I wanted white ink for my fountain pen.  I wanted to use a stub nib on a fountain pen for beautiful white writing, and also reduce waste (most of these you toss into the landfill.)
I wanted a waterproof ink…

Imagine my delight when I found De Atramentis Document waterproof white ink!
I popped it directly into my Jinhao (not my beloved Jinhao, but my hated Jinhao)…
And began drawing my heart out on colored paper!

The next day, completely clogged Jinhao.  No jump-start!  CLOGGED!

I popped the pen in to soak and assumed it was the pen; it is why I hate them —
they clog easily with both my favorite ink brands.

I put it into one of the most dependable fountain pens, a Platinum Preppy 05 or Medium Nib.  I’ve never had one clog even if I left it for a month — and enjoyed writing over De Atramentis Document Blue for a little test run, right.  I intended to draw more with the white that day.  I capped my pen.  IT CLOGGED WITHIN TEN MINUTES… whew, okay, I was able to jump start it with a few drops of water.
I stored it tip down.  I even put a drop of water into the cap I was so paranoid.  Next day, COMPLETELY CLOGGED, dead pen.

*BTW, I am still soaking it just to see if it cleans, but so far, itsa goner*

So let’s just say I would never ever put this ink into even a cheap
$4 fountain pen unless you want to toss it within the day.  EVER.

*you’ve been warned*

I’ll be using it with brush and dip pen, thank you, and may not buy it again
unless I become very enthusiastic about painting with white ink.

*another aside — I adore De Atramentis Document inks and
have no trouble with them clogging any of the pens I use —
unless I am abusive and leave the pen uncapped!*

So let’s talk about the properties of this ink along with the non-clogging ink pens I own — and I am putting marker and ball-point together.  The ink itself is medium quality for coverage.  I had to double back twice in the white on blue image above, and you can see it on the number one spot on the black paper, below, which has great tooth.  It is 100% waterproof, as you can see in the washed image area to the right of the dip pen.

Next up, the PITT pen, White 101***
(Yes, it has all those stars.)
I love the pen, though it is not the
whitest of the four inks, but they
only make it in a broad marker,
which means it is a fat white line!
(Please make a thin line PITT!)

I love using it to shade clouds
and fluffy white Santa beards.
It layers nicely, and it is waterproof
from my scrubbing-it-repeatedly-with-water-test, above.

My favorite of the white gel pens is
easily the Uni Signo UM 153.1, above.
It lays down a nice clean bright
medium line with no need to double back, and without leaving the track of the ball-point in the middle, like the Uni 120AC, below.  While it is a medium, it is not a
terribly fat pen, and also lays down color
nicely over watercolors, shown above.
However, if scrubbed with water,
a bit of the ink will eventually move.
I use it mostly for highlights, and occasionally drawing on colored papers.

The Uni 120AC.
I throw it in my sketching kit in case someone wants a white pen.

*I’m kind of hoping to lose it… I have TWO*

Yes, it is thin, but look at the track the ball-point lays into the white!
(Expand the image above.) I don’t want that.  And like my favorite, the Uniball 153.1,
if scrubbed with water it will release a bit of white cloudy ink.

Finally, I am linking to a review of white ink pens/markers from Jetpens —
I do not have nor intend to try these pens, as I have one that works… their videos, below.

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 ©D. Katie Powell.
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