acrylic artdump [1/2]

unfortunately, in my haste, i bought an off-brand when i wanted to get guangna markers, which were ALREADY a budget brand. i ended up getting an off-brand 48-marker set, a real guangna 12-marker skintone set, and a languo 9-marker dark-tone set, all three in total for just under $35, honestly a steal. i was rly lucky they were all on sale. it was pretty interesting, comparing and experimenting w all these brands - i was initially really upset i fell for an off-brand but even the off-brand held up pretty well! don't be like me though, and make sure u thoroughly look at the preview photos on the product page and ensure the brand name is included on both the packaging and on the markers themselves before you get em. if the branding is absent even if they look like a perfect copy..... u know.

hightune 48 brush tip set (the off-brand 💀)

ok now to get critical. at first glance the colors r super nice - saturated and pretty. most seem opaque on white paper, but when layered on darker colors it becomes evident that some of these markers' paint is not properly mixed and therefore reaaally watery & translucent. this is typical for lighter colors in most acrylic marker brands, but this even happens with some of hightune's darker colors, specifically the purple and pink tones. you have to shake those faulty markers for like 5 minutes, press down HARDDD, swatch for a long time before the REAL color comes out. and even then, there are chances the ink will come out uneven and dry glossy, which... it's not supposed to do that. this happens especially with the black marker for some reason, which no amount of shaking or swatching managed to fix. which is a real shame, because this is the BLACKEST black marker i've ever had, which is so so nice, it's just strange that the normal paints have no texture but the faulty ones are unreasonably glossy. 13 markers out of the 48 set have this issue, so it's a 27% chance the color you need is gonna be faulty. you may think i'm nitpicking but it's SO bafflingly noticeable when you layer, how much more translucent some are in comparison to others. the rest of the colors work perfectly though - they're so pretty and saturated, and the ink is consistent and glides across the page like butter... which is why i feel so conflicted. the bads are BAD but the goods are soooo good.

honestly i fell for this off-brand bcs it was like 10 bucks cheaper than the real thing. my recommendation if you're considering getting these markers is to NOT cheap out and just get the actual guangna. they're WAY safer and more consistent. comparing the two's product pages right now i'm pretty sure guangna has better color selections too for their 48 set - more browns/neutrals and less repeats. i just don't think you should risk getting this set for almost 30% of your markers to not work properly lol.

guangna 12-color beige/brown skintone set D

they are indeed WAY more consistent than the hightunes. the ink's thickness is the same no matter the marker, it's not streaky, it goes down easy, and they're totally opaque. NO SEMI-TRANSLUCENT NONSENSE. sure there's less markers to test out compared to the hightunes but the experience has been far more reliable and all around good- super great markers. how does the color selection itself hold up though?

well for a skintone set it's certainly. way more yellow than i expected. the color preview both on the package and on the product page isn't accurate to the ink itself at all. the set i brought (set D) is meant to be a neutral skintone set but imho, the real swatches are either super yellow or kinda grayish which was kinda disappointing. can't really complain bcs i got it on a mega discount but still. look at the package compared to what i got bruh

instead when i do need to shade skin, i use colors form the hightune set- #367 from for lighter skin and #318 for darker- and i use colors from the guangna set to add shadows. these 12 are better for enhancing skintones rather than as base colors like i was expecting. if im honest, i find myself using the darks in this set for gold accessory details more than i do for actual skin LOL, that's really how yellow they are to me. don't get me wrong thou it's useful to have more colors on my roster, especially browns/neutrals, so even if i didn't use them how i expected it's still a neat addition. if you're looking for vibrant skintone markers then you probably won't find it here though.

languo 9-color colorful black series

OK THE PIC MAKES THESE LOOK SUPER LIGHT BUT I PROMISE THEY'RE NOT😭

i brought these because the hightune's color range didn't include many desaturated darker colors, so these were just meant to fill in some missing darker tones, and they've been more than satisfactory for me. i will say these markers' ink flow isn't nearly as juicy as the hightune's or the guangna's, but that's because you don't need to shake these markers like the aforementioned two. they're nice for coloring in small portions of your drawing, but if you need to fill up an entire page, you might need a few extra coats. for what i need, they're nice, especially for their price. smthn i like abt these is that their color labels are at the bottom of the marker so that they're stored upside-down, which helps them not to dry out. it's smart and neat.

ok that's it. let's look at the actual art now