Are you concerned with choosing the best fine liner pen for your artwork? After all, you don’t want to be two hours into your latest piece and have your pen let you down… A good pen should be invisible. It does its job so well you don’t even realize it’s there.
So lets talk about two of the most popular choices in the fineliner world: Sakura Pigma Micron Fine Liners & Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens.
Contents
Pitt Artist Pens Vs. Micron Pens
TLDR: More often than not, I reach for a Sakura pen….
Nibs – AKA The Pointy Part
The Pitt Artist pens feature fiber nibs of various thicknesses.
Micron pens are advertised to have plastic nibs and have a wider selection of line widths
The days of fine liner pens having felt tip “tips” are over. Or at least inexact. The “felt” used for the tip is usually made of highly compressed synthetic fibers or porous ceramics. This has changed over the years due to the toxicity of certain components.
The Pitt “fiber” and the micron “plastic” nibs, I suspect, are not much different. Handling feels much the same to me.
But the practical result is: the smaller the point, the shorter the life span. This is arguably the most frustrating aspect of fine liner pens.
Now when I reach for a fineliner I am usually looking for the finer side of the fine liner spectrum. My art leans more towards rendering than illustrative (strong outline). So the smaller tips get used more often. They also sell more smaller tip pens so I suspect I’m not alone.
That being said, you can see from the photo above that regardless of labeling, the Sakura Micron makes a smaller point with a thinner line. In fact Sakura even makes a 003 – .15mm pen (not shown because mine wore out 🙁
Ink Quality
The Pitt Artist Pens are india ink based which means they are a water based pigment but once dry, the ink is waterproof and cannot be blended. This is important if you want to use color markers over your inked outline.
Micron pens are advertised to be both archival-quality pigment ink and also Copic-proof (FYI copic markers are alcohol based and powerful)
Waterproof And Smudgeproof Behaviour
The Pitt Artist Pens remain water-resistant and smudge-proof. Thus, you can use them for multimedia purposes.
Micron Pens don’t bleed-through or produce any smears… so pretty much identical.
Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens – A General Review
Pitt Artist Pens are convenient and great for travel. With no risk of spills or bulky accessories, they are ready to go when you are. Just uncap the tip and draw when ready! The ink is sealed inside a disposable pen body and super convenient.
Faber Castell, a German company, has been producing art supplies for only about 260 years. So yeah, they’ve got some experience. From high-end writing instruments to fancy paints. Faber Castell has it all.
They’re Pitt pens consist of variety of fine liners and brush nibs. The sketch above was done with the XS fine liner and the cold grey soft brush pen. The soft brush pens are a pleasure to work with, they feel like a real brush. But they go dry fast, at least the lighter colors do. And also a regular brush pen in black to fill in the hair.
Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen
Though I don’t draw much manga, the manga set is the right variety of pens for my work. Faber Castell has various set options though, with various different colors if you want to mix things up.
Key Features
- Pigmented Ink: You can add colors all over or fill in small details. This pen contains a pH neutral ink that can blend in various media. The ink remains waterproof upon drying and doesn’t smudge over.
- Multi-purpose Pen: You can draw, outline, fill colors, paint canvas, and whatnot. This pen is versatile enough for multimedia usage.
- Unsurpassed Lightfastness: You can draw and paint without the fear of fading. This unsurpassed lightfast pen provides excellent drawing strokes.
- Different Nib Styles: This pen offers multiple nib styles. This way, you can fill in the small details with ease. You can use different strokes to suit your art style.
Pros:
- It contains unsurpassed ink
- It remains smudge-proof and waterproof on drying.
- You can fill in small details with ease.
- The ink blends well with different shades.
Cons:
- The smaller pens dry up fast.
- The lighter value brush pens dry up fast too
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Faber Castell 60 Piece Pitt Artist Brush Pen Set
If you like color options you’ll love this set (they also have numerous smaller set packages that are more modestly priced)
Key Features
- Lightfast Inks: Faber Castell offers pens with lightfast India ink. The ink remains resistant to fading, and it doesn’t smudge on the application. The acid-free ink easily blends with different colors. This way, you can create beautiful designs with bold colors.
- Versatile Pens: Use these high-quality pens for multiple purposes. Whether a beginner or a professional, anyone can use it. You can use these pens for designing, canvas painting, drawing, etc. The variety of colors can help you to create mixed-media designs.
- Multiple Nib Styles: With multiple nib styles, you can color large and small details. The brushed nibs can color straight and bend as per your need. Some of them include soft chisel, fine, superfine, medium, etc.
