I'm Sarah Renae Clark.
And I'm here with another budget colored pencil review.
And today I'm comparing two brands many people say are exactly the same;
Markart and Nyoni colored pencils.
So my goal today is to find out;
first, are these actually the same?
Well, yes and no.
And second, are these a decent budget
colored pencil or just another pretty prop to add to my wall.
I've reviewed quite a number of pencils already on my channel.
I including some of the best pencils
in the world and the best budget alternatives.
So it's about time I put them all in a handy playlist.
So if you're looking for a set of colored pencils, chances are you'll find something
useful in the list that I have put together here for you.
And if not, let me know what pencils you'd like to know more about.
Press the subscribe button and you might just see them in a future video.
So let's jump right in and look at these boxes.
So right away, there are some clear signs
that these boxes have come from the same factory.
The box itself and the print process are very similar.
And these words, what is the translation of this?
Oh, look at that.
Oh, I didn't know it changed it on the screen.
Whoa! Did you see what that said?
There's something very suspicious in these pencils
just one sec...
What?
I swear this didn't say this the first time we tried doing this
I think my translation app is struggling a little bit here.
Oily color lead.
I think that's probably a bit more
of an accurate translation of what we had before.
What do we think? Oil-base lead, masculine super.
Okay, we're gonna stick with oily colored lead, and this one should be the same.
Oh, no.
Oh, this is bad.
Well, we did say this is an adult coloring channel.
What have we got here?
Nyoni in the direction of your shadow figure in your direction.
Shadow.
The direction of drinking arts, new direction of your art.
The new direction of your art!
That's probably a novel artistic Be the- this thing can't make up it's mind
this video took a very interesting turn very quickly.
Sorry, guys.
Okay, so moving on.
The point is, both companies are offering the same product.
Whatever that product is, the actual pencil tins are also very similar.
Even though I've ordered two different sized sets here, and in hindsight,
I probably should have ordered the same size set to compare these properly.
So that's my bad.
The picture on the back is the same, although the rest of the information is different.
I think the Markart is clearly targeted more at an English speaking audience.
Although I'm not sure how many 'astists' I personally know.
The similarities continue on the inside
of the box with the protective plastic slip and the same wording on both cases,
and then there's the pencils themselves.
So the pencils are a perfect match, even using the same number numbers,
the only difference is the actual design printed on the pencil itself.
So if you had any doubts that these were
from the same factory, I think we can definitely say that they are.
Now this is not a criticism AT ALL.
This is just white labeling.
As a consumer, it is important to recognize when you might be buying the same set of pencils
under a different brand so you don't end up buying the same product twice.
I've talked about this in more depth in my previous video about the
Brutfuner color pencils that are linked to in the description below.
For now, let's see if this comparison
stops here, or if these pencils are in fact identical.
Before we compare these colors or test
them out, I'm just rearranging them to follow the color wheel.
So both sets are in the same order
and I'll sharpen each pencil to a better point.
Although most pencils come pre-sharpened like this; these factory points are not
always a good representation of how a pencil performs.
Sometimes they can have a coating on them or they can be a bit scratchy to use.
I always get better results when I use my own sharper, and today I'm testing out
the Koh-I-Noor sharpener that I'll be including in my Sharper comparison video very soon.
So these pencils do feel really nice to hold. Their presentation size and their
shape reminds me a lot of the Faber-Castell, Polychromos or the Arteza pencils.
I am very interested to see how they perform today.
I've got sets of 48 and 36 here,
but the Markart and Nyoni pencils both come in a set of 120 colors and the largest set
seems to include a large range of pastel colors.
So these would have been a good inclusion
in my Holbein alternatives video a few weeks ago.
So look at a first impression.
These are a lot nicer than I expected. They are,
they feel a bit drier than other budget brands,
maybe not as waxy? But they are quite crumbly,
but that actually makes it feel a little bit nicer to use.
There's not that oily or waxy build-up that a lot of cheap brands have.
It'll be interesting to see how they go when I actually start layering
and blending, though, because obviously this is just an initial swatch.
In my swatching the colors from both sets appear to be identical except for one
color I've found in this set that has changed very slightly.
What's interesting is that the barrel colors have changed quite a lot.
It appears to me that the Markart team have carefully re-evaluated all the pencil
colors and had the barrels changed to match the pencils more accurately,
which is something I wish all pencil brands would do.
So when it comes to matching the colors,
the Markart barrels are almost an exact match for the color of the core itself.
Meaning you can just pick up a color and just go
for it without having to refer to your swatches or test your pencils every time.
Most of the Nyoni pencils are close...
But a few pencils are WAY off, which I've found to be the case with many
brands and not just the cheapest brands I've bought.
This is actually a huge win for the Markart
pencils at this point, and it might just be the deciding factor between these two
seemingly identical sets.
To really put these pencils to the test,
I'm using them together on this coloring page from 'My Confessions
of a Coloring Addict' coloring book, you can find on Amazon or print from my website.
In fact, I've included a free download of this page for you on my blog.
If you'd like to color this for yourself.
