Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens: A Comprehensive Guide

Faber-Castell PITT Pens adopt the ancient art medium of India ink and bring it into the modern era. Instead of being tethered to a desk full of messy bottled inks, brushes, and dip pens, PITT Pens’ self-contained, disposable pen bodies allow you to work anywhere—in a park, at a bus stop, in a waiting room, or at home. Traditional dip pens and brushes have the advantage of being able to make many kinds of marks with one tool, but Faber-Castell PITT Pens meet that challenge by offering a wide selection of pen types, tip sizes, and colors.

In this guide, we’ll look at the characteristics of Faber-Castell PITT Pens in more detail, introduce each product line, and explore how to use them.

Table of Contents

What is a PITT Pen?

PITT Pen India Ink

A swatch of Faber-Castell PITT Pen ink next to a swatch of bottled India ink. Both are equally dark and pigmented.

The India ink in Faber-Castell PITT Pens is just as pigmented as bottled India ink.

All PITT Pens are filled with India ink. Like bottled India inks, Faber-Castell India ink pens contain rich pigments that give their colors vibrancy and permanence. They are also odorless, so there’s no need to worry about breathing unpleasant fumes as you work.

Lightfast & Archival

A closeup of the barrel of a Scarlet Red Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pen, showing three asterisks indicating maximum lightfastness.

Asterisks on the barrel of each PITT Pen indicate how lightfast that color is.

Artwork often degrades over time, but PITT Pens are formulated to ensure that your work lasts as long as possible. Each pen is marked with asterisks to indicate its level of lightfastness, or how well it resists the fading effects of light. Not every color has the same degree of lightfastness, but this system allows you to choose the right colors when you need your work to last.

The asterisks on PITT Pens indicate the following levels of lightfastness:

*** = maximum (100+ years)
** = very good (25+ years)
* = good (5+ years)

In addition, Faber-Castell PITT Pen ink is acid free and pH neutral to reduce damaging chemical interactions between the ink and paper.

Waterproof & Alcohol Proof

Two sets of X's, one drawn over with water and one drawn over with a Copic marker. Neither sample shows any smudging.

PITT Pen India ink won't smear when used with water or alcohol-based markers.

Marks from Faber-Castell PITT Pens become waterproof when dry, so you can easily add extra layers over dry areas with PITT Pens or other media. They are also alcohol proof and pair well with alcohol-based markers such as Copics. You can see water- and Copic-resistance test results in our guides to The Best Waterproof Pens and Inks for Watercolors and The Best Technical Drawing Pens.

Transparent

Light and dark tones layered over a medium tone. The medium tone is visible through both, but is more prominent through the light tone.

Light colors are more transparent, while darker colors cover underlying hues more.

PITT Pens have a transparent quality that allows underlying colors to show through. Lighter colors are more transparent, while darker colors provide more coverage. This allows you to use layering techniques like those used in watercolor painting to build up colors and add complex shading.

Fast Drying

Drying time tests for a Superfine Faber-Castell PITT Pen and a Faber-Castell PITT Brush Pen at 3, 5, and 10 seconds. The superfine sample shows no smudging; the brush pen sample shows smudging at 3 and 5 seconds, but not 10.

Faber-Castell PITT Pens dry quickly, with the wetter pens taking just a bit longer than the fineliners.

Faber-Castell PITT Pens dry quickly, so you’re unlikely to accidentally smudge your work. Bear in mind that the drying time is heavily influenced by the absorbency of the paper you’re working with. If you want to deliberately smudge your ink to soften a line or suggest movement, use less absorbent paper to give yourself more time.

Bleedthrough Resistant

Closeups of the front and back of a drawing done with multiple layers of Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens in a Bible. The ink shows through the back of the drawing, but there is no bleedthrough and the text is easy to read.

Multiple layers of PITT Pen ink did not bleed through the page in this Bible Journaling entry.

