SAKURA Pigma Micron Fineliner Pens - Archival Sepia Ink Artist Pens for Drawing - 003 Point Size (Box of 12)

I love them, but they work better on watercolor paper that has been sized, soft paper sucks the ink out of the pen. I have bought 003’s and 005’s dozens at a time. I’m trying to draw wishing ballpoint pen, but it’s hard to teach old dogs new tricks.

Doesn't bleed through thin Bible pages at all! Great color too.

They are just what I wanted

Can never go wrong with these pens! One of my favorite pens to use in my journal and sketchbooks!

I've been using Sakura Pigma micron pens for years and my choice of point size has been the 02. This size kind of underwhelmed me when I first started using it, as the line is so extremely fine. Once I actually started using it though, I found it incredible for small detail work and sketching. I've been doing some simple mindfulness/slow drawing lately , and I found this small fineliner pen delightful to use in smaller areas. Depending on the type of paper that I use I can get an almost pencil like look to my drawings. The description lists the color on this as black, although I find the archival sepia ink to be more on the brown side. That isn't really an issue for me, but something for others to be aware of. I trust the Sakura name, and have enjoyed a number of their art supplies over the years. The current price of $17.74 at the time of this review is quite reasonable - I paid $12 for an 8 pack of the 02's 3 years ago. They are worth the money - they feel good in the hand, they last a long time and they just work. I would definitely purchase again.

These are excellent pens, but I have only one issue with this product. The product description headline says the ink color is Sepia, but the text in the product description says the ink color is black in two places. These fine sketching instruments use Sepia-colored ink (not black ink). Sepia is a reddish-brown ink color similar to aged old photographs. Sakura’s ink pens are superb. However, ending up with 12 sepia pens can be frustrating if you were expecting black. Luckily, I have come to love the sepia-colored ink. 003 point pens are excellent for adding fine details and shading to my botanical sketches. You have to be gentle with the nibs, applying very little pressure. These are designed for sketching, not writing. You can also use them to write small initials to sign a drawing. Also, you must remember to store them horizontally. This is an excellent set of sepia color ink pens at a reasonable price.

These sepia pens from SAKURA are 003 which means they are ultra thin for the finest details. Because the tip is so thin and small, it is very fragile and requires you to be very careful with how you ink your illustrations. This is NOT FOR WRITING. To do so is just silly. :) I found each pen was capped properly and wrote very well. Store these pens on their sides as they will dry out or leak when stored on their tip or base. These were perfect pens for drawing and I found it very easy to ink my illustrations with these on the much finer details. Sepia pens are great for lining skin borders and light coloured hair in illustrations so this is a nice pack of 12. Overall, I recommend these only to artists who need the smallest size of sepia pen. They are not made for writing or lettering so do not expect them to do so. :)

It takes a bit of practice to find a groove with these ultrafine pens. I was hoping that I could use them for fine writing, but they are so fine that lettering doesn't show up well, unless you press very hard on the paper. At first, I thought that the pens were just dry, and they may be on the dry side, but I think it's just that the points are so fine that not a lot of ink flows at once. I find that these work best when used with light sketching, like you'd do with a pencil, and then going over the top with alcohol markers. The ink is a dark, deep brown, and not black, so if you are searching for a true black, don't get the "Sepia" (the product description syas this is black, but the title says sepia).