If you’re looking to break into brush lettering, using brush markers is a great way to get started.
With the huge variety of tools available, it can be tough to decide which one to buy. I’ve rounded up all of the markers I currently own to show you what you can do.
At the inexpensive end of the spectrum is the good old Crayola marker. With the pointy tip and a broad side, you can achieve some awesome thick and thin lines in your letters.
(The same goes for the generic Target brand markers too).
Crayola SuperTips give you a thinner line than the classic size, but the marker still comes to a fine point.
Sharpie has also jumped in on the brush marker game with the permanent ink brush pen and the fabric markers.
In terms of art supplies for grown-ups, Tombow Dual Brush Markers are the best. Lots of flexibility in the tip and a huge rainbow of colors. There’s even a fine point on one end for regular writing and drawing.
There are tons of other brush markers out there in the world, but these are the ones I’ve tried and that live in my collection.
What brush markers do you love?
Have you used Le Plume II dual tip markers? Are they similar to the Tombow?
Ooh. I’ll have to try those!
I’ve tried them. They are similar enough to a tombow without having to pay a tombow price.
I LOVE the Le Plume II brush end, but the other is is much finer than on a Tombow. It’s small like a Micron.
Thank you for the comparison. I just ordered the Tombow brush markers to practice with.
I have a few of the tombow brush markers and they’re pretty cool. Have you tried the main clean color real brush pens? They’re amazing at brush lettering and water colouring and General colouring – love them! 🙂
Are those by Zig? I’ll have to check those out!
Awesome!! I tried sharpies yesterday and it was a struggle!! I need the brush tip sharpie! Makes sense!!
Oh, I love this! I am a sucker for any page that discusses tools and what they can do, especially with lettering!
Micron, Fiber-Castell, and Copic all include a very delicate (compared to Tombow) and sensitive brush pen in their “buy our full set of multi-liners!” pens, do you have any of those? I haven’t experimented with them for brush lettering yet; they’re so responsive to any kind of touch or pressure that I feel like blinking might nudge them!
I’d love to see what someone who has more control & brush lettering experience can do with them, though. The tininess of the tip seems like it could give you a lot of interesting detail work.
Oh, I’ve seen Koi brush markers/pens floating around lately with my favourite brush lettering artists, do you have any of those?
Also, I love seeing “normal” supplies on lists like these – some lettering list, brush lettering or otherwise, can show an intimidating array of specialized markers, pens, pencils and other tools. While those posts are often quite informative, they are much less beginner-friendly than something like this, which eases you in. I mean, it’s hard to be intimidated by Crayola, right? 😉
Thanks Ariel! I haven’t tried those other markers. I’m not super fond of the markers… I love the brushy texture and color variation that I get from using bristled brushes. I’m thinking of trying some of the bristley pens like the Sai or Zig.
I totally know what you mean about not being intimidated by Crayola. And really, it’s your own hand skill over the tool itself. 🙂
I’ve just started with your practice sheets and I’ve already become super fond of the Zig Clean Colors. The ends are real brushes so they were a good way to transition from the larger brushes I worked with in the jumbo practice sheets 🙂
I went and bought my first (3 firsts) Tombow pens and purchased your guide, I’ve been waiting all week to go and get practicing! Tomorrow is all about brush letter practicing, thank you for the awesome guide xx
I’m new to brush lettering. I have tried crayola, LePlume, and now Tombow, but no matter how hard I try Im having trouble with the upstrokes that are supposed to be lighter. I try not to apply too much pressure and they end up looking like the downstrokes. Any advice?