20 Best White Pens For Art (2023 Updated)

Arteza, you rock! I am amazed again at your products. I found these ‘WHITE’ gel pens to be one of the crowning moments of many of my water color painting as I would use these gel pens to art stars and highlights to complete my final colors in many paints.

you have to be patient and work with the pen applicator as it Will dry on the end and can be difficult to restart the flow of color. I have found this to be true with every brand of gel pen I have used.

I rarely use gel pens and prefer ‘fineliners’ for added color in my paints, but for a white this is as good as it gets. And if you make a mistake there are several ways to cover it up, it’s very forgiving.

All Arteza product have worked well for me, consider Arteza for you one stop shop and look no further! Thank you Arteza once again for being there for us! Red/Tulsa.

The ink was nice and thick and did help me add highlights to my artwork. I wish the ink was easier to get started coming out the nibs, though – I would have to keep slapping the tip against a hard surface to get the ink to flow.

I wish someone would make the ‘perfect’ type of ink that is similar to ‘White-Out’ typewriter fluid – very smooth, liquid, easy to apply, and easy flow from the pen tip every time it’s used. Unfortunately, while these are the “BEST” I have used for white ink, they still don’t quite hit the center mark for the target for use.

After seeing white gel pens such as these in various art videos on YouTube for so long, I decided to buy my own. Going over markers and pens, they’re a dream. They don’t, however, go over watercolor or colored pencils very well, if at all.

My guess is that the texture that these two pieces of media put over the paper isn’t one that the gel ink can stick to very well. If you just want to clean up your lineart or add highlights over a marker drawing, these pens are plenty capable.

Use it when i overshoot my coloring. Plus, if you sre using darker paper, you can get very creative with monchromatic drawings. Gelly rolls are very easy to use, but do put the top on if not in use to prevent dry out.

I still had some old ones from the 90s, that worked pretty well. Sakura, the mfg, prides themselves as the art and office pen [+ archival pen] leaders. Many use their Microns for paper and quilts. Their I-dentapens rival the other mfg for permanence.

Gelly rolls have a wide assortment of colors and nuances. Of course, they’re fun to write with, too.

This is the one white pen that behaves the way you want it to. The coverage is so opaque and nice and buildable, but not dry and flakey like using white out– it’s almost like ink meets concealer. I’ve tried many other white ink pen brands, to my chagrin– so many are milky and streaky and just ineffective for real coverage.

These work the best on a variety of surfaces– I’ve used it over watercolor and gouache and many dark papers. If you are between a number of brands, go with this one!.

I recently painted a watercolor picture of a Canadian grain elevator as a commission. The sides of these beautiful structures that dotted the prairies of the US and Canada had writing in white paint that announced to the trains who they were and where the train was in the countryside.

From a distance the lettering is small so I needed a fine white line to do the job. I tried other brands but Gelly Roll had the best fine line without skipping and clumping. I really liked how my painting turned out and my customer was very happy.

Love how these white pens can be used in a variety of ways. Comes in 4 different tips wich is great to have a variety of styles to choose from. Great for sketching and wont bleed. Perfect for any artists collection and really pop in dark paper.

I really love how there are different tips to choose from and I can count on precision and over all excellent performance. A must have for those any project or artist.

These pens are great! The packaging is pleasing and love that the four pack gives you different sizes and tip styles. Love that they don’t get cakey and glide over just about any surface effortlessly and without any excess dripping or mess.

Great for arts and crafts and easy to use for children that like to doodle. Would definitely recommend! Overall a great product and will be keeping a supply of every color and style in my office and art kit.

All but one pen was dried out. And the one that worked wasn’t nearly as opaque as all of the reviews and descriptions said it would be. Tossed them all out and wasted a good chunk of money.

I do abstract or semi-abstract paintings and at times use pens, usually either the Sakura Micron Pigma, probably most popular art pen, in sizes 1, 2, 3, 5, black and I do have some colors. OR the Sakura Gelly Rolls [so named because they are Gel type and they Roll easily and it’s a nice pun] Notice the same company, the fine Sakura of Japan, makes both.

I also have their KOI watercolor travel set. Great stuff. I use the Gelly Rolls also in white — a very effective tool for completely dry watercolor, gouache or acrylic surfaces. I have sizes 6 and 10 or so, or is it 5 and 10 — something like that.

