Arrtx Brush Tip Acrylic Markers Review

Last Updated on August 31, 2026 by Masha Eretnova

I have a confession. I have own more acrylic markers and art supplies than any one person reasonably needs, and I keep buying them anyway (story of my life!)

So when the brand offered to send me a set of Arrtx acrylic markers, part of me hoped they would be mediocre and cure me of the habit. They were not. Sorry, wallet.

Let me get the boring part out of the way first. Arrtx sent me this set for free in exchange for a review. Nobody asked to approve it, nobody told me what to say, and if I tested each pen myself.

So heere is what I found and as with all of the reviews on my site I WILL update it over time to let you know if markers dried out.

This article contains affiliate links. It means no extra cost for you but a little commission (2-3%) for me to support my hobby and blog. Thank you!

Arrtx brush tip acrylic markers arrived as a sponsored set, sent to me by the brand in exchange for an honest review. I have been using them for the past two weeks, and I swatched every single one of the 60 colors before writing a word of this.

Key Points

• Arrtx is not a new brand that churns out cheap supplies to quickly market them. The Arrtx brand has been around for 11 years already! And it was steadily growing and amassing positive reviews.
• Arrtx Brush Tip Acrylic Markers are non-toxic and have NO smell which is one of my favorite advantages of acrylic markers over alcoholic pens.
• Versatile. Work on pretty much any surface you can think of, including your skin.
• These markers are so called direct ink markers, there is no cotton core inside, you just work with ink flowing freely.
• Coverage and color range are one of the strongest advantages of these markers for sure. I loved how opaque the colors are, how well they work on paper and how easy it is to use them.

Supplies Used

• Watercolor paper sketchbook with 300gsm
• The exact set I have:

Arrtx Acrylic Ink Markers Unboxing and First Impressions

The box is super cute: pink and purple, sturdy, and heavier than I expected for a marker set (I don’t know what I expected for 60 items exactly haha). My delivery arrived very quickly, but the courier dented the corners of the box.

I sent Arrtx photos of what I received. They were far more upset about it than I was, and quite apologetic. To me the damage was minor and I barely noticed it, but their reaction was genuine and I think they do care about every single order!

At the bottom of the box, you get the color numbers printed with small cloud-shaped color samples, plus the instructions.

Inside are four trays, and each holds 15 markers. The colors arrive presorted by shade, which made swatching the full set genuinely SO satisfying! But also because it is SIXTY colors, I was just happy like a kid going through all of them.

The sides of the box have cutout openings, so you lift each tray out easily. The box works as permanent storage, which saves you buying anything extra, because with the direct-ink markers you have to store them horizontally!

Brush Tip Review 5/5

My set has the brush tip acrylic markers with liquid ink and no pumping is needed to activate it, just a little shake.

Immediately, I thought about my tests for Artiqo and Artistro markers. They are both cheaper than Arrtx but use pumping activation method and let me tell you…I don’t like it.

There are just too many risks. The colors can leak through if you pumped too much, or simply refuse to activate at all. With Arrtx some of the pens I didn’t even need to shake, they were ready to go.

Two or three colors wanted a second shake. That is nothing compared to the minutes of pumping I have spent on cheaper acrylic markers before anything came out.

I also never had to re-shake mid-session. I used them for an hour straight and the flow stayed consistent the whole time.

These are single tip markers. Some brands give you a brush on one end and a fine tip on the other, and this set does not.

Uncap one and the tip is already saturated. It looks wet but not dripping, which is exactly right.

The brush tip can produce different thickness of lines, from 1 to 6 mm (tip to body of the brush tip). But the brush tip doesn’t mean it is as soft and pliable as a paintbrus. The tip IS quite soft and bends easily, great for precision work, but the body doesn’t function the same way paintbrushes are. Just saying as a reminder.

Only about the top third of the tip bends. That is normal for every brush tip marker I have used, and it is still far more flexible than a rounded or bullet tip, which gives you no flex at all.

The thinnest line is 1 mm, so these do not do hair-fine detail. Light pressure and long strokes get you convincing grass, hair, and fur, but you cannot go finer than the tip allows.

None of my tips frayed. They held their shape through swatching all 60 and a lot of doodling, which is where cheaper markers usually start splaying or lifting up the paper and making a mess.

