Best Gold Pens for Lettering and Illustration. I tested a bunch of them so you don’t have to! And the winning gold pens are…
Best Gold Pens for Lettering and Illustration
This is the second post in a “Battle of the Pens” series. If you missed my first post in this series, the Best White Pens and Inks for Lettering and Calligraphy, you can check it out here.
A Note on Paper
As I noted in the white pens post, I tested all the pens on both White Paper, Black Paper, and Kraft Paper. Paper type, weight, brand, etc. all probably makes a bit of a difference, but I feel really comfortable crowning winners that I think will be the same for nearly all similar paper types.
So without further ado, let’s talk about the winners!
The Contenders
These are all the gold pens, markers, and brush pens I tested.
- Pilot Juice Gel Pen 0.4mm
- Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Marker 0.8mm
- Uniball Signo 120 Glitter
- Uniball Signo 120 Metallic
- Uniball Signo Broad 135
- Gelly Roll Metallic #551
- UniPOSCA Extra Fine
- Sharpie Metallic
- Sakura Pen-Touch 0.7mm
- Zig Fudebiyori Metallic Brush Pen (I linked to the pack because one marker is the same cost as the whole pack! I reviewed this whole set in a past post you can read here.)
- Zig Wink of Luna Brush Pen
- Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Pen
For this Battle of Gold Pens post, I think it makes the most sense to talk about which pens work best on each color of paper.
Gold Pens on Kraft Paper
Photographing the results is different than seeing the results in person. For readability and looks, there was only one winner for the Kraft Paper.
Best Gold Pen on Karft Paper: The Sakura Pen-Touch wins hands-down. The Uniballs caught the light in the photo and look pretty in the pic, but in person, they’re harder to read then the Sakura.
Overall though, the gold pens don’t really shine on Kraft Paper, so I’d personally stick to using them on the black or white paper. Unless I’m using gold for detail work or plan to outline it in black marker, in which case, I’d still reach for the Sakura Pen-Touch.
Gold Pens on Black Paper
Again, photo representation isn’t the best judge so I’ll type out my favorites since I can see them on the black paper in person.
- Favorite Pens: Uniball Signo 120 Metallic, Uniball Signo Broad 135, Gelly Roll Metallic #551. These all look fab on the black and are all different shades of gold, so it’s a three way tie. Get them all! 😜
- Favorite Marker: Sakura Pen-Touch
- Favorite Brush Pen: Zig Fudebiyori Metallic Brush Pen
Gold Pens on White Paper
I saved the white paper for last because ALL of the pens and markers I tested look great on the white paper! The shades of gold varied quite a bit so that part boils down to personal preference.
If you’re a pen-addict like me you wouldn’t regret having any of these in your collection, but here are a few of my favorites.
- Favorite Gold Pens: Uniball Signo 120 Metallic for a true gold hue. Gelly Roll Metallic #551 for more of a coppery gold. Both are lovely on white!
- Favorite Gold Glitter Pen: Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Marker 0.8mm. I was surprised by how much I liked this pen. It’s so shimmery and glittery and really shines on the white paper!
- Favorite Gold Marker: Sakura Pen-Touch
- Favorite Gold Brush Pen (flexible solid tip): Zig Fude Metallic Brush Pen
- Favorite Gold Brush Pen (true brush tip): Zig Wink of Stella Glitter Brush Pen. The glitter in the ink in this post is to die for. Swoon.
Noteworthy
- The only pen that looks awesome all three papers is the Sakura Pen-Touch. It’s a bullet nib, so you’d need to do faux-calligraphy vs. brush calligraphy but the sheen on the metallic gold in this pen just plain ROCKS!
- For art journaling work and details, I’d opt for the UniPOSCA Extra Fine.
- When permanence is important, I’d reach for the Sharpie Metallic.
Related Post: Pens, Pencils, and Markers…Oh, My! A Guide to my Collection
What gold ink is the best for pointed pen calligraphy?
I’m super partial to the FineTec Golds Palette for dip pen work. This pic is several years old, so my pointed pen work has come a long way but the FineTec palette is still my favorite for gold ink. Just add water and apply it to your nib with a small paintbrush like you see in the photo below!
What gold pen/marker would work best on wood?
I’m often asked which markers I like best for making wood signs. The truth is, I strongly prefer to stencil my wood signs. I just don’t find that the felt tips of paint pens lend well to working on wood. I usually create a stencil of my lettering using my Silhouette CAMEO machine. Then, I use the stencil, Chalk Paint, and a spouncer to apply the paint. It looks the most professional by far! I’ll work on a step-by-step tutorial for that in the future. 😉
I hope you found this Gold Pens test helpful! And again, if I omitted a Gold Pen, Marker or Ink you love, let everyone know about it in the comments. Thanks so much! 💕
COMING SOON:
THE SILVER PEN + INK TEST
STAY TUNED!
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This is a great post! Thanks for sharing. I LOVE my Sakura Pen Touches, but I’ve noticed that my gold ones sometimes dry up or leak. When I press down, either nothing comes out or a big puddle leaks out! I’ve only ever had this problem with my gold ones, not silver, copper, or white. And it’s been an issue with more than one gold Pen Touch in more than one size. Have you ever had that problem? Wondering if you have any suggestions.
Hi Danielle! Aw, man that’s a bummer. I haven’t had that trouble with mine…but I also just started buying the Pen Touch pens so I haven’t really used them extensively, sorry!
Hi! I love this. It’s so informative.
I love the Sakura pen touch but feel that after just a few uses, the non wears out and I’ve gone through so many just to get a bit of gold out. Do you have the same issue??
Hi Danielle! The only time I have issues with the nibs on these types of pens is when I use them on rough surfaces. But I don’t use mine frequently lately so I may not be the best judge for this, sorry!