1/4Follow-up of post >>8004962I thought it would be nice to make a mini review of various white ink pens and markers that I own. Mostly for my own fun, now that I finally have the time to do it. Maybe someone will find it helpful.Note 1 – There are plenty of pens and markers missing from this review. This is because I'm located in Central Europe, and some brands are harder to get. Also, I usually buy my art stuff when I see it in physical stores - I like to be able to hold them, try them out if possible, and be excited to use them at home right away. I do not really feel like paying for shipping, or buying from sites like AliExpress.Note 2 – This is not an in-depth technical review. I did not do research into how each ink is made. Everything is just based on my observations.REVIEW INTRORegarding pens and markers with white ink, they fall roughly in 5 categories ( I forgot one last time):- White ink pensThe ink is either viscous, with lots of pigment and therefore very opaque (Kuretake), or watery, with tips that have very fine pores, and is somewhat transparent.- Acrylic paint markersAs the name says, these markers have a thin, water-based acrylic paint in them. They have a metal ball inside to mix the paint before use. Also very opaque, and waterproof when dry.- Gel pensThese have some water-based gel inside with some pigment suspended in it. The gel makes it possible to use a rollerball tip without it leaking.- Chalk board markers / Liquid chalk markersThe ink in these seems to be thinner, more watery, and is not waterproof. I have avoided them thus far as I'm not sure how they perform on paper. Something for another time.- White oil paint markersThese use an oil-based paint. They have a metal ball inside to mix the paint before use. They're really only good for non-porous surfaces. I have not reviewed any of these, because when I used it on paper many years ago it was a mess, and I avoided them since.
2/4Note 3 – I've used thicker, but not very expensive paper for this review: Clairfontaine Mix Media Grey Paper, 250g/m3.I'm reviewing for opacity, line thickness & flow, how it covers black ink, and waterfastness.PENS & MARKERS REVIEWEDWhite pigmented ink:- Kuretake ZIG White Brush- Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen- Faber-Castell Creative Marker- Faber-Castell Goldfaber Creative Marker- Staedtler White Brush- Edding Pastel Pen – soft white (advertised as a 'soft white for semi-transparent highlights').- PENTEL Milky Brush- Derwent Graphik (Not sure about availability. I have 12 colours, and they're the oldest ink pens I have, over 20 years old).Gel based pens:- Gelly Roll White- Uni-Ball Signo White- Pentel Hybrid Milky- Edding 2185 Gel Roller- Pentel MATTEHOP (Cream) (the ink is unique – it starts out watery and transparent, but then dries to a brightly coloured, matte and opaque layer).Acrylic paint markers:- Posca White marker- Copic Acrea- Faber Castell Multimark Acrylic- Sharpie Creative Acrylic- Pentel PINTOR- Liquitex Paint Marker- Molotow One4ALL Acrylic (The one I have is pretty old, and doesn't flow so well)- Montana Acrylic marker (Same remark as above)
3/4REVIEWI used a thick layer of Polychromos pencil to see how the inks stick to a somewhat oily underlayer. I also used the Pentel GFKP brush pen as a black, waterproof underlayer. Waterfastness was tested by letting the ink dry, and then go over it with a waterbrush with a good amount of water.White pigmented ink:- Kuretake ZIG White Brush – This one is great but temperamental. Very opaque, and I can get hair-thin lines, but clogs very easily due to the thick ink. Brush with synthetic fibres.- Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen – Felt tip point. Watery, very transparent.- Faber-Castell Creative Marker – Same as above.- Faber-Castell Goldfaber Creative Marker – Felt tip point. This seems a bit better.- Staedtler White Brush – Spongy brush point. Surprisingly, quite opaque, as it was very cheap.- Edding Pastel Pen – Conical felt tip. As advertised, semi-transparent.- PENTEL Milky Brush – Synthetic brush. Watery and very transparent.- Derwent Graphik – Thin hard point. Opaque ink. Flow isn't great, but can be because of age.Gel based pens (All rollerball points):- Gelly Roll White – Seems to slip when rolling over pencil. Good flow. Nicely opaque.- Uni-Ball Signo White – Surprisingly not waterproof. Also feels 'slippy' on pencil. Prone to clogging. Disappointing because these are expensive.- Pentel Hybrid Milky – Unlike the Pentel Milky Brush, very opaque. Overall quite good.- Edding 2185 Gel Roller – Not entirely waterproof. Good flow. Opaque.- Pentel MATTEHOP – Weird to use, due to the ink being transparent when wet. But depending on the paper, it is very bright and opaque. It's advertised for use on glossy photos. Flow is not always great.
