Sakura Pigma Micron test and review

Sakura Pigma Microns are probably one of the most well known fineliners. Almost every fineliner artist uses these. But are they as good as everyone says they are?

In this article you'll find the basic information about these Microns and some tests to test how good they are.

Features

The Sakura Pigma Microns are available in 10 different sizes and a PN and brush variant.

The ink of the Microns is a fast drying water based ink which doesn't bleed through the paper. The ink is also water proof, fade resistant and odorless.

Micron fineliners have a length of 135 millimeters and are made of PP, steel, POM and brass.

Depending on the set sizes the price of one Sakura Pigma Micron fineliner varies from 2 to 3 USD.

First impressions

Getting the cap off takes a little more effort compared to most other fineliners. But maybe if I've used it for a while it'll get easier. The cap fits on the end, so you won't lose it easily.

The barrel and the cap are made of very smooth plastic making it a bit slippery when using the Microns. Apart from that they lie really well in your hand.

The whole fineliner is very round, but there is a clip on the cap that stops it from rolling of your table.

The nib holder is quite long and narrow compared to most other fineliners. But because of this you can be way more accurate as you can see where the nib exactly is on the paper.

Testing the Microns

To test how good they are I've tested these markers on the following things:

• The blackness of the ink
• The feel of the nib
• The ink flow
• Smudging
• Bleeding with alcohol markers
  

Blackness of the ink

The ink is very dark and very close to black. It is darker than most other black fineliners are.

The feel of the nib

The nib has a really good amount of resistance when drawing. It doesn't glide too much and it doesn't feel like scratching the paper. And because of this it makes it really easy to control and be very precise.

Ink flow

The bigger the nib the better the ink flow. When you draw very quickly with the smaller sized Microns the lines will be a lot lighter, but when you don't use very quick motions the ink flow is just right.

Smudging

It takes more than 10 seconds of drying time to not smudge. If you wipe over it with your hand it will smudge quite a bit, but every fineliner needs some time to dry. After waiting 5 seconds it still does smudge a little bit. But after waiting more than 10 seconds it won't smudge at all which is not that long actually.

Bleeding with markers

When layering alcohol markers on top of the Microns the lines will bleed a little bit, even after waiting multiple minutes. This doesn't make them the best if you want to color in your line work with alcohol based markers.

Luuk Minkman

Full-Time Artist Specialized in Automotive Art

I'm an artist and I draw realistic cars with alcohol markers and colored pencils. I have been doing so for a decade. I'm sharing everything I know about drawing on this blog. On here, you can find all you need to know to learn how you can draw realistic cars and other subjects yourself. Stay updated by following me on Instagram.