Doodled Animals with Ohuhu Nahuku Acrylic Markers

Ohuhu is known for making high-quality art supplies that are much less expensive than comparable brands. I own four products by Ohuhu: the Honolulu Dual-Tip Alcohol Markers; the Kaala Dual-Tip Alcohol Markers; the Marker Sketchbook; and the Pupe Paper-Friendly Water-Based Markers. I love them all. So I was delighted to have the opportunity to try out the Ohuhu Nahuku Acrylic Markers (affiliate link here and below). 

I've used acrylic markers ("paint pens") by other manufacturers, but Ohuhu's Nahuku is completely different than anything I've used before. 

I'm used to acrylic markers with a chisel or point nib, where you press down to let the paint flow into the nib the first time you use it. Instead, these markers have brush nibs. The paint flows into the brush without any pressing (though you do have to shake them). There's a peekaboo window on the side of the pen so you can see how much paint is left. Genius! 

And that paint? The pens are really juicy and the paint flows onto the surface beautifully. The colors are highly pigmented. They are gorgeous on white and even more so on black. I did a single coat for my swatch cards; as you can see, most of the colors are completely opaque on both black and white. Only the four lightest colors could use a second coat on the black. 

    

After swatching the colors, I couldn't wait to try the pens on an actual project. I recently found a scrap of paper from years ago where I'd doodled four animals in a distinctive style. (I wish I knew what artist had influenced my doodles so I could give proper credit. Let me know if you recognize the style.) I used the Nahukus to doodle those animals (and a few more) to fill a page. In each case, I colored the base, let that dry, added the secondary colors on top (ears, whites of the eyes, tummies, stripes, dots, etc) and let that dry. I did the outlines with a Flair pen to see how it would write on top of the paint (perfectly). 

I loved working with these markers! The paint flows so well. But using them on paper is a waste of an amazing product. You can use any markers on paper, but these pens are made to write on non-traditional surfaces, like glass, plastic, rocks, wood, fabric, and much more. 

There was an empty plastic Ziploc bag sitting on my desk, so I decided to doodle more animals there. And that's where the Nahukus really shine. The brush nib glided over the plastic like skates on ice. I did the base layers, let those dry, then did the detail layers. I only outlined two of the animals; this time, I used the black acrylic marker to see how fine of a line I could get. 

The bag is wrinkly, so the scan isn't great, but you get the idea. 

I tested the Ohuhu Nahukus Acrylic Markers on two more surfaces, which I put together into a single project. I'll show you that on Monday.