25 Best Pens and Markers for Your Bullet Journal
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Are you looking for the best pens and markers to use in your bullet journal?
I’ve got you covered! In this post, I will share my absolute favorite pens and markers that are essential in my journaling.
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Welcome to my ultimate post of pen and marker suggestions to use in your bullet journal! Whether you are new to bullet journaling, or just looking to try something new, I’ve got the list for you!
I am a pen fanatic, and I can guarantee I’ve tried more pens than I can count. Through all of my pen and marker testing, I’m excited to get into sharing what my favorite pen and marker recommendations are! Here’s the order of what I will be sharing.
Pens:
Best Fineliners for Bullet Journaling
Gel Pens
Felt Tips & More
Markers
Classic Markers
Highlighters
Brush Pens
Best Pens and Markers for Black Paper
Gel Pens
Paint Pens
My Top 3 Pen and Marker Recommendations
You are welcome to scroll to the section you’re interested in or enjoy browsing the whole list!
The Best Pens for Bullet Journaling
I have tried more pens than I can possibly list in this post! Here are my top picks for pens to use in your bullet journal to save you time and money on trying everything under the sun, . (I’ve put them in order starting with my top favorite first).
Fineliners
Sakura Black Pigma Micron Pen Set - 100th Anniversary Edition!
Sakura Black Pigma Micron Pen Set - These pens have a clean, crisp line on the paper. They have archival pigmented ink; they are chemically stable, waterproof, and fade-resistant. They also do NOT bleed through even the thinnest paper (like Bible pages, for example). There is also no smearing, smudging, or feathering, which I love! I highly recommend using these! *Affiliate Link
Video Credit: Check out the Micron Pen’s in action with Peter Draws Youtube video.
Uniball Emott Pens
Uniball EMOTT Pens - These pens are water-resistant, non-bleeding, and fade-resistant. They come in up to 40 colors and are incredibly durable! I love how these pens write consistently, no matter what angle you hold them. Great for journaling and art, in my opinion. *Affiliate Link
Staedtler Triples Fine Liners
Staedtler Triplus Fine Liners - These are great fineliners if you love color! They come in multi-color packs, so you have a lot to choose from. These make detailed drawings, note-taking, and journaling a lot of fun! *Affiliate Link
Stabilo Point 88 Fine Liners
Stabilo Point 88 Fine Liners - Another great variety of colors that you can add to any collection. These fine liners have a pastel and fluorescent option, which is super fun! No bleeding and no smearing. *Affiliate Link
Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens
Faber Castell Pitt Artist pens - These pens come in various sizes. Some packs even have fineliners, brush tips, and chisel tips all in one package! They are made with India ink instead of archival ink, making these pens water-resistant instead of waterproof. *Affiliate Link
Felt Tip Pens
Paper Mate Flair Felt Tip Pens
Paper Mate Flair Pens - If you’re looking for a set of fun, bold colors, these felt tip pens add an array of beautiful colors to your collection! From classic colors to bold, bright, and pastel, there are so many fun colors to choose from in the sets they offer. Bonus, they even have a set of scented pens! *Affiliate Link
Gel Pens
Gelly Roll Moonlight Gel Pens
Gelly Roll Pens by Sakura of America - I can’t say enough about these pens! I love the smooth ice cream consistency of the gel. They are made with archival ink (meaning they are waterproof). They write over paint and watercolor, and more. They offer an extensive collection of color options and are available in classic ink options and Moonlight ink, which writes on black paper. *Affiliate Link
Uni-ball Gel Pens
Uniball Gel Pens - These gel pens are super smooth and have the most beautiful set of metallics I’ve seen yet! They write on almost any surface without bleeding. They have classic gel pens and pens that write on black/colored paper. *Affiliate Link
Paper Mate Ink Joy Gel Pens
Paper Mate Gel Pens - I love these pens! When I want to write in color instead of a crisp black pen, I will reach for these. I love the smooth, quick-dry gel that writes super smooth and has incredible color options! These are great for daily writing and journaling, doodling, and adding a pop of color to any page. *Affiliate Link
The Best Markers for Bullet Journaling
Markers can be classified as so many things. I use and recommend several kinds for your journal that range from Crayola markers to highlighters to high-quality brush pens! Here’s my list of recommended markers to use in your bullet journal.
