I admit it, I'm pen obsessed!

I've been addicted to pens and stationery for years. I remember being a child old enough to have earned an allowance and begging my parents to take me to a stationery store. We lived around an hour and a half from the Twin Cities and I always asked my dad if we could visit St Paul Book and Stationery. I don't think they're still in business, (correct me if I'm wrong) but it was a wonderful store with aisles of pens, notebooks and art supplies. My mother would go to conferences and occasionally bring something back for us.  My favorite was a paint pen that wrote silver and purple at the same time! I haven't seen its equal since.

In the twenty plus years since I graduated from high school, I have continued to collect pens, pencils, markers, colored pencils, crayons, and basically anything that one could write with. I research pens on the internet and frequent Jet Pens to drool over their bounty. Dick Blick is another favorite for me. They have thousands of art supplies at discount prices. It probably doesn't come as a surprise that I've amassed quite a collection of writing utensils.

 So, I was thinking about what to write about in my blog and it occurred to me that I had a plethora of material already at my fingertips! In the next few posts, I'll review some of the writing utensils that I currently own and maybe even purchase some more for fun! 

I'm going to use a Kokuyo Campus  twin ring notebook and am going to do a smudge test, water test and alcohol test for each pen. The following is a chart showing my basic rating scale:

PEN-PETITION #1

Our first "pen-petition" includes the Prismacolor Premier Illustration Marker 08 versus Stabilo Sensor Fineliner Marker Pen 0.3 versus the Tul Needlepoint Gel Pen  versus the Yasutomo Y & C Stylist Marker Pen; all in black ink.

The Prismacolor Premier * has a smooth lay-down but does smudge. India ink is archival so, once dry, it should stay put. Be careful not to touch it until it has dried completely.

The Stabilo Sensor Fineliner  has patented micro-cushioning which means the tip will adjust to writing pressure. I really liked the feel of this pen, very comfortable. It is water soluble so you won't be able to use watercolor paint or any other water soluble media without diluting and smudging the ink.

Tul is an office supply store staple. Though primarily used for everyday writing, it does a decent job with fine lines. However, it's not waterproof so you'll have to heat set it before you use any other water based media.

According to Jetpens.com, the Y & C Stylist Marker Pen has, "a patented plastic nib allowing it to deliver clean crisp lines so you never have to worry about it cramping your style. It also features extra-dense water-based ink that produces beautiful color."   

I found the Stylist to drag on the paper and the water-solubility will be a problem if you need something waterproof. This marker pen is also sensitive to alcohol so you won't be able to use it with any alcohol-based markers without bleeding. 

Here's how they matched up according to my Pen-petition Scale:

It's a close call, but the Prismacolor came out on top. Second place was a tie between the Stabilo and the Tul.  The Y & C came up short.  I think this is because I use my pens primarily for outlining and then color in with watercolor pencils or alcohol markers.  The Stylist didn't do well with water or alcohol.

The result of this competition is my opinion only. Take it as you will.  I hope this comparison might help you in choosing the right illustration marker pen for yourself!

*Product links are to where I purchased the pen.  Though I like all of these stores and regularly use them, there are other art supply stores that offer comparable products and prices.