I Tested EVERY White Pen to Find the BEST! | White Pens: Part 1

I bought EVERY white pen I could find on the internet, and in art shops in Australia AND the US to find the BEST white pen in the world.

And after putting them through a crazy number of tests, I think I’ve finally found the best markers for coloring, drawing on pencils, or other art.

This is PART ONE of a 3-part series, because there was FAR too much information to cram into a single blog post.

PART ONE: Testing Every White Pen

See the results of every test as I performed it, and what I discovered along the way.

SCROLL DOWN TO READ!

PART TWO: Ultimate White Pen Shopping Guide

I’ve included a breakdown of every single white pen I tested, with detailed descriptions, rankings, individual results and details of where to buy your favorites.

READ IT HERE.

 PART THREE: How to Use White Pens for Highlights, Art and More!

I’ve already tested over 60 different white pens to find the BEST white pen in the world and now I want to provide you with my BEST tips for using white pens for drawing and coloring, no matter what medium you are using.

READ IT HERE

PLEASE NOTE: All information presented in this article and video are my opinions only. This post contains affiliate links and I may earn a commission if you click them (at no cost to you). The Artistro, Life of Colour and Chalkola paint pens were given to me by the brands over a year ago. I am no longer associated with these brands and they are not aware of or involved in this review. I have personally purchased all of the other pens/inks/markers used in this review.

So what does it take to find the best white pen? It takes a LOT of work. And I’ve done it for you. Watch the full video below!

What are White Pens Good For?

White pens are perfect for adding highlights or extra details to coloring pages, and you don’t have to be a professional to use them.

They are perfect for beginners to bring some extra life to your art, but also a wonderful tool for more advanced artists, especially for adding highlights to eyes or enhancing lighting.

A white gel pen was one of the first art supplies I ever purchased. I owned a white pen before I owned my Prismacolors, or even ANY full set of pencils.

And I’ve owned a few over the years, starting with the Uni-Ball Signo, then the Sakura Decorese, and eventually settling on the Artistro White Paint Pen for the past year.

But there are SO many different pens to choose from online.

The White Pens I Tested:

I bought 61 white pens – including gel pens, paint pens, white ink – and even some miscellaneous items like white-out correction fluid.

So which is the best?

I’ve decided the best way to find our perfect pen is to take them through a series of challenges and ELIMINATIONS.

Here’s the full list of contestants, ready to take on my challenges. I’ve given them numbers that match the results from each round – mostly for my own sanity in the testing, but it’s also handy now for you to compare the results!

White Gel Pens

• Art-N-Fly White Gel Pen
• Arteza Gel Pen – 0.6
• Arteza Gel Pen – 0.8
• Arteza Gel Pen – 1.0
• Ohuhu White Gel Pen
• Pentel Milky Pop
• Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip DX
• Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip
• Pilot G-2 07 Gel Pen
• Pilot Juice Gel Pen
• Pilot Juice Up Gel Pen
• Pilot Pop’Lol Gel Pen
• Sakura Ballsign Knock Gel Pen
• Sakura Decorese Gel Pen
• Sakura Gelly Roll – Bold
• Sakura Gelly Roll – Fine
• Sakura Gelly Roll – Medium
• Sakura Glaze Gel Pen
• Sakura Souffle Gel Pen
• Uni-Ball Signo Angelic
• Uni-Ball Signo Broad Gel Pen
• Y&C Ge Xtreme Gel Pen
• Zebra Sarasa Clip Gel Pen

White Markers

• Arteza Acrylic Paint Marker
• Artistro White Paint Pen
• Artline Calligraphy Pen
• Artline Laundry Marker
• Chalkola Paint Pen
• Deleter Neopiko
• Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen – 2.5 mm
• Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen – 1.5
• Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen – B
• Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen – C
• Flymax Paint Marker
• Kuretake Zig Brush Pen No. 22
• Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Brush pen
• Life of Colour White Paint Pen
• Mistubishi Uni Paint Marker – Extra Fine
• Mistubishi Uni Paint Marker px – 20
• Pentel Paint Marker – Medium Point – MMP20
• Pentel Paint Marker
• Pica Classic Instant Permanent Marker
• Pilot Juice Paint Marker
• Sakura Color Paint Marker
• Sakura Calligraphy Marker
• Sakura Pen Touch Paint Marker
• Sakura Permapaque Marker
• Sharpie Oil-Based Paint Marker
• Sharpie Water-Based Paint Marker
• Teranishi Magic Glow Note Marker
• Uni Posca PC-1MR – Bullet Shaped
• Uni Posca PC-1MR – Ultra Fine
• Uni Posca PC-3M
• Uni Posca PC-5m

White Inks

• Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen-White
• Kuretake CNCE200-3 Zig White Ink 30 ML Drawing Ink
• LIQUITEX Professional Acrylic Ink 30 ml Bottle
• Maxon Comic Ink White 30ml Bottle
• PaperMate Liquid Paper
• Pearl Burnish Liquid pencil
• Winsor & Newton Drawing Ink 14 ml Bottle, White (974)

For the first round, I want to get a first impression of how each pen works. I’m using my blackest paper to see how our pens perform and to get some ink flowing!

