I’m here with another budget colored pencil review and today I’m comparing 2 brands that many people say are exactly the same – The Markart and Nyoni colored pencils.
So my goal today is to find out:
First – are these actually the same?
And second – are these a decent budget colored pencil, or just another pretty prop to add to my wall?
Check out the video below!
Please Note: All opinions here are my own and this article is NOT sponsored or endorsed by any of the brands mentioned. This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a commission if you click them and make a purchase (at no cost to you). I have bought all pencils used in this review.
Are Markart and Nyoni pencils the same?
The Markart colored pencils and Nyoni colored pencils come in very similar packaging. Both boxes have the same print process and wording.
The actual pencil tins are also very similar, even though I’ve ordered 2 different sized sets here. The picture on the back is the same, although Markart appears to be targeted more at an english-speaking audience. The inside of both boxes includes similar wording, images and the same protective plastic over the pencils.
The pencils are a perfect match, even appearing to be the same numbers, with the only difference being the actual design printed on the pencil.
If you had any doubts that these were from the same factory, I think we can definitely say that they are. This is what we call white-labelling. As a consumer, it’s important to recognise when you might be buying the same set of pencils under a different brand so you don’t end up buying the same product twice. I’ve talked about this in more depth in my previous review of the Brutfuner colored pencils.
As I’ll discuss more throughout this review, the performance of these pencils are also the same, however there are some differences between these 2 brands that might become a deciding factor in which you should purchase.
About the Markart and Nyoni Colored Pencils
The Markart and Nyoni pencils are an oil-dominant pencil – which is similar to many of the budget pencils that have been showing up in the market lately. All pencils still have a mix of wax, oil and other binders, so don’t get too caught up in the official marketing of these descriptions of pencils and what this means – just because a company says a pencil is “oily lead” doesn’t mean it is going to work like a Faber Castell Polychromos pencil.
In fact, when I reviewed the Brutfuner square colored pencils, they were also marketed as oily colored pencils, and yet I found they blended together like I would expect from a wax-dominant pencil.
In comparison, these pencils are more like an oil-based lead. They don’t blend quite as easily, but that doesn’t mean you can’t create beautiful gradients. It just takes a different technique – so work in lots of light layers, overlap your colors, and keep your pencils sharp.
These pencils do feel really nice to hold. At a first impression, their presentation, size and shape reminded me a lot of Faber Castell Polychromos or Arteza.
In using them for basic swatching, they were nicer than I expected. They don’t have that oily or waxy build-up that so many cheap brands have. They feel similar to a Brutfuner, but drier. So not as waxy, but also crumblier.
I haven’t decided if I like these more or less than my Brutfuner – it’s close. Both brands are slightly different and both are great for the price. I DO like the round feel of these pencils in my hand slightly more than the square.
Color Range
I’ve got the sets of 48 and 36 here, but the Markart and Nyoni pencils both come in a set of 120 colors. And the larger set seems to include a large range of pastel colors – so these would have been a good inclusion in my Holbein alternatives review a few weeks ago.
In all the swatching, the colors from both sets appear to be identical – except for ONE color I’ve found in this set that has changed very slightly (N011).
Sharpening and Breakage
I resharpened all of my pencils when I first opened them, with no breakage.
And as I’ve been coloring, I haven’t have ANY breakage due to sharpening. But a few of my Nyoni pencils seemed to have breakage along the core that appeared during coloring – I think these have been damaged in transit. Otherwise, both sets of pencils are easy to sharpen and hold a sharp point really well – So these are great for fine details.
The Difference Between Markart and Nyoni
I’ve found a significant difference now between brands – the barrel colors have changed. It appears to me that the Markart team have carefully re-evaluated all the pencil colors and had the barrels changed to match the pencils more accurately, which is something I wish all pencil brands would do. So when it comes to matching the colors, the markart barrels are almost an exact match for the color of the core itself, meaning you can pick up a color and just go for it without having to refer to your swatches or test your pencils every time.
Most of the Nyoni are close, but a few pencils are way off- which I’ve found to be the case with many brands, and NOT just the cheapest brands I’ve bought.
This is a huge win for the Markart pencils at this point, and might just be the deciding factor between these 2 seemingly identical sets.
(In the below picture, you can see the colors on the left are a close match. But the colors on the right have changed quite a lot for the same number pencil between each set)
What’s the Best Paper for Markart and Nyoni Pencils?
I decided to try some quick tests on different paper types, and found that the Markart and Nyoni colored pencils worked on most papers quite well, including the cheaper paper and common coloring book paper used by independently-published books on Amazon.
Personally, I found the bristol vellum papers (Springhill and Strathmore pictured) gave the best results (including the Neenah Bristol Vellum I’ve used throughout this video), but any paper would work well with these pencils.
Coloring with the Markart and Nyoni Pencils
To really put these pencils to the test, I’m using them together on this coloring page from my Confessions of a Coloring Addict coloring book. Get the FREE coloring page here or the full book as a printable here. It’s also available on Amazon.
