An opaque white pen seems to be on everyone’s list of must have mixed media supplies. So many times you just want to be able to write and draw on top of other materials with opaque white ink, but unfortunately, it can be hard to find one that fits the bill. There are a lot of choices out there, from gel pens to paint markers, but too often the ink is too transparent, or they don’t work well on certain materials or the tips clog too easily.
The uni-ball Signo white gel pen is a favorite of many mixed media artists and visual journalers. First, the ink is very opaque, so you don’t have to go over it several times to build up the opacity, and second it draws and writes on top of a variety of surfaces. Other pens are often very transparent or only work well on top of glossier surfaces such as acrylic paint or magazine pages, but the Signo works well on top of watercolor paint, colored paper, and much more. It has a broad 1mm tip, and the ink glides on smoothly.
I particularly like using the white gel ink to bring highlights to my ink drawings on colored papers or painted backgrounds, especially on my monster drawings. The ink covers well, and creates a nice contrast to the background paper and black ink. But the white Signo is also something that I like to use in my journal, especially since I build up a lot of layers and cover the white of the page. The Signo lets me bring white back into the page with lines, shapes, and words, and like I said, it works well on top of collage, watercolor paint and pencil, and other inks. It’s ideally suited for the mixed media nature of my journal work.
The white uni-ball Signo does have several drawbacks. First, it takes the ink a while to dry, and smudging can be a problem. I’ve also had issues when I’ve tried to fill in areas with solid white. Sometimes the tip seems to lift up the ink that was just laid down on the paper. I think it’s a matter of the ink not being dried when working on top of it, but it can be a bit frustrating to have to go over an area multiple times. Second the Signo can get clogged rather easily, and you have to be careful not to draw or write into wet glue or paint. Too often, I’ve had a fairly new pen simply stop working because the tip gets gummed up with glue or some other material. That’s a real hazard of a mixed media approach. Another drawback is that the pens seem to have a short shelf life once you start using them. I don’t know if the ink simple dries up inside or if it dries up just in the tip, but I’ve had issues with pens that I hadn’t used in a couple of months, even though I had only used them a few times. It’s just good practice to use the pen on a regular basis and not leave it sit for long periods of time. Maybe it’s the nature of gel pens. After all, a simple search online reveals a lot of hits about gel pens not working and how to revive them.
All in all, the uni-ball Signo white gel pens have a nice opaque ink and go on very smoothly, especially when they’re new. They’re a nice addition to the mixed media supply bag, and great for embellishing and writing on top of a multitude of surfaces. You can buy them individually or you can sometimes find them in a set with a silver and gold gel pen.
If you’ve used the Signo white pens, let me know what you think of them in the comments!
As usual, I don’t get paid to promote any of these products. They’re just the things that I like and use personally!