Black, white, brown as I recall. Discovered a cool trick: after the Gelly Roll in white dries in maybe 15 minutes, you can paint it a color and it changes somewhat — great effect, hard to achieve any other way.

Sakura Gelly Roll Classic Gel Pen 0. 6mm – Royal Blue. Due to the angle I write, I’ve found that fiber-tip pens work best for me; I often get blobs or skipping with ball-point, roller-ball or gel ink pens.

Sometimes, however, one needs a hard-point pen. The Sakura Gelly roll 0. 6mm is a great choice for those times. Smooth writing. The pen is labeled “Fine” but the line is really more of a medium to my thinking.

No skipping. Mostly no blobs, however I do find that making long lines (e. g. “X”ing out a whole page) does cause blobs. On the plus side, the ink is archival: chemically stable, waterproof & fade resistant.

The Sakura Gelly Roll Classic’s Royal Blue is a darker blue than the Blue & better for “business uses” such as check-writing & signing papers.

I’m not much of a gel pen user. At least, I didn’t think I was until I tried this brand as compared to the cruddy dimestore gel pens I’d made the mistake of buying in my fledgling days of gel pen work.

This brand however has completely changed my mind about the viability of the medium. I was skeptical at first, when lots of other folks I’d talked to had recommended the brand to me, so I bought one of their smaller sets to start out and shortly fell in love with them.

They have a great selection of colors, write smoothly (most of the time), offer a great variety of finishes / effects (metallic, sparkle, opaque, opaque neon, and colors intended to write best on black papers), and last a very long time! A few pens in my collection are several years old and still work perfectly fine despite being left sitting around in a drawer.

They may be a bit expensive on the surface, but the price is very much worth it. Trust me. You won’t be tossing out these gel pens like you’d toss out the cheaper ones. The detail work on the attached piece is these pens.

The Pitt Big Brush is an essential tool for me for drawing, illustration, mixed media, fashion/interior/landscape design. I use this for sketches and final works (fine art and commercial). The big flexible tip is versatile but offers excellent control while laying down lines, strokes and large washes of color beautifully.

While working the strokes blend nicely. One of my go to tools. I love the India ink and the color range. The design of the markers is simple and aesthetically pleasing, the caps fit snugly. I’m just broken up over Faber-Castell discontinuing production of these beautiful pens.

I’ll still use the regular Pitt artist pen, those are great for fine detail but the Big Brush is much more versatile.

Mkay, so, I’ve seen these in-person at several art stores. And they’re always in the high price range. Which, okay, I guess coupons help. But this beautiful, amazing thing was cheaper than coupon price on Dick Blick’s site and it was calling out to me.

I’m SO happy with this item. I love to use markers and such, and I have tons of different colors of art board. My main use for the white marker is laying down a foundation that will allow me to color like normal on a toned/colored/patterned board.

I have another brand (an art store’s generic brand) that did an OKAY job, meaning, if I did too many coats for my white surface, I’d get this gross, glossy white out-like texture I could do nothing with.

But with this Pitt Big Brush pen, I don’t have to use as many coats, and I actually have a surface that still holds marker ink! This is also an excellent item for adding highlights over other media (marker, colored pencil, inks, some paints, etc.

). 10/10, definitely recommend.

Unlike Copic and Prismacolor and Mepxy markers I’ve worked with, these don’t seem to bleed through the paper, even when used with sketchbook quality paper. They have no odor at all that I can detect.

On the papers I’ve tried, they don’t blend as well as Copic. I found it a bit tricky to pick colors; what they look like on paper doesn’t seem to match the names all that closely. And at least with the ones I bought, the colors tend towards the dark and vibrant, which is good for some styles, but not as good if you’re going for a subtle colorization of line art.

One last note, the white is unique in having a bullet tip, instead of the brush tip of the others. It’s not super opaque (compared to, for example, painting on white gouache highlights) but multiple passes builds up the white in a controllable fashion.

My favorite art product. I love using this in my sketchbook to give the appearance of spot glazing. It’s looks gorgeous on matte paper. Just make sure to wait for it to dry. It applies as a sort of milky color but dries down to a true shiny clear glaze.

