SHARPIE S•GEL PENS: Worth It? ...Wait til you SEE!! 

I love the Sharpie S gels!! I have been using them for 3 years for writing and recently started using them for my art too! The plastic does feel cheap so I both the metal body ones and refill as needed, better feeling in the hand.

I know it's not a big deal, but I liked how the activated sharpie looks like a warmer gray and the pilot is cooler gray. Must be interesting mixing both.

I love these pens, and I use them in my art journals all the time. However, I only use them for writing in the margins, not so much for drawing.

Mark, why haven't you tried the Sukura Pigma markers. Waterproof. All kinds of sizes. Been using these for years. No bleed with watercolor.

Thank you so much for the perspective on the pens.

I wondered if they were permanent... and now I know! Thanks for reviewing these. Since they aren't waterproof I'll just stick with what I got... it take yrs to use them all up 😆

Thank you. I wondered about the Sharpie gel pens. Now, I'll stick with the Pilot pens.

Dear Mark, thank you so much for the video. It is fun to try several materials and techniques. I like the video so much.

I draw with them all the time. What i do notnlove is that every pack has one or two duds in them that i really jave to work at getting to flow smoothly again. I love the ink deposit and how dark it is compared to other gel pens I've used, and the no smearing is a miracle!

I like the price. I'm gonna buy em', just to have em'. Great review bro!

Great review. Thanks.

hi , mark .. i'm on overload with the pens i already have.. i rarely use gel pens , as I'm usually adding watercolor after .. i have some uni ball gel pens that are waterproof , though . thanks so much for the review .. Norakag, here 👍👍

Thanks for this video. I've seen the Sharpie gel pens and wondered about them. I use felt tip Sharpies a lot because they don't react to water and I can paint right over them. I did a test with a Prismacolor Premier and a Micron Pigma and they both activated with water. Admittedly, I didn't wait a long time before painting on them but I waited long enough so that they should have dried and been color fast. I was very disappointed having heard glowing reviews about those brands. Sharpie is now my go to pen with watercolors.

Oh man! The Sharpie Pens (which are waterproof and 0.4mm and 0.8mm felt tipped) are a favorite of mine, so when the Sharpie S-Gel pens and Sharpie Rollerball pens came out I scooped them up! Trying them out with line and wash with watercolors? ... >:L neither are waterproof?! Whaaat! I still adore the Sharpie Pens (which are felt tipped) but the S-Gel I felt too burned to enjoy. You made it appear fun though! A feat I could not accomplish

I was very excited on seeing this shapie pen review . I will check them out, but my go to pen is the BIC roundstick . Great video review !

Been using them you about three years. They're my go to black gel pen. And I have to buy the .38 online, but I can live with that.

We buy them for writing but I never tried them with watercolor. You showed the thin line regular sharpie, that’s the one I love drawing with. Thanks for the video

I like them for notes, not art. They dry relatively quickly, and dont smear. But no good for line and wash. Sorry you had to find out the hard way.

I found this very helpful. I'd seen these Sharpie gel pens here in the UK but they are much more expensive than other gel pens. I do like Sharpies, especially the coloured ones for use on fabric.

OMG!! I'm such a blonde. I kept tilting and moving my tablet to get around the glare of YOUR lights. I couldn't figure out why nothing was having any effect on it. Hahaha

I bought 2 of them before I became a pen enthusiast, one I lost and the other broke when I kept it into the spiral of a notebook I used it for. I really miss them though, they were good :(

I love sharpies but im not an artist and i cannot draw shit to save my life. Lol so i just use it for note taking and journaling and i love the vibrant and boldness of its color and smoothness in writing.

Thank you very much

I'm so glad I watched this before buying. I wanted a gel pen that didn't activate with water and would have fallen for the fact these are Sharpie brand. Now I know they're just like any other gel pen so I'll stay with the Pilot ones as well. Thanks for the review!

If they were waterproof it would say so on the package. Bleedproof means the ink doesn’t leak through the other side of the paper. Smearproof means it won't rub off with your hand while writing

I have always liked using the different Sharpie markers for just about everything and I have used them for many years. I also like the Pilot G2s, Pentel R.S.V.P. fine point colors, the Pentel Hybrid Technica pens. As an artist I believe you can never have enough good pens as well as good pencils and colored pencils

Generally not had great experience with gel pens (never tried this brand though). I like to use waterfast permanent inks. Uni-ball eye, dip pens with india ink and I also have a preppy with carbon platinum ink. I like to have the option of putting a watercolor wash on my linework without the ink reacting.

HI Mark, I hope you're doing well. It's great to watch a video of you again. Too bad the ink in the gel pens isn't waterproof. But it was interesting to see, that it was kind of almost purple/reddish when it dissolved and ran over the page, while the other was pretty neutral. I've been using Faber Castell Ecco Pigment Liners recently. They're waterproof too and feel nice on watercolor paper. With some I have the issue, that they feel too dry. Uni Ball Air are great too, very juicy and last a loooong time for me. I use both to label all my swatches etc. (They've been plenty lightfastness tested therefore too! :D) Hope you have a great day and thank you for the wonderful video!

I have never tried, but I wonder if the ink would set with a hair dryer?

