
Hi there! If you’ve followed my blog for any length of time, you know that coloring is basically my favorite thing to do in my craft room. I love so many mediums and brands, and I am always excited to find and try a new brand, and today’s post is super exciting to me, because I’m helping to introduce a brand spanking new brand of alcohol markers: OLO Markers!

These alcohol markers were just introduced to the public during the last few weeks at NAMTA/Creativation in Florida, and if you search on YouTube there are some fantastic videos showing them in action at the show. I was lucky enough to be sent a full set of markers from OLO, and I’ve had an absolute blast playing with them over the last couple of weeks! I have a video below or here on YouTube that shows them in action.

Like traditional alcohol markers, the OLO markers feature a brush nib and a chisel nib, and they come in a wide variety of vibrant colors. These markers do, however, have a few unique qualities that make them wonderful tools to have in your craft room.
- These markers come with both brush and chisel nibs, but you can easily customize the markers by putting either a long, paintbrush-like handle on one end, or making both ends brush or chisel nibs. Your choice!
- Each marker half contains 2 mL of solution, and instead of being suspended within a core inside the marker, the ink solution is free-flowing, allowing you to use 90%+ of the ink. The core inside traditional markers means that only 65-70% of the ink inside the marker is useable, but the ink within the OLO markers is free-flowing, which means that you have seamless flow when putting your marker to the paper.
- When you run out of ink, you can purchase individual cartridges that simply screw on to the marker. Super easy-no weighing, no messy dripping, just unscrew the old one, screw on the new one, and you’re ready to go!
- The nibs are super high quality and will last a very long time, but replacement nibs are available and are very easy to replace in the marker itself.
- Colorless markers are available, which are great for adding textures, to dilute vibrant color, and to help touch up any mistakes.
- These markers will retail for $6.99 each and come with 4 mL of ink total, making them a super economical addition to your coloring collection!

The OLO website has a downloadable chart that you can print and color in yourself like I’ve done here. You can see how unbelievably vibrant all of these colors are; the color families are grouped together so that it takes the guesswork out of selecting which shades will work together.

One way that I like to familiarize myself with my coloring mediums is to create swatch charts like this. I simply cut white cardstock into 2×2″ squares, and add and label my favorite blends for each family, and add them to the coin pockets that we papercrafters use for our ink swatches, so that I have a quick and easy reference when I’m ready to color an image! I have created swatches for most of the color groupings, so that you can see the wide variety of colors available.

I am especially excited about those purple blends, because they will fill in a very noticeable gap in my alcohol marker color spectrum! These markers will work in conjunction with my other coloring mediums, and I’m so excited to keep playing with them.

These are a few examples of some of my drawings that I’ve colored using these vibrant markers. You can see the incredible depth and dimension that you can achieve. I’m seriously impressed! I even used the chisel nib side to create some custom ombré colored cardstock to create my word die cut. I can’t overstate how smoothly these markers blend.
Also-feel free to use the color combinations that I’ve shown in the swatch cards in your own coloring. 🙂
Many thanks to OLO markers for sending me these beauties to use in my craft room!
Thanks so much for stopping by today, and have a marvelous day!
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Gorgeous demo!!!
Hi Emily, I too have the OLO markers and refills that I received this last year and am loving them as well. My questions to you are: how do I stop the juicy blobs that happen occasionally (no way to decompress the ink, such as taking off both caps) and what paper do you recommend? I currently used x-press it but do find the OLO sometimes bleed over my lines, I do a monthly art class with Kit & Clowder on line and am loving this new marker
Don’t get me wrong I love these markers and colours, just need to find skin tones, and I’m all set and happy! Thank you for your time.
Hi Trudi, thanks for your comment! I have been using the OLO markers mostly with the Hammermill 100 lb (which you can check out here). The super smooth surface of this cardstock makes for crazy easy blending! As for the issues with the juicy blobs… I would take a paper towel or other really absorbent cloth and touch the marker to it to allow the extra juicy ink to work it’s way out. If that doesn’t work, you can try contacting OLO’s customer service. They are super helpful and easy to work with!!