Review: Ecoline Inks and Brush Pens

Ecoline inks are vibrant liquid watercolors available in bottles and brush pens. Find out if they are any good.
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[@celiab3701]

I had no idea you can refill the markers, you are always so informative! Thank you.

[@kino166]

Thank you so much, I’ve been looking review about these everywhere, I always love watching your videos, they are very detailed and have helped me a lot

[@demelzapoldark3035]

Fabulous video! I hate it when You Tubers put music on informational videos making it impossible to concentrate on the info. Thanks for a great informational video, demos, and extra tips! Your speaking voice is very good for instruction. You could give other people who make videos lots of lessons!

[@AquaLady153]

Your reviews are life!

[@ridanindustries2975]

Wow I literally got a few ecoline markers this weekend. Perfect timing seeing your review on them hahaa. Thanks!

[@barbrajoan2554]

Teoh, I had not seen these yet, and very impressed . At one time I had a set of WN inks . I'm interested in these. Might give them a try. Thanks for the video.

[@bicali_pierfishing1567]

I love that wet on wet color 🎨 effect it's so beautiful colors 💯👍

[@thefairfaxcurator9450]

I have Ecolines, but use them more like inks in marker sketchbooks, so it was interesting seeing them used as traditional watercolours. Some illustrators (like Frannerd) use them for very bright pieces that are then scanned in to Photoshop, so the lightfastness really isn't a problem for people who want the incredibly bright colours. I'm not keen on the brush pens though, I have some empty waterbrushes so can add the colour/mix/dilution I want in them. I also mix these more like a printer does inks (cyan, lemon, magenta, black and white) rather than as I mix watercolours.

[@rachaelvtstudio2579]

I want to note quickly that the brush pens are refillable to an extent. Eventually the flow agent in the pen will run out and will not be able to be used, even with the correct bottle of ink. But it is still fantastic for the long term use!

[@Bootrosgali]

Ohhhh Flow Agent.. The blot thickens.. er Thinnens?? Lol

[@Bootrosgali]

How did you figure this out? And how did you determine it was Flow Agent??

[@liisabjork76]

I use ecoline brush pens in the 5 pack. I consider myself a pen/marker fanatic so owning this set was pleasantly surprising because I thought the nibs were really nice to use for lettering and control and that the inks were dye based which made them a pleasure to use for my stamping purposes. What made them also a "go to" pen/marker was that the colors blended well for me as well. Easy to fill in large areas of a coloring fast and even. So I felt because the quality of the nib was pleasing because it allowed for thick and thin lines with a nice cushioned feeling instead of a hard point or semi flexible nib that tend to associate with less of a quality marker. I have been looking at the biggest set of ecoline brush tip pens on Amazon for a while now and I plan on purchasing them hopefully soon.

[@JaneMetcalfe]

I only have one of those pens (the blue one) but it's good to know that I can take it apart to put some ink in it when it runs out. I had no idea! I had wondered why the bottled inks were exactly the same colours as the pens!

[@providencevalleyfarm5270]

Thanks again, I am watching this again to decide which pens to buy at the Jerry's sale this weekend.

[@TheCameraLuvsMe]

You would not believe how much time I just spent this morning looking at comparisons between this and Tombow and trying to confirm if these were refillable or not. The brand's website says nothing, I skimmed KZbin vids, tried googling and getting nothing, except two blogs that said they SEEM refillable, but you're the first person I found to actually show how the pen looks without the cap, and early in the video too! Always a fan of your reviews!

[@teohyc]

Thanks :-)

[@Bootrosgali]

It's a bizarre situation. They are refillable but they obviously would prefer people to buy the pens again and again

[@ImaniTolliver]

I just refilled my Tombow brush pens - I’m thrilled! I just took off the brush nib, tilted the pen as I filled it very, very slowly using the pipette from my Dr. Ph Martin inks. Now they are juicy and perfect (about 2 1/2 pipettes). Super cool to repurpose colors that I’m not using (the very light ones) - just refill with a deeper color.

[@kuvira44]

interesting review ! Thanks =D I was curious about this inks but now I know I will stick to regular watercolors =D

[@cezzarezero]

Great review! I've been watching some videos from a watercolorist who uses mostly liquid watercolors, in the videos she explained that this type of product is more of an ink than a watercolor as such, and after trying another brand myself I think I agree for the most part. While they lack the thickness and characteristic flow of regular drawing inks, they behave very similarly when mixing and tend to be very strong and staining when undiluted. It's an interesting "format" for watercolors for those interested in consistency or reliability when mixing colors, though.