I filmed the first part of this coloring page in a live-stream on my YouTube channel – you can watch it below! I will be doing more live streams in the future so please subscribe if you’d like to join me live next time.
Otherwise a shorter version of the coloring process is included in the video review above.
I’ve chosen this color palette from the Color Catalog with the help from the wonderful viewers during the stream, and found the closest colors from the sets of Markart and Nyoni. Both sets use the same numbers, and I added a few extra colors that I felt would fit this palette.
I started by creating a gradient on my lettering with the method I teach in this article about blending colored pencils.
Keep your pencils sharp, and work in light layers, overlapping each color with the next to create smooth transitions between colors.
As you build up more layers, you can build up more pressure, until you finally use a harder layer on a final layer to burnish the colors and remove all extra white from the page.
For the 3D effect on the letters, I chose a darker shade of each color – still within the colors I selected, although I would have brought in more colors if necessary at this point. I darkened areas towards the back and under each letter, and created a gradient to transition to a lighter color towards the front.
You can learn more about basic shading in my shading for beginners tutorial here.
As I start on this background, I want to create a bit of a bokeh effect instead of just coloring everything in black. So I’m creating a gradient from my central light to the black in a circle – again, just working in light layers and overlapping my colors.
I’ll do the same with my yellow, and scatter these circles around my page in different sizes. The key to this is to keep my layers light so these transitions from light colors to black is smooth.
When I’m happy with everything, I can start burnishing by using a harder pressure on my final layer. I’m still working back and forth between colors, but trying to remove any extra white from the page as I go.
And instead of adding any more pencil, I’m just going to finish this off with some solvent or blending solution to blend out these final colors and hide these final white gaps. I feel that if I add any more pencil, I’m just going to create an unwanted layer of oily-waxy texture on top, and I’ll waste my pencils. I’ve done a full article comparing different options for this, but today I’m using an alcohol marker – simply because it was here in my drawer so it was the easiest option to find in the moment. This is optional, and I don’t often use solvents or blending tools, but it does help in a situation like this.
With the background done, I’m finishing up the shading of the letters, and the final colored paint splatters in the background… and we’re done!
(The background bokeh effect took me about 4 hours total)
Where to Buy the Markart and Nyoni Pencils
Markart Colored Pencils
As of August 2021, the price for 120 pencils on Amazon.com is approx $40 USD, which is a much better price than the Nyoni pencils. This may change, so check the links below to see the current pricing.
Nyoni Colored Pencils
As of August 2021, the price for 120 pencils is approx $70 USD on Amazon or $46 USD on Aliexpress. This may change, so check the links below to see the current pricing.
Buy on Amazon.com: 120 | 72 | 48
Buy on Aliexpress (Available in 36, 48, 72 or 120, but be careful to select the oil pencils, not the watercolor pencils in the same listing)
Are Markart and Nyoni Colored Pencils Worth Buying? And Which Set Should You Buy?
So after all of this, I would say that these 2 sets of budget pencils perform the same, so if you own one set already, there’s no need to buy the other.
But if you are looking to buy a set and both are a similar price, personally, I’d choose the Markart over the Nyoni. My main reason for this is the color of the barrels. The fact that these are more accurate to the color of the actual pencil core makes it so much easier to choose a color when you are coloring, and it removes the need to use swatches.
In my opinion, the Markart are comparable to Arteza and Brutfuner. Personally, I don’t love them as much as my Prismacolor because my Prismacolor blend extremely well – but I know the breakage of Prismacolor is a dealbreaker for many people, so if you’re looking for something firmer, this might be it.
I would happily recommend these for beginners, or for coloring pages, or for hobby art – just not for professional or commercial art – like any budget brands, these aren’t lightfast so the color won’t last for years like the high-end art supplies that I recommend for professional artists or anything you’re intending to sell.
They’re not artist quality, but they’re also not artist price.
In comparing these with other budget sets, I think that accurate barrel color makes these one of the better budget sets I’ve tried. The performance comes down mostly to preference – so some people may prefer these to the Brutfuner, but other people might find the Brutfuner easier to use because they are a bit waxier and easier to blend.
I hope you’ve found this review helpful – as always, I’d love to hear your thoughts here or in the comments on my videos!
Other Reviews You Might Enjoy:
- Are these the BEST affordable colored pencils? | Brutfuner Oily Pencils Review
- The Best Prismacolor Alternatives: I Put 7 Affordable Colored Pencil Sets to the Test!
- Holbein Alternatives: Comparing the best PASTEL color pencils
- How to Use Colored Pencils in Adult Coloring Pages – 10 Tips for Beginners
- How to Choose the Best Paper for Coloring Pages
I always appreciate your reviews, Sarah. They’ve saved me a lot of money since I am curious about so many coloring pencils. Maybe for your next video/blog post, you could do a list of the most popular colored pencil brands that came out in 2021 and see which one is the best for you?