Fancy Coloring with Bics and Sharpies!

| thefrugalcrafter Lindsay Weirich

Are you frustrated by the price of art markers? Buying a set of Copics can send even the spendiest of crafters into sticker shock so today I am going to show you how you can blend with inexpensive Sharpie and Bic Markits. These markers are about $1 each (less in a multopack or if on sale!) so they are a great way to get your feet wet without breaking the bank. On these tags half were colored with Copic markers, and the rest with Bics and Sharpies, can you tell which is which? Don’t mind the watercolor poppy tag I demoed the other day (oops!)…how’d that get in there? BTW the stunningly gorgeous stamps I used are by About Art Accents-save 10% with coupon Lindsay10% AND the set is on sale too!!!

 

So what are you waiting for, check out this video and see just how to blend with the cheap markers!

The bottom line is that the ink in the expensive art markers and the cheap office supply store variety is basically the same, but the range of colors are limited so I recommend that you buy a multipack of Bic Mark Its or Sharpies and then splurge on a clear blending marker and maybe a few pale shades of markers so you can expand your color range. You can snag my printable cross-reference chart (Bic markers/Prismacolor/Copic) so you don’t buy doubles. Also I recommend you hand color these charts so you really see what the color will be. Here are the images I colored in the video, not bad for cheap markers eh?

 

Thanks for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!

31 thoughts on “Fancy Coloring with Bics and Sharpies!”

  1. Great! I am getting the Spectrum Noir ones which I can get on sale for 7.95 for 6 and have the Bic. I don’t have Prisma Color but do have Stampin up.

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  2. Good Morning, Lindsay,

    Can you tell me if you use a special type of paper for the Bic Mark-its?

    Your coloring is beautiful!

    Thanks again for all you teach us.

    Peace & blessings,
    Marie

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    1. I preffer Neenah Classic Creast #80 in Solar White. It is a bit easier to blend on this BUT I have also used GP cardstock from wal mart and it is fine too:)

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  3. Hi Lindsay-

    What kind/brand of ink did you stamp the images with? I’m still looking for a permanent black ink that doesn’t bleed!

    Thanks,
    Sandy

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    1. I use Tuxedo Black by Memento, it never beads with alcohol ink markers. Any of the Memento line will work, I like the black and brown:) They have it at Joann in full size pads and dew drops and they go on sale 40% off quite often! I recommend buying a reinker but my store does not carry the reinkers, I get them at Joann.com. Good luck!
      Lindsay

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  5. As an industrial designer, I use markers to add a little shading, or hint of color to pen sketches. My work place provides prismacolor markers because they work well, and are cheap to stock. I personally prefer Copic, so I use my personal markers at work, but the prismacolors are perfectly adequate. The Copics are nice in that they can be refilled, so I keep a bottle of my most used ink(mostly grays and black) in my desk. I also prefer the Copic tips to the prismacolors, but I will say that the newer prismacolor arrangement with the medium tip is a vast improvement over the fine line tip that was on them 5 years ago. I would give 3 stars for not being refillable, but because they are so cheap, and available EVERYWHERE, it’s 4.

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  6. Great tutorial Lindsay, I love the sharpies fine points, and I have the bic alcohol markers … but I’m not pleased with the pink and blue colors, Thanks

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    1. Carole, try sugar Almond Pink and Robin’s Egg Blue from Copic, they are my favorites and I will be buying ink refills for them, you can blend out other colors really well with those two!

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    1. any office supply store or department store like Target or wal mart. Even art stores carry them, they are very common:)

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  10. Thanks bunches for sharing this Lindsay! I haven’t colored in years and seemed to have forgotten how. I bought Pro Markers, Bic Markit, Sharpies & have the whole 144 colors of Tombows and forgot how to use them! This was so helpful! I would love it if you would do a tutorial on the Pro Markers too! Big Hugs and Thanks. Lori

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    1. see the video I posted Friday for coloring with Promarkers or you can color just like you do with Bics! You can use Friday’s video to see blending with watercolor markers too just like Tombows! Have fun,
      Lindsay

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  11. Great tutorial Lindsay….I have the Copics and they are a pleasure to work with. Have to say, you clinched using the less expensive markers to get the same result!!!! Good for you!
    Paper Hugs,
    Jan

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  12. Good morning! you make coloring with the bics look just like the Copics. i have a question for you. Do you have a list of vendors that carry unmounted stamps that are inexpensive? of course you do. that is why you are “the frugal crafter” 😉 I am just wondering if you have a list on your website..

    have a good day…

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    1. Hi Christi, check out the links on my sidebar, About Art Accents and Lost Coast are Great if you like the Asian or Artsy style. Also Stamp cAmp is nice. Honestly most unmounted rubber stamps are affordable, some companies offer grab bags and they can be nice to try a mixed bag. I recommend you do a search of unmounted stamps ans see what you find! I find prices on unmounted red rubber to be pretty consistant:)

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  13. very interesting.tut and helpful…iiwas wonder if you could show the bic and sharpies pens (hard to see while you were using them) …..I think i bought the wong ones i have the ultra fine..didn’t notice until I was viewing your video and saw the tips of your pens (I haven’t opened them yet..will take them back if wrong ones) thanks for being soooo helpful to the ones that are on a tight budget…

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    1. The ultra fine are good for details and lettering but I am using the regular bullet tip, I think they are called “fine”, the really skinny ones are ultra fine, I have both and I don’t use the ultra fine ones that much, mostly for writing and journaling.

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  14. Can I use a Copic Blender with the Bic Mark-It Markers? I watched your video and thank for showing how to do this. I have these markers and well I want to know how to use them.

    I thought that I would like to try Copics well until I lost my job and could not afford them. One of my first purchase was the clear blender and if this will work, I really don’t want to have to purchase another brand.

    Thank you for your help with this.

    Inky Huggz,

    Missy

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  16. This worked for you…but I am having trouble with bleeding. What kind of paper did you use with the Bics and Sharpies? The blender pen didn’t clean it up very well and left a stain on the card stock. I was trying the “cheapies” first because I am contemplating buying the spectrum noir set…but don’t want to until I know I can do this right…so maybe it was the paper????

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  17. Prior to watching your tutorial, I had watched Art@Fadil’s How to make colored pencil drawings better with markers.

    Since he was using alcohol markers, he made the comment that they don’t damage the tooth of the paper. Will BICs?

    And do you think that your technique and his techique could be successfully blended?

    I love all you do. You’ve really done a tremendous amount of adding so much wonderful stuff to us in the art community.

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