The SAD truth about alcohol markers (that no one talks about)

Alcohol markers are really fun to make art with, until you realize there’s a HUGE downside… 😳 

But don’t despair! Find out how to overcome the biggest issue with using alcohol markers, so that you can enjoy them to the fullest. 💖

NOTE: The swatches shown at 00:42 are the most extreme examples of how much colors can fade or shift. Don't worry, most colors won't change this much over 2.5 years! The swatches were never kept in direct sunlight; they were only exposed to a moderate amount of ambient indoor lighting as I periodically used the color chart in my art room. 😊

Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:35 Why alcohol markers fade
03:44 Does it even matter?
05:43 How to make alcohol marker art last longer
08:34 How to make alcohol marker art last FOREVER
10:09 Selling your alcohol marker art
10:43 Lightfast alternatives to alcohol markers
12:56 Conclusion

⭐️ *ULTIMATE GUIDE to Using Alcohol Markers* ⭐️

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©2024 Thaneeya LLC

[thaneeya]

Thanks everyone for sharing your thoughts about this! 💖 It's certainly producing a lively discussion with various viewpoints - great food for thought for anyone who's still unsure of how they feel about it.

I'm still an avid alcohol marker fan and won't stop using them anytime soon. 😊

[teentitansrock]

Art historians are going to LOVE YOU and this video someday for digitizing the comparison of the markers changes over time. Using it to try and estimate what existing pieces would have looked like originally.

[yuna]

This is why I usually keep my alcohol marker drawings in my sketchbook, instead of hanging them up, since they won't fade as fast like that

[lostinwonderart]

Alcohol markers are an illustration medium. They aren’t meant for finished artwork. They’re meant for work that is created for a specific purpose to be reproduced. Such as for book illustrations, prints/posters, advertising, etc…. They should not use markers for finished pieces to sell.

[HeatherD]

I don’t care that they fade because I love the process of coloring with them.

[LunaLove]

My mom is a working illustrator and she has Copic marker illustrations from 2001 that are SUPER vibrant and haven’t faded LOL She says you need to color on acid free paper and storie the art work in acid free binders/plastics. Also, keep them away from UV rays and moisture. They’re obviously going to look different in 80 years, but 20+ years later and they look immaculate👍

[SquirtleHK]

Oh! When storing alcohol marker art, make sure you have a blank paper between each artwork!! My red and brown Shuttle Art alcohol markers bleed yellow onto the paper above and below them in storage!!

[SquirtleHK]

Yup! I knew before getting alcohol markers that they fade, so I'm diligent to scan scan scan right when I finish the art! I recommend displaying a print of the scan! Try to consider the scan as precious of a version of the artwork as the original is☺

[thinkerdreamersketcherspy]

To those who are sad about their art not lasting: please do your own lightfast testing! It's very easy and you get a clear idea which of your colours are the most problematic.

For example, if you take the advice of using coloured pencils with solvents or watersoluble pencils, you need to figure out how much you can dilute the colours. Watersoluble pencils especially are notoriously prone to fading when used in washes!

[wintersprite]

I learned from a couple of other art YouTubers when I found out about alcohol markers that they aren’t lightfast (it might have been from a brand comparison video). They’re mainly used for illustrations that will be reproduced (so could be useful for something you want to sell on Redbubble or a similar site, or an drawing you want to sell prints of but not the original. From what I’ve heard, they’re popular with manga illustrations.

I also like just playing around with them in my sketchbooks or coloring in a coloring book.

Many mediums have varying lightfastness, depending on brand, colors/color groups, etc.

[SorcierLunaire]

Weirdly, I have a swatch book that has barely faded, and I filled it well over five years ago. It could be the paper quality or chemical composition, or perhaps it’s the fact that I kepe them completely out of light.

[BabyShenanigans]

First time viewer here. How do you only have 5200 subs?? The production value of your videos is so high! Very educational too. Last year I painted a stone with sunflowers for my garden using acrylic paints. I used green, yellow, orange, and black. When I was done, I sealed it with a spray-on varnish. So far all the colors look amazing still, except for the orange, which completely disappeared within a couple of months!

[thdraws]

Excellent information. The lightfastness of coloured pencils is equally mixed. Faber Castell Polychromos are very good, but many Prismacolor colours are fugitive. There are brands like Derwent Lightfast and Caran D'Ache Luminance that are formulated for maximum lightfastness.

[thinkerdreamersketcherspy]

I am mainly a coloured pencil artist but when I use markers I don't care the artwork will fade. Markers are fairly new to my work and I went in with the knowledge they can fade in days. I've been selling my art for nearly 30 years and I choose lightfast materials where possible. When I get new supplies I will immediately separate the non-lightfast colours. That way I can make informed choices and it's easier to inform a buyer about the colours used.

[PatriciaPageMosaicArtsCrafts]

I dont like alcohol, i cant stand the smell, but i subscribed whithin 30 seconds of your introduction, what a lovely personality. Your art is amazing.

[mad_hatt]

I’m gonna get cheaper ones then since it apparently doesn’t matter😅 I still enjoy using the markers so I’m not gonna ditch them entirely. Just gonna start scanning my art to my laptop and avoiding the expensive stuff. Arrtx alcohol markers from now on! Thanks!

[syzygy]

Found this out when I was making resin art. It's one of the reasons I never opened up my own shop. Alcohol ink fades. Podwers shift, resin yellows, flowers wither. It just didn't seem fair to customers. At least I had fun.

[handleiguesss]

So, they're probably great for making art you want to scan and make prints of! Thank you for talking about this, had no idea

[venusalexa]

Mine are 8+ years old, are on a wall in front of a window and are all super vibrant and the same as old footage i have with them in the background. A lot of them are laminated tho

[PartanBree]

I didn't know the difference between dye and pigment before - thanks!

I believe the reason watercolour paintings don't sell for as much as oils is because historically, watercolour paints were very fugitive. We now have the technology to prevent them fading, but the perception of watercolour as a "temporary" medium lives on. The whole business of trying to make colours last in art is really interesting, thousands of years of experimentation.