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Uni Pin Fineliner Drawing Pen Set of 9 Black Ink with Different Nibs

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Aside from drawing and sketching, Fine-liners are a good alternative to the more expensive technical pens for detailed draft work. However the pigment ink may not be as rich as technical isograph pen inks. Fine-liners can also be used for writing and are quite nice to write with. But they’re not as economical when used as a writing pen – there are obviously much more affordable ball-point and gel type pens on the market for that purpose. Fine-liners also don’t require much pressure on paper, so they’re not recommended over ball-points if you need to write on those pesky carbon copy sheets. Strengths & Weaknesses. I’ve also recently discovered my fiancé has a set of Deleter Neopiko just as I was wrapping up this review. If time permits and if Parka doesn’t feel its too much work, I’ll update that review here at a later date. CONCLUSION

Staedler Pigment Liner used to be my go to brand when I was studying overseas. They feel nicer in the hand (my preference) compared to the Sakura Microns due to the textured surface (as opposed to the glossy surface on the Sakura). A big issue with Staedler pens is they tend to look more transparent when dry and that can be an annoyance to some artists. Generally the pen is pretty alright to use, but can cost a little more than average. Great article! I found it through a Google image search, while looking for a comparison of the thinnest of the top brands of fineliners. But I was a bit disappointed when I got to the bottom, and found that your comparison was a spreadsheet, rather than a side by side comparison. (Still a great article though!) Both Copic multi-liner and Rotring Tikky surprised me. I’ve not used either before and they performed quite well. The Copic pens did better than some brands in the same price range. With the exception of a wobbly pen clip which is a fairly cosmetic issue, I had a great time drawing with the pen. I might switch over to Copics if I ever have difficulty finding the Uni Pin.The disposable nature also plays against these types of pens. In the long run, the total cost of buying and discarding these pens may end up being higher than Isograph technical pens or a drawing fountain pen. Heavy users of fine-liners, like me, often end up having piles of plastic tubes lying around after the ink has run out. Being mindful and practicing good recycling habits should alleviate some issues that these pens bring to the environment. Pens Reviewed The test is not completely scientific, although I try to achieve some consistency in the tests I put the pens through. Most of the tests were done on A4 100gsm copier paper (from PaperONE). This replicates the most common conditions which I work in – cheap paper so I can sketch loads. The pens were also briefly tested on Strathmore Bristol paper (smooth 270gsm), Fabriano Tecnico (240 gsm) and Clairfontaine fine grain Drawing Paper (224 gsm). I reviewed this last because I don’t want my familiarity with this product to influence how I evaluate other pens. I’ve still not changed my mind after the test. This is by far the best performance for the money IMHO. Nibs wear well and generally are quite durable. Ink flow is smooth across most paper types I use for sketching. Despite having known about the Multiliner , I’ve not tried it out until now. Perhaps due to the negative experience I’ve had with the more costly Multiliner SP series. Main difference being the Multiliner version is fully plastic and disposable while the Multiliner SP has refill tubes, changeable nibs, tool sets, etc. What surprised me was how good the ink flows and how well it holds up to layering. I was also somewhat surprised by the cost. It’s very competitively priced and performs better than most brands within its price range.