If the pen doesn’t work right away, doesn’t work as expected, or just isn’t nice to use, it gets eliminated.

What I Learned from This Testing:

Overall, most of the pens felt nice to use and worked well on the Black Black paper. There were a few eliminations for pens that I didn’t enjoy the feel of, many of which I tested in my first white pen comparison 2 years ago and didn’t like then either.

Eliminated in Round 1:

• Chalkola Paint Pen (16) – eliminated because it had dried up
• Pilot Juice Gel Pen (38)
• Pilot Juice Up Gel Pen (39)
• Sakura Ballsign Knock (41)
• Y&C Ge Xtreme Gel Pen (50)
• FC PITT Artist Bullet & Calligraphy (59 & 60) – I didn’t like the tips

Round 2: Which White Pen is the Brightest White?

My goal for this round is to see which of our pens are the brightest, most opaque white.

There are times where you might prefer a more subtle effect, but in most cases, you want your white to be as white as possible. So that’s what round 2 is about.

This time, I’m using cheap black cardstock, NOT the black black paper.

What I Learned From This Testing:

I’ve discovered during these tests that most white pens absorb differently depending on the type of paper you’re using. So while they were all super bright on the black black paper, some of them are acting quite differently on this different paper in round 2. So it’s good to see how they compare, and I recorded their best results out of the 2 papers for the purpose of determining the winners of this round.

Some of these pens from my first test 2 years ago aren’t performing quite as well as the newer pens, so I am taking this into consideration and giving them a slight handicap, but in some cases, they should still work far better than they do.

I also tested the pens that I’d eliminated in Round 1, just so I had their individual tests on record, so you’ll see these in the chart below.

The Sharpie oil-based paint marker doesn’t work on paper at all. It is designed for other surfaces, so it’s not the right choice for the kind of art I’m testing for.

It’s hard to judge the inks because I’ve never used them, but there is an obvious difference in the opacity already. The Dr Martin Pen-White ink is a GREAT white.  And the Kuretake ink.

I eliminated a few pens that were uncomfortable to use, and a little rebellious Posca that was spraying paint. I’m not sure if the small tip Posca’s normally do this, but it’s enough to get eliminated today. The other 3 Poscas all absorbed into the first paper a lot more than expected, but had some of the best results on the hot-pressed paper.

The Pentel Paint Markers were a real disappointment for me. They had a really strong smell (more than ANY other marker) and I had a lot of trouble getting a good white.

And our liquid paper white out – I’m sorry. This… this might be a good hack, but it’s also a gloopy mess. I eliminated it at this point.

In the end, I decided to eliminate any white pens that scored less than 4 out of 5 for opacity, Although I did test a few of these further on other media in later rounds.

Eliminated in Round 2:

• Mistubishi Uni Paint Marker – Extra Fine (4)
• Mistubishi Uni Paint Marker (5)
• Pentel Paint Markers (6 & 25)
• Sakura Pen Touch Paint Marker (8)
• Uni Posca PC-1MR – Bullet Shaped (10)
• Sakura Calligraphy (14)
• Flymax Paint Marker (17)
• Teranishi Magic Glow Note Marker (19)
• Maxon Comic Ink (20)
• Pica Classic Instant Permanent Marker (21)
• Kuretake Zig Brush Pen No. 22 (22)
• Sharpie Oil-Based Paint Marker (24)
• PaperMate Liquid Paper (30)
• Pilot G-2 07 (31)
• Pilot Pop’Lol (40)
• Sakura Gelly Roll – Fine (44)
• Zebra Sarasa Clip Gel Pen (51_
• Liquitex Professional Acrylic Ink (52)
• Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens (29 & 61)

Round 2 (Bonus): The WHITEST White Pens for Artists

Quite a few pens did well on this test, but a few stood out as the whitest of them all. These pens below scored a 5 out of 5 for opacity.

