Review: Sharpie Oil-based Paint Markers

Sharpie is definitely very well know for their markers, and the brand is synonymous with markers. If you use a Sharpie, you will know.

I don’t find Sharpie markers to be at a quality good enough for professional artists. And that unfortunately applies to these Sharpie oil-based pigmented paint markers.

These markers are available in 15 colours which is a much smaller range compared to other brands of opaque markers.

You can get the markers individually or in a set. Price for each marker is from US $4 to $6 and this pricing is actually considered very good, competitive. You can compare prices on Blick Art Materials which has the whole range or on Amazon which has a smaller range and mostly sells sets.

Tip sizes available are fine and medium. The tip is spring loaded and can be depressed to get more ink out. Ink flow is good, dries quick to a matte finish and doesn’t smell.

The markers can be used a huge variety of surfaces, including glass. The ink is waterproof when dry.

Before buying Sharpie markers, the most important info to look for is whether the colours are lightfast. Sharpie markers are marketed as permanent markers but permanence does not mean lightfast.

Thankfully, these Sharpie oil-based paint markers are pigmented lightfast markers. However, there’s no pigment info listed so you can’t really check the actual lightfast quality unless you test the markers yourself.

I don’t find the inks to be that opaque. Maybe the opacity is 70-90%? Anyway, if you’re looking for extremely opaque markers, consider the Molotow One4All acrylic markers or the Uni Posca markers.

My main issue with these markers is the opacity. They work great on white or light coloured paper but they don’t have enough covering strength due to the less than ideal opacity. You can go over lines again to increase opacity but that’s doing the same work twice.

Availability

You can find these Sharpie oil-based paint markers via these links:

Blick Art Materials (US) | Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp