Arrtx Ultimate Sketchmarkers Combo Brush and Bullet Nibs

If you have followed me for any length of time, you will know that I absolutely love working with markers and colored pencils. I personally think as a mixed media format, they are a match made in heaven, providing gorgeous strong saturation from the markers and detailed seamless blending. COPIC Markers have long been the industry standard for illustrators, designers and architects, however, despite their excellent quality, they come with a hefty price tag, which is why I have been constantly seeking a cost saving alternative.

This is where Arrtx comes into play, Arrtx have been providing excellent quality markers at affordable pricing, making them a highly desirable art supply for those starting out in mixed media or marker art. The first range that Arrtx released was their Oros Marker, this combination was chisel and brush nibs. If you would like to know more about the Oros you can click the link to read or watch my original review. This was the artwork I created using the Arrtx Oros for that review.

Next Arrtx released the ALP Markers, same ink, same ink flow, same barrel type, cost and excellent quality, only this combination was chisel and bullet nib. As with the Oros, for a lot of artists, this is a perfect combo for the art and style they like to work with. As with the Oros review, if you would like to read or watch my original review of the Alp Markers from Arrtx, click the relevant links and this was the art I created using the Alps.

Finally, for me personally, Arrtx have released the ultimate marker combination in their brand new Sketchmarkers. Every thing is the same as the Oros and Alps, consistency right throughout the range, only this time the combination is a Brush and bullet nib, this is the marker we will be looking at in this review.

Arrtx Sketchmarker Characteristics.

The set we are looking at is the 90b set, a set of 90 colors including a colourless blender and black marker. I am guessing, given this set is called 90b, that Arrtx plan on releasing further sets, increasing the overall palette, just as they did with the Oros, which have the largest palette so far in the range.

As you can see, the full 90 markers come in this cardboard box packaging, designed to appear as a gift, which after testing and demonstrating the sketchmarkers, I am inclined to agree with them. However, as with all of Arrtx marker packaging, this doubles up as storage. On opening the lid of the box, it folds back on itself, allowing the user to rest the box on a desk at a 45º degree angle, allowing the user easy and tidy access to the entire palette. This allows the artists to keep the markers tidy and visible, as opposed to spreading them all over the desk and struggling to locate the color you want.

The barrel is a rounded triangular shape with a pale blue grey color. When you compare the Arrtx Sketch to the Oros and Alps Markers, the blue grey tone becomes more apparent, however on its own, it just looks like a pale grey color.

Along one side of the barrel there is the company name printed in clear black print “Arrtx”, beside the company name is the marker type, “Sketchmarker”. On either end of the barrel, there are clear icons, depicting the type of nib under the relevant lid, a brush icon for the brush nib and a bullet shape nib for the bullet nib.

On both lids, there is a clear indication of the color selection, markers are best housed horizontally, and when this is followed, the color id on the lid makes selection fast and easy. There is also a number printed on the both lid ends

Arrtx Sketchmarker Performance

The thing I really love about this new Arrtx Sketchmarker is the level of consistency right the way throughout all three models. I talk about this a bit further in my YouTube Video and compare to a different company that did the opposite and suffered, check out the video for more information.

The first thing I always do with a product to review is swatch the colors, I need to see the colors on the exact paper I will perform the artwork on and so for this swatch, I used Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Smooth. Bristol Smooth or Plate are excellent surfaces for marker or mixed media such as marker and colored pencil.

As you can see, the palette in my opinion, is very different to a lot of first time branding products. So what I mean by this is, normally when companies release a new product, they will cover all the traditional values and tones, but in this set, we can see a lot of pastel like tones in the third and fourth rows. Now, I personally love pastel tones in markers, they are essential for blending and creating smooth gradients, portraying light to dark values.

This is why I mention in my video review, that Arrtx must be considering or have ready to release further sets of the Arrtx Sketchmarker. If you look at the reds along the top row, for me they are too similar and there are not enough dark tones. That on its own would be a problem, but if you remember back to how Arrtx released the huge palette of the Oros, it was done in sets and I feel is Arrtx have this planned for the Sketchmarker, all is forgiven.

As with so many of Arrtx products, their greys are amazing, a good selection of cool and warm greys, with a couple blue greys and green greys. I would absolutely love to see Arrtx expand the blue and green greys if they release additional palettes.

Next up is the artwork I created with the Arrtx Sketchmarkers, again, this was created on Strathmore 300 Series Bristol Smooth paper and as you can see, this is an AI Generated Dragon, a bit of fun, but a serious demonstration and test of the Arrtx Sketchmarkers.

The only mistake I made with this demonstration was inking the outline, I should have used the bullet nib from the Sketchmarker to outline the image and keep it all the same color. Nevertheless, I made the mistake and cracked on with the artwork. The bullet nib was perfect for the detailed areas, the bullet nib with the brush nib combined is just the ultimate combination and I wish more marker companies or manufacturers supplied this combination.

You can clearly see the saturation levels the Arrtx Markers created and once I was finished with layering and blending the marker work, I then came in with the Arrtx Colored Pencils and a few prismacolor pencils to finish the piece off.

I also completed a simple blending test which is best viewed on my YouTube video review where you can watch the actual blending process, however I have also added an image of the results here, so you can enlarge and inspect the results in your own time and as much detail as you like.

Arrtx Sketchmarker Pricing and Availability

For the full set of 90 Arrtx Sketchmarkers, Brush and Fine Nib combination, you will pay the following.

For artists in the US you can expect to pay approximately $89.

For Artists in the UK you can expect to pay approximately £87.

For Artists in Australia you can expect to pay approximately $125 AUD,

For Artists in Canada you can expect to pay approximately $141.

For artists in France you can expect to pay approximately €77

For artists in Germany you can expect to pay approximately €77

Currently, at the time and date of writing this article, there is only the 90b set of Arrtx Sketchmarkers, should Arrtx add to their palette of the Sketchmarkers I will definitely amend this article accordingly. This is the fundamental reason I talk about pricing only in my written reviews and never in my YouTube Video reviews. With written reviews on my own website I can amend this review anytime I want and I have done so to many reviews over the years. With YouTube video reviews, once the video is edited and published on YouTube, it is very difficult and time consuming to edit specific areas of content.

Arrtx Sketchmarker Conclusion

I have mentioned this a few times throughout this article and my YouTube video, the Arrtx Sketchmarker provides the ultimate marker combination of Brush nib and Fine Nib or also referred to as a bullet nib. I love how Arrtx thus far have maintained a level of consistency right the way throughout their marker range and colored pencil range.

The interchangeability between the Arrtx Oros, Alps and Skethcmarkers is seamless, no difference in ink quality or flow, other than different nibs. Everything is exactly the same, meaning that users, transferring between the Arrtx range of markers, can do so with comfortability and familiarity with each marker.

The saturation levels of the ink is clear to see in the swatch and artwork provided and in comparison to other large sets of markers, Arrtx have maintained a competitive price point. To watch my YouTube video review simply click the link and you will be transferred, you can also watch the speed drawing video by following the link or if YouTube and speed drawings are not your thing, I have added a selection of still images of the artwork which you can enlarge and inspect in your own time.