[@teohyc]

+cezzarezero Yeah, they definitely feel more like ink than watercolour. I feel that these are not easier to use as they are in liquid form all the time.

[@elgabenedicta]

I use the bottle ink ones for brush lettering all the time, the colors are great for art works that are not precious or something that you would only scan or photograph. I want to try the brush pen ones but can't seem to get myself buy one. After watching this review I think I would buy the brush pens in the colors that I use all the time since I know that I can refill them with the bottle inks. Thanks Teoh! Very helpful review 🤗

[@essietangle9931]

I was surprised that you could reactivate them with water. Thanks for the review.

[@end_orfino]

My friend has a bunch of ecoline brush pens and we use them to color things at school

[@orkidbox]

Ecoline is great. Really pleasant experience. Another KZbinr Zoe Hong did a comparison of inks and apparently of the inks that aren't lightfast this one faded the least. She compared Winsor & Newton and Holbein.

[@pikkuoo]

Thank you Teoh, the colours look stunning! The artwork on the page the inks bled to is beautiful, luckily there wasn't a huge stain! I will most definitely try these. Somehow I have been put off by the lack of pipettes on the bottles, the lack of lightfastness and oddly enough by the fact that the bottles are quite big and clumsy looking. Silly me. :)

[@teohyc]

+dryad The bottles are actually not very big. But it's good they have large opening.

[@evanpetelle9744]

So many product reviews/demos are difficult for me to watch but, I enjoy yours! Thanks! Liked

[@teohyc]

Thanks :-)

[@LinhHoang-os7tb]

I love Ecoline inks!!! I have 5 colors and they are awesome! So I liked this video even before watching haha :D. I also bought the 5-brush pen set but haven't tried them in any drawings. I'm not sure how I should mix the color with these brush pens... By the way, I didn't know that these pens can be opened and refilled. Thank you for that information :D.

[@MalamikArt]

So vibrant and they seem fun to try. Wish they were lightfast tho.

[@PaulaBean]

A plastic squeeze bottle with a very fine nozzle would be ideal for Ecoline inks; you could drip very small drops of ink into a palette well, without contaminating the ink. It would also be cheaper than glass bottles!

[@joyfulldj]

you can put the leftover liquid inks in diy brushpens. Those cheap wc travel brush pens are awesome for that but you better make sure you want those brushes to be for that caus they stain; upside is you have a diy ink brushpen to take along when traveling; for only 2 euro per jar vs a wooping 30 euro for a 30 color pack brushpens. Just thought i drop that here. the new ecoline jars come with eye droppers btw; wich is basicly why i orderd them; i am miss klutz when it comes to contaminating stuff; so that new eyedropper made me decide to order a set of ten jars to play with.

[@karynam3493]

Great review! Actually I bought the lemon yellow ink as well, but it looks much brighter when I tested it. I used 300gsm paper and no extra water in my brush. Maybe the paper has an effect on vibrancy as well?

[@teohyc]

Paper does affect vibrancy. White paper will produce more vibrant colours than off white paper.

[@AtomekKotalke]

Brush pens are very useful to take outside in bag or backpack. Colors are really amazing. Talens produce one of the best art supplies I think. ( new line of sketch books from them are really good )

[@donnamay660]

I didn't know they have brush pens. Nice.

[@YThates]

Liquid watercolor seems so good. I normally work with markers like copics/touch/prisma color. But since Ive gotten good with them I feel confident to use watercolors. I just fear I won't be able to control my values to create the same tones I do with my markers. You mentioned the liquid watercolor as "ink" later in the video. What is the difference? The markers seem really soft and nice just I don't like how the colors overlay and they don't seem to go too dark. The way you used them just to add color to a simple sketch seems like their best use. I will skip getting the markers.

[@teohyc]

+Melon Dick I don't think there is much difference between these liquid watercolours and inks. They are all dyed based.

[@DrummerGrrrl]

I really enjoy your channel.

[@teohyc]

How did you find my channel?

[@DrummerGrrrl]

@@teohyc Looking for product reviews of various art supplies.