Before moving on to each brand, I must confess I’ve used many of these brands over the years and have settled (quite happily) on the Mitsubishi Uni PIN after my own habits. I’ve also had very good results with Staedler Pigment Liner as well as Sakura Microns. With that, let’s move on to the review. Disclaimer There are discussions on various social media boards debating which pens are ACTUALLY the thinnest, despite what size they are labeled as being. That some are not really producing lines as thin as they say they can. I guess I’ll have to introduce myself first. My name is Jerry Teo. I’m a freelance technical/scientific illustrator based out of Singapore and a friend of Parkablogs. You can find more of what I do here ( www.teo-ology.com). I run a weekly webcomic Rex Regrets that might be more familiar to other crowds. I mostly sketch with fine-liner pens without pencils, coz I’m lazy. So Parka asked me to do a review on the available brands out there today. Now that we’ve established that…. What’s a Fine-liner Pen? Fineliner pens are favoured by artists looking to create detailed and precise linework. Their plastic or fibre nibs are usually long and in metal casing so they can be used with a variety of sketching accessories like rulers and templates without catching. They are mostly disposable, although some like the FW Mixed Media Technical Marker Pen can be refilled. OR, maybe they are right. Maybe some companies ARE using dishonest labeling. I’d really love to see the differences. 😊Uchida Marvy was a familiar brand that I’ve used and rejected. Ink quality was poor, pen didn’t feel robust in the hand. Despite the low cost, it just can’t match up to the consistency of the lines the slightly more expensive pens provide. I’ve used the Zig Millennium previously and I liked how it was smooth and easy on the paper surfaces I use on a typical day. More recently Kuretake offered the ZIG Mangaka version. Zig Millenium supposedly uses a photo-safe, archival grade ink that can be used to mark photographs, while Zig Mangaka is lightfast (won’t fade easily with exposure to light) and smudge proof when used with Alcohol based markers and watercolor. It would be great if there were a table that rated these pens on these characteristics to get a full picture. I do have a single Copic Multiliner SP – which, if I’m honest, isn’t spectacular for its price. The pens reviewed were pretty much are on par, if not, straight up outperforms the Multiliner SP. To me, it simply isn’t worth the price. It sure looks great in that aluminium chassis though. Very informative as my Micron Pigma are starting to run low on ink was trying to figure out what to try next. I referenced your blog post as well this one ( https://blog.penvibe.com/fineliner-pens-good-use-copics-alcohol-markers/) which considers whether the pen smudges or feathers with alcohol markers. That post considered some not on your list but focused on whether or not the markers smudge or feather. However they didn't consider differences between bristol or mixed media paper and they also used inconsistent pen tip sizes. They did have a nice table comparing a couple properties. I do have to admit my Micron Pigmas do smudge when coloring over with copic. I would really love to see a table that brings it all together (since you have the pens and if you have the time, also your thoughts on Ohto):

Fine-liners are felt or hard plastic fiber tipped pens that are usually disposable, comes in a variety of pen widths and are generally used for drawing and sketching. They are also known as technical pens. It is a relatively modern development and an offshoot of the more “traditional” Isograph technical pens. Before fine-liner pens came along, there were very few options for fixed width pens that go smaller than 0.5mm. Today, pretty much every major (and smaller) stationery manufacturer with a respectable pen lineup have their own range of Fine-liner pens. This review aims to shed some insight on some of the available types out there. For me, Shinhan Touch Liner and Uchida Marvy were probably the poorest performers. Shinhan’s offering wasn’t particularly impressive despite being slightly more costly than the average price range. The cap didn’t feel very tight and the nib sometimes dried up even with the pen capped. Performance across the different varieties of paper weren’t terribly remarkable either. Some of their other product lines performed well so I was fairly disappointed with their fine-liner offering. Trivia: Uni PIN is produced by Mitsubishi Pencil Co (makers of UniBall pens) – which has zero relations with the larger Mitsubishi conglomerate.

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The Artline series of pens are very nondescript in the looks department. Only difference is in the grip, where it has concentric grooves that run the diameter of the pen chassis. The Artline series fall into the most popular price range so it is very competitive in terms of price and quality. It performs well across all papers being used in this review and….there’s really nothing to complain about this pen! I’m very curious, because maybe the artists that are stating this are mistaken. It’s possible that they think they are comparing their experience with different pens, but don’t realize they may be actually comparing ink spread on different papers. I would love to see a side by side comparison of lines drawn by each the top pens in the finest nib sizes that they offer. (Not by what is labeled on each pen. But just the smallest offered.) Some artists swear that dispite pens being labled as being a size larger than other brands, they seem to draw lines even thinner. This is theorized by some to possibly be due to the ink spread/paper penetration, but I would love to see if this is true when lines are drawn on the same paper, side by side.

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