I've chosen this color palette
from the color catalog with the help from the wonderful viewers on my first
ever live stream that we filmed earlier in the week.
You can still find it on my channel.
If you'd like to watch me talk through
my process of starting this coloring page, choosing my colors and coloring in real
time for the first section. I will be doing more live streams
in the future, so please subscribe and turn on your
notifications if you'd like to join me live next time.
The Market and Nyoni pencils are an oil dominant pencil, which is similar to many
of the budget pencils that have been showing up in the market lately.
Or pencils still have a mix of wax,
oil and other binders, so don't get too caught up in the official
marketing of these descriptions of pencils and what this means.
Just because a company says a pencil is
oily lead doesn't mean it is going to work like a Faber-Castell Polychromos pencil.
In fact, when I reviewed the Brutfuner square colored pencils,
they were also marketed as oily colored pencils, and personally, I found they
blended together like I would expect from a wax dominant pencil.
In comparison, these pencils are more like
what I would traditionally expect from an oil-based lead.
They don't blend quite as easily,
but that doesn't mean you can't create beautiful gradients,
it just takes a different technique.
So work in lots of light layers, overlap your colors and keep your pencils sharp.
If you do want to see me color these words
in real time, head to the stream I mentioned earlier.
I'll pop a link in the description below so you can watch it at your own pace.
As I start on this background, I want to create a bit of a bouquet effect
instead of just coloring everything in black.
So I'm creating a gradient from my central light to the black in a circle.
Again, just working in light layers and overlapping my colors.
I'll do the same with my yellow
and scatter these circles around my page in different sizes.
The key to this is to keep my layers light to these transitions from light colors
to the black is smooth. As I've been coloring.
I haven't had any breakage due
to sharpening, but a few of my Nyoni pencils seem to break along the core,
so I think these might have been damaged in transit.
Otherwise, both sets of pencils are easy to sharpen
and hold that sharp point really well, so these are great for fine details
and don't break often unless they've been dropped like it
seems my set here probably has.
I've been switching between sets
throughout this page and I'm not noticing any difference between the pencils.
I'm pretty confident that they are
identical in their performance, so in my case, I've now got two sets
of essentially the same pencil here, and I'm kind of wishing
I bought 120 set now that I know how nice
these are and have seen the great range of colors the larger set has.
I didn't expect to like a budget set of pencils as much as I'm liking these.
I haven't decided if I like these more or less than my Brutfuner... it's close.
Both brands are slightly different and both are great for the price.
I do like the round feel of these pencils in my hand slightly more than the square.
Maybe it's because they remind me of the Polychromos pencil?
I'm not really sure. The biggest difference
is that the Brutfuner are slightly waxier and a little bit easier to blend.
These act more like a traditional oil-based
pencil and require that layering to blend between the colors.
When I'm happy with everything,
I can start burnishing by using a harder pressure on my final layer.
I'm still working back and forth between colors,
but trying to remove any extra white from the page as I go.
And instead of adding any more pencil,
I'm just going to finish this off with some solvent or blending solution
to blend out these final colors and hide these final white gaps.
I feel that if I add any more pencil, I'm just going to create an unwanted layer
of oily or even waxy texture on top, and I'll waste my pencils.
I've done a full video pairing different options for this,
but today I'm using an alcohol marker simply because it was here in my drawer,
so it was the easiest option to find in the moment.
This is optional and I don't often use
solvents or blending tools, but it does help in a situation like this,
it's time to finish up the rest of this page, which by the way,
you can download to try this for yourself for free on my blog,
along with a written version of this review and links to buy the Markart and
Nyoni pencils if you're wanting to try them for yourself. While you're there
you can also check out my range of other printable coloring books,
free coloring pages, and the color catalogues I was using earlier.
In my opinion, the Markart are comparable
to Arteza and Brutfuner. Personally, I don't love them as much as
my Prismacolor, because my Prismacolor blends extremely well.
But I know the breakage of Prismacolor pencils is a deal breaker for many people,
so if you're looking for something firmer, this might be it.
I would happily recommend these for beginners or for coloring pages or
for hoppy artists, just not for professional or commercial
art, because like any budget brand, these aren't lightfast,
so the color won't last for years, like your high-end art supplies that I
recommend for professional artists or anything that you're intending to sell.
So, after all of this, I would say that these pencils perform the same.
If you own one set already, there is no need to buy the other.
But if you are looking to buy a set
and both are a similar price, personally, I would choose the Markart over the Nyoni.
My main reason for this is the color of the barrels.
The fact that these are more accurate
to the color of the actual pencil core makes it so much easier to choose a color
when you're coloring, and it removes the need to create your own swatches.
In comparing these with other budget sets, I think that this accurate barrel color
makes these one of the better budget sets that I've tried.
The performance comes down mostly to preference, so some people may prefer
these to the Brutfuner, but other people might find the Brutfuner
easier to use because they are a bit waxier and easier to blend.
These are not artist quality, but they're also not artist price.
Whether you need another set of pencils, I'll leave the decision up to you.
For now, don't go anywhere.
I have another video right here that I
hope you'll enjoy, and one here that YouTube thinks you'll like.
So choose wisely.