You need these Colorful Rainbow pen sets in your life. Whether you bullet journal, art journal, or just like to write or doodle in color, there is something here for you.
5 Best Colored Pens for Journaling
There are two things I love: Rainbows and Pens. Put them together and you get a pretty awesome colorful combo to use for journaling!
The pen truly is mightier than the sword, but which pen? When it comes to pens in multiple colors, one can go overboard.
We all have our favorite pens to write, take notes, draw, and doodle.
What colored pens are best for each of these?
I will share my favorite colored pen sets to use in bullet journaling and other everyday writing.
Introducing you to some my favorite colorful pen sets is exciting, but I am also excited tell you that I am now an affiliate for Blick Art Materials.
If you are not familiar with Blick, you really should check their website out for the best selection of professional art supplies. Don’t let the word professional scare you though because they also carry tons of paper crafts supplies and more.
Seriously, I squealed with delight when I got the email that they wanted me to be an exclusive affiliate rep for them. I feel like I have made it big y’all!
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Now, onto the fun part of this post!
5 colorful pen sets to use in bullet journals, for doodling, note taking, and hand-lettering.
Rainbows are bright, fun, and happy, and when it comes to a colorful set of pens, I find it hard to resist when I see a beautiful set. There is something so aesthetically pleasing about a set of pens lined up in ROY G. BIV fashion.
At the end of this post you will see each of these pens in action so keep reading.
1. Tombow Dual Tips are my go to. My personal favorites are the Bright Set, but I also have the Primaries and the Pastels. There is a long wish list though!
This Retro set and this Bohemian set give me heart eyes big time! Let’s be honest though, if I had my dream art space, I would want the whole she-bang, the big enchilada, the 108 piece set with case.
For versatility, I highly recommend this style of pen. I use them daily in my bullet journal, for practicing brush lettering, and they can be blended a lot like watercolor.
2. The Twintone Dual Tip Marker Set. Yes, another set from Towbow. These have a fine tip and a bullet tip. The fine tip is so nice to write small in a bullet journal.
Also, Tombow really got me with this packaging and the aesthetics of the pens themselves. They are truly a rainbow lover’s dream!
Great for color coding in a bullet journal or for doodling and general writing. They truly look like a rainbow! Tombow is just great quality all the way around.
3. Paper Mate Flair felt tip pens. Don’t you remember these? They are an old childhood favorite for me.
My collection fave is the vivid set (are you sensing a theme?) but there is a Tropical set (I love that pink and peach color) and the Retro set is also gorgeous. The wish list is huge for me when it comes to pens.
Felt tip pens have a great, thick medium tip and are very saturated. I love the juiciness of a Flair tip pen and these have lasted. Unfortunately I left a lid off of my dark green and he had to go to pen heaven, aka the trash can.
4. Uniball Signo – If you are more of a ball point/gel pen person, you will love these pens! Surely you have snatched a Uniball 207 ink pen from your doctor’s office or work place and recall how fabulously smooth these write.
Signo 207 pens are also made with a special ink for check writing because the ink absorbs into the paper making them fade-resistant, water resistant, and acid free. I appreciate the practicality of the retractable tip and the clip to clip onto a notebook.
NOW, imagine that in an array of color! I have had this particular set for several years and have carried them off in my purse for different reasons so it is no longer a full set. Also, the light pink had to join my dark green Paper Mate Flair pen in pen-heaven after this sample page (you’ll see what I mean below in the sample writing).
BONUS! While we are talking Uniball Signo, you may want to add this Uniball white gel pen one too! It is so good and writes beautifully on a dark surface.
5. Zebra Mildliner. This set takes us in a different direction. These are your new favorite highlighter without being so “highlighter-ey”, know what I mean?
Bored with the super fluorescent yellow or orange highlighter, you will want to snatch up these Mildliners. They are dreamy and come in SO.MANY.COLORS!
I use these so much in my bullet journal and I have multiple sets. There are plenty to choose from and can be purchased separately.
Although I am all about the multitude of colors, the gray one is my go to. I don’t know what it is about this gray but I feel like a graphic designer when I use it.
BONUS: Honorable Mention
Honorable mention to one of everyone’s favorite pen brands: Sharpie of course. It wouldn’t be a pen post without it.
Sharpie Art pens are not your typical Sharpies. They don’t bleed, they are vivid, smooth, and all pens should come with a case like this.
Pictured 12 color set includes a few extra shades of blue, purple, green, and orange. I personally have the 8 color set, as this larger set wasn’t available at the time I got mine.
Want a set of good art pens to throw in a bag and use on the go, these are your pens. The case is durable and can be popped open and set up to see and grab a pen at anytime. They are as good as your trusted Sharpie without the bleed through or heavy odor.
Best Colorful Pens Sample Test Page Journaling
Above is a test page is so we can see these pens in action.
An explanation from top to bottom:
- Tombow Dual Tips make brush hand lettering so much fun. I rarely use the second side but the sample of it is the purple “tip” above.
- Tombow Twin Tips are precise and bright. I used the bullet end for the thicker lines and the fine tip for the shadow.
- Paper Mate Flair is just a solid colorful, controlled felt tip pen in a good medium weight.
- Uniball Signo is the gel pen of the group. They are smooth for longer writing, such as note taking. Notice the light pink “o” on “Signo” – it was her final farewell.
- Zebra Mildliners are displayed next and again, I forget they have the second side because I use them as a highlighter 99 percent of the time. However, while making this sample page I was pleasantly surprised with how bright the finer tip wrote. The gray one I am so crazy about it the underline. So nice in my bullet journal!
- Sharpie Art Pens were the bonus pens I reviewed. These are thinner than the Paper Mate Flair and have a precise feel to them when writing.
It’s ridiculous how much joy I get from colorful pens and markers. In fact, most of these are right beside my chair at all times so I can grab them to use in my bullet journal, to
Which of these colorful pens are best?
Difficult to decide, but I will give you my choices:
- For Bullet Journaling: the Tombow Dual Tips
- For writing a lot of notes: Uniball Signo
- For Doodling: Tombow Twin Tips
- For on the go: Sharpie Art Pens
- For highlights: Zebra Mildliner
- For variety and general writing: Paper Mate Flair
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