(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.)