- Water-resistant: Don’t worry about the smudging of the inks. These pens are waterproof and smudge-proof. You can make different strokes while drawing with these pens; the lightfast ink doesn’t fade away upon usage.
Pros:
- Unsurpassed lightfast ink is highly pigmented.
- It doesn’t cause fading.
- On drying, the ink doesn’t smudge over.
- The ink remains water-resistant.
- The pens have different nib styles.
- The set contains different bold and vibrant colors.
- You can draw, paint, and illustrate.
Cons:
- The bristles might form lines and streaks.
- Colors can dry up fast.
- Colors can come out streaky on some papers.
- The tips don’t allow good flow.
- The pens might bleed-through after a while.
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Sakura Micron Pens – A General Review
The Sakura Micron pens are a best seller in this category. Though more expensive than other “disposable” non refillable pens they are much cheaper than technical pens but produce similar results.
These pens are labeled and number the same as other technical pens and this was the original market – technical drawing. But the feel and writing of these pens is so much more comfortable than traditional technical pens that the Micron has become popular for all kinds of drawing, illustrating, manga, and even just general sketching.
Sakura, a Japanese company, makes a maintenance free and reliable pen in the Micron line. These pens have forgiving tips, can be used at an angle and perfect for a variety of creative drawing pursuits.
Some of the most widely used technical pens, they also come in a wide variety of colors and boast an expansive line width selection.
I’m mostly just reviewing the fine liners but Sakura also offers a selection of chisel, bullet and brush tips.
Sakura Pigma Micron Fine Liner Pens
With their pH neutral ink, fade-resistant and doesn’t bleed, you get a smooth drawing experience with consistent line widths. You can draw, design, letter, and illustrate on a variety of papers.
Key Features
- Smooth Ink: Sakura Pigma Micron Pen consists of rich, smooth ink. This ink is perfect for lettering and making lines of different widths.
- Multi-purpose Use: You can use multimedia sheets to draw and write. This ink pen is preferable for drawing, designing, and illustration.
- Fade-resistant: This pH neutral ink is chemical-resistant and doesn’t fade away. It remains waterproof on drying.
- Quick Dry: You don’t have to wait to turn the page as this ink dries fast. It does not form any smears on the application. Also, it doesn’t cause the problem of bleeding.
Pros:
- The pens come in a pack of 6.
- The ink has a great consistency.
- It remains waterproof.
- It dries within no time.
- It doesn’t cause bleeding.
- It remains fade-resistant
Cons:
- The pen might start leaking.
- It might dry out fast.
- The smaller tips require a light touch
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Sakura Pigma Micron 03 Pens
This is the one I use the most. Unfortunately it also wears out the fastest so the multi pack is a must (still only a couple bucks per pen).
I’m especially fond of the sepia ink version.
Being just slightly lighter than black it makes thin lines appear even thinner and are great for subtle value change and gradations.
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Conclusion
I use both brands but I reach for the Sakura pens much more often than the Faber Castell. It is frustrating how fast the small pens wear out, but I keep buying them anyways:) In the next section I do mention one possible solution though…
Other Supplies:
Here are some links to some of the other supplies used in my above shown sketches:
For the light grays I have two options. First is the Faber Castell Soft Brush Gray set:
But they’re not cheap and wear out way too fast. Which leads to my second and preferred option:
Simply dilute the noodlers ink to your preference and fill it up into any ole water brush pen. This works great and is even easier to avoid those hard edges between strokes that a marker usually makes.
I also use the Noodler’s gray ink in this guy:
This is a traditional technical pen. More expensive than a fineliner, but it last forever and is refillable! It make a superfine consistent line. I fill it up with gray ink instead of black which makes it perfect for subtle value changes and softening some of those hard edges pen and ink drawings have.
But…there is a downside. These last forever because of the steel tip. It’s like drawing with a needle, very scratchy. Fineliners are much more pleasant to draw with. So you have to weigh the pro’s and cons.
I also use 4h graphite to flatten the values in some of sketches.
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I of course use our very own Drawing mechanical pencil set for this:)
One last little jewel you’ll recognize from one of the sketches above is this item:
This is actually a practice head for make up artist and face painters. But for an artist is fantastic. You can set up various lighting schemes, practice all different perspectives. And a great way to improve your drawing from life skills.
Oh and lastly, the sketchbook that I used for most of the drawings above is:
Though the listing is lousy and incomplete, Fabriano makes some of the best paper around. This is a nice sized sketch for travel and varies between white and beige paper inside.
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