3/4 B (previous post had too many characters)Acrylic paint markers:- Posca White marker – Synthetic brush or fibre tips. Good flow, but can be leaky, especially the brush.In general very opaque.- Copic Acrea – Weird nib made of hard fibres, prone to clogging. Doesn't feel very nice to use due to the hard tip, but it is very white.- Faber Castell Multimark Acrylic – Two fibre tips. The thin tip is less opaque than the thick one. good flow. Nice to use.- Sharpie Creative Acrylic – Soft spongy brush. Decent to use and opaque. Good flow - the brush keeps hold of the ink nicely. In Europe a bit pricey, desu, but I'd like to buy more colours.- Pentel PINTOR – Fibre nib. Overall decent.- Liquitex Paint Marker – Hard fibre chisel. Prett old pen. Decent, but ink is not fully opaque.- Molotow One4ALL Acrylic – Fibre bullet tip. Flow is poor. Also quite old, so can be that.- Montana Acrylic marker – Hard fibre tip. Also old. Doesn't feel very nice to use, and poor flow, but might be age.
4/4CONCLUSIONRegarding overall quality and availability, the Sakura Gelly Roll and Pentel Hybrid Milky are hard to beat for white highlights and such. They're affordable, small, and very opaque.From the category of white ink pens, they are generally disappointing – mostly semi-transparent, and for the price not really worth it. The Staedler White Brush is a surprising standout, though I can't say anything about US availability.With acrylic markers, there is a lot of choice. Posca is of course well known, but expensive. As is the Copic. The Faber-Castell MutiMark and Sharpie may be cheaper alternatives. I expect the Sharpie to be a lot cheaper in the US.Personally, I have a soft spot for the Kuretake white brush, because nothing I've tried makes lines as thin as this, even though it is quite difficult to use. I added a sample sketch I made with it.Finally, some of the semi-transparent pens may be interesting in combination with fully opaque ones for interesting shading effects.
5/4Here is the comparison sheet.
cheating: the thread
>>8060374>>8060377>>8060378>>8060380>>8060384>>8060387Good shit man. White pigments in general tend to have poor coverage, so it's not surprising that white pens also generally have poor coverage.Something I've noticed with white pens that you didn't mention is they suffer from tip dry out way faster than with regular inks; if you aren't using them regularly, they tend to dry out within a few days.>>8060395Retard.
>>8060399>Something I've noticed with white pens that you didn't mention is they suffer from tip dry out way faster than with regular inks; if you aren't using them regularly, they tend to dry out within a few days.Not him but while I've had the issue with some, I haven't with gelly roll .8; maybe smaller tips clog idk>>8060384the gelly roll is the best choice I've found as well as far as pen are concerned. haven't tried the Kuretake white brush. But Kuretake white ink 30 and a fine brush is a great option when portability is less of an issue, or when there's a need for fine line control.well done OP;you should post this on a blog somewhere, to make the content more permanent
amazing thread just absolutely lovelythank you anonif you ever feel too bored and have a bunch of standard color pens/markers lying around that you'd feel like reviewing too, I'd be here for itpicrel.: me listening to what you have to say
>>8060374i got so frustrated buying these pieces of shit and spending what is otherwise about 100 dollars on all these god damned pens that do fuck all that i just ended up using white acrylic with a brush. fuck all this god damned shit. you find the one that works it's gold. but then they stop making it, then you look for something else. then the journey continues for a year or two and oh well. fuck this shit.
i should also clarify from my above post i'm not just being a retarded spastic. either the coverage is ass (watery and doesn't cover well) or it covers well but clogs up the tip. if it's not doing either you have a unicorn.
>>8060374If you're adamant on finding a good white, maybe try out some different white-outs as well?White gouache is also commonly used for such things, but if we're just talking pens, then Posca is the one I hear most professionals recommend. But I'm only thinking of the white as something for corrections and highlights/effects, particularly for ink drawings, rather than as the main drawing tool.