Although they lay down juicy, well-pigmented lines, Faber-Castell PITT Pens resist bleedthrough very well. This has made them a favorite choice for Bible journaling and using with other lightweight papers. Bear in mind that PITT Pens will still show through thin paper.

PITT Pen Disposable Pen Body

A two part image. The left side shows supplies needed to use bottled India ink: a dip pen nib, nib holder, open bottle of ink, ink-stained paper towel, and container of water. The right side shows three Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens.

Faber-Castell PITT Pens remove the mess and inconvenience of using India ink.

Using bottled India ink can get messy—there’s a good chance you’ll end up with ink on your fingers no matter how careful you are, and if you knock over a bottle the mess enters a whole new dimension. Bottled inks, dip pens, and brushes are also hard to use away from a desk because they require extra supplies, such as water containers and paper towels.

Faber-Castell PITT Pens solve both of these problems by sealing the ink inside disposable pen bodies. They are ready to go as soon as you uncap the tips and clean up just as easily. And since they have no risk of spills or need for bulky accessories, they are perfect for travel.

PITT Pen Tip Sizes & Type

Every tip size and type of Faber-Castell PITT Pen lined up, uncapped, with squiggles demonstrating the marks each pen makes.

Faber-Castell PITT Pens come in several tip types and sizes to allow you to make many different types of lines.

Faber-Castell PITT Pens come in a wide variety of fineliner and marker tip sizes, brush tips, and chisel tips. Whether you’re adding fine details, drawing bold outlines, or making sweeping calligraphy, there’s a PITT Pen for you.

Rather than using standard millimeter notation on its fineliner pens, Faber-Castell uses letters to indicate their relative size. We’ve listed the sizes and their millimeter equivalents below.

XS (Extra Superfine): 0.1 mm
S (Superfine): 0.3 mm
F (Fine): 0.5 mm
M (Medium): 0.7 mm

Faber-Castell Color Matching

Swatches of the same color of PITT Artist Pens, Polychromos Colored Pencils, and Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils, showing that the colors match extremely well.

Colors of Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens, Polychromos Colored Pencils, and Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils match perfectly.

Colors that share the same name often look different across product lines, even within the same brand. This makes it difficult to predict how mixed-media art will turn out. Faber-Castell solves this problem with an extensive color-matching system. PITT Pen colors perfectly coordinate with the corresponding hues from the Polychromos Colored Pencils and Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils lines, so you can easily mix these media in the same piece. There is even a number assigned to each color so that you can readily distinguish between similar shades.

PITT Pen Product Lines

Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens - Standard

A lineup of select colors and sizes of Standard Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens.

Standard Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens come in several tip sizes and colors.

Most standard Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens have precise fineliner tips that give you a clear view of the paper and are easy to use with straightedges. They write smoothly and still put down a good line when held at a slight angle, so they’re easier to work with than some drawing pens that need to be held vertically. The S (0.3 mm) tip size comes in 11 vibrant colors that are great for drawing fine details as well as color-coding calendar entries and making notes in book and Bible margins.

The other tip sizes come in more limited colors: black for the XS (0.1 mm), and black, sanguine, and dark sepia for the F (0.5 mm) and M (0.7 mm) pens. These understated colors are great for drawing outlines.

In addition to the fineliner tip sizes, standard Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens come in two bullet tip sizes and a unique soft chisel tip. The soft chisel tip pen combines an angled chisel tip with the flexibility of a brush tip. It allows you to make a wide variety of expressive marks that are especially good for calligraphy.

If you’re looking for a white ink pen, you’ll find it in the 1.5 mm and 2.5 mm bullet tip markers. Because these pens contain white India ink, they’re not fully opaque. This transparency works well for adding subtle effects, but you can also add layers to increase the ink’s opacity. The 1.5 mm marker is also available in black.

Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens - B Brush

A lineup of select colors of Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens.

Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens come in 67 colors, the most of all of the PITT Pen lines.

