Watercolour brush pens

[margaritasbythesea]

Does anyone know anything about these? DD really wants some but in our local shop they were 4 euro each. I have looked online and they are a bit cheaper but are they just glorified colours or worth the money?

If they are worth it are there any good brands to go for?

She is nearly 10 and loves to colour.

[Agoddessonamountaintop]

I have a Pentel colour brush in red, not sure if the ink is water soluble or not. It’s pretty good, gets good reviews on Amazon. I don’t use it much because it doesn’t really make the sort of effects I’m after - the colour is quite flat. Doesn’t mean it’s bad, I just prefer paint. I also have a black one that you could do calligraphic stuff with.
I’m an art student and sometimes use a brush that you fill with water and use it with block watercolours. Handy for sketching and all the illustration students seem to have them.
Just read your last sentence; if your DD loves to colour she’ll be able to fill larger areas more quickly with these. They’re not rigid like a thick felt tip and you can get a variety of marks with them.

[margaritasbythesea]

Thanks Agoddess. I shall have a look at Pentel. She did show me a colouring book that she has wanted for a while which is very large and said she wahted them for it in particular , so that does make sense. I thought she was making it uo as she had laso told me that she liked them because they were very fine.

It is difficult to buy a set of 24 for 30 pounds odd when I have a set of 24 Crayola washable in the present cupboard which cost 4!

[LadyDeadpool]

With watercolour markers you can use water to blend them after putting them on the paper or even "color" on a plastic plate and then add water to use them like watercolours with a paint brush.
A set of Ecoline brush markers is around the £15 mark and they are proper watercolours, but perhaps a set of watercolour pencils would be better for her colouring book? They're easier to use and you can use a wet paint brush to blend them too. They're also cheaper with a set of Faber-Castell for £11.50 on Amazon which are very nice quality.

[Agoddessonamountaintop]

Sorry yes I suppose rhe key thing is that you can blend them! Wasn’t really with it last night. One thing I’d say about the watercolour pencils is that they can be a bit wishy-washy, neither here nor there. I’ve always preferred actual paint. I’m sure there’s a vast difference between the pens your daughter wants and the Faber-Castell specials!
As someone who always got the cheaper, inferior substitute present (sob), I’d say - get her the brushes she wants!

[margaritasbythesea]

Thanks for the Ecoline recommendation.

I suppose my problem is that I have no way of knowing what is inferior or superior except for price and amazon reviews. It´s a puzzle!

[3wheels]

I’m looking for block watercolour paints as a gift, just noticed Amazon seem to have really good prices on Winsor and Newton products at the moment including the pens if it helps. :)

[margaritasbythesea]

Thanks I shall have a look.

[margaritasbythesea]

She has mentioned these ones which I can´t afford.

She keeps mentioning that she wants LOADS of colours (of course she does! Who wouldn´t?)

Does anyone have an opinion on whether these would be a decent alternative?

I am not ignoring your suggestions by the way just trying to cover both her colour lust and my budget!

[3wheels]

At her age I would go quantity over quality. They look lovely, beautiful colours.

[LadyDeadpool]

Ok the Chameleon pens are actually alcohol markers not watercolour and yes they are hugely expensive! If she wants alcohol markers then you have a million different options varying in price range and I would recommend Copic ciaos from Cultpens for £2.49 each as they're refillable and also what all the youtubers she'll be watching use!
As for the Mozarts stuff I've heard mixed reviews and a lot of the reviews on Amazon will be from people who have the items free or at a discount.
I think the first thing you need to find out is what type of pen she wants. The chameleon pens can be used to create an automatic gradient without any work but the Copics are far better value if she wants alcohol markers.

[VanellopeVonSchweetz99]

Tombow Dual Brush sets are fab, she will like them.
Affordable and still used by professional illustrators I know.

www.amazon.co.uk/Tombow-Bright-Dual-Brush-Markers/dp/B00JVB8FBA/ref=sr_1_1?s=officeproduct&keywords=tombow%20dual%20brush%20pens%20bright&ie=UTF8&qid=1512735284&sr=1-1&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

[margaritasbythesea]

I have just talked to her and it seems it is the colours and the fine lines she is most focused on. She has a solid watercolour set where the colours are divided into brights, earth tones etc and she says she wants them like that. Also double ended.

I have seen that you can get the Tombow like that but it is going to get very expensive!

And yes, she is getting her ideas from YouTube!

[VanellopeVonSchweetz99]

I know, cheap they are not. It's very popular/trendy with young people right now but high end artist materials were never cheap. Not even professional artists could get all the colors at once, esp not Copic (the rolls royce of these pens).
Could she start off with the 'brights' Tombow set + black and save up for the 'secondary' set?

[margaritasbythesea]

It´s a birthday present. She gets very clear ideas in her mind of what she wants and a disappointment would be worse than doing nothing. I have already spent quite a lot on her though.

IT´s a dilemma.

We have just spent a happy hour colouring together with her old felt pens so nto all bad

[VanellopeVonSchweetz99]

For someone 10 + I would say yes it'd worth it. They are lush pens to work with.

[dottybear]

I have bought DS (9 ) some alcohol brush pens from here
DD1 (who is off to uni next Sept to do Graphic design and Illustration) has lots of copic markers and DS loves art and occasionally borrows some of dds . He wanted Copics too , but tbh I wasnt sure he was quite old enough to properly look after them to justify the expense so I got him some (slightly) cheaper Windsor and Newton ones.

[LadyDeadpool]

www.amazon.co.uk/docrafts-Artiste-Watercolour-Dual-Tip-Caddy/dp/B00NA3ORGC/ref=pd_sbs_79_35?psc=1&_encoding=UTF8&refRID=NAVPAAFVX29DKAA7DXCZ&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

The Artiste range is sort of a hobbyist grade of watercolour markers I have a far few things by Artiste and I find them perfectly fine they come in a good range of colors set out the way she likes and the price isn't going to hurt you. Then perhaps a set of Spectrum Noir alcohol markers

www.amazon.co.uk/Spectrum-Noir-Darks-24-set/dp/B0083VUEGI/ref=sr_1_9?keywords=alcohol%20markers&ie=UTF8&qid=1512755984&sr=8-9&tag=mumsnet&ascsubtag=mnforum-21

Then she has the opportunity to try out both styles of marker and decide which she wants to invest in and you've spent around £40.

[LadyDeadpool]

@Dottybear The winsor and newton markers are lovely, same standard as copics only real difference is they're not refillable and smaller range of colours.

[margaritasbythesea]

Great. Thankyou very much for All your advice.