Not all of these pens will make it through the next few challenges, and some of the BEST OVERALL pens aren’t even on this list because they scored a 4.5 for opacity instead of a perfect 5.

But if your main goal is to find the BRIGHTEST white pen, this is your list.

On both types of black paper:

• Artline Laundry Marker (28)
• Sakura Gelly Roll – Bold (43)
• Uni-Ball Signo Broad Gel Pen (49)
• Ph. Martin’s Pen – White Ink (53)
• Arteza Gel Pens (56, 57, 58)
• Sharpie Water-Based Paint Marker (18)
• Kuretake Zig White Drawing Ink (54)
• PaperMate Liquid Paper (30)

Only on the Black Black paper:

• Uni Posca Markers (12, 13, 10)
• Deleter Neopiko (15)

Round 3: Which White Pen is the Best on Colored Pencils?

White pens are perfect for adding highlights or extra details to coloring pages or colored pencil art.

But not all white pens work the same, and many white gel pens struggle to work on top of colored pencils.

In this round, I’m trying to see which pens handle colored pencils the best, without skipping, getting clogged, or railroading.

Railroading is when the ball in a pen pushes the ink to the sides and there’s a gap in the centre.

A new gel pen shouldn’t do this. But if they’ve been clogged or get a lot of use, it’s not uncommon for this to happen after a while.

TIP:  hold your gel pen at an angle and use lighter pressure when drawing to help to keep the ink flowing evenly and lessen the risk of blockages. It’s also worth wiping your pen tips down with a paper towel or tissue gently after using them on pencils, especially pencils that have a waxy build-up.

I’ve chosen Prismacolors because these can build up quite a lot of wax when they are used with a lot of layers and pressure. So this is a great way to see what our white pens can handle.

What I Learned From This Testing:

Overall, this test really showed that the paint pens are a better option than gel pens if you’re planning to work mainly on pencils.

Some of the older gel pens haven’t lasted as well over time (Uni-Ball Signo, Pentel Hybrid Gel DX) when they’ve been used on pencils regularly, which is something to consider if this is your main purpose for buying a white pen.

One of the BEST gel pens over time has been the Sakura Decorese, and even it is struggling a little on the pencils here.

The exception to this seems to be the Sakura Glaze and Sakura Souffle, because these are quite a different ink. They sit raised on top of the art and start clear, then fade to white. It’s a unique effect, and I’m not sure if I’m a fan, but they HAVE outlasted some of these other gel pens.

I was really excited to see how the Pen-White performed on these pencils, because it was SO bright on the black paper. But it rejected the pencils completely! So I had to eliminate it during this round.

But something else that was super interesting, and a little concerning, is that EVERY SINGLE PEN tested had the same problem.

The ALL changed color on certain pencils.

This is an issue that I know many artists face and it’s something that I asked my Facebook group about recently. I’ve seen reviews on Amazon discrediting certain brands or giving a 1-star review on pens because they turned pink.

But as it turns out – this is not a problem specific to a brand. This happens to EVERY white pen when used on certain colors – especially reds, purples and blues, and it happens with other media too.

So before we finish testing today, I’m going to dig a little deeper and see if we can find a solution to this bizarre color-changing problem.

Eliminated in Round 3:

• Sakura Color Paint Marker (9)
• Sakura Permapaque (26)
• Artline Calligraphy Pen (27)
• Winsor & Newton Drawing Ink (55)
• Uni Posca PC-1MR – Ultra Fine (11)
• Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip (37)
• Pentel Hybrid Gel Grip DX (36)
• Artline Laundry Marker (28)
• Sakura Gelly Rolls (43, 45)
• Uni-Ball Signo Broad Gel Pen (49)
• Ph. Martin’s Pen – White (53)
• Arteza Gel Pens – 1.0 (56, 57, 58)

Round 3: Which White Pen is the Best on Markers?

Instead of testing ALL the white pens on markers, I’m only testing the remaining contestants at this point. I will come back at a later date and test our other white pens on markers too, and include the full results in PART 2: White Pen Buying Guide so you can see the individual results.

Since markers create a flat, non-textured surface, I expect that most white pens should work. The only issue will be how they absorb or react between media.

To be as thorough as possible, I wanted to test these white pens on a variety of marker types. I’ve chosen blue markers, because this is one of our trickiest colors that is likely to change the color of the white – I won’t eliminate markers for this, but it will help us in our future assessments of this issue.