[@carolinag1939]

How do you compare the ecoline brush pens to the kuretake zig watercolor ones? I’m was thinking in getting the kuretake but I’m not sure seeing the ecoline. Which one do you think is more vibrant or better sort to say?

[@debsmith7050]

Much appreciated Teoh. Liquid seems difficult & hard to handle. Don't think these are for me - now I know thanks to you :)

[@teohyc]

+Deb Smith They are difficult to handle for sure. One would need a lot of patience

[@debsmith7050]

You handled them well; you always do fantastic - as a beginner it just seems beyond me

[@dbednarova]

Kris Keys uses Ecoline together with other traditional mediums for her fashion illustrations and paintings. Her paintings are stunnig.

[@Shiruvan]

huh, I thought I read somewhere in Talens website or supplier described that it can't be refilled with the bottle ecoline whatsoever; but this video pointed that it can be opened seems to show that refilling is definitely encouraged, haha

[@teohyc]

+silshasubando Well, the colours look exactly the same to me so I see no reason why they can't be refilled.

[@Shiruvan]

I hope to see someone actually refills the brush pen with bottled ecoline, even Jetpens wrote the info that it isn't refillable.

[@nephildevil]

I have the small brush pen set too, but apart from using the black for b/w shading with a waterbrush, I haven't really found a use for it. It's way overpriced for what you get imo, they are just low-quality inks, which they pretentiously sell as 'liquid watercolors' lol

[@kojiyonamine7880]

Hi Teoh...needed some help with travel brushes, so I sent you a direct message. Just for notification...hehe Great video! I was thinking about getting Ecoline or not. Your video helped a lot! I think think those will not go well with what I've been doing...

[@teohyc]

+Koji Yonamine Cosmotop are synthetic brushes. Kolinsky is natural hair.

[@kojiyonamine7880]

Thanks a lot man!

[@kutacrusader6565]

Hey Teoh, big fan of your channel. I'm torn between getting alochol based brush pens and the ecoline water based brush pens that you've reviewed. In your experience what is the main differences (besides having to use specific paper) and which do you prefer? The ecoline colors are amazing compared to the alchol based brush pens personally but i'm no expert. Hope you can shed some wisdom!

[@teohyc]

I don't really have much experience with coloured markers. Alcohol ones dry instantly but may bleed through paper.

[@kutacrusader6565]

@@teohyc thanks for the tip !

[@shayantani81]

Thanks for this awesome video Teo ! How do these ecoline colors to ph martins radiant or hydrus ?? Would love to know from you..

[@teohyc]

+Shayantani pal I've not used Dr PH Martin liquid watercolour before. I remember they have two product lines. One that is really vibrant and the other is highly lightfast. Ecoline would compare to their vibrant liquid watercolour

[@shayantani81]

Teoh Yi Chie thanks so much!!

[@ingeleonora-denouden6222]

I know the brand Ecoline since my youth, those small glass pots were used at school. In fact that is where the name came from, the French ecole meaning school. So it is clear these are not real artist's materials.

[@princessmanitari4993]

That actually does not mean that they are not for artists. Many brands (also used at school) are becoming better and better!

[@AquaLady153]

Overpriced crayola

[@mikuenjoyerXD]

I've never had my watercolors bleed through my paper and I use 90-120lb paper. It shocks me whenever i see this happen

[@bonbonq9521]

Those Ecoline stuffs look pretty bright I guess. Anyway, I've been wondering, what camera you use for filming and do you have any camera recommendations for filming a sketching timelapse?

[@teohyc]

You can start by filming timelapse with your phone. There should some some apps that allow you to do that. Lighting is very important. Having a tripod is a must. From your timelapse, you can see how you can improve your next timelapse. If you're looking for a real camera (not phone camera), I suggest you check out Panasonic cameras. There are too many for me to recommend. But they should all be good. I've been using them for years to make my video.

[@bonbonq9521]

Teoh Yi Chie I see. Yeah there are tons of options out there. Very confusing :( Thanks for your suggestion. Anyway, do you prefer DSLR or a Mirrorless version?

[@bonbonq9521]

The Stoned Videogame Nerd I see. So this one is not lightfast I guess.

[@lucianasser]

I bought some Ecoline fluid jars a few years ago and tried to use them as watercolors. They are horrible to work with in that way. I found out, after many trials and errors, that the best way to use the Ecoline inks is airbrushing. The downside is that you would have to buy the whole airbrush gadgets and such. So if you don't wish to use them in that way, I suggest you don't buy them at all because they are terrible to use as watercolor (as you guys saw in the video). They are too unpredictable and hard to control. I also find that some of the color mixes make no sense.