However, the product range also offers medium (rounded) tip, fine brush tip, and jumbo tip to cover all the artistic needs you may have.

Marker Design Review 4/5

I loved how lightweight and cute these Arrtx acrylic markers are and I think the no pumping design works really well alongside clear parts of the marker’s body to see the actual ink color.

Markers feel sturdy, definitely do not look or feel cheap (and do not smell like cheap plastic either).

The clear windows are shaped like little smiling clouds, and they sit at both the top and the bottom of the barrel. You always know how much ink is left, from either end.

It is a cute detail that also does a real job, which I appreciate.

The pens have 3 parts and I had a few pens that were loose around the screw marks but it doesn’t expose the actual ink, so it was just a minor inconvenience.

Mess with these markers is minimal even though they are ink-based and ink is very flowy. I did have some splatters after swatching ALL of them and doodling but not really that much, plus, acrylic ink is really easy to wash off from your desk/desk mat.

I used some alcohol wipes and the ink came out of my desk mat. However, acrylic ink does stick well to fabric, so I would be careful with wearing something white and important haha.

Every acrylic marker dries out if you recap it badly. That is true of every brand at every price.

The problem with cheap sets is that you cannot tell when the cap is properly seated. Either there is no click at all, or the fit is so stiff you assume it is closed when it is not.

These click immediately and clearly.

Arrtx Color Range Is Fantastic! 5/5

I have a set with 60 colors and it is called Anime Set on Amazon for whatever reason (it doesn’t have that name officially), and all the colors are absolutely GORGEOUS. The box came in with all the colors sorted by shades and it was super satisfying to go through all of them to make the swatches for the set.

The whole color range of Arrtx is whooping 120 (!) regular colors, not including a couple dozen of metallic colors as well.

I would really like to have a list of the color names though on the box or on some printed sheet that goes with the set.

The brand has a whole color system that is all numbers and letters and there is no unified list to match them.

All colors look exactly like the color of the cap only one, in my opinion, doesn’t really match T123.

It looks quite light to me on the cap but on paper it is rather dark.

I have seen other reviewers say many colors do not match. I suspect they are comparing the ink to the printed swatches on the cardboard box, and printed ink and marker ink use completely different color systems, so those will never match by definition.

Compare against the caps instead. Mine matched on 59 out of 60.

Arrtx Acrylic Markers Performance Review

All 60 markers worked. Nothing leaked in transit, nothing arrived dried out, nothing refused to be activated. I swatched every marker individually, so this is not a guess.

They also have no smell whatsoever. Alcohol markers do smell, and that smell builds over a long session, so this is one of my main reasons for reaching for acrylic markers instead and suggesting acrylic markers for kids.

With 60 colors, I never once reached for black. There is always a closer, more interesting dark shade in the tray, and black ink in a marker goes down hard and final.

For outlines I would use a regular drawing pen instead. It sits more coherently with the rest of the illustration than a black marker line does.

Opacity 5/5

This is where Arrtx markers really earn their price. One layer of white over black already shows clearly, and two or three passes give you full opacity if you want it.

Even dark colors over black stay visible, which almost never happens with cheaper sets.

Nothing dried chalky, patchy, or thin. Even the palest pastel colors laid down as solid, flat color rather than a wash, especially once dried.

Do watch the way they dry. Like acrylic paint, these dry very slightly darker and slightly more opaque than they look wet, and pastels shift the most.

The change is small enough that the caps still predict the result well but if you plan to layer light colors, swatch them first and judge from the dried swatch.

Blending 4/5

Blending with acrylic paint on its own is not always easy, not to mention trying to do so with markers.

However, if you act quickly, while the ink is still wet, you can get a nice gradient!

Once the first layer dries, blending is over. At that point you are layering flat color instead, which is a different look and not a worse one.

Brush strokes show up more in lighter colors, and mostly where you overlapped your coverage. Lay one clean layer and you get a flat gouache-like surface instead.

Drying Time 5/5

Fast drying is the whole personality of acrylic ink and acrylic paint. This is just how they are!

You lose easy blending, because your window to work wet into wet is short – sometimes under a minute. What you gain the ability to layer immediately and build up depth.