I've preferred and used Black gel pens for years for writing and when sketching and my works on paper. The kool thing about Pilot and G2 gel pens is you can buy refills cheaper instead of buying the entire pens/set again at full price. I also love Jelly Rolks especially for the metallic colours which G2 doesn't have... i hate that Jelly Roll pens clug up and the white pens either never work (brand new) or after a while.

I believe their claim only applies to writing because they are writing pen's not drawing or art pen's and when writing with them they do just what the package claim's whereas a LOT of other Gel pen's do bleed and smear when writing with them, I personally LOVE these pen's I love this brand.

I love your characters! I think the Uni Pin pens are supposed to be water-resistant and last longer nib-wise than the Pigma Microns. I like very fine tips to write with and like the archival ink of the Uniball RT 155, .28. I like to put it in the barrel of the retractable Inkjoy, most comfortable barrel down to the nib for me.

Thanks for sharing, Mark! Have you tried the Uni-Ball AIR pens? I bought a pack on Teoh's recommendation. I love the way they write and lay down, and they're water resistant once they dry! I don't do a lot of ink work, but it's nice having them on hand for watercolor and ink sketches :) Edit: Don't mind me over here not knowing the difference between gel and rollerball pens. I'll see myself out 😅

I use Gelli Roll pens by Sukura to use as a white resist. I paint over it with Tuskineko inks with Aloe Vera. Never a bleed once it is dry.

I've been drawing with EnerGel RTX Liquid Gel Pens by Pentel for my b&w line drawings. I haven't tried them with water or water color washes so I don't know if they are going to bleed when wet or not.

You can draw with them and catch a buzz at the same time 😂😂😂

I can smell the Magnun and the video is 3 days old😆. I'm going to give the Sharpie S-Gel a try.

What a helpful comparison, thank you. I wonder if you've tried the Pentel Energel? I wanted something like the Pilot G-2, but quick-drying and waterproof for journal writing. I landed on the Energel for that and it's serving well. The body did not impress me, as it didn't hold up, but I found that the cartridge fits perfectly in a Pilot G-2 click body, so I just buy refills :~)

These pens make my life better. My vision isn't as good as I would like so these dark pens help me see what I write. I send about 20 Scripture-filled cards out every week. Thank you

Sharpie is an all-around reliable brand and they're constantly coming out with new stuff, but still have the old reliables too. I'm not a big fan of Sharpie for black fine line drawing, but they would fall in my "pretty good not great" category. My fave is Molotow, but they're pricey and I never see them on sale. 🙁I've used other popular brands like Micron and Copic, and they're fine, but then they haven't always passed my bleeding tests. I'm pretty picky. I guess bc there is intense competition in the pen and marker retail arena and customers the world over buy billions of these little hand-held beauties every year (and that doesn't even include pencils) this is good for creatives. We can all benefit from manufacturers working hard to develop more innovative and fun to use pens and markers that, for the most part, we love ❤️. Yes, there are some stinkers out there in pen & marker land. But I don't think they last very long. Big and well-known pen & marker makers can let no grass under their products. They're just coming out with new and usually better things to draw and write with all the time! Thanks, Mark!

But do they smear on the paper right away or do you have to let them dry a while like every other gel pen?

Sharpies are good people they work day and night. People don't appreciate them enough. Can we have a moment of silence for all of the sharpies thrown away prematurely. Amen

You just saved me $24 for buying the Sharpie Gell.

Rarely have I met a Sharpie that I don’t like (and we have the Magnum for labeling boxes…and I love that giant permanent marker smell…I wouldn’t drive after using one for 10 minutes, tho, lol,) but I do NOT like this pen at all. I’ve only tried the 0.7 (I prefer 0.5, my husband came home with these randomly) and I’m not an artist, but I journal a lot. I found that the Sharpie gel pens are really scratchy, imo. I tried a few of them from the pack to see if the first one was a dud…nope! I know everyone is different in what they like. My personal preference for a gel pen fine liner is the 0.5 Pentel Engergel…the Clena version is also very comfortable for my hand. Zebra Sarasa is a close second, but I like the Energel body more. I also prefer that you can get a needle tip with the Energel (maybe there is a version of them with that.) So, from someone who hand writes a lot, both print and cursive, and writes with “the death grip” and I tend to press hard, that’s my review of them. Like I said, everyone is different in what feels good in their hand with what task they are using the pen for…fortunately, we have tons of choices!!

If they would make these and pilot v5 pens in waterproof , they would be some amazing art tools , but sadly they don't

Drying time?😊😊😊

I love these pens for zentangle & doodling but the drawback is that they are NOT waterproof.

Zentangle

I use Faber Castel Black India Ink pens. No smears, no runs, stays put - you can paint watercolor over the top without making mud. Very reasonably priced. I'm not sure why anyone would want to draw only to muddy it up by smearing gel ink and watercolor through it. What's the point?

Wrong! My favorites for everyday use. I quit Pilots since accidentally touching them while writing smeared the ink. Sharpies RARELY smear when touched. They do not market them as drawing pens. It us a bummer they aren't waterproof. Pretty sure they don't advertise them as drawing pens or waterproof. So you stating they are deceptive is a misstatement and deceptive on your part.

Do yourself a favor, throw away the plastic body S-Gels, buy the metal barrel versions that don’t flex. Open them up when you get them, take out the ink cartridge and replace it with the Pentel 0.5 or 0.7 needle tip cartridge, LRN5/LRN7.

Yeah these are too expensive. with no exta bang for the buck