WHY You Need to Try FABER CASTELL WATERCOLOR MARKERS in Your Mixed Media Art Projects!

Today I'm unboxing a brand new set of Faber Castell watercolor markers! I've been in love with watercolor markers for my mixed media art projects for years, but only recently discovered Faber Castell makes a GIANT watercolor markers set filled with 30 colors!

Join me in my studio for a full Faber Castell watercolor markers review. We'll test these beauties against my favorite Winsor Newton watercolor markers, and compare their performance against mixed media artist brand favorites made by Ecoline and Tombow. 

Got a new set of watercolor markers, colored pencils, pens or watercolors? It's SO important to SWATCH your new colors so you know what to expect when each color hits your page! 

I've tried to make this process MORE FUN for you by creating a FREE Swatchsheet! Simply click the button below, and I'll send it straight to your inbox. ​

LOVE swatching, and can't get enough?! Check out the book I created with my Facebook Group called The Fun Fab Swatch Pad. This playful book will keep you swatching for days!

​Before we continue, super quick announcement: All product links are Affiliate. I may earn a small commission if you choose to order through these links but by law there is never any additional cost to the consumer for doing so. I thank you for your support.

So WHY use watercolor markers in the first place? Control. It's a simple as that! Applying watercolors with a brush and water is a lot looser and can feel a bit dicier and unpredictable for tons of artists. Having the precision of a marker combined with the beautiful effects of watercolor is seriously magical!

I've been in LOVE with my Winsor Newton watercolor markers for years. They're a fine art product, so MUCH juicier, and more pigmented compared to other watersoluble markers on the market. They're also lightfast, which means the pigment is museum quality and the color in your mixed media art projects will stay beautiful FOREVER.

When I discovered this giant box of watercolor markers by Faber Castell, I immediately wondered how they would compare with my Winsor Newtons. 

Because I've got mixed media beginners all the way to advanced students working with me over at Awesome Art School, I'm also going to test the Faber Castells against Ecoline Brush Pens and Tombow Dual Brush Pens as well because they're a little more budget friendly. Plus, LOTS of my students have at least a few watersoluble markers by one or both of these brands. 

As far as a cost comparison for Faber Castell Watercolor Markers vs Winsor Newton Watercolor Markers, the Winsor Newtons are definitely more expensive, at around $6/marker - if you buy them individually. They do offer a few sets of 12 (check out my Amazon shop), but costs can vary up to $90/set! 

The Faber Castell Watercolor Marker Set of 30 isn't cheap by any means, but you get 30 colors for less than $100 (current Amazon price is $94) - so you're getting a bigger bang for your buck!

As soon as I opened the Faber Castells, right away I noticed a skin tone watercolor marker! This got me SUPER excited, because I don't have one of these in my Winsor Newton Watercolor collection. I can't wait to play with that one for one of my mixed media faces!! 

I also noticed I've got five gorgeous blues, five beautiful greens , and an awesome set of six grayscale shades to play with. I LOVE my Grayscale Tombow Dual Brush Pens set, so the Faber Castell version will be really fun to try out too. ​

The first thing I like to do when I'm comparing mixed media art supplies in any category is to see how juicy and vibrant the pigment is. How the colors look on my paper, and how much coverage I can get QUICKLY are both really important features to me. 

All of them have decent coverage and the shades of blue I'm testing are all beautiful. But as soon as my Winsor Newton watercolor marker hits the page, I can immediately tell a difference. I felt a similar juiciness from the Faber Castell watercolor marker as well. Both beat out the Ecoline and Tombow brands here, hands down. 

Before I tested the watersolubility factor on each of these brands, I decided to dry the page completely with my hair dryer to see how each brand activated with water when dry. 

I used one of my favorite Polina Bright watercolor brushes to activate each line with water.

​If you're new to Polina's watercolor brushes, you're in for a treat. They hold SO much water and are amazing. They are now the only watercolor brush I use. If you're interested in learning more about these, here is a recent product demo video and full Polina Bright watercolor brushes review. 

If you'd like to pick up your own Polina Bright watercolor brush or set, Polina has offered a 10% discount to my followers, so be sure to use this link when you shop! If you do order anything here- just a quick fyi, Polina is located in Australia so shipping may take a bit more time, but I promise, it's well worth the wait!

If you're new to Polina Bright - her art is simply fantastic, so be sure to look her up to see the gorgeous faces she creates as well.​

As you'll see in today's video, when I activated the Winsor Newton lines on my paper, I got such a rich effect. Plus, you'll notice I was able to fully disolve my original lines once I added water. 

Both the Ecoline and Tombow activated beautifully too, but their original lines did NOT disolve as much as the Winsor & Newton and Faber-Castell lines. If this is a feature that's important to you, you might want to skip Ecolines and Tombows. 

I also noticed a bit of granulation in the Faber Castells as well. Granulation is super common with watercolors becuase the pigment is typically made from minerals. This effect is something you won't see in a synthetic, dye based watercolor marker like Tombows or Ecoliners, and is something I LOVE about watercolors in general.

Here's what the brush nibs of each marker tested today look like side by side (above). I have to say they're all pretty comparable. Faber Castell has the widest nib (third from the left), while Winsor Newton's (far right) is both wide and long.

​I felt the Winsor Newton nib was most flexible, and therefore felt most like a paint brush. The Faber Castell nib felt more like a felt tip or typical marker, and had zero flexibility. 

When comparing the bullet nibs from each of the markers tested today, ​ they're also quite comparable (below). I rarely use this side of my dual brush pens or markers, but if this is something you're curious about, here's what they look like (excluding the Ecoliner, because it doesn't come with a bullet nib). 

I hope you found this info helpful. Make sure you click over to the video to see everything in action!

​See ya back here next week with lesson six of my FREE #50FunFabFairies drawing challenge!

Thanks for hanging out with me today! 
​ 
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