I have three favorite marker brands for card making and coloring:
- Altenew Artist Markers
- Copic Ciao Markers
- and Tombow brush markers.
Both the Altenew Artist markers and the Copic Ciao markers are alcohol based, and they are directly competing products.
The Tombow brush markers are water-based; unlike my favorite alcohol markers, they are suitable for brush lettering, so they perform quite differently than the Altenew Artist Markers and the Copic Ciao markers.
If you’re in search of the best alcohol markers for art, crafts, illustration, card making and coloring, you might already be aware of the Copic Ciao markers, but I think you’ll want to also learn about the Altenew Artist markers and consider trying them as a Copic alternative.
I especially recommend Altenew’s Artist Markers to beginners at marker art, because they make color selection practically dummy-proof.
Read on for my detailed product review of Altenew’s Artist Markers.
The Best Things About Altenew Artist Markers:
It’s EASY to Choose Coordinating Colors With These Markers!
Their color palette is outstanding!
The markers are available in varying packs of colors. There are small packs of 4 coordinating colors that you can use when you’re coloring tonal items like flowers, foliage or clothing. Then there are larger packs available with a broader variety of colors that all work well together.
If you do not have the confidence in your ability to choose colors that work beautifully together, you cannot go wrong when you choose their coordinated color packs. You will have assurance that the color palette you’re using is totally harmonious. It is a complete no-brainer to use these, and it totally takes the pressure off of you when it comes to color selection.
In contrast, Copic does make some marker packs and bundles available; but in my opinion, Altenew does a better job at bundling coordinating colors together in a way that is intuitive and accessible for artists – even for beginning artists who have no idea what they’re doing.
These Markers Are Refillable and Environmentally Responsible
These markers last a long, long time — and when you do, someday in the far-distant future run out of ink, they’re refillable — so you can keep using them without having to buy anything other than ink refills.
That is one of the main reasons I recommend these markers over most others – especially over the Tombows that are not refillable. For one thing, that makes the Altenew Artist Markers super affordable over the long term; and beyond that, they are much more environmentally friendly than the disposable kind of markers that you can’t refill and have to throw away when the ink runs dry.
The Copic Ciao markers also offer this feature, and so both of these marker brands are worthwhile choices if you want refillable markers.
You Won’t Just Be Crafting Alone (Unless You Want to Be); Altenew Gives You the Support of an Entire Creative Team and Community!
The manufacturer, Altenew, has a creative team available, and they post lots of amazing project ideas and inspiration on their website and blog. So you are not only buying yourself a set of markers when you purchase these; you are buying into a community of people who are there to inspire and support you in your creative pursuits. Their creative team members are mostly card makers, so this will be most valuable to you if you are looking for card making ideas. However, you’ll also find scrapbooking layouts and many other types of project ideas available from them.
Altenew has a history of posting fun contests and challenges at their blog and in their newsletters. I can’t promise they will always do this, but as long as they continue this tradition, their challenges will give you a reason to get out your markers (and other Altenew supplies, if you have any) and participate. I’ve participated in these challenges and have made some of my favorite paper craft projects as a result.
Altenew Offers You Education on How to Use Their Products!
Altenew offers a range of free and pay-for online courses that teach you how to use their artist markers and their other art and craft supplies.
I have taken bunches of their free courses, and they are fantastic. I have also enrolled in a pay-for course that I am really excited about but haven’t had a chance to watch yet.
Furthermore, Altenew offers an online educator program that you can participate in if you are interested in getting certified to teach classes with Altenew’s products, including these artist markers and their other range of art and craft supplies.
In the past, Copic used to offer face-to-face educator certifications and workshops. It is my understanding that these have now been discontinued.
Perhaps you have been paper crafting long enough that you remember Copic’s certification courses. I do. At the time they were originally offered, I really wanted to sign up, but I never did, because there were hurdles in the way:
- None of the classes were close to me, so I would’ve had to pay for travel expenses and accommodations in addition to paying the course registration fee;
- And, although I thought the courses were reasonably priced for what they offered, they were more expensive than I could justify paying at the time when I looked around at all my options. For many crafters, they were simply priced out of reach.
I have more than $100,000 invested in my education. I hold a bachelor’s degree and a separate associate’s degree, and I’ve paid thousands of additional dollars for continuing education courses beyond that.
