Guidance On Water-based And Alcohol-based Markers
In this guide to markers, I'll explain everything you need to know so you can confidently buy the best marker for your artistic needs! I'll cover things like the important differences between water-based and alcohol-based markers.
The next biggest choice you’ll have to make is whether you want to buy water-based markers or alcohol-based markers.
Markers contain dyes that are suspended in either water or alcohol, which dries and leaves the color behind. This difference - whether the dye is suspended in water versus alcohol - can affect everything from cost to blend-ability and permanence. Here’s a quick rundown of how the two types differ:
Water-based markers
Cheaper
Fewer colors
Usually disposable
Poor fade resistance
Dries less quickly
No odor
Widely available
Can warp paper
Can be re-activated with water, creating washe.
Alcohol-based markers
More expensive
More colors
Some are refillable
Better fade resistance (but not lightfast)
Dries quickly
Can have an odor
Found mostly in art supply stores
Can bleed through paper
Has transparency, so colors can be layered
So which are better: water-based or alcohol-based markers?
Once you decide to take the leap to artist-grade markers, it can be hard to decide between water-based and alcohol-based markers, so I suggest that you might want to do what I did when I first started using artist-quality markers, and try them both. As helpful as it can be to read about markers online, it’s important to try them yourself to get a firsthand understanding of how they work, which will help you decide which ones you prefer using. Thankfully both types of markers are available open stock (singles) or in small sets, so you can try some out without breaking the bank!
Here’s a little summary between these two options:
Water-based markers are available everywhere, most commonly in those cheap sets designed for children, but you can also buy artist-quality water-based markers that are amazingly versatile. Because water-based markers don’t bleed through the paper as much, they’re well-suited for use in coloring books. The major downside is that if you lay down too much color, they can warp or damage the paper. Water-based markers are also extremely popular for hand-lettering.
Alcohol-based markers (sometimes called “permanent markers”) are typically the preferred choice of artists because they blend more smoothly and predictably (see below), and you can create shades, tints and ombrés by overlaying colors. They do tend to bleed through the paper, so double-sided coloring books are not ideal. For more info, check out Tips for Using Alcohol Markers in Coloring Books.
The image below is a comparison of how well water-based and alcohol-based markers lay down color. These are relatively large 3-inch circles on cardstock. As you can see, water-based markers can be streaky when the colors are overlapped to create a solid fill. While alcohol markers don’t appear as streaky, they can have some variations in saturation, with some areas appearing slightly lighter or darker than others. Whether you love or loathe these attributes depends on your personal style - for example, some people (like me) appreciate the subtle variations in alcohol markers because it lends the artwork a more natural, organic feel, whereas I get frustrated by the streakiness of water-based markers when trying to fill large spaces.
A comparison of how well water-based and alcohol-based markers lay down color on cardstock.