Cannot recommend this enough!.

I have a compulsion for PENS. I am always looking for a nicer, more fluid, consistent and beautiful pen/ink. These pens are just wonderful. I have every color and use them almost exclusively when it comes to my artwork.

I just love the way they flow. I can’t think of any cons, maybe that they might not continue to flow flawlessly after sitting for 5 years on a shelf? Nah, that would be unreasonable, right? But it doesn’t change how much I love them!.

I LOVE these pens! I have the classic pens in black and white but I bought these on a whim and I love them! I love the texture and the way it writes so smoothly. Would buy again.

This product was disappointing when I tried the pens. the white bullet tip would not work at all and after some time I did get it to work it remains very faint and translucent. The chisel tip worked fine but again not a very solid line and looks weak on black paper.

The only items in the pack which I was satisfied with were the white brush pen and the black fineliner.

Ingen ting jag kan använda för mina ritningar. You barely see the white if you use it for small details. Perhaps it will work on black paper, but not upon graphite pencil drawings. I had to use other materials to get the effect I wanted.

Excellent set!! The mix of different line widths of White color is perfect.

These are one of my favorite supplies–I use them myself and I also use them in art therapy with older adults (and highly recommend them to other art therapists!) They are a ‘natually occuring’ adaptive art supply; the big wide marker body is easy to hold and grasp.

The variety of marks one can make enable a great range of expressive capability. Bonus: These hold up well when left uncapped for a whole session of creating. such an improvement over other similar-sized, cheap markers.

Additionally, these do not have fumes. They blend well with the whole range of Faber-Castell markers.

Firmer tips are easier to handle for beginners and also more suitable for a more formal, controlled style. This pen set has softer tips which makes it little difficult to maneuver, specially at started.

With little practice it prepares you for getting better. It’s a complete set for the starting calligraphy. Pencil inside the set is also very soft and light, which helps to create the draft. Overall, one of the best set to start with for calligraphy.

My wife uses these pens. She has always wanted to learn different ways of writing. She uses them all the time. The little carrying case is perfect. Keep them in there and you won’t loose any! She has been showing our granddaughter how to use them.

She’s 15 and never learned cursive in school. They don’t teach it anymore!!!!! She does a wonderful job. Thanks to these pens!.

I’m more of a colored pencil person. All the paint, water-based, and alcohol-based markers do some cool stuff, just not so much for me. I went for Pit because it is india ink instead of the others. And once dry is permanent which is great for mixed media.

I really prefer the large barrel size in my arthritic fingers since it allow greater control. not to mention they are easier to pickup from my art table. I’ve seen the smearing demoed around the web but am finding it really depends on the paper, especially since there’s so little humidity where I live.

The colors I picked up are good until I got to the greys. The warm grey 3 is light while the 5 is not even an off-black it’s so dark — warm grey 4 could be a mid grey or not. The cold grey 3 on the other hand is a mid-grey while the 6 is solid off-black.

Weird. Pit does have an uneven color range since inks just aren’t like paint or other pigments. I was surprised to see a range of greys because of this. I just didn’t anticipate that the warm and cold greys are not in similar tonal ranges.

Kinda a game changer. Whether placing highlights, adding to ink over paint or in lettering and writing this just comes in handy. The coverage has been great – just don’t press too hard. It need a lighter touch to flow.

But I fully recommend this pen. It’s great at what it does and works on paper, painted surfaces and a number of textures.

This is not made fine detailing since the nib is pretty thick and the ink flows easily, but is really nice for outlining or patterns. Works well with ink and watercolor, even paler washes. Very opaque even on pitch black which I love.

I would suggest this for art journaling.

I have both this pen and the Sakura Gelly Roll pen in white as well. This one has a much thicker tip and much more opaque ink, but sometimes I find that it comes out a bit blotchy when I use it. You might have to go over your lines a couple of times so there’s no gaps in the stroke.

Otherwise, it’s pretty okay and I use it a lot for thicker highlights.

These pens have a very smooth ink flow and dry quickly on the page so there’s no smearing or smudging. The brush tip allows for a variety of line thickness simply depending on the pressure you apply with the pen.

Overall this is a great pen and one of my personal favorites for storyboarding, just be sure to store the pins horizontally to increase their life spanned.

