Review: Kuretake ZIG Clean Color Brush Pen

While shopping at Overjoyed Art Store, I saw some new brush pens that I've not seen before. These are the Kuretake ZIG Clean Color Brush Pen. The pricing for the sets are quite competitive, much more affordable compared to Copic markers, so I bought a set to try out.

Highlight of these brush pens is that they use real (synthetic) bristle. Having real bristles means the tip is more flexible. These are great for calligraphy work, and the fine point can reach really small areas.

The brush pens are available individually as well as sold in sets, from a set of 4 up to 60. The total number of colours in the series is 80.

You can identify the colours from the front and back of the brush pens.

The brush pens use water-based dye inks which are odorless and xylene-free. Because they are so wet, they are quite easy to blend. Ink flow is quite good.

You can get thin and thick strokes very easily. The colours are quite vibrant.

These are the tapered strokes you can get with the brush pens. They are easier to create compared to sponge tip brush markers.

Because the bristles are that long, there's a limit to the thicker stroke. In the picture above, I've compared the Zig Clean Color with the Pentel Color Brush Pens which have much larger bristles.

Because the inks are water-based, they are watersoluble and not permanent. They are also not lightfast since they are dyes, but if you work inside sketchbooks where the inks don't see light often, they should still be able to last for a period of time before they fade or lose their vibrancy.

You can use the watersoluble inks to create some cool effects though, such as to create shading.

Because these are not alcohol based markers, they should not bleed through the page. In the picture above, I had applied water over the ink and that soaked the paper and that's why there's ink bleeding to the opposite page.

Below's the video showing how I use the brush pens.

Overall, the Kuretake ZIG Clean Color Brush Pen are fun to use. Don't use them for any artworks you want to be permanent though because the inks are not lightfast. They are good for casual drawing, colouring and doodles.

You can find the Kuretake Zig Clean Color brush pens on Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES)