Ohuhu has several lines and sizes of sets of alcohol ink Art Markers for artists of all skill levels at an unbeatable price. I was lucky enough to get my hands on two of the sets – the 60 Color Kalaa Illustration Tones Marker Set and the 320 Color Honolulu Marker Set – to try out and share with our teen who loves to draw!
Kalaa 60 Marker Set – Illustration Tones
The Kalaa 60 Color Illustration Tones Marker Set comes in a hard plastic carrying case with a pop-up handle that makes them extremely easy to take with you. In addition to the carrying case and 60 color markers, this set also includes a blender, a bleed protector, a color chart, and a tester page with all of the colors labeled.
The carrying case is divided into quarters so that taking out several pens doesn’t result in chaos and a mass toppling of pens inside the case allowing for you to organize your pens to your preference and for them to stay there. The bigger, slim broad tip end of each pen is colored and labeled to make finding specific colors easy at a glance.
The paper color chart is a nice inclusion in the set; however, it, along with the bleed protector, tester page, and blender do not fit into the carrying case. This is one of the minor cons to this set that we found but as none of those are used nearly as much as the pens, and because the flat goods can easily be kept in a sketchbook, it wasn’t too big of a deal for us.
Each of the Kalaa markers features a slim broad tip on one end and a fine tip on the opposite end. The markers are ovoid-shaped which makes them a big more ergonomic as well as keeps them from rolling on most surfaces. The other con to the Kalaa markers is that neither cap fits on to the cap on the opposite end, so the cap is just set aside when a pen is in use. This is, again, not a huge negative, but my personal habit when using any pen or marker is to keep the cap on the end so this was a bit of an inconvenience for me, personally.
The tester sheet is a great way to see how the colors look on paper while also testing both tips. We filled the tester card to test all the pens. The tester page is a thick, textured stock and we only saw a very tiny bit of bleed. We also did a quick test of the blender ( you can see it on the second box in our tester), which resulted in the ink bleeding quite a bit more, but we haven’t had a chance yet to test it on an actual piece of art.
All three of these pieces were colored using the Ohuhu Kalaa markers by our teen son. This was his first time using alcohol ink art markers, and he was extremely happy with how the markers worked and his resulting work! You can follow his art progress on his Instagram.
The Kalaa markers are the perfect entry level art markers. Not only is this a great starter set, but there are many options with both fewer and more colors than this set and in different sets than the Illustration Tones like “Landscape Tones” and “Basic Colors.”
Honolulu 320 Marker Set
The first, obvious difference between the Kalaa set and the Honolulu set is that, the 320 color Honolulu set comes in a fabric, zipper-closed carrying bag with an adjustable strap. Due to the sheer volume and weight of this many markers, it makes sense for them to have a shoulder carriable bag.
Just like the Kalaa set, the Honolulu set includes a colorles blender, color chart, bleed protector, and tester pages. Because of its larger size, the case is divided into six sections instead of only 4, and allows for your preferred organization while still keeping the pens from falling all over if you take several out at a time. The larger size also allows for all of the flat materials to easily be packed into the case on top of the pens.
The color chart is a nice way to visualize all of the colors and, for me, an easier way to find the color I want than just looking at the pen caps in the case, because of the white space around each color.
As expected, the most notable difference between the Kalaa and Honolulu series are the markers themselves. The Honolulu markers feature a flexible brush tip on one end and a Chisel tip on the other. both of these are bigger than the tips on the Kalaa markers, but offer more veratility in your coloring and brush strokes due to the added flexibility on the brush tip and the chiseled edges on the chisel tip allowing the artist to make strokes from 1-6mm wide depending on angle and pressure. Unlike the Kalaa, the Honolulu markers also have the color chip cap on both ends and because both end caps are the same size and stick out a bit more, they allow for the cap to be stored on the end not in use, which is a huge plus for me. Another interesting difference is that the Honolulu markers are perfectly round versus oval in shape. I’ve not used either enough to decide which I like the feel of in my hand, yet. The one con that normally comes from a round marker is that they don’t like to stay put, but Ohuhu has addressed that issue by putting a raised nub on each of the caps which act like tiny door stops on the pens to keep them from rolling.
Another big difference with the Honolulu markers is that the brush tip is reversible! If the tip gets too worn down, it can just be flipped around to extend the life of the marker. You can even buy the brush tips separately which can result in even more life for your most used colors.
One final nice addition I wanted to point out is the color wheel and blending tutorial in the booklet included with the Honolulu markers. While this isn’t anything earth-shattering, for new artists it may help with inspiration or learning a bit more about how the markers blend and can be used together with a bit less trial and error.
Just like the Kalaa markers, the Honolulu markers are also perfect for all skill levels and come in other options with both fewer and more colors than this set and in different sets than the Illustration Tones like “Shading and Layering,” “Skin Tones,” and “Sweetness and Blossoming.”
If you have an aspiring artist in your family that has been wanting to get into alcohol markers, I cannot recommend Ohuhu’s art markers enough as a great economic alternative to some of the more expensive art markers out there.
Note: I received these markers as review samples but all words and thoughts in this review are my own.
