Just a quick one before anything else! This post may contain affiliate links, which means that as an Amazon Associate, I may receive a commission if you make a purchase. Alright, on to the review!

I have recently tried brush lettering with Sakura Koi Coloring Brush Pens, and of course, an honest review is in order. The Koi Coloring Brush pen has a flexible brush tip that gives a good line variation. Put simply, its thin and thick strokes have a very obvious difference. The upstrokes are not as thin as the Pentel Touch brush sign pen though, so that means you have to write bigger when using the Koi brushes.

I’m using two of my favorite colors, Prussian Blue and Blue Green light. I like how dark and saturated these colors appeared upon drying (and they’re water-based and thus dry fast). They’re really vibrant and looks great when you write big!

Koi Coloring Brush pen in Prussian Blue, written on an A5 sized sheet

The flexible tip is pretty stiff which makes writing quite easy to control. It’s flexible but springs back quickly after adding pressure. It’s durable and will probably serve you well for a very long time. If you’re just getting started in brush lettering, you may download an alphabet exemplar for you to trace or copy. You’ll be familiar with the letter strokes in no time when you use an exemplar or guide when starting out.

Koi Coloring Brush pen in Blue Green Light, written on an A5 sized sheet

I have not tried blending colors yet, but you can create washes, layers and color gradations using Koi Water Brushes. How fun is that?

The Sakura Koi Coloring Brush Pen is a great beginner brush specially for those who tend to write big. Seasoned brush lettering artists will find this fun to use because of their vibrant colors, flexibility and durability.

Ready to shop? Here are the links!

If you want all the colors :: Sakura 48-Piece Koi Coloring Brush Pen Set

If you want a 12-color set :: Sakura 12-Piece Koi Coloring Brush Pen Set

If you want 6 shades of gray (hah!) :: Sakura 6-Piece Koi Coloring Brush Pen Set, Gray

If you want gradations and take your lettering to the next level :: Sakura 2-Piece Koi Colorless Blender Set

This is the other box set of Sakura Koi Watercolor Brush Pens I bought together with the gray tones set I featured a few weeks ago.

The watercolor brush pens are sold in different sets, such as in packs of 12, 24, 48 and also as colour theme sets.

These are water-based markers that use dye inks. So they are not lightfast and will fade in the future. Because of that, they are more suitable for casual use and not meant for creating artworks with permanence in mind. Do not use them to do commissioned works.

Each colour in this set has a colour code and name.

These are the colour codes for all the markers.

This is the colour swatch I created with the markers. The colours included are

1. 3 - Yellow

2. 5 - Orange

3. 7 - Pale Orange

4. 12 - Brown

5. 19 - Red

6. 20 - Pink

7. 24 - Purple

8. 125 - Sky Blue

9. 27 - Yellow Green

10. 29 - Green

11. 36 - Blue

12. 49 - Black

I like the sharp brush tip which is good for writing too. It's made of some sponge. If you're going to blend, getting the tip dirty is unavoidable.

As with brush tips, you can get a variation of thin and thick lines depending on the pressure you apply. This tip is also good enough for writing, creating calligraphy art.

Markers are really convenient to use. You can even use them on public transport for drawing because they are easily to use and keep.

Here's a scan of the sketch above captured by a Canon Lide220 scanner. There wasn't any edit to the scan. The brighter colours are challenging to capture and some post editing is definitely needed if you want to match the colours in real life. The photos I took with a camera represent the markers' colours more accurately.

Because the markers are water-based, the strokes blend easily together to create a even wash without streak marks. They also do not bleed through pages.

They don't dry instantly so you have some time to blend.

These are some colour blends that I tried. Generally speaking, I find it difficult to create gradual blends. For gradual blends perhaps more markers of the same hue family are required. The stronger colours have a stronger covering strength and can easily cover lighter colours beneath. To blend better, you probably have to get the Sakura colorless blender.

Conclusion

It's good for casual use but not suitable for work that are meant for archival, long term storage because of the dye ink used.

Availability

I bought mine from Amazon for around USD $21. Some other places are selling for a much higher price so beware.

You can find them at: Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

Are koi brush pens good?

The brush tips seems pretty resilient; also a pet peeve of mine when I have a nice brush tip that gets frizzy and doesn't hold it's shape after a couple of uses. The tips are nice and brush like, but have kept their shape really well. I very much recommend these!

Are Sakura Koi watercolors good?

Definitely recommend. This 48-color Sakura Koi watercolor set is incredible. I have a WInsor-Newton set and a Van Gogh set, and the Sakura Koi colors are more saturated, and they seem to become wet and usable more quickly.

Are brush pens good for coloring?

The brush pen tip can work well for hand lettering, coloring books, signing, designing, art project, and coloring in large areas. The fine pen tip can be used for sketching, doodling, writing, and intricate coloring books.