Classic Markers
Crayola Super Tip Markers
Crayola Super Tip Markers - These markers are typically found in any store with an art supply aisle! They come in packs of up to 100 colors, and they are super affordable! The tip on these markers allows you to get a super fine line on the point and a wide link on its side. Because of the unique tip design, you can use them for brush lettering techniques! The tip is firm, unlike a classic brush pen. *Affiliate Link
Highlighters
Zebra Mildliner Highlighters - Choose from assorted packs!
Zebra Mildliner Highlighters - These highlighters are my favorite as far as highlighters go. Their colors are so much better than those you would typically see in a school setting. They come in a variety of options, and they a dual-tipped! They have a broad chisel tip for highlighting over writing, and they have a fine point tip on the other end. What more do you need in a highlighter? *Affiliate Link
Tombow Twin Tone Dual-Tip Markers
Tombow Twin Tone Highlighters - These highlighters are another fun option for highlighting. They have a vibrant set and a pastel set. They, too, are dual-tipped, with a chisel on one end and a fine point on the other. Great for adding color and detail to your pages! *Affiliate Link
Brush Pens
Dingbats Atopens - Now in 3 collection sets!
Dingbats Atopen Twin Tip brush pens - These have to be my favorite new pens on the market! They have the perfect brush on them and a sturdy fine point on the other end. They are made with archival (waterproof and fade-resistant) ink. They have a pastel set and a primary set, both which have fantastic color choices! I highly recommend these. *Affiliate Link
Tombow Dual Brush Pens - Click here for assorted packs.
Tombow Dual Brush Pens - These are probably the most well-known brush pens on the market today. You can find them in almost any art supply store. They have a classic brush tip on one end and a fine point on the other end. They provide a large variety of colors that can be used in many ways. They are formulated with water-based ink that allows you to blend the colors seamlessly and treat them like watercolor! Use a blending pallet and a water brush to transform your brush pen into watercolor “paint.” The tips are also self-cleaning, so you do not have to worry about ruining the tips if you mix the colors; GENIUS! *Affiliate Link
Pentel Arts Brush Tip Sign Pens - Sets & individuals!
Pentel Fude Brush Pen - These are among my favorite handwriting brush pens. The fude pens are like a brush pen, but the tip is smaller and more firm than a normal brush pen. The pen tip gives more control over the thinness and thickness of the lines going on the paper. There are not 108 colors to choose from, like the Tombow brush pens, but they do have every color necessary for a fun writing experience! And as always, I love a classic black pen, and theirs is fantastic! *Affiliate Link
Zebra Lettering Set with Brush Pens & Mildliners!
Zebra Brush Pens - These are brand new on the market! I love their colors because they resemble the well-loved Mildliner highlighters they offer. They, too, are dual-tipped for multiple uses. These are a great option if you want to try something new! *Affiliate Link
Sharpie Marker Pens
Sharpie Art Pens - Assorted packs & a hard case!
Sharpie Fine Marker Pens - These Sharpie pens do not bleed through paper! They were explicitly designed with acid-free, archival ink to prevent bleed-through, smearing, and fading. These pens are ideal for daily writing, doodling, and bullet journals. You can find them in black or multi-color packs. *Affiliate Link
Best Pens and Markers for Black Paper Journals
The Blackout Journal is a new idea in the past few years, and it’s becoming more popular. I remember getting one for Christmas and being so excited to try it out, but I was also a little intimidated by the black pages. Why? I didn’t know what pens and markers would work best in my new bullet journal! After a year of thinking outside the box and trying different things, my top recommendations for what to use on black paper follow.
Gel Pens
White Gelly Roll Pens in all sizes are great for your journal!
White Gelly Roll Pens (all sizes) - These are my number one recommendation for writing and drawing on black paper. The gel is so smooth and has exceptional coverage! You do not need to go over it multiple times to get the white to show up. One pass is all you need to achieve a bold white line, and I love it! There’s little to no transfer with these pens, and they are waterproof because of the archival ink. I use them combined with watercolor on black paper and it never smudges. These are my favorite pens! *Affiliate Link
Looking for more white pen suggestions? Check out my post on 9 Best White Gel Pens!
