A cheap Copic Alternative? Studio 71 Dual Tip Brush Marker Review!

Hi friends! When viewers ask me to review a product I try to make it happen. That’s how I happened to find out about the new line of brush tip alcohol pens by Studio 71 from Darice.

I had seen these markers advertised from Consumer Crafts a couple of days before the request came in and I didn’t look twice at them but when I found out they had a brush tip and a chisel tip for a crazy low price I was intrigued! The set of 48 colors I am reviewing today sells for $49.97 currently and the clear blender is $1.47 and USA orders over $49 ship free so that makes the per marker price in the set $1.04. That’s pretty cheap. What to see the quality? Then watch today’s video review! *Even if you don’t need markers I have some blending tips and tricks that will work with any brand of alcohol pens:)

Video!

In all honesty, the ink that comes in most alcohol pens are about the same quality and all alcohol markers that I have tried work well with other brands. The ink on the paper will practically be the same (in my opinion) no matter what brand you choose. With that said this review will compare the blendability, value and comfort and use of the Studio 71 set of 48 Alcohol pens from Darice. Here is my swatch of the colors in the kit on Neenah Classic Crest paper. Regardless of what brand of markers you have you should swatch them out on the paper you most often use so you can get predictable results in your coloring.

Pros:

• Price: $1.04-$1.08 per marker depending on the size set you buy, open stock is $1.47 *this is the least expensive I have EVER seen a quality dual tip brush alcohol marker.
• Color selection in the 48 pack is superb, I feel like there is just enough shades of each color family that I can blend what I would need in most cases.
• Marker Nibs: The brush tips make coloring and blending fast and easy and the chisel tip is useful for forcing blends if I am making a big jump in color of if I want to highlight, or lift out, a darker color.
• Non-roll triangular barrel, comfortable to hold
• Easy to Remove caps (Also easy to replace caps without worry of damaging the marker tip)
• Product packaging can be used as a storage case allowing you to store the markers flat or upright. (I recommend storing flat)

Cons:

• Not refillable (at this time)
• As with most art markers there are some duplicates between sets so if you are buying multiple packs check the colors. Spectrum Noir is the only brand I know that has no duplicates between sets/packs. *Note: The Spectrum Noir Core Essentials set from Hobby Lobby WILL have duplicates but not the packs from online retailers like Consumer Crafts or Hallmark Scrapbook. (I just got that info this morning.)

Here are the blending examples from the video. I noted what colors I used next to each shell. I hope you find it useful! You can look up the colors from the swatch above if you are trying to get these blends with other brands of markers as well, like I said, the ink in any alcohol pen is pretty much the same. The quality of the nibs and the price is where the brands differ.

Summary: I found the Studio 71 markers to perform as well as any of my other brush tip alcohol pens. The nib flexibility was between a Copic and a Winsor & Newton Brush Marker (The Copic being a slight bit more flexible but that may be because I have been using it longer.) These markers blended very well and the color selection in the 48 pack contained all of the essential colors needed to produce all the shades I’d need for 95% of my projects. (of course it is easier to blend the more colors you have but this set has a great selection.)

Bottom Line, You can’t go wrong with the quality of these markers for the price. I looked at converting my Spectrum Noir alcohol pens to brush pens but the brush nibs are about $2 each and you can get a whole studio 71 marker for around $1. It comes down to what your needs are, if you want hundreds of refillable markers than this is not for you but if you want great results with a smaller selection of quality pens on the cheap give Studio 71 a try!

Resources/supplies:

• Studio 71 marker sets
• Spectrum Noir Markers (these are the refillable markers with replaceable nibs from the same company but has no duplicates between sets EXCEPT the Core Essentials set from Hobby Lobby. The do not come with brush nibs but they are available @$2 each)
• Neenah #80 Classic Crest Super Smooth Cardstock in Solar White (My favorite cardstock for alcohol markers)
• Gina K non bleed through heavy cardstock I mentioned (Great for one layer cards!)
• Memento black ink (doesn’t bleed with alcohol pens, my fave!) and reinker available.
• Shell stamp set by Stampendous.

I hope you enjoyed the tips and tricks in todays videos. Remember the best supplies to use are the ones you already have but I always enjoy finding out what’s new on the market! Thank you for stopping by and til next time happy crafting!