For me the trade is worth it. Think about it. You can finish a card or a small illustration in half an hour, clear the desk, and hand it over or store it the same day.

Dry work does not smudge, with a dry finger or a wet one. I tested both!

The finish dries matte with only the faintest sheen under direct light. If you dislike glossy acrylic surfaces, this is the appeal.

That matte gouache-like finish suits food illustration, invitations, birthday cards, landscapes, and even portraits, or, for that matter, anime-style works.

Durability 5/5

Arrtx Brush Tip Acrylic Markers are technically water-resistant once dry but as all paints and inks they are still sensitive to excess of moisture or direct sunlight.

I let the drawing dry and I tried to smudge it with my wet finger and the colors didn’t care! So, for sure, incredibly performant markers.

Arrtx Price 5/5

The set I have is listed for about 52 USD on Amazon.

That is more than the cheap brands, and I still think it is worth it. Roughly 85 cents per marker for 60 working colors is fair, and it drops further on sale or direct from the Arrtx site.

I would buy this with my own money.

Things I Didn’t Like

• Maybe it is just me, but the box always feels very tight to slide upwars and open it, I really need to put some work to get into the box haha
• Limited information on colors. Not just the names, but pigments, lightfastness, individual toxicity (I know the set is completely non-toxic), so you can’t really know what the colors is. It is not really a disadvantage but professional artists may want to know.
• Basically, these are single use markers as there is no way to refill the ink or replace the inner ink container. Which is also true for Posca and other brands, so not really a disadvantage
• The box is heavy, so this is not a travel set unless you decant a few colors.

Posca VS Arrtx VS Artistro VS Artiqo Acrylic Markers

Artistro and Artiqo are cheaper, and I still use them, but for different jobs. Their pumping systems introduce risk at both ends: pump too hard and color floods, pump and nothing happens at all.

I have had cheaper markers die on me mid-project or leak over time. Their coverage on rocks or denim is good, so that is where they stay in my rotation.

For garden rocks and general crafts I would reach for the cheap pumping markers every time. You do not need free-flowing ink to paint a stone, and you do not want to spend 85 cents a marker on it.

Posca is the one everyone asks about. I have only used their regular tips, not a brush tip, and they are excellent for lettering, crafts, and customizing objects.

I have simply never fallen in love with them, and I know plenty of great work is made with them, so treat that as personal taste rather than a verdict.

Arrtx feels like an art tool to me in a way the others do not. For illustration and for originals I intend to turn into prints, this is the set I pick.

Verdict: For Who Arrtx Markers Are?

These suit adults who draw, color, and letter regularly, and who have already outgrown a cheap starter set. If you sell prints or originals, they are more than good enough for that.

I took mine to a local crafting meetup, where everyone was doing their own thing, knitting, cross stitch, drawing, collage. Several people came over to ask what brand they were, purely because of the colors.

I would not buy these for a classroom. They cost too much for the setting, and no class project uses them near their potential.

I would not give them to young children either. The cap is a choking hazard, and a child gains nothing from direct ink over a basic pumping marker.

An older child who is seriously into anime portraits or illustration is a different case entirely. Then, yes.

Buy these if you already know you like markers and you have hit the limits of a cheap set. The coverage, the color range, and the free-flowing ink genuinely feel like a step up rather than a lateral move.

Skip them if you mainly paint rocks, run a classroom, or are buying for a young child. Cheaper pumping markers do those jobs perfectly well for a fraction of the price.

FAQ

Is Arrtx a Chinese brand?

Yes. Arrtx is a Chinese brand and has been manufacturing art supplies for about 11 years, exporting internationally. Well respected brand.

Is Arrtx better than posca?

For illustration work with a brush tip, I prefer Arrtx. The direct ink system starts instantly, the brush tip flexes, and 60 colors for about 52 USD is strong value.

Posca remains excellent for lettering and customizing objects, and it has a longer track record. This one comes down to what you make.

Are Arrtx acrylic markers any good?

Yes. All 60 markers in my set worked, none leaked or dried out, the coverage is genuinely opaque, and the brush tips held their shape through heavy use.

The honest limitations are that you cannot refill them and the brand publishes no pigment or lightfastness data.

Last update on 2026-08-31 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API