You were told “Ohuhu is the Copic slayer! They’re like Copic Markers but better!”
Is it true?
Every Ohuhu Marker has different characteristics based upon its unique ink formula. No matter how great they say the marker is, test results do not lie.
So are Ohuhu markers as great as you’ve heard?
Let’s look at Ohuhu R18 to find out.
WARNING: Ohuhu markers have numbers on the cap but not on the body of the marker. We do not recommend coloring with both caps off due to the risk of accidentally placing the wrong caps on a marker.
Test results: Ohuhu R18 Pastel Peach
IS THIS ACTUALLY A RED MARKER? I’ve said repeatedly that the Ohuhu cap numbering system is nonsense but in this case, I can argue that R18 is correctly placed inside the R Red family. Most people think of pink as light red but pink is actually light magenta. When you dilute red watercolor or in this case, red dye, the result is a color that’s warmer than pink but not quite light orange— you basically get the peachy flesh color of R18.
Refill: R18 is one of the 50 refill colors Ohuhu currently sells. Contrary to what you’ll hear on YouTube, Ohuhu should not be considered a refillable marker until they offer refills for all their markers. They sell over 300 markers but only 50 refills. It’s not like they don’t make the ink, so why not offer it in bottles? Stupid, this is truly stupid. But hey, R18 is truly refillable. See Ohuhu’s current list of refills here.
Temperature: A pale warm red or red-brown
Resemblance: Highly diluted Raw Sienna watercolor
Actual Value: N2
Unlike Copic, Ohuhu does not measure value— this is a glaring deficiency which makes finding blending combinations harder than it has to be!
All Copics are measured on a Neutral Gray value scale. The last number on the Copic cap indicates the value. We’re using the Copic scale to measure Ohuhu until Ohuhu releases a reliable value scale.
Cap Accuracy: The plastic on an Ohuhu Honolulu R18 marker is pretty close to the ink color. It’s slightly duller and less warm than the ink but as far as Ohuhu caps go, they get points for being this close.
Copic Substitution: Ohuhu R18 is slightly more golden but otherwise close to Copic’s YR00
Note: similar colors rarely behave the same way. From experience I can tell you that Copic YR00 is an easy blending marker and mistakes are simple to lift. Most people will use Ohuhu R18 for skin tones but beware. Unlike Copic YR00, Ohuhu R18 is a staining color. Look at the staining test, I hit this marker with SIX coats of colorless blender. Look at the same test on YR00 where the color almost completely erases. This is what I mean when I say some markers are beginner friendly and some are not.
Buildup: R18 reaches a maximum value at about 3 coats.
Overinking: We do not recommend using more than 4 coats of R18. As with most Ohuhu markers, four layers looks oversaturated and oily.
Shattering: R18 seems to be a mixture of at two inks— one either orange or light red and the other a dull gray. The gray dried fairly pale in the shattering test but you can still see it in the erasure zone of the staining text and also along the dark lines to either side.
Chromatography testing shows this ink’s behavior when it comes in contact with #0 Colorless Blender (solvent). High shattering colors may leak unexpected color when you make corrections or attempt to blend with any color that has a high solvent to colorant ratio. Shattering is not bad, it’s just something to be aware of.
Staining: Unlike other inks this pale, it’s odd that R18 stains as much as it does.
With alcohol markers, a staining ink is generally a sign of a low quality ink. Staining inks bond to the paper fibers and are reluctant to release. Staining inks make blending harder than it has to be!
Lift: R18 is stubborn color. You can lift a mistake slightly but don’t expect to erase it fully.
See staining swatch. Sample was given 6 stripes of #0 Colorless Blender, drying between each stripe. Results indicate how much lifting you can expect.
Lightfast: R18 faded by about 10% during the test period. This is about average with similar Copic colors.
Samples were swatched on X-Press It Blending Card. 1 layer of ink was exposed to windowsill sunlight for 21 days. Approximately 10 hours of sun per day based on weather conditions. Note: we do not recommend displaying original marker art under these conditions.
Ink Color Family: R18 belongs to the red family. Many Ohuhu R’s are anything but red but this does look like a very diluted red or reddish brown.
The Ohuhu numbering system is complete garbage and doesn’t always make sense. Some orange, magenta, violet, and obviously blue-violet markers are hidden in the R family. Be warned, when it comes to other color families, you can not trust anything you read on an Ohuhu cap.
Cap Numbering: R18 and R19 blend fairly well together. I can see R18 as skin and R19 as the blush color. But as soon as something in the Ohuhu numbers make sense, they punch you in the face. Ohuhu’s R17 is not a flesh color, it’s actuall a darker violet than Copic BV08
As stated above, the Ohuhu numbering system makes no sense. The markers are not arranged in chromatic order so you can not trust the numbers to tell you whether this marker is lighter or darker than other Ohuhu markers with similar numbers.
I’m still early in the Ohuhu testing process. I will add more info to this article as I learn more and when I spot behavioral patterns.
From what I’ve learned so far, I will not be working with Ohuhu markers and I will discourage students from using them in my classes. They’re simply not worth the frustration.
Learn more about R18 Pastel Peach, a pale flesh toned Ohuhu Marker. We swatch and test Ohuhu colors- layering, staining, lift, value, lightfastness, saturation, and cap accuracy. | MarkerNovice.com | How to blend alcohol ink markers.