The markers I’ve tested are (from left to right):

• Bic Marking Fine-Point Permanent Marker
• Arrtx Oros Alcohol Marker
• Copic Sketch Alcohol Marker
• Ohuhu Alcohol Marker
• Spectrum Noir Illustrator Alcohol Marker
• Spectrum Noir Aqua Water-based Marker
• Tombow ABT Water-based Marker
• Crayola SuperTips Water-based Marker
• Uni Posca Acrylic Paint Marker

What I Learned From This Testing:

The Sakura Angelic Gel Pen was the only one that really faded, which was a shame because this is a great gel pen otherwise.

I decided to remove the Ohuhu gel pen, because it started skipping just a bit, so it might not have the longevity we’re looking for in a pen we’re wanting to use for a long time. This is common for gel pens – but I’ve found a few that don’t struggle with this as much as others, so we’ve got to start narrowing down our finalists.

I think I’m finally getting the hang of the Zig brush pen. But it’s not going through to the next round, because it’s just too messy and not simple for a beginner.

I also removed the Pilot Juice Paint Marker at this point. It was just too messy, but this might be from my mis-use 2 years ago. I tried to clean it up, but it’s just not working well enough to make it to my finalists today.

So far, we’re seeing a consistent issue with the color bleeding again, this time with the water-based markers absorbing every type of white pen. So I’m going to investigate if there’s ANY way to avoid this issue, because I haven’t found a single pen in all my testing that seems to be immune.

Eliminated in Round 4:

• Pilot Juice Paint Marker (7)
• Kuretake Zig Cartoonist Brush pen (23)
• Ohuhu (34)
• Uni-Ball Signo Angelic (48)

Round 5:  Final Tests

At this point, I had 14 white pens left, and needed to do some extra testing to help choose a winner.

The 14 white pens/inks still remaining:

• Artistro White Paint Pen (2)
• Life of Colour Paint Pen (3)
• Art-N-Fly Gel Pen (32)
• Pearl Burnish Liquid Pencil (33)
• Sakura Decorese (42)
• Sakura Glaze (46)
• Sakura Souffle (47)
• Arteza Acrylic Paint Marker (1)
• Pentel Milky Pop (35)
• Uni Posca PC-3M (12)
• Uni Posca PC-5m (13)
• Deleter Neopiko (15)
• Sharpie Water-Based Paint Marker (18)
• Kuretake Zig White Drawing Ink (54)

I tested them on watercolor, alcohol ink, more black paper, toned paper, and checked online reviews of each.

My tests on watercolor and alcohol inks didn’t help me eliminate any more pens – they just further highlighted the issue of the white changing color on the pinks and purples.

I then did another pencil test, this time being more rough to create a textured finish with my Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils on a different paper – cheap cardstock.

And to my surprise, on THIS pencil test, NONE of the gel pens worked.

This explains why so many users get frustrated at the “perfect white pen” or “best white pen” reviews, only to buy a pen and find they can’t get the same results at home. Because the media, the paper – all those variables – they change how well the white pens work, and they can be the difference between an amazing white or a pen that doesn’t work at all.

Did I Find the BEST White Pen?

Yes.

After all this testing, frustration, frantic note-taking and confusion… I have found (what I think is) the BEST WHITE PEN.

But first, there were other pens that deserve a huge mention for surviving my challenges. And THEY may be a better white pen than my winner for your project, depending on personal experience, location, budget, preferences, and sometimes just luck (We’ve all had that “lemon” product, right?).

So here’s a look at some of the other notable white pens I discovered today:

The Best White Gel Pen

From ALL the gel pens I tried, I found myself coming back to the Sakura Decorese Gel Pen as my favorite gel pen of them all. It’s more expensive than some, but it writes beautifully.

It didn’t come out as the best white pen in my ultimate test, only because NONE of the gel pens were able to match the brightness and consistent flow of the acrylic paint pens, especially when used on colored pencils.

Even in my own work, I stopped using the Decorese a few months ago, and moved to a fine-point acrylic paint pen for all my highlights.

You can find the Sakura Decorese on Amazon.

Other Notable Gel Pens:

• Art-N-Fly
• Sakura Glaze
• Sakura Souffle
• Pentel Milky Pop – maybe. I’m not sure about the longevity of this one, based on the Amazon reviews.

See the full break down of their results in PART 2: The Ultimate White Pen Shopping Guide

The Best White Ink

I’ve felt unsure about how to include the white inks in this testing. Because frankly, I’m not experienced with these at all. I feel they would perform beautifully with one of those glass dip pens, or maybe even a fountain pen. So these are something I’d love to explore more.

