Art-N-Fly Products Update
Art-N-Fly Products Update
Quite a while ago I completed a review of the Art-N-Fly alcohol markers and the colored pencils that they make, however, I noticed that not long after the review that I got one or two things a bit confused. In relation to the actual markers and their quality, nothing at all has changed, it is more to do with the sets available than anything else.
I spoke to the wonderful people at Art-N-Fly and it turned out that quite a few of their customers made the same mistake I had made and so I wanted to try and help get the message out their and make things a little bit clearer regarding sets available, refills, pricing and lots of other things.
Art-N-Fly Standards
It is common knowledge that the Japanese alcohol markers called Copic are the industry standard for illustrators, however, over the last few years, lots of companies have tried to replicate the quality of such markers but introducing a lower price point. Not many companies have succeeded in creating high quality markers at reasonable prices, however the last year has seen more and more companies getting closer to Copic, if not on power with and one such company has been Art-N-Fly.
For those wanting to get involved with alcohol markers, Art-N-Fly is an absolutely fantastic place to start. You are going to get a set of markers with a high quality brush tip and chisel tip. All markers have available refills which we will talk about later, one of the downsides with Copic, especially for those starting out with markers, although some may say this is their strength, is the vast number of colors in the line.
Copic have a total of 358 colors, which I know a lot of artists will say is excellent, and that might be the case for incredibly experienced illustrators, however, for those just getting into alcohol markers, the thought of collecting 358 colors is quite daunting, especially at the prices Copic charge. However, with the Art-N-Fly markers, they have a much more manageable number of markers, making collecting the entire line a much more realistic possibility and a possibility that is not going to cost the earth. Currently Art-N-Fly have 94 colors but there is some more to come.
Art-N-Fly Sets Available
When I originally reviewed the Art-N-Fly markers, I only had the 24 set which came in a clear plastic pencil case like package, however, their largest set at the time was a 48 box set. I also knew that Art-N-Fly sold a few packs of 6 markers, Purples, Blues, Skin Tones, Greys and Earth Tones, but when writing about these sets in my my actual review, I thought that the 6 packs were colors that could be found in the 48 set and that the 6 pack sets were an easy way of collecting the full 48, this was not the case.
The 6 packs that Art-N-Fly sell are in addition to the 48 set they sell, that is 6 pack of Purple Tones, Blue Tones, Skin Tones, Cool Grey Tones and Earth Tones. On top of this Art-N-Fly have introduced a set of 12 Pastel Tones which are absolutely gorgeous tones and as they are lighter in value they are perfect for blending.
After talking with Art-N-Fly, they are planning on expanding the skin tones to a 12 pack which will be amazing and I am sure with time and as the brand grows, perhaps more colors will be added to the range. I have personally found Art-N-Fly as a company to be incredibly professional and driven to providing outstanding high quality products to their customers. Art-N-Fly may very well be a small company, but they have huge ambitions, with a driven ethos to get them there.
Every color that they currently have available, also has a refill package, this means that once you purchase your markers, be it a set of 6, the 48 set or the entire collection, you will have the set for life and simply refill the marker when needed. Each refill pack will fill a marker approximately 13 times, which is phenomenal, so many of the companies trying to compete with Copic do not offer refills and you either need to purchase a new individual marker when the ink runs our, or worse still, you might need to purchase a new set, comprising of colors you don’t need just to obtain the color you do need.
Art-N-Fly have also recently added a new product to their range which I personally think it is a fantastic idea. The markers that Art-N-Fly currently have on sale are Brush tip and Chisel tip, which are by far the most popular markers among marker artists, however, when working on a large marker project, it is good to have more detailed markers on hand. So Art-N-Fly has introduced 24 Classic tip markers, which is basically the same as a bullet tip only finer and slightly smaller, with a chisel tip on the other end. The Classic markers are so far only available in 24 and the colors available are the same as the colors in the brush marker range.
Art-N-Fly Pricing
As I have mentioned, one of the biggest draw backs on the Copic markers is and always has been the price, to complete the entire collection you can pay as much as two thousand pounds, which I am sure can agree is a huge sum of money. Apart from the high quality on offer from Art-N-Fly, they have made the products reachable to ordinary artists, wanting to create beautiful art with affordable products.
Here in the UK, to purchase the individual Art-N-Fly products you can expect the following amazing prices. For the largest 48 set you can expect to pay approximately £86. For the six packs, the Skin Tones, Blue Tones, Earth Tones, Grey Tones and Purple Tones, you can expect to pay £13.97, for the 12 set of Art-N-Fly Pastel Tones, you can expect to pay £24 and 12 pack of Skin Tones £14.97. There is also a 24 set of Brush markers, the colors in the 24 set are also in the 48 set, the 24 set will cost you approximately £24.
In the US, Art-N-Fly have their own dedicated page on Amazon. For the 48 set you can expect to pay $89, for the 6 packs, in all tones you can expect to pay $14.97, for the 12 set of Pastel Markers you can expect to pay $24, for the new set of 24 Classic Markers you can expect to pay $24.97.
Art-N-Fly Conclusion
I have to say and be 100% honest with you guys, as I have always been. I have been interested in the Art-N-Fly markers for a long time, I am going back to when they only had a small selection of colors in the marker range. I only seen a few people use them back then in speed drawings and instagram posts, however I didn’t really know a lot about the product or the company. Since then I reached out to the company and started asking a few questions. I really wanted to know more about the company and also to try and review the products.
One of the most asked questions I get is, what markers would I recommend other than Copic as people can’t afford Copic, and so reviewing markers was a huge thing for me, I wanted to find the best Copic alternative, which I am convinced is Art-N-Fly. After communicating with the company, asking questions and listening to their plans for the future, as well as genuinely loving the Art-N-Fly Markers myself. I personally love finding art supplies that are high quality and placed within a price range that makes them accessible to a lot of artists; artists of all ages and experiences and Art-N-Fly is that company.
To see my detailed review of the actual marker, you can click this link for the written review and this link for the YouTube video review. Also, in creating this update video, I put together a speed drawing, trying to demonstrate exactly how bright and vibrant the markers are, what better genre to do this than Manga. I created a compilation of some Dragon Ball Z, an Anime and Manga that I have not personally watched in quite a few years, however, I have always admired the amazing art work created by Manga and Anime artists and so wanted to honour their style with this update.
However, due to how much I was enjoying using the Art-N-Fly markers, I completed another speed drawing of Yoda from Star Wars. Ordinarily I only complete one piece of art per product to review, but on this occasion I was just enjoying using the markers too much.
To watch my update video and get a better understanding of the various sets available, follow the link and if you would like to watch the speed drawing of this Dragon Ball Z art work, you can do so by following the link or you can check out my Yoda Speed Drawing with the Art-N-Fly Markers as well.
