roller Ball pens
Bic Cristal 1.6mm - Buy on Amazon.com
The bic cristal is my go-to pen when I’m wanting to draw with a pen but have the flexibility of drawing with a pencil. The bic cristal is a solid all round performer and lays down a beautiful reddish black ink (if you look closely). You can draw very light lines or very intense lines depending on the pressure used while drawing. I say it's a lot like a pencil, because you can adjust the pressure while drawing, and get a nice thick two thick line, or a very light versus heavy line.
The bic cristal pens come in a variety of thicknesses. The photos here show a bold variant of the pen, but you can also get medium and fine variants online or at your local office supply store. Personally, I prefer the sickness and versatility of having a bowl tip. As a side note, because they lay down so much ink, it's fairly easy to have the inks smear on the paper while you're drying, so you'll have to pay close attention and extra care with where you place your hands while you are drawing.
I like to buy my pens on Amazon.com, but you can usually find these in your local office supply store. I don't have a lot of other ball point pens to talk about, because these are simply the best that I have used. Rarely does the ball in the point stick or rarely do I find myself having to flick, shake or otherwise manipulate the pen so that I can draw.
Muji Gel Roller - Buy on Amazon.com
I’m not sure if these are still available, but they are a delight to draw and write with. The ink is silky smooth, delivers a whole line and doesn’t bleed with marker, if you allow it to dry before applying the marker on top. It works nicely with both xylene markers and alcohol based markers.
Felt Pens
Felt pens or pencils that deliver a whole line, are my go to Penn when I'm doing quick and energetic design sketching. Some of these pens allow you to have a thick to thin line quality, but for the most part, they present a rigid to medium soft tip that is porous. Depending on the pan you select, you may have an archival ink free of acid, or just a general purpose water-based Ink as well. I like to draw with these pans, because they force me to think about my lines before drawing, as there really is not much I can do to have a lighter or darker appearance to my lines.
Papermate Flair - Buy on Amazon.com
Whenever I'm sketching online I'm usually using a papermate flair pen. The PaperMate flair has a lot going for it. For example, it's extremely affordable. In addition to being extremely affordable, I am able to achieve a thick to thin line appearance as I'm driving. This is achieved by manipulating the speed and pressure with which I am drawing. You can also adjust the angle of attack while you were sketching to have a thicker or thinner appearance. For example, drawing with the tip in a 90° orientation to your paper or drawing surface, will result in a thinner line then if you were drawing at a say, 45° angle.
In addition to being versatile in the presentation of the line, the Paper Mate flair is light fast, archival, and permanent. Although you won't have much luck having the ink stick to a slick or glossy surface. Save that for the permanent markers.
I get mine at amazon.com or You can usually find these at your local office supply store, here in the United States, although, there are other pens that are similar. I won't discuss them in detail here, but the stylist, pilot find liner, and Pentel sign pen are also decent alternatives.You can usually find these at your local office supply store, here in the United States, although, there are other pens that are similar. I won't discuss them in detail here, but the nigi stylist, pilot fine liner, and Pentel sign pen are also decent alternatives.
Pentel sign pen - Buy on Amazon.com
The Pentel sign pen has a lighter almost gray ink to it. At least, I noticed the difference between the ink color on the flare, and the ink color on the sign pen. The same pen also has a slightly different tip than the papermate flair as you can see in the photo below. The line quality is crisp and reflects the texture of the paper. you’re also able to achieve varied line weights with the same pen tip.
Sharpies - Buy on Amazon.com
Sharpies feature a xylene based ink that is permanent and lightfast. Sharpies are cheap and I find myself using the bullet-tipped medium sharpie the most. Sharpies out of the box are simply fantastic and since you can find a box of 12 for around 10USD, they’re very economical.
One watch out for sharpies is the interplay of alcohol based ink markers and the xylene based ink. i’ve found that sharpies can bleed into the marker areas or vice versa when you’re adding a bit of color to a sketch with something like a papermate flair pen (see above)
You can find sharpies at your local office supply store or use this link - Buy on amazon.com
Brush Pens
Brush pens are a an important addition to my typical pens. I appreciate the flexible tip and expressive line quality I am able to achieve with just one pen. One of my favorite ways to use these pens is to sketch with gray markers and then follow up with the brush pens - I haven’t found brush pens that are ink-fast when it comes to alcohol based markers. I suspect it has to do with the makeup of the ink in the pens.
Copic SP Brush Pen - Buy on Amazon.com
I got this copic SP brush pen a LONG time ago as part of a copic multiliner set. it’s a delightful pen with RICH black ink and a flexible tip that is oh such a joy. yes, I’m a copic fan, but this is an amazing pen. The tip is a long flexible single nip with a very rich, deep black ink that plays well with copic markers. So you don’t have to worry about smudging like some other pens.
Kuretake Fudegokochi - Buy on Amazon.com
The kuretake fudegokochi is a SOLID and fantastic performer as far as brush pens go. I like it because the tip of the brush is reminiscent of the papermate flair, albeit a bit smoother, but flexible providing a wide range of thicknesses all with the same pen. The ink is dark, opaque and ver smooth. my preference is to use this pen on smoother papers like a marker paper or smooth toned paper where possible.
The kuretake fudegokochi does seem to perform well with alcohol based marker ink, as long as you give it some time to dry when applied on top. Care must be taken when applying marker after the ink from the kuretake fudegokochi is on the paper.
You can find these pens on amazon or search online for the best deal.
Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pen, BIG BRUSH - Buy on Amazon.com
The Faber Castell Pitt artist pen — big brush, as the name implies is a big boi. The tip of the pen resembles a thicker sharpie tip that is also flexible. I believe the ink is rich and black but also water based. In my testing, there seems to be little to no bleeding of ink when applying alcohol based markers.
You can find this pen on amazon or usually at your local art store.
White Ink + Pens
Not all white pens are created equally. I’ve found in my testing that some white ink pens that contain more opaque ink clog and clump easily causing issues with ink-flow and performance. Water-based or lighter inks have less punch but also seem more performative over time.
Pitt Pen - Fine + Fatty - Buy on Amazon.com
The Pitt brush pens are fantastic. much like the black ink version, the white ink versions of the pen has fantastic flow, a flexible tip (on the fine version) and allows for thin to thick lines. you’ll find a bullet tip point on the big boy version of this pen so achieving a high degree of control in finer areas will prove most difficult, but it’s a great all round mid-opacity white pen, that won’t clog.
You can find these pens on amazon or usually at your local art store.
Uniball Signo - Buy on Amazon.com
I happened on this pen by chance while perusing amazon.com and have been super impressed with my time with it. The tip of the pen features a ball captured in a metal sleeve and so far, I have not had a single issue with having the ink flow, especially after the pen has rested for some time — usually this is a problem with inks that can dry on a ball tip where some effort is required to re-start the flow of ink.
The ink is silky smooth and really pops when you use it on a sketch or on toned paper.
You can find this pen on amazon or just search online. I haven’t been able to find them locally.
Molotow Acrylic Pump Marker - Buy on Amazon.com
The Molotow Acrylic Pump Marker is another opaque paint pen that that, when it works, simply pops and lays down phat nice opaque white lines. I haven’t had a chance to try other variants yet, but there are a variety of tip sizes available as well.
The tip is a pump tip, meaning, you actually pump down on the tip as you are using it to release more ink into the tip, improving the flow on paper.
Be careful not to leave the tip uncapped as you’ll dry out the tip, rendering the marker unusable. You can find this pen on Amazon.com, your local art store or just search online.
Marker Bleed
Following is a chart of a variety of pens and markers applied after drying to test ink-fastness of each.