The fineliner and bullet tip pens may be the standard line, but Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens are the heart of the PITT Pen family. These versatile brush pens come in 67 unique shades, including multiple shades of gray and blue, lovely pastels, and the earthy hues of the Terra set. Their flexible felt brush tips are ideal for brush lettering and art, with the ability to produce fine lines as well as sweeping, bold strokes with variations in writing pressure

Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens - SB Soft Brush

A lineup of select colors of Faber-Castell PITT Artist Soft Brush Pens.

Faber-Castell PITT Artist Soft Brush Pens come in 11 neutral hues.

If you need more drama than the regular Faber-Castell brush pens provide, the PITT Artist Soft Brush Pens are here to help. They have extra-soft tips that are highly responsive and allow you to make significantly wider strokes than the standard brush pens. They require more practice to master but the expressiveness of their lines makes it more than worthwhile.

Faber-Castell PITT Metallic Artist Pens

Faber-Castell PITT Metallic Artist Pens have strong bullet tips and come in three colors.

Faber-Castell PITT Metallic Artist Pens offer the same 1.5 mm bullet tip as the white and black markers in the standard line, but in subtly shimmering gold, silver, and copper ink. They show up well on both light and dark surfaces, so they’re ideal for adding metallic details to art and lettering projects. We especially enjoy using these markers to add extra glam to crafts, as they lay down a strong line on glossy surfaces like photos. Other bullet-tipped PITT Pens also write well on photos, but the line made by the brush pens and fineliners isn’t as smooth.

Faber-Castell PITT Calligraphy Pens

Faber-Castell PITT Calligraphy Pens have straight chisel tips and come in three colors.

Faber-Castell PITT Calligraphy Pens feature firm, straight chisel tips that provide line variation when held at an angle. They are ideal for edged calligraphy styles like italic, uncial, and blackletter as well as making wide and thin lines in art. You can also use them to give your regular handwriting extra flair when addressing envelopes or writing page headers—they’re easy to write with, and there’s no need to restrict yourself to specific calligraphy styles. PITT Calligraphy Pens come in three colors: black, walnut brown, and magenta.

How to Store PITT Pens

A selection of Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens lying flat in a Velos Tin Pen Case.

Always store Faber-Castell PITT Pens lying flat, like in this Velos Tin Pen Case.

Always store Faber-Castell PITT Pens horizontally. This allows the pigments in the ink to spread out and stay evenly distributed. If you store PITT Pens either tip down or tip up, the pigments will pool in the end of the pen that is facing down. This can cause problems with ink flow, especially when the tip of the pen becomes saturated with excessive pigment particles.

What Paper to Use With PITT Pens

Stillman & Birn Zeta and Nova sketchbooks lying open on a desk.

Stillman & Birn Zeta and Nova sketchbooks work well with Faber-Castell PITT Pens.

PITT Pens work well on just about any paper you care to try. They can even write on photographs and other glossy surfaces, although the fineliners and brush pens did not work as well as the bullet-tipped pens in our testing. As with other felt-tip markers, it is best to choose papers with a smooth finish so that the tips last longer before they become frayed. Stillman & Birn Zeta and Epsilon are great options. Both of these high-quality papers have smooth finishes that are ideal for PITT Pens and can also be used with wet media like watercolors for mixed-media projects. Epsilon is good for light washes, while the heavier Zeta can handle more demanding watercolor techniques.

It’s worth noting that Faber-Castell PITT Pens work especially well with toned paper. The colors seem to “pop” on the page, while their transparency allows the paper color to come through and give your art a unified look. Global Art Kona Grey Drawing Pads and Stillman & Birn Nova Sketchbooks in gray and brown are good choices. These papers have some mild tooth but shouldn’t be too hard on your pen tips.

If your brush, soft chisel, or 1.5 mm bullet tip does fray, you can extend the life of the pen by reversing the tip. Simply pull the tip out with a pair of tweezers, then turn it around and reinsert it into the pen. This does not work with fineliner PITT Pens, calligraphy pens, or the larger bullet tips.