I use the black glaze pen to draw lines and marks on top of an acrylic underlayer. I then do a final layer with neocolors ii (wax pastels). I can easily scrape off any of the wax pastel that covers the black glaze lines.

The black glaze lines are slightly raised, very black, and shiny. They add an extra wow factor to my art. I’ve only been able to find glaze pens in multicolor packs in Blick stores, so I buy the blacks individually from Blick’s website.

I’ve also tried the white and clear glaze pens. I was initially disappointed with the white pen because the lines it laid down were a translucent milky white. Then I read a review where someone said it was a super opaque white.

Gave it another try, this time laying down a thick layer. It’s translucent when wet, but becomes very opaque as it dries. It doesn’t have a glossy finish line the black glaze pens.

NOTE TO CUSTOMER : a lot of copic artists use the white gelly roll for highlights. This is not that pen or necessarily a good replacement for that. The ink comes out very differently from the gelly roll pens, and the look changes over the course of the pen drying.

Drying also takes much longer, so be careful! Definitely try it out on some test or scrap paper before jumping right in to something more delicate, there’s a learning curve. I didn’t end up liking this one since it wasn’t super bright on dark paper, but I did use the blue version on white paper, and the effect was lovely.

I would suggest one of the other colors unless you need white specifically, since you’ll be able to get mileage out of use on light and dark papers that way.

Such Incredibly bright, shiny, sparkly, turquoise gel Ink! I cannot believe how magical it looks on paper! Dries pretty quickly and when I move the paper around in the light it makes the ink look like slightly raised vinyl.

The Ink flows pretty smoothly in medium thick lines also I have had no Issue with the pen getting clogged. Adding layers will make the 3D effect more prominent. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this pen!.

These White Gelly Roll gel pens are the BEST! They write smoothly and easily. I use them to address and write notes on my homemade Christmas cards. The white ink really makes the writing stand out. I also use lots of other colored and sparkly Gelly Roll pens for making cards, invitations, etc.

It’s fun to use the bright, colored ink! The sparkly black is really pretty! I love these pens and always like to keep them on hand!.

I truly love these pens. Shipping took a longer than expected, BUT it was worth the wait. Exactly as described, I purchased as a decoration piece, but quickly realized these are much more. VERY Smooth writing with a sturdy cap lock, I really like these a lot.

Would recommend these pens to anyone that has to write in white ink. Truly a perfect set.

Exactly what I wanted – an opaque white ink. Great for dark colored papers, or to hide a small mistake!

Was about to get Faber white pens on Amazon – in the reviews someone compared both with multiple photos. This product gives a more vibrant white which, is what I want for highlighting. I am using these with other Faber pens I have and, however, the gel causes the colour to run.

I would buy this product again because the results are something I actually like.

Good: 0. 8 and 1. 0 work perfectly. Bad: 0. 5 only works on a slant – not upright and fades out a bit at normal drawing speed. Only one I have ever used so may not apply to every 0. 5. Cap fits well; opaque ink; Barrel appears to be about half full.

Comfortable to draw with. Better than some more expensive pens that I have tried. Would buy again.

I bought these for my daughter as she really enjoys art and wanted to improve her highlighting with white. We tested all 3 of the pens in the pack on various types and colours of paper, card and tissue, however we had to virtually scratch the paper/card to even slightly see the white.

I have since bought white pens from a different brand which are doing a fantastic job, exactly what my daughter was looking for. I would not recommend Sakura white gelly roll pens at all.

These are among the best tools for writing and drawing in white. Sometimes they need a little prompting to get them flowing. Let the ink dry completely before adding additional layers for better opacity.

I absolutely love these pens! I end up using them on all my papercrafting projects since they add a great “sparkle pop” to the project. It would be 5-star, except I dislike that the colors are different on black and white paper.

I always have to try them out before I use them to make sure they are what I want. I would rather just have them the same. Also, I wish there were a lot more colors that work on both black and white paper.

For example, if I want red ink, I have to use black paper. There is no red pen that works on both. I would buy every color pentel can up with and would love to see a huge set of colors available for purchase.

Please Pentel, expand this line of pens!.