Stardust Gelly Roll Pens - Can you say GLITTER? This collection always steals my heart because I love glitter so much! These Stardust pens have so many glitter options that it makes my eyes sparkle! These look amazing on black and white paper and add that special touch of pure pigmented glitter to any page or design. I will always have these on hand! If you haven’t tried them, I hope you do! *Affiliate Link
Gelly Roll - Moonlight Pens in assorted collections.
Moonlight Gelly Roll Pens - Following right alongside the white Gelly Roll pens are the Moonlight Gelly Rolls. These are formulated the same as the white pens I love, except this collection is colorful. They have so many color options that help get your creativity flowing. See my Blackout Journal for inspiration! *Affiliate Link
Uni-ball White Signo Gel Pen
Uniball Signo Gel Impact Pens - Uniball has a gorgeous collection of metallic gel pens, and it includes a white pen (not metallic). This rainbow of color mixed with a beautiful shimmer adds life to any page, no matter which one you choose! The gel is super smooth and covers well. Head over to THIS post on Instagram to see the swatch page that I created for Uniball! *Affiliate Link
Paint Pens
Acrylograph Pens - Click to see all of the collections!
Archer & Olive Acrylograph Pens - These newly created pens by Archer & Olive are incredible! They are made with water-based acrylic ink and can be used on light and dark colors of paper. They come with two different tip sizes (0.7mm & 3.0mm), great for fine details and covering a larger surface area. You can blend them like paint, and they dry quickly. There is no bleeding and no page transfer after drying. These feel like a pen in your hand and are easy to add to your collection. You can purchase them in gorgeous pallet packs, or you can now buy them individually! *Affiliate Link
Sakura Pen Touch Paint Pens
Sakura of America Pen-Touch Pens - These Pen-Touch paint pens are great when you’re looking for a lovely silver or gold that won’t smear off the page. They, too, dry quickly and write on all surface colors. They come in other multi-color packs as well. I highly recommend the silver and gold pens. I used these in my blackout journal. *Affiliate Link
My Top 3 Favorite Pen & Marker Recommendations
If you asked me to pick my top three favorites to start with, here’s what I would choose.
Micron Fineliners (all sizes) - Pens for drawing, writing, and detail.
Dingbats Atopens - These brush pens are for coloring, hand lettering, and details.
Gelly Roll Pens - Gel pens for light and dark color paper. Great for writing, drawing, art, lettering, and details.
I would choose these 3 to start with because you can do so much with them, especially when you use them together!
A few things to keep in mind about pens and markers.
Now that we’ve gone through this list of pens and markers that I recommend for all journaling types, I want to share a few things to keep in mind.
These items mentioned in this post are not a requirement for bullet journaling. You are welcome to use whatever you’d like in your journal! These are just my recommendations as to what I love using in my bullet journals.
Not everyone loves the same pens and markers. What works for me may be different than what works for another. We all hold our writing utensils differently; this list is what works best in my hand with my writing/art style.
Writing Styles
Everyone has their own style of writing. Not every pen works the same for different writing styles.
What is your writing style? Are you heavy-handed? Do you write with a light touch? Do you hold your pen straight up and down or at a slant?
Depending on how you hold your pen will make a difference in what works best for you.
My Writing Style
I have a light touch when I write. A light touch means that I do not press my pen tips down hard to the surface I’m writing on. Sometimes I hold my pen tight to have more control, but I use light pressure naturally.
Final Thoughts
There you have it! The ultimate list of pens and markers to use in your bullet journal. If you try out something new from this post and love it, let me know! I’d love to hear what you tried.
Pro Tip & FAQ: Do any of these pens bleed through the paper?
Answer: Not in my experience. However, I do use high-quality journals made by Archer & Olive, and Dingbats Notebooks. The paper quality is excellent and thick, so I do not get bleed through with my pen and marker choices. Be sure to purchase yourself a high-quality journal to prevent this issue in your own experience as well! You can take a look at these journal options below. (Affiliate Links)
Dingbats Notebooks - Read my review HERE.