How to Use PITT Pens

Layer PITT Pens

A grid of light, medium, and dark tones, with horizontal swatches drawn first and vertical swatches layered on top.

Layering different colors of PITT Pens allows you to build up interesting hues, while layering the same color yields a more intense result.

PITT Pens are generally transparent, with a delightful luminance that is similar to that of watercolors. Lighter colors are more transparent, while darker colors will obscure the underlying hues. You can use this property to add shading, build up interesting colors, and give your work depth as you layer different colors. You can also make colors more saturated by using multiple layers of the same color.

Switching the order you layer the colors in will change the result. If you layer a medium hue over a light color, the top color will appear subtly lighter. If you place the light color on top, the overall effect will be much lighter.

Work Quickly With PITT Pens

A blended swatch of Faber-Castell PITT Pen ink being smudged slightly with a finger.

If you move quickly, you can smudge PITT Pen ink to suggest movement or soften the lines of your drawing.

PITT Pens dry quickly, but you can smudge them with a finger if you move fast. Deliberate smudging gives the lines of your drawing a soft appearance and can be used to suggest movement. You will often only have 2-3 seconds before the ink is too dry to move, but you can give yourself more time by using less absorbent paper.

You can also use water to move PITT Pen ink before it dries. PITT Pens are impervious to water once dry, but before then you can use water to blend colors and spread light washes from your inked lines.

Use PITT Pens on Wet Paper

A blended swatch of Faber-Castell PITT Pen ink made on wet paper. The ink has spread out slightly and has an organic, soft-focus look.

Applying Faber-Castell PITT Pens to wet paper results in an organic, soft-focus look.

You can also achieve watercolor-esque effects with PITT Pens by putting them down on wet paper. This wet-on-wet technique causes the ink to spread when applied to the paper, which is great for soft-focus looks and easier blending. Once the ink is dry, you can go over it with other media or more PITT Pens to add detail and definition.

Scribble on a Palette

A hand holding a paint brush, applying light-colored ink to paper. The ink came from two brighter colors of PITT Pen ink that were applied to a palette from the Tombow Dual Brush Pen Blending Kit.

Use PITT Pen ink with a palette like this Tombow Dual Brush Pen Blending Kit to lighten colors that are too saturated or blend colors together thoroughly.

If a particular color is too saturated, scribble on a palette or sheet of plastic instead of drawing directly on the paper. Then use a damp brush to pick up the ink and paint with it. This allows you to achieve lighter color saturation as well as blend completely new hues from the PITT Pens you have.

PITT Pen Art Examples

Lettering With PITT Pens

A lettering piece made with Faber-Castell PITT Calligraphy Pens, Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens, and Faber-Castell PITT Artist Soft Brush Pens on Tomoe River Paper. Text: Live in the sunshine, swim in the sea, drink the wild air. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Products used: Faber-Castell PITT Calligraphy Pens, Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens, Faber-Castell PITT Artist Soft Brush Pens, Tomoe River Paper

PITT Pens’ variety of tip styles and ink colors makes them perfect for lettering and calligraphy, whether you prefer free-spirited brush lettering, straightforward monoline, or elegant edged calligraphy. We combined brush lettering with italic in this piece to make each line stand out.

Bible Journaling With PITT Pens

A drawing of a fig tree made in a Bible using Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens and standard Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens.

Products used: Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens, standard Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens, and a Bible.

PITT Pens are ideal for Bible journaling, which is the practice of making art or writing directly in a Bible as a way of reflecting on and engaging with the text. Many wet media can easily bleed through thin Bible paper or cause excessive wrinkling. PITT Pens do not have this problem. We can’t guarantee that all Bibles will perform the same way, but we experienced no bleedthrough even when we applied 10 heavy layers of the Faber-Castell Soft Brush to the pages of a Bible in informal testing. In this picture of a fig tree, we were easily able to layer multiple colors of PITT Pens without damaging the paper.

