Tech Pen Showdown
EDIT: If you enjoyed this review, please consider donating! Donations go towards the purchase of additional art supplies, which may include more markers for testing. If you found this review useful, please consider sharing it on your social networks.
While I was in Japan, I had the opportunity to visit Sekaido and Itoya, two huge art supply stores. While neither were the art supply wonderland I'd hoped they'd be, they were still fairly impressive, and I was able to pick up a fair amount of art supplies on the cheap. I took advantage of this opportunity to procure an assortment of tech pens to test for the blog. I don't know how many of these are commonly available in the US, but hopefully this will alleviate a little of the supply envy many Westerners have in regards to Japanese art supply.
Pens will be displayed in order that they are tested on the paper below. I used what I normally ink on- Strathmore 400 series plate Bristol.
The area boxed in faint blue is where I tried to erase the ink vigorously using a Tombow Mono Zero eraser. The blue/green area is Copic marker, and the boxed graphite area on the arm tests water solubility.
I have pen envy!
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your comparisons - now I have a better idea of which ones I don't need to add to my collection.
ReplyDeleteHeheh. "Supply envy." Sorry they turned out so mediocre. So far Japan has impressed me enormously with its pen nibs but not yet with anything else supply wise.
ReplyDeleteThere are certain items from Japan that I really enjoy- Mono Erasers, Copic markers and tech pens, and certain ones that really really disappoint (manga paper, but more on that later). The real sticker is that most of their supplies are much cheaper than what's available here, since they don't have to be imported.
DeleteIt makes me far to happy to see that the Copics are still the standard. They might not be cheap, but they're reliable and pretty widely available in the states.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the in depth review. Interesting to see you opinions on each type of pen. :D
ReplyDeleteI just wish there'd been more variation in the results.
DeleteHave you tried the Faber-Castell Pitt Pens?
ReplyDeleteI've been going back and forth between those and the Staedtler Pigment Liners for years now, and always end up with a Faber in my hand.
If you have, I definitely value your opinion on them.
Years ago, when I was still a neophyte artist, I would use Pitt Pens occasionally, as they were sometimes easier to find than Microns, but I haven't really used or tested them since. It might be time for another tech pen showdown, this time with tech pens commonly available in the US.
Delete