But when it comes to being beginner friendly, and something that the average person can use in their art, these aren’t a good fit. I don’t think I can include them as my “best white pen” because they aren’t easy to use as a white pen. But I still wanted to include them in my testing, and I’ll show all their results in PART TWO as well.

Out of the inks I tried, the brightest ink (that worked on pencils) was the Kuretake Zig White Ink. You can find it on Amazon here.

I was also intrigued by the Pearl Burnish Liquid Pencil and would love to explore this in more detail. You can find out more about it on their website.

The Dr Ph. Martin’s Pen-White was one of the brightest white inks out of everything tested, but it had SUCH disappointing results on colored pencils. If you’re not using pencils, this might be one worth considering.

It’s worth mentioning this was also the only ink I found that didn’t change color on on certain blues, purples and reds.

The Best White Paint Pens

After all of this testing, I came to the conclusion that acrylic paint pens were the best solution for adding white highlights to art or coloring pages.

You can buy them in a huge variety of sizes, and they work on almost every medium.

I ended up with 7 paint markers that performed the best in all my testing:

The Uni Posca is like the Swiss-Knife of white pens – and they’ve just released a set of white-only options in all sizes that I WISH existed before I did this video so I could include it. But from the options I DID try, only 2 made it to this final round, being 2 of the larger markers.

The Sharpie water-based marker was surprisingly similar to the larger Posca, but I could only find it in one size. I’ll be interested to see if Sharpie brings out more in this range.

The Deleter was the winner from my last white pen comparison 2 years ago. And it did get a slight handicap in today’s test due to it’s age, but it still works fantastically.

The white pen that I’ve been using for the past year is the Artistro white paint pen, and it’s survived all these tests too, even after all my use. It was given to me by Artistro in a mixed pack of colors, but I’ve just noticed that Artistro have released a set of whites on their own – that I’m tempted to buy, except that I really don’t need any more white pens for a long time.

The Arteza white paint pen is almost identical to the Artistro white paint pen, and is also available in a bulk pack of 12 at a great price. I’ve already given a few away because 12 is more than I’ll ever need.

And the Life of Colour pen also made it through – this pen was given to me by Life of Colour, who are an Australian company- so I’m not sure if this one is available in the USA yet, but it’s a great option for my Aussie friends who want to shop local.

Any of these final pens would be fantastic. And if you have the budget, I’d consider buying both a larger and smaller white pen for different purposes.

From the large white pens, the Poscas are an obvious choice. Except it was the Posca that absorbed more than almost any other marker into the cheaper black paper in my second test. So yes, still highly recommended. But it’s worth being aware that they DON’T work on all types of paper. The Sharpie actually performed better on a range of different papers.

For the white pens with a smaller tip, the Deleter was far more expensive than our other finalists, and the Artistro and Arteza white pens were the brightest.

The ULTIMATE Best White Pen

If I were to choose just ONE pen. From all 61 pens tested today, I’d want something I can use for small details and highlights – and for me, the Artistro and Arteza paint pens were both the top choices for this.

There is not a lot of difference in these pens. They are both easy to use, they are both vibrant white, and they are both some of the cheapest white pens from all the pens I tested today. Although you do have to buy them in sets, rather than individually.

The safe part of me wants to choose the Artistro pen as the winner. I know this pen, I’ve used it over and over again, and I’m familiar with it. It’s never blocked, it’s never dried up, and I’m really happy with it.

But if these tests were my ONLY reference, the Arteza comes out slightly on top. It’s very slightly brighter, and it did perform a little better on the watercolor. The difference is so slight, that it might even come down to this being a newer pen than my Artistro, but it DID get a higher rating in these tests.

So which is more important? a slightly higher rating? Or a few months of extra experience?

After my assistant video editor, Natalie, reported to me that she’d tried one of the Arteza pens and it exploded during her first use, I decided to go with the safe option and nominate Artistro as our winner today.

A note on this: To clarify, we’re talking about a little mess of paint, nothing dangerous. An issue like this is not completely uncommon with paint pens. It could be from mis-use or over-pumping the pen, and it is unlikely to happen to all of the pens from a brand. And there’s nothing to suggest this won’t happen to the other brands just as easily. However, I did find another Amazon review that had the same “explosion” experience, so this was enough for me to make my final decision for the purpose of today’s challenge.

So the winner of the white pen challenge, out of 61 pens, is the pen I’ve been using all along.

The Artistro White Paint Pen.

Get it on Amazon HERE

P.S. I talk more about the “turning pink” issue more in PART THREE – How to Use White Pens for Highlights, Art and More. You can read Part Three HERE

READ PART TWO