These are the first sparkly pens I have purchased. I wish there were an option of a finer line (point). As I have only had them a week, I haven’t checked for other colors. I would love to have more pastel shades, and possibly a clear option, with sparkles, of course.

The purple often puts ut more blue than purple. The black/red could use a bit more red. I would also like to see more bright colors. I am definitely going to look at purchasing more choices soon!.

These have become my new favorite gel pens for coloring after being a diehard Gelly Roll user for YEARS! I absolutely love how thickly the ink flows, the vibrant colors, and excellent coverage! I just wish the price were a bit more affordable! 10/10, will be buying again when current set runs out!.

The ink is very opaque (as long as you shake it really well before each use), dries quickly, and flows smoothly out of the nib. The ink isn’t waterproof and wipes off hard surfaces easily with soapy water, which makes it great for temporary decorations.

It writes very well on porous surfaces such as paper, but if you use it on non-porous surfaces like plastic it can chip a little bit once it’s dry, kind of like how correction fluid/twink chips.

I use these for painting wooden story spoons and love the quality and fine nib. I’ve used them on stones too. Maybe a little more expensive than buying a pack elsewhere but well worth the extra expense in my book.

I’ve bought nearly every colour now.

Excellent product. I used it on my Model Motorcycle Wheel Rims in place of the transfers which were problematic. Two coats gave an excellent finish and any over painting was easy to remove. Gave me the finish I needed.

The red Sharpie oil-based paint marker is the best thing I have ever used instead of regular paint! My Pfaltzgraff spoon rest had a chip and I couldn’t find the right shade of red or decent paint to fix it.

I saw the Sharpie and thought I’d give it a try. After only one coat of paint, my spoon rest was looking really good. I let it sit and thought I’d give it another coat. OMG! You can’t even tell it was chipped and the color is perfect! Pfaltzgraff would be so proud! I can now use my Napoli spoonrest without that nasty chip that really detracted from the pottery.

Thank you again for making a wonderful product Sharpie!.

I use the black Sharpies and the Sharpie S Gel pens all the time. So I am definitely a Sharpie lover. But I bought the Sharpie Paint/Peinture White Extra Fine Point pen and I found it difficult to work with.

The directions tell you to remove the cap and with tip up position, use your finger to depress the tip, recap and shake well. I thought the point would put a hole through my finger, so after a painful start, I used the side of the cap to depress the tip.

Then I put the cap on and shook it to get the paint to mix. Fortunately, I tried it on another sheet of paper (not the one I planned to use this pen on) since a huge blob of paint came out. It would have totally ruined my project if I had gone directly to the paper I planned to use it on.

I found it difficult to work with and what I thought should take a few minutes, turned into almost an hour of work. It did not have good coverage and I would not recommend it or buy it myself again.

I bought this as an art tool to add white on top of paintings. I’ve been having the same experience as some of the other reviews it’s a very liquidy oil paint that just goes straight through all of the paper I’ve used this pen with.

Maybe it’s just the white? I don’t know. Other issue is you always get all or nothing when I use it. It basically spews a huge puddle of paint when I depress the tip at all. You can’t make small or medium strokes with it at all and if the tip has dried prepair to clean up a pool if paint because you’ll need to depress the tip to get anything through.

Also it’s oil based so heaven help you if you let it dry on an unintentional surfaces or your skin. Water and soap will have no affect you will need to use friction to scrape it off or chemical cleaner like actione.

I just wish it was thicker and didn’t make so much mess :/.

The first thing I would love to mention is the price! Awesome-sauce! Second, this is a surprisingly good pen for the price. The ink flows smoothly; not too thick and not too thin. Just right in my opinion.

My only con for this pen is that it will smear a bit, so give it at least 2 minutes to dry at the most.

These are excellent quality pens. I would have rated this brand as Five Star, except that Dark Blue is actually a medium purple — and I really needed dark blue. The quality of the ink is excellent, and does not smudge, once it dries on the paper.

During the year I have been using this brand, none have dried out.

I have been using these excellent quality Alternative Art Glitter Gel Pens for over a year, and have not ever had one dry out. I love the brilliance of all of the colors, and they do not smudge, once the ink has dried on the paper.

I would have rated them Five Stars, except that Dark Blue is actually a medium purple — and I really needed Dark Blue.