Art Journaling With PITT Pens

A drawing of daffodils and accompanying journal entry made in the Hobonichi Techo Planner with Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens. Text: Visited the bulb show!

Products used: Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens and a Hobonichi Techo Planner.

Many people incorporate art into their daily journaling routine, whether by adding small doodles to written entries or drawing illustrations of the day’s events. Because Faber-Castell PITT Pens work well on most papers, you can use them in your regular journal without worrying about whether it is the ideal surface. We used PITT Pens to draw this journal entry in the Hobonichi Techo—their bleedthrough resistance makes them a perfect match for the thin Tomoe River paper in this planner.

Urban Sketching With PITT Pens

A sketch of a bus station made in a blank Rhodia webnotebook with Faber-Castell PITT Artist Soft Brush Pens and standard Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens.

Products used: Faber-Castell PITT Artist Soft Brush Pens, standard Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens, and a Rhodia Webnotebook.

Urban sketchers carry an art kit wherever they go so they can quickly draw their surroundings throughout the day. PITT Pens’ self-contained design is perfect for this since you don’t have to worry about ink spills or bringing extra materials. And since they have such a variety of colors and tip styles, it’s easy to choose the ones you need to sketch your particular environment. We used just a few PITT Pens to make this grayscale drawing of a bus station.

Making Mixed-Media Art With PITT Pens and Color-Matched Faber-Castell Products

A drawinng of flowers made in a Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook with Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens and Faber-Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils.

Products used: Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens, Faber-Castell Polychromos Colored Pencils, and a Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook.

PITT Pen colors are exact matches for colors with the same names in Faber-Castell’s Polychromos Colored Pencils and Albrecht Dürer Watercolor Pencils product lines. This predictability makes it easy to use these products together in mixed-media art and take advantage of each medium’s special characteristics. In this example, we used PITT Pens to draw boldly colored blossoms set against more delicate and textured greenery drawn with Polychromos Colored Pencils.

Using PITT Pens on Toned Paper

A sketch of a vase of flowers made in a Stillman & Birn Nova Sketchbook with Faber-Castell PITT Artist Soft Brush Pens and standard Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens.

Products used: Faber-Castell PITT Artist Brush Pens, standard Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens, and a Stillman & Birn Nova Sketchbook.

PITT Pens work especially well on toned paper. Their ink often appears more vibrant on off-white backgrounds, and their transparency allows the medium tones of the paper to come through and give the piece a unified look. We used PITT Pens to draw this vase in a Stillman & Birn Nova Sketchbook. The colored and white inks stand out beautifully against the gray paper, parts of which are left blank to help form the vase and flowers.

Other Useful Guides

How We Approach Research & Testing

Our writers draw on their personal expertise, consult our in-house subject matter experts, and do extensive research to make our guides as accurate and comprehensive as possible. We then test every finding that makes it through the research stage. Only the techniques and tools whose performance we personally confirm make it into our guides as recommendations.

Conclusion

Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens harness the vibrancy and permanence of India ink by placing it in self-contained pen bodies that let you make art anywhere you happen to be, without any setup or cleaning required. Have you tried PITT Pens? Tell us how you use them in the comments below, and sign up for our newsletter to be the first to know about new guides and interesting products.

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Name	Tip Size/Type	Shop
Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens - Standard	XS (0.1 mm), S (0.3 mm), F (0.5 mm), M (0.7 mm), 1.5 mm (Bullet), 2.5 mm (Bullet), Soft Chisel	Add Items to Cart
Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens - B Brush	Brush	Add Items to Cart
Faber-Castell PITT Artist Pens - SB Soft Brush	Soft Brush	Add Items to Cart
Faber-Castell PITT Metallic Artist Pens	Bullet	Add Items to Cart
Faber-Castell PITT Calligraphy Pens	Chisel	Add Items to Cart

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