Disclaimer: This review was conducted by Suzy Goodyear. This item was purchased by me as part of my personal collection. Some of the links below are associated with affiliate programs which provide me with a small commission from any orders you may place. This will not affect the price or quality of products you receive but will assist me with the costs involved in running this site. For more details please see our Disclosure Statement.
Basic Description
- The Art-n-Fly Dual Tip Fineliners are water based markers with dual ends and a round barrel.
- The barrel is a silver color with snap on caps at both ends.
- The caps on both ends are colored to indicate the ink color.
- There is a 0.4mm tip at one end, the Fineliner, and a firm round tapered brush tip at the other end.
- These Markers can be purchased in a set of 12 and come in a clear plastic wallet.
- They come in a maximum of 12 colors.
Pros
- Lovely 0.4mm fine tips which are excellent for intricate details
- Water based ink which doesn’t smear
- Color indicator on cap is a good indicator of the ink color
- Very smooth flow of ink
- Fineliner tip allows for coloring in small spaces
- Brush tip is good for coloring large areas
- The pen barrel has a thin black band on the fineliner tipped end to help identify the different tip thicknesses
- There are fineliner tip and brush tip icons printed on the ends of the barrel as well as the words “Fineliner” and “Brush” to indicate which end is which
- vibrant colors
- no tearing or pilling of thin paper when coloring over the same spot multiple times
- dual ends with different tip thicknesses at each end using the same ink source is a bonus when coloring pages that contain both small details and larger spaces to color
Cons
- Limited colors
- Bleed through on thin to medium weight papers
- Due to bleed through, using them in coloring books with pictures printed on both sides of the page means one picture will be impossible to use
- Round barrel means they can easily roll off a flat surface which can be annoying
- Caps can be very hard to remove
- Once you remove a cap there is nowhere to click the cap onto the other end of the pen so it’s possible to lose the cap
- The ink is quite wet and this can make some thin to medium weight papers buckle
- Brush tips can frey or pill slightly
Price Range
- $$ – typically AUD $5.01 – $20.00 / US $3.76 – $15.00 / £2.61 – £10.00 / €3.31 – €13.25
Comments / Recommendations
- The Art-n-Fly Dual Tip Fineliners are a good professional grade water based marker with a vibrant but very limited color range
- I love the fineline tips. They are very smooth to use with no signs of scratchiness as can be found in some of the more expensive brands of fineliners
- The brush tips on these markers are OK but I was a little disappointed with them. More than any other markers I have used since taking up adult coloring, the Art-n-Fly brush tips reminded me of the old felt-tips of my childhood (some 30+ years ago 🙂 .
- During use the Brush tips seemed to frey or pill slightly with very small pieces coming away from the tip. These pieces would break off during coloring and end up on the paper occasionally making very slight unwanted marks.
- Art-n-Fly do have a good customer service approach. I purchased my set of Art-n-Fly Sketch Dual Tip Fineliner / Brush Pens on Amazon. Within a few days of my pens being delivered I received an email directly from Art-n-Fly thanking me for my purchase and providing me with a contact name should I have any questions or problems. This is a nice touch that makes you feel that the company cares about its product quality and its customers.
- These markers do not require any pressure to get the best out of them so if you have any fine motor, hand or arm problems these may be a suitable option
- The caps can be very difficult to remove. In one case I needed a pair of pliers to help me remove the cap. This is something to consider if you have any arm or hand strength issues. They may loosen up with use over time.
- Even though the product information on the Art-n-Fly website says there is no bleed, I did experience significant bleed through on standard weight papers so best not to use them in coloring books with thin to medium weight papers that have pictures printed on both sides of the page. In the photos below you can see the bleed through on the back of the test picture which is standard photocopy paper and on a picture from a coloring book with medium weight paper.
- When using these markers in single sided coloring books, it would be wise to place another piece of paper, cardboard or laminate behind the page you are coloring to stop the ink bleeding through onto the following pages.
- Overall these are a reasonable set of water based markers for the price however they are limited by the small number of colors available.
Where to Buy the Art-n-Fly Dual Tip Fineliners
The links below will take you to the options available for different set sizes of this product within that online store. You may also be able to find this product at a range of different retail, discount and / or art and craft supplies stores in your home town.
Links to:
Other Reviews of this product:
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