. But they are widely available so that that makes them a prime candidate for crafters, too!

Here’s how they are described on the blog:

Every artist can appreciate these double-ended art markers. The ink is formulated to give the richest color saturation with silky smooooooth coverage. The duality of the thick and skinny tips let you change it up whenever the mood strikes. One ink source ensures color consistency from either end. It’s an alcohol, dye-based ink that’s non toxic.

Here’s a close-up of the nibs:

Now, the both caps are interchangeable, but they are color-coded. Like most alcohol markers, they do have a mild odor- but they are labeled as non-toxic.

And of course, there is a swatch test:

note that the looser the fiber of the paper, the more bleeding will occur. Also, because inks are dye inks, they are transparent- you can uses them over a patterned or textured paper and that will show through. Alcohol markers are fairly ineffective on dark papers. However, they are awesome on glossy or coated papers- even vellum takes the inks well. And as you can see, these colors and nice and vibrant.

Since I think most crafters use alcohol-based markers for coloring stamped images, I started with this one from Inkadinkado- it was stamped using Memento black ink on matte cardstock:

Then I used another Inkadinkado stamp on some glossy cardstock. You do get more “lines,” but they were able to be blended out somewhat layering both the clear blending marker and the peach marker:

Now to get creative! Since alcohol markers work on non-porous surfaces, you can have a lot of fun.

Here I colored a metal embellishment with a teal marker.

I spritzed some glossy cardstock with rubbing alcohol, then layered some color by scribbling with the Prismacolor Markers. I laid a sheet of bubble wrap on top to make the pattern. Now won’t that make a cool background?

You can also color right on a rubber stamp (the inks will dry quickly, but don’t worry.) Then spritz it with some rubbing alcohol (or blending solution) and then stamp your image. You’ll get a watercolor effect.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Prismacolor Art Markers work beautifully with Prismacolor pencils. Here is an example of a stamped image that I colored with markers…

….and then went over with pencils. I used the colorless blender to blend it all together. (I should also note that I LOVE the colorless blender. Love.)

Overall, these are really the “premier” art markers. They are not refillable, but you’d probably need to use them for hours daily to actually use them up.

Now let’s talk about price. I saw 24-color sets for around $50, so you can surmise that they run #$2-2.50 apiece. Compare this to Copics which run $4-5 each! Just as an aside, I called my friend Len Peralta, who is a professional artist/illustrator. When I asked about different alcohol-based markers, he said (as an artist) that his choice was Prismacolor. Is that enough of an endorsement?

Lastly, Prismacolor markers are readily available in craft/hobby shops, online and in art supply departments of big box stores.

I’d love to hear your experience with Prismacolor markers- please leave a comment below!

Disclosure

If you are considering purchasing Prismacolor markers, I hope you’ll use my affiliate links:

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About Jenny

Chief Craft Test Dummy, Craft Evangelist, Founder, Editor, bottle-washer, trouble-maker, and creative whirlwind.

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