Hi ya everyone, Melissa here today and I wanted to do a little something different. I know there are a lot of questions surrounding the comparable markers you can purchase at MarkerPop. In this post I’m going to do a breif comparison of the Copic Sketch Markers to the Shinhan Touch Markers. Both are alcohol based markers and therefore are able to blend nicely and dry quickly so that you can layer colors. I’m going to try very hard to give you a non-biased opinion of the two. I have used Copics for a number of years now but am always open to new markers and a cheaper alternative for those that need one.
Let’s start with some basics. In the picture above I separated out colors based on similarities in hues and shades. Therefore the Copic Y38, YR24, YG07, and YG23 are fairly close in color to the Shinhan YR33, YR31, GY48, and GY 47. I chose the adorable little dragon from the Lawn Fawn set called Critter’s Ever After and stamped him twice on Xpress It paper with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink. The I colored both images with each set of markers.
Initial Comparison:
- Shinhan are not as comfortable, they feel larger. Sketch are oval and therefore much easier to hold. The discomfort isn’t bad with the Shinhans however and if used heavily I probably would NOT have noticed so much. However, they did feel large to me.
- Copics flick much easier to do the size. When I flick with my Copics, it helps me to later blend out colors. I had a hard time flicking with the Shinhan and again feel like it’s their size and shape. Again, with practice and use I could probably overcome this.
- Shinhan markers are JUICY. They have lots of ink and I felt like they bled a lot do to this. However, a nice juicy marker isn’t a bad thing as you can get down a lot of color. Here’s a good example of what I mean. Check out the back of my Xpress it. It’s easy to see which are more juicy. The Copics I used were also nice and full of ink.
- Overall the blending between the two markers were very much the same. I had no problem getting a nice smooth transition between the two shades of green. You can see this below.
- Again, upon finishing with the green I noticed that BOTH markers really did finish quite similar and I kept having to look at the back of the paper once I cut off the labels telling me which was the Touch and which was the Copic.
- Color Charts – both companies have a color chart Shinhan HERE and Copic HERE. Copics color chart is very reasonable in terms of why colors are placed where on the chart. It’s very simple to choose colors in a family and know they will blend together. I’ve been Copic certified so I understand this system. Shinhan’s color chart doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in terms of the layout.
- Copics have a lot more colors in the sketch markers. Shinhan does not, but it might not be necessary when just starting out.
- Both offer replacement nibs and refills.
Overall, I thought the markers were quiet comparable in terms of quality and blending. I’ll leave you with these final image and you can judge for yourself if the difference between the two is so noticeable that you would be swayed one way or the other!
I’ll leave you guessing on which is which!!! 🙂
Don’t forget to check out and apply for our Design Team Call!