Disclaimer: No one is paying me anything
to compare these products—I’m just doing it for fun and to share what I’ve
found out.
The Combatants
Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens (India Ink)
Set of 4
Approx. price: $12
Sakura Pigma Micron Pens (Archival Ink)
Set of 8 including Pigma Brush and Pigma
Graphic 1
Approx. price: $22
The Results
Faber-Castell
Sakura Pigma
Plusses of Faber-Castells:
*They seem to dry a tiny bit faster than
the Sakura Pigmas.
*As advertised on the package, they are
waterproof, and seem to hold up a little better under a watercolor wash (no
bleeding, even when rubbed):
%2BSakura%2BPigma%2B(R).jpg)
*They came in a tidy little reusable
package
Minuses:
*They perform poorly on just about every
level compared to the Sakura Pigmas—less variety, less control, duller ink.
Plusses of Sakura
Pigmas:
*The brush has great versatility—you could
do an entire picture with it.
*The fine-detail capability of the Micron
005 is mind-blowing to me, and the next sizes up aren’t too shabby, either.
*They perform better than any pens I’ve
used before.
Minuses:
*The difference between some of the
pen-tip sizes seems negligible.
*If you get obsessed with little details,
these pens may lead you into insanity.
And one last thing…
Both pens seemed to hold up about the same
under an eraser test (vigorous rubbing) a few minutes after
drawing:
%2BSakura%2BPigma%2B(Left).jpg)
Conclusion
I’ve been using Faber-Castell pens for a
few years now, and they were a massive step
up from the ball-points, markers, and dip-pens I was using before. My Sakura
Pigmas are brand-new and I haven’t had a chance to give them a really hard-core
test yet—but these results have ensured that I will!
Good post! Literally EXACTLY what I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteGlad to help! A while after writing this, I talked to a rep from Faber-Castell and he said sometimes pens don't work as well because the store left them on the shelves too long, and I should note that I love my Faber-Castell PITT big brush pen. Still, the Sakuras are my favorite, so far.
DeleteGood post! Literally EXACTLY what I was looking for.
ReplyDeleteI've read reviews of the Sakura pens that they dry up very quickly and that the Pitt pens last longer. Did you find this to be the case for you? Thanks.
ReplyDeleteI haven't noticed much difference between them in terms of how fast they dry up. (But then, that can depend on how long they were on the store shelf before you got them.) I was disappointed how fast my Sakura brush pen lost its shape, though. Faber-Castell PITT big brush pens are great, though it seems like they dry up pretty fast--maybe because I love them to death.
DeleteI find the Pitt's are way more sturdy. They just handle wear and tear, and the cases are way more resilient. Also the tips are a wee bit softer, more like a super hard felt tip, so they work really well on crappy patter as well as toothy sketchbooks, whereas Microns getIt seems that Microns just break at the tip and leak. For my money, Copic Fineliners (both the disposables and the SPs with the refills) Such a better investment and way smoother. The Copic Fineliner SPs are a bit pricey, but again, you're getting a refillable pen that's half the price of a Rapid-o-Graph, and nearly the same quality.
ReplyDeletezank uuuu
ReplyDeleteThanks to your article and then direct testing in the store I nowadays have a Sakura 005 in addition to my Faber-Castell PITT brush pens and fineliner, and they go well together.
ReplyDeleteThank you!
A small update: I recently found that Faber-Castell PITT pens now include an XXS fineliner which from my testing performs just like the SAKURA 005. But SAKURA now has a 003 pen that might bring even more insanity than the 005☺.
ReplyDelete