So, I’m willing to pay for education.
But at the time the Copic certification courses were offered, I didn’t see the value, for me personally, in paying for the specific education they were offering.
Altenew’s educator program has its pros and its cons. In the “pros” column, the folks at Altenew have set up their educator program in a way that fixes both of the above problems.
Altenew’s courses for educators all happen online; they are pre-recorded video courses that you can pay for and access any time, at your convenience, via the internet – so you can participate in them from anywhere.
In contrast, from what I remember, Copic’s educator courses were held in person, face-to-face, with the instructor.
The tradeoffs here are obvious. Face-to-face instruction, where the instructor provides individual attention to course participants, is obviously far more valuable. But, it is also far more expensive.
In cases where you need face-to-face instruction, it’s worth paying for that. In that case, you might want to look at taking a marker art course at your local university or college.
But to my way of thinking, Altenew’s courses are great, because they offer you a convenient and affordable way to get up and running with learning about any of their art and craft supplies, including their artist markers and others. So if you’re brand new to this, you don’t need to struggle with learning how to blend and choose colors on your own. And you also don’t need to fork out a fortune for local college-level art courses just so you can figure this out. The team at Altenew really has your back.
Altenew offers many more types of products than Copic does. So their educator program is different than Copic’s used to be, because it teaches aspiring educators how to get proficient with using a broad variety of different types of art and craft supplies beyond just artist markers. If you’re interested in these markers because you want to use them for card making or other paper crafts, you’ll be glad to have access to Altenew’s educator program, which will help you learn many techniques beyond just drawing and blending with alcohol markers.
Cons
I’m not aware of any real cons with these markers. I think they’re amazing, and I highly recommend them.
I think the markers are a great value for the money you spend on them. However, if you are used to coloring with Crayolas or other cheaper markers, you have probably noticed that these markers are pricier in comparison.
However, when you look at the price tag, please keep in mind that you’re only able to use Crayolas or other non-refillable markers for a short time. Then the ink runs out, and you have to throw them away and buy new markers. This comes at a high cost to your wallet and also a high cost to the environment. The world is awash in discarded plastic, and disposable markers contribute significantly to the problem.
In comparison, the Altenew Artist markers are refillable. You buy the markers once. When you need to refill them, you pay only the cost of the ink refills. So to do a truly accurate cost comparison, you have to consider the value you’ll get over the entire lifespan of the markers.
Every time I throw away a used-up pen or marker, I cringe about it, and I count the cost to the environment. That is what finally prompted me to switch over from using throw-away markers to using refillable ones.
I am still working on making this transition, by the way. I do not own many alcohol markers or refillable pens, yet, because the cost to switch over is high. It is tempting to keep buying disposable pens and markers just because the up-front costs are lower. So you really have to evaluate the long-term costs, because otherwise, the value of switching to a refillable option will not be obvious to you.
Conclusion: I Highly Recommend Altenew Artist Markers to Fellow Artists, Crafters, and Coloring Enthusiasts!
If you’re a grownup looking for art or craft supplies to use in your own projects, these are a really great choice:
- They’re high-quality;
- They’re environmentally responsible;
- They make color selection practically dummy-proof.
I think Altenew’s Artist Markers offer an outstanding value for what you get in exchange. I’m delighted with mine, and I think you’ll love them, too.
Where to Buy Altenew Artist Markers:
- Click or Tap here to shop for Altenew’s Rose Petal Artist Marker set at Amazon.
- Tap or click here to shop for Altenew Artist Markers at Scrapbook.com.
Find More Popular Craft Supplies by Altenew
By Amy Solovay
About the Author: Amy Solovay is a professional designer and educator who has a background in textile design. She holds a bachelor’s degree with a studio art minor from Sweet Briar College, and she has also earned an additional, separate degree in textile design from FIDM LA (The Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) in Los Angeles.
As an educator, Amy Solovay used to teach in-person college courses in trend forecasting, marketing and surface design at California Design College in Los Angeles.
Nowadays, Amy uses online platforms to teach digital courses to craft pattern designers, content creators and influencers all over the world. If you’re an artist, crafter or DIY enthusiast who is interested in earning income from your creative work, you’re invited to visit Crafterprise.com to learn more about monetizing the arts, craft(s) and / or DIY projects you do.
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This page was last updated on 9-1-2024.