Copics

[Marc Wolfe]

Thanks for the heads up Chris. I will have to go get one this weekend and see how they work for me. Are they pretty opaque?

[hadesillustrations]

Thanks for the compliment! And the rain streakes were all white gel pen. It works incredibly well and the control in unparalleled for fine lines. I mentioned in anotehr post that I got the idea to use the warm/cool greys from Adam Hughes. I still feel I have a lot to learn, but they're helping me understand the nuance of lighting and are providing a gateway to full on coloring. The marker work on this page by the others who've posted work is fantastic. I aspire to get there at some point. For now I'm at least getting my feet wet.

[Laura]

The only difference with the Sketch and Ciao, that I can figure out, i that the Ciao have a smaller range of colors. You'll notice that they tend to skip steps between colors (so you'd get cool grey 1-3-5 but not 2-4-6). However they use the same refills and tip replacements. So it looks like other than the shape of the marker and the skipped steps they are the same.

They are quite a bit cheaper though, so I guess there could be some other differences but I can't find any. Anyone else got any ideas?

Huh. I'm trying to figure this out now. On the official copicmarker.com site, it just says, "COPIC Ciao Markers are the perfect choice for beginning artists. These round shaped pens are made specifically for those who want to try markers for the first time."

-- Laura

[Stephanie Jones]

I perused the site for a while trying to figure that out myself, and the only conclusion I could come to, besides the smaller color range and lower expense, is that the markers are *shaped* differently.

The Copic Sketch, for instance, were designed more oval-shaped so as not to roll off your desk. If you were just getting used to using markers and wanted more control over them and a better grip, something round is going to fit into your hand better than something a bit wider and more oval shaped would, maybe? I'm not really sure, but that's my guess.

Anyway, I'm really interested in picking up a set of these now, thanks to this thread.

And I can't stop staring at that sketch of the Thor Frog! That thing is awesome, Laura. XD All the artwork in here is, but for some reason I'm just in love with the little Thor Frog.

[Laura]

Straight from the Copic marker catalogue I just got:

Ciao Markers have the exact same nib features as SKetch but in a smaller package, smaller color palette and without the airbrush capability.

Also, they don't come in empty marker form, so you can't customize colors.

It says that the Ciao is smaller and therefore holds less ink. However, it also says that one bottle of ink refill will fill a Ciao up to 15 times, whereas it'll fill a Sketch up to 12 times, an Original up to 9 times and a Wide up to 7 times.

Hmm. I've been misleading people. I thought the Copic inks were NOT alcohol-based. They are. So then, what makes other markers so stinky and Copics not stinky at all? I thought that was the alcohol.

-- Laura

[hadesillustrations]

I think they're made by japanese marker faeries with heaps of love and goodness. I will now track down Copic Ciaos and save a snotload of money. Thank you!

[hunzeker]

So do the Ciao and Sketch style both have the brush tip?

[Chris Summers]

So do the Ciao and Sketch style both have the brush tip?

Yea they both have the chisel and brush tip. They are basically the same markers just the Ciao is smaller/holds less ink and shaped different (round instead of oval).

[hunzeker]

Cheepest place I have found the Sketch markers so far is a place in Cali called Carpe Diem.

http://www.carpediemstore.com/aboutus.asp

[Laura]

Cheepest place I have found the Sketch markers so far is a place in Cali called Carpe Diem.

http://www.carpediemstore.com/aboutus.asp

Oh yeah, I've ordered from them. They take a while to ship, but their prices are good.

-- Laura

[Marc Wolfe]

Carpe Diem's prices are great....Their shipping charges are super high though. I think if you place your order by phone it's cheaper than their automated shipping generator. Good people though. They know allot about the products they sell.

[michael-e-w]

Michael's are now (or about to be) stocking Copics now. I saw the display Saturday, asked if they had them in, and the staff didn't know when they would come in. The website is promoting they have them now, though. It looks like they will have an assortment of Caio and Sketch markers as well as airbrush cans. The one I go to was using an old Prismacolor sectioned bin, and the display says $6.49 each. It also had a checklist for the markers and a pamphlet of what you can use them for. Dunno if they will have sets or not. Michael's has a 40-50% off coupon almost every week, so this could be a good deal. They also now have a frequent shopper card (ala A. C. Moore).

[Stephanie Jones]

I was at Michael's this week and they did, indeed, have a small array of copic markers. These seemed to be the smaller, round-barreled ones that don't hold as much ink (The ciao ones?). There were no price stickers anywhere NEAR them, though, and the display I found didn't have any of the sets.

These were by the checkout though, and my husband (who perused the ink and pencil section while I was busy checking out some cross stitch) swore up and down that he'd seen copic marker sets back there. That's not a bad deal at all if you can use the coupons on them, but I have to say that in general, Michael's is always overpriced. So I'm not really sure if it balances out to a deal, or not, in the end.

I was happy to find that the smaller copics do include the colorless blender, which I imagine you could buy a ton of and then fill with whatever ink refill you wanted to.

This could be pretty cool! I'm going to have to watch my newspapers like a hawk now, for coupons.

[michael-e-w]

Apparently, some Michaels' have a peel off checklist. You check which ones you want, they get them out of the back. You have to specify Sketch or Ciao. I think both are $6.99, though. And there's a 40% off coupon for one item this week (so, go a couple of times or have a friend buy one at the same time). They are in the newspaper inserts and online, so print out as many as you want.

[KevinV]

Totally old thread, but I've started using copics and love them. My question is you're at a show and you want to color away during the show to have fun or whatnot, I guess you could just print out some art to fool around with, but what if someone says cool, I want to buy that. You can't sell it, its not your art, say its a Batman page. So unless you are also an illustrator how can you color and sell art at a show? It needs to be your original art or you have an agreement with an artist, correct?

Also, and I'm not ready for this I think, coloring work people at the show bring to you. Laura, those were amazing, are they original sketches that people got at the show and brought over to you? I'd be worried about messing up, or they not being happy and then ruining their 100 sketch from artist XYZ. Soto and I have emailed a little about this. What is the process and show coloring etiquette around markers.

cheers.