[@teohyc]

Thanks. I got at idea from your comment. I'm going to put the ink in a mist bottle and see if it works.

[@unikoniiko]

I actually prefer to mix these in a palette instead of on paper. Seems like you can achieve so many more tones that way since it's easier to control the high saturation of the color. Definitely recommend anyone who is interested in these colors to check out other reviews. This one wasn't to appealing to me.

[@elsafan2154]

How do you open the brush without breaking the brush? They are very tight and very hard to open...

[@teohyc]

You just twist it anti-clockwise. Watch 01:25

[@sooyaa311]

Im curious if the white ink is opaque....

[@teohyc]

White ink usually is opaque because it needs to cover colours beneath.

[@leodimardiasdemelo6436]

Hello teoh can i use ecoline inks in my pentel pocket brush pen?

[@teohyc]

Yes, since those are dye inks. But dye inks will fade when exposed to light long enough

[@rguezmunoztomas]

Hi, I would like to know if latency is only dependent on the tablet/computer, or if the stylus can generate it as well. Thanks

[@teohyc]

+Tomás Rguez Muñoz Latency or lag is usually because of the software and not the stylus.

[@rguezmunoztomas]

Teoh Yi Chie Thanks! I just bought a Surface Pro with a Bamboo Ink, and I was just wondering if the Surface pen would give better results (speedwise)

[@teohyc]

Which Surface Pro did you get? The 2017 version? If so, I do highly recommend getting the Surface Pen because it's more accurate than Surface Pro 4. But the speed, latency, lag will still be the same regardless of stylus you use.

[@rguezmunoztomas]

Teoh Yi Chie Yes, I bought the 2017 version. Thanks for the recommendation, I'll try to get the pen.

[@sanaa.2195]

Hi

[@SharonNolfi]

What about using a dip pen in the bottles? The liquid colors don't seem very useful to me.

[@teohyc]

+Sharon Nolfi It shouldn't be a problem. It is just like using normal fountain pen ink.

[@dbednarova]

They work great with nib pen and Parallel pens especially.

[@Ositored1]

Theo amazig

[@jimmygrey6848]

Any idea if these inks cause bleeding of oil based ballpoint pen?

[@teohyc]

Depends on the ballpoint. Most likely it would affect the ballpoint

[@jimmygrey6848]

@@teohyc Thanks for the reply. Just a standard ballpoint like a Bic round stic. I want to add grey values over my ballpoint sketches without any of the purple bleeding or smearing that happens with alcohol based inks like copic markers.

[@Chris_M_Romero]

They're very grainy. Any recommendations on the least grainy watercolors?

[@teohyc]

Grainy? These are dye inks and should not have any grain at all.

[@Chris_M_Romero]

@@teohyc then must be my paper? Maybe the tap water?

[@teohyc]

Cristian Moya Romero Could be. probably paper

[@greetjeb7030]

Nowadays the bottles have a pipette.

[@teohyc]

That's good addition. Very useful.

[@PaulaBean]

I'm glad to hear that.

[@bluestblue435]

My art store has both options but the ones with the pipette cost a bit more

[@bearshthebear2202]

If you mix it with Arabic gum can you fill a pan?

[@teohyc]

I don't think so. These are dye inks. There's nothing solid to mix with gum arabic

[@bearshthebear2202]

@@teohyc oh, thank you

[@phsyckomantis]

Are this inks fountain pen friendly?

[@teohyc]

+phsyckomantis They should work fine with fountain pens just like fountain pen inks.

[@phsyckomantis]

Teoh Yi Chie thank you 😃🙇🙇🙇

[@wietsesartsythings969]

I use these inks with my Pilot paralel pens, and no problems at all. Should be the same for any other fountain pen.

[@phsyckomantis]

Wietse Hoeksel thanks a bunch. I will order them to try them out :)

[@ArabKatib]

Cyan + Magenta = gives you pure BLUE!! :^) Not Purple!! Magenta + Yellow = gives pure red!! Yellow + Cyan = Gives you pure green.

[@benjamina6915]

They're not lightfast at all. Your artworks will slowly fade away when exposed to light.... unfortunately.

[@lorettovalentina5432]

Hi