My Favorite Alcohol Ink Brands
Copic
Copic inks have great quality and variety. There are literally hundreds of colors to choose from. While Copic inks are a little more pricey than other brands, the quality is worth it in my opinion. They recently made their bottles smaller, but the price is nearly the same, which is a bummer. With that being said, you don’t have to go overboard and buy every single color though. With so many colors to choose from, a lot of colors end up being pretty similar to each other. Just make sure you buy a good variety of the staples, and you can always mix your own if you need a slightly different color.
Ranger
Ranger inks have a great variety of colors. For reasonable prices, you can buy them as individual bottles, or in packages of three different colors. The packages can be nice for beginners, as they can give you some inspiration for interesting color combinations, and they can really help you get your ink collection started. My favorite thing about Ranger inks is the way the colors bleed out. A lot of their inks bleed out with two different colors (and sometimes very unexpected colors) when you add additional layers of ink or isopropyl alcohol. While I found this a frustrating and unpredictable at first, I have grown to really love this effect and use it to my creative advantage. You can really achieve some interesting and unique looks with their inks because of this. The one downside I have found with Ranger inks is that they seem to be very sensitive to humidity, at least in my experience. When I’m working outside on a humid day, or if I use my breath to blow on the inks, they can start to behave oddly.
Brea Reese
Brea Reese inks have great quality for a good price. You can buy them individually or in packs of three, making them another good brand to help build your collection. Brea Reese inks blend easily and always dry as expected. They don’t bleed out any unexpected colors, which makes them very reliable. While they don’t have a huge variety of colors, I love all of the colors that they do offer.
Honorable Mentions:
Pinata- My favorite metallic ink is Pinata Brass! Oddly enough, I actually don’t use any of their other inks, so I can’t speak on them much, but Pinata brass is definitely a staple in my work. It is the perfect antique gold color!
Marabu- These inks are a good affordable option. They don’t have a lot of colors to choose from, but they offer some really good basics. You have to pierce the tip of the bottle when you first open them, which can be messy (I’ve had inks spray out at me!). I’ve also noticed that they have a very strong odor.
Blick Studio Marker Refills- They have some nice colors, and their ink bottles are large (like the old Copic bottles). I have found that these inks dry very sticky though, and this is a big magnet for dust particles. It hasn’t been a problem if I’m sealing my work soon after with resin; however, if I seal my work with just Kamar varnish/UV protectant spray, the stickiness still comes through on the final project.
