I recently had the opportunity to test some white inks, and wanted to share my findings. Specifically, I wanted to see which white inks were best for calligraphy.

Here are my results! I hope you’ll find this helpful :)

 

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White Calligraphy Inks

• Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen-White Ink
• Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White Ink
• Speedball Calligraphy Ink
• J. Herbin Dip Pen Calligraphy Ink
• J. Herbin Dip Pen Pigmented Ink

These inks are either marketed as calligraphy inks or are popular within the calligraphy community. (You can click on the image for a larger view)

 

 

Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen-White – ★★★★

• Very thick right out of the bottle
• Requires diluting with distilled water
• It is ~magical~ once dry, crisp and very opaque
• Handy eyedropper for easy diluting in separate container

Verdict: Worth the hassle of finding the perfect ink-to-water ratio because it is fantastic when diluted properly.

Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White Ink – ★★★★

This is hailed among many calligraphers are the holy grail of white ink! My coworker was kind enough to let me take a dip out of her bottle to test it out.

• VERY thick and pasty — even thicker than the Pen-White
• Requires more diluting with distilled water
• Crisp and opaque once dry
• Similar to the Pen-White

Verdict: Best ink for the price. Since you are diluting it so much, the tiny bottle will go a long way.

J. Herbin Dip Pen Calligraphy Ink – ★★★☆

• Lower viscosity and thus writes straight from the bottle.
• Better ink flow, smoother to write with
• Less opaque, fades significantly as it dries.

Verdict: I give this ink points for convenience, despite its low opacity. Plus, it is perfect for the rustic/vintage chalkboard look that is quite popular.

Speedball Calligraphy Ink – ★★★☆

• Only $2! An easy purchase if you are just trying out white calligraphy
• Bottle shape makes dipping easy
• Must be diluted with water
• Quite opaque once dry
• Less smooth and dries with a bumpy finish

Verdict: If you are going through the trouble of patiently diluting your ink, you might as well go for Dr. Ph. Martin’s.

 J. Herbin Dip Pen Pigmented Ink – ★★☆☆

• More watery and less opaque than the other J. Herbin white
• If you write too slowly,  ink drips off the nib
• If you write quickly, not enough ink is left on the page resulting in faded letters

Verdict: I don’t really like it :(

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White Comic Inks

• Copic Opaque White
• Deleter White #1 and Deleter White #2 (Waterproof)
• IC Comic Art White and IC Comic Super White
• Kaimei Manga Pen Ink
• Kuretake Comic White Ink

Comic artists use white in many ways — adding highlights to eyes and hair, or covering up small mistakes. Many manga artists use the same G nib that is popular among calligraphers, so I figured it was worth a try.

These inks are VERY thick — almost all of them need to be diluted with water to be usable, and it took a lot of trial and error to get the right ink-to-water ratio for all of them. Once diluted, I was pleasantly surprised by how well some of them worked as calligraphy inks!

Copic Opaque White – ★★★★

• Very thick out of the bottle, requires diluting
• Smooth once diluted
• Very opaque and crisp when dry
• Annoyingly tiny bottle
• Kind of expensive for the size

Verdict: The most opaque of the comic inks, if you can get past the price and the frustration of scooping the ink out of the tiny bottleneck.

Deleter White #1 and White #2 – ★★★★

• Very thick out of the bottle, requires diluting
• Smooth once diluted
• Opaque when dry
• #2 is waterproof!

Verdict: There isn’t much difference between the two, but I found #1 to be slightly smoother.

IC Comic Art White and Super White -★★★☆

• Very thick out of  the bottle, requires diluting
• Not as smooth as Deleter inks
• Super White is very opaque when dry

Verdict: The regular Art White is mediocre, the Super White is much better.

Kaimei Manga Ink – ★★☆☆

• Thinnest manga ink – thus, surprisingly smooth out of the bottle
• Decently opaque when dry
• Annoying caveat: chalky bubble effect

Verdict: Pretty decent, but with one MAJOR caveat. The pigment settles to the bottom, so when you shake the bottle to mix up the ink, a mass of bubbles forms. As you write, your pen leaves a trail of tiny bubbles that dry inside your calligraphy, making it look rough and messy :/

Kuretake Comic White – ★★☆☆

• Very thick out of the bottle, requires diluting
• Not cooperative with the paper I used
• Difficult to write with
• Not very opaque once diluted

Verdict: This is one comic ink that cannot really be used as a calligraphy ink. It works on some papers, but not on others — not worth the gamble

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Some examples of my favorite inks in action…

Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen-White

Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White

Speedball Calligraphy White

Dr. Ph. Martin’s Pen-White on a light gray envelope

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There are some other white inks that I’ve heard about, but not yet tried. Eventually, I hope to try all of them…

• Winsor & Newton White Calligraphy Ink
• McCaffrey’s Bright White Ink
• Daler Rowney Pro White
• Ziller North Wind White
• & white gouache, white acrylic, etc…

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Note: All product photos from JetPens.com and DickBlick.com. Review photos by me.

Materials Used:

• Brause 66 Extra Fine Arrow Nib
• Princeton Round Petite 5/0 Brush
• Recollections Black Cardstock