Some time ago, an Action market known for cheap items, including art supplies (a chain of stores in Europe) was established in my city. And this specifically attracted my lazy butt to the city from the forest where I currently live.
Anyone who paints, draws, knits and creates knows how nightmarishly expensive materials can be. That heartache when you blow a big amount of money in an art store, and the weight of the purchased products is still a pennyweight….
Most of us also know that it doesn’t pay to save money on art materials. This often takes revenge with a poor quality result, despite the skill and many hours of work put in. This is my experience with most cheap paints and papers. Quality and price often go hand in hand. But do they always?
Once I decided to give decent alcohol markers a chance, with the help of which artists peeped on the Internet created wonders. I opted for Promarkers and went for a set of 24 colors. It was a big expense. I didn’t enjoy the purchase for too long. I ignore the fact that I was afraid to draw with them (because they are expensive and going to wear out). It turned out that I ended up with some bad batch with non-closing caps. Thus, half of my set dried up. The whole thing ended up in the closet, and when I decided to buy ink after a few years and bring them back to life, the brush tips of several pieces simply broke while drawing. From then on, I stayed away from all markers.
So I looked at the shelves of art supplies in the store lustfully, yet distrustfully. I managed to get past the shelves of paints, brushes, yarns and was already about to congratulate myself on my strong willpower when my gaze fell on the shelves of DecoTime markers. Color, watercolor and alcohol, in sets of 3, 10,12, 60…. Prices more than affordable. But are they suitable for anything?
When I saw a set of 60 alcohol pens priced at just over 60 PLN (around 14 EUR or 15 USD), I thought I was ready to take the risk. When I got home, I immediately set about testing them. At most, they would be weak. Were they?
At this point, my set of alcohol markers has about 220 colors. Watercolor ones – 140, and I’m eager for more!

I shared my tests and first impressions of painting with cheap alcohol and watercolor markers in a video on You Tube. After a few months and a dozen illustrations, I can say a little more. I decided to compile my experiences with these markers. I divided them into categories of advantages and disadvantages.
Pro
- Cena -wiadomo! Cena za marker różni się w zależności od ilości w zestawie, ale zawsze jest w okolicach 1 złotówki za sztukę. Czyli naprawdę niska.
- Price – for sure! The price per marker varies depending on the quantity in the set, but it is always around 1 PLN per piece. That is, actually low.
- The low price isn’t such a thing if the quality sucks. But the quality is really not bad! The markers have two tips – a thin pen and a brush, both of which paint comfortably. I really like the great control that painting with markers gives compared to painting with paints. Made of plastic, they look ok, although you know, at such a price, a person does not expect a beautiful design. Thanks to the triangular shape, they are comfortable to hold and do not roll off the desk. My cat had to struggle a bit before he dropped 🙂
- Very wide range of colors. More than 300 available. They are sold in sets of 4, 12, 40 and 60. The set of 60 markers alone has sufficiently versatile colors to get down to painting, but if we care about the smooth color transitions so characteristic of alcohol markers – more colors will come in handy.
- The colors are visible on the caps of the markers, which allows you to quickly pull out the color you need. Most of them quite faithfully reproduce the color of the marker, but there are surprises, so it is worth preparing a template.
- The caps close nicely, although once in a while there is a case that needs to be pressed harder.
- The markers are sold in convenient plastic cases that can be combined with each other and easily moved from place to place. In addition, such an abundance of colors in my studio rejoices me every time I look at my collection. The collector’s lust for possession has activated in me without question.
- They paint very well on the intended paper of the same brand (block for Twin Markers), but also works well on other types of paper. On poor quality paper the colors spill over a bit, but they still look very good.
- The color does not fade after a few days and the illustrations-even those in open sketchbooks left on the desk under the window-still look vibrant. I don’t know how they will perform after years, friends report that they don’t stand the test of time and it’s better to keep illustrations made with them in a drawer, but hey! These are cheap markers. I don’t expect miracles and I accept that they can change colors after years, especially exposed to direct light. This is something that even top brand paints do poorly with. Although the recently released Talens Pantone markers are rumored to be extremely durable.
- On the DecoTime website you can download marker color templates, which makes it easy to make an inventory of your markers. They combine very well with watercolor markers. I also like to touch up at the end of painting and add lighter elements with acrylic markers of the same brand.

Cons
- They are not refillable. Again, it would be hard to expect this for such a small price, but it hurts to be left with a lot of unnecessary plastic after the ink is used up. There is already too much of plastic everywhere!
- No option to buy by pieces, even on the manufacturer’s website. The markers are always sold in sets. Wanting to complete our collection, we have to accept that we will end up with doubled colors. On average, 3 to 5 colors are repeated in new sets. It’s all nice when we have newly-purchased sets, but the problem will begin when some colors start to run out, while others will not yet need replacing.
- It’s hard to predict what sets will be available in the nearest store. So buying new ones is akin to hunting. Quite a good marketing strategy, because it’s actually easy to get screwed and the lack of full availability stirs up the lust for ownership. To make it easier to discern the sets and colors I have, I take pictures and packaging. This makes it easier in the store to choose sets I don’t already have.
- The thin pen tip could be even thinner so that I can use it for line art and finer details. In such forfeitures now I reinforce the thin pen.
- Sometimes the colors do not match the preview on the lid. It is better to have a color chart at hand.
- Due to color fading, they are not suitable for professional illustrations and I would not risk selling the work done with them to anyone. But nothing prevents you from using such work to create high-quality prints.

Summary
I think the pros outweigh the cons, and the markers themselves are a great product for kids and anyone who (like me) prefers to see if a particular technique suits them before throwing away a lot of money on better quality markers. In this case, the quality is sufficient to have fun painting and not get discouraged by the technique, as happened more than once when I tried poor quality gouaches or watercolors. However, the impermanence of the pigments excludes them from professional use.
Store the markers laying horizontaly , at a distance from the radiator, so as not to accelerate the drying of the ink.
And that’s it for cheap DecoTime alcohol markers from me. I’d love to hear what your experiences are with the markers – if you have any advice – share it!
Finally, I’m dropping off a free coloring page that I’m sharing for signing up for my newsletter. It will be great for coloring with markers!
