Spectrum Noir Advanced Discovery kits review
I love designing, illustrating and colouring. Which is why I was delighted to be asked to review the Spectrum Noir Advanced Discovery kits from Crafters Companion.
See what I thought of them and if, like me you’ve never tried them before. Grab the free practice sheet at the bottom of this post.
What are Spectrum Noir Advanced Discovery kits?
Open the door to a new world of creativity and colour with the Spectrum Noir Advanced Discovery Kits! If you’re ready to take your art to the next level, these premium art and colouring sets hold the key.
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Advanced Discovery Kits have detailed instructions with all of the essential tools you need to learn a whole range of new techniques. Including colour blending, graphic styles and illustration. Each kit includes hints, tips and instructions from a professional artist as well as step-by-step colourable designs.
In my bundle was:
Spectrum Noir Advanced Discovery Kit – Adventures in Colour
Spectrum Noir Advanced Discovery Kit – Masterful Mandalas
Spectrum Noir Advanced Discovery Kit – Art of Illustration
Spectrum Noir Advanced Discovery Kit – Comic Book Heroes
What’s included?
Each kit varies slightly but they all contain:
Spectrum Noir Classique Dual-Tip Markers
Spectrum Noir Illustrator Dual-Tip Markers
Spectrum Noir Artliner
Printed line-art sheets
How-to guide
Tutorial
Apart from the Masterful Mandalas which contains:
Spectrum Noir TriBlend 3-in-1 Markers
Spectrum Noir Artliner x 2 – Black 01, Black 03
Printed line-art sheets
How-to guide
Masterful Mandalas Tutorial
Value for money
The set of 4 kits has a special price currently of £79.00 which is great deal as if you bought the sets individually they would be £24.99 each. Obviously they are not cheap but if you are keen on colouring and illustration and want to progress your skills further. These are well worth their money.
Plus you can buy replacement nibs and refills which make them not only cost effective but better for the environment too.
Top tips for using Spectrum Noir
- Practice with the markers before using on your final design.
- Keep something underneath your work to protect your table.
- Work quickly if you want good blends
- Work on small areas at one time, so your colours don’t dry out
- Darker colours can actually lighten when laid over the top of another colour.
- Use the blender to remove or ‘push back’ small mistakes.
Final thoughts
I really loved each of these kits. Each with their own unique style and a different technique to learn. The how to guides and tutorials were clear and easy to follow. I was really pleased with my first attempts at using the Spectrum Noir markers.
Now I am hooked and can’t wait to get stuck into the rest of the designs included in the packs. The possibilities are endless and I’m already planning some new art work and card designs with the sheets I’ve already coloured.
Free worksheet
My first experience with alcohol based markers was with Spectrum Noir. It was only because someone I know used them. I have invested in about 75 of the classic markers. At first they were great as I had nothing to compare them to, apart from my old sharpies. But when I got more into blending (which is the main thing about alcohol based markers), I tried out some other makes as well.
I am not going to say anything bad about Spectrum Noir, as there are a lot of good points about it, but all I say is , there are a lot more brands on the market (ie. Copic, Ohuhu etc), which give you different results, some cheaper some more expensive.
But I will say the following about Spectrum Noir:
– It’s one of the few makes widely sold on the highstreet (some others you really have to hunt the internet for)
– Great array of colours
– Blending is ok, but very much depending what paper you use (equally important)
– The starter boxes are brilliant though, especially for beginners.
– The pricemark is average for alcohol based markers, there are cheaper and much more expensive ones.
– They sell a lot of accessories like storage bags and racks (also to be used with other makes of markers).
And I would love to see more content like this, LUV IT!
Thanks for your comment, I’m working on more content soon.