Copics help!!

[Crafty Liss]

Hi all,

I'm a total newbie to copics, I live in Australia and there's not many places round here where you can drop into a shop and try them (our major craft stores don't stock them), I know everyone loves them but the more I read about them the more confused I get.

Could someone please explain the difference between ciao's and sketch's and also how many sets of 72 are there? If I bought all sets of 72 (4??) would I get all colours without doubling up or do I need to pick colors individually?

Thanks in advance,

Liss

[dewabella]

Copic Ciaos come in a more limited color number (144) & they hold less ink than a Sketch marker. They are round, which means they feel more like a SU or Tombow marker in your hand. Ciaos do not have the color # on the cap. This will mean more to you once you'd start using them. Ciaos are also slightly less expensive.
Copic Sketch are oblong shaped. They come in the complete range of colors (334). They hold more ink than Ciaos, which means less refilling. I like the Sketch because better for these reasons.
If you plan on buying, consider avoiding the sets. The sets are arranged in the order the colors came out in production, not in natural blending families. Check out this link to help you decide what colors to get your feet wet:
http://ilikemarkers.blogspot.com/200...tart-with.html

I hope this helps, and I hope you love your Copics as much as the rest of us do!!

[babyclaire]

I have subscribed to a thread here on SCS called, "Copic chatter". This thread is filled with great information. I ONLY buy Sketch I like the way they handle and I have never had to refill them yet.... Enjoy. ~~ Carol

[Angelnorth]

Tiffaney has pointed you at the source for Copic info Liss - Marianne's blog is a mine of information. She leads Copic certification classes in the US and if there's something to know, Marianne knows it!

I have mostly Ciao because I like the nib configuration (brush plus chisel) and although it's the same on the Sketch, you can't "park" the cap from one nib on the other end of the marker while you use it like you can with the Ciao. If you saw the state of my craft table most of the time, you'd know why I don't like to put down something as small as a marker cap! It's also less investment up front if you are just starting out and want to see if they suit you and since you can refill them, the fact that they hold a little less ink is neither here nor there to me.

HTH!

[ilikemarkers]

This is all fabulous advice. Another thing to keep in mind when choosing is if it's hard for you to find refills then you might want to start with the sketch since these will last longer before needing to refill. THe only refill I would suggest getting right away, even with your initial purchase, would be the colorless blender. If you run a search on my blog for the colorless blender you will get an idea of why you'll use a lot of this.