SAKURA Gelly Roll UV Pen - UV Gel Ink Pen - Invisible Ink Pen - With UV Keychain Flashlight - Bold Ink Pen for Art or Drawing - Red, Green & Blue ...

Im a fan of Sakura so when I see something new from them I immediately feel I need it even before I know what it is. Ill admit I was a little unclear that the ink isnt visible without the light but even after they showed up and I double checked how they work I still wanted them. Tbf Im a sucker for all these art supply gimmicks, theyre just fun. Interesting things, using the light on my other pen/marker swatches shows some of my other supplies are also reactive, all of the Zebra mildliner dual tip highlighters are reactive, also I had tried to swatch a Sharpie on black paper that didnt show (and then wrote on the lines with something later that did work) and the Sharpie shows through the later ink. Gave me an idea to try these pens under another ink, not all non-reactive inks will allow this ink under to show through, going to need more testing on that, but the Zebra mildliners did allow ink to show from under and some from over the ink. So maybe the visible ink for a dual image needs to be reactive already, or maybe it depends if the ink under is still wet when layering, couldnt quite tell. Was thinking it would be cool to draw bioluminescent mushrooms where the way they look in daylight is visible and then with the UV lights these inks show up to see how the mushroom looks in UV light, maybe the same for crystals/minerals too. Had been thinking of dual images where the visible image is one message and then the UV ink has a contrasting image, like an intact heart visible and then a UV broken heart, which worked pretty well in my hasty doodles so thats a possibility, might not be able to do much detail. Still working on which pens to use them with and how to layer, could also just have additional image with the UV ink. Also noticed my Ooly Chroma Blends neon watercolors and almost all of my 50 neon colored pencils were reactive, plus the Pentel Milky Pastel acrylic paint brush pens. These dont seem to show up on black paper though. The included Uv light can get a little cumbersome to press continuously while laying down ink and it is a fairly dim UV light, very spot like. I used another small handheld UV light that turns on with a press and I just hold it, it was both more powerful and easier. (Shows in my later photo where the light looks whiter and less blue and everything is more visible.) They layered well with colored pencils but they were so evenly reactive that it was hard to make out any image, probably a way to have some details alternating, shading marks and extra outlines. Needless to say whatever I come up with that works Im already having fun. Might even add hidden details to everything, my poems included, like a palimpsest but with invisible ink. Could be cool for quizzing oneself with the questions and answers on the same page but the answers in this ink for checking.

Im a fan of Sakura so when I see something new from them I immediately feel I need it even before I know what it is. Ill admit I was a little unclear that the ink isnt visible without the light but even after they showed up and I double checked how they work I still wanted them. Tbf Im a sucker for all these art supply gimmicks, theyre just fun. Interesting things, using the light on my other pen/marker swatches shows some of my other supplies are also reactive, all of the Zebra mildliner dual tip highlighters are reactive, also I had tried to swatch a Sharpie on black paper that didnt show (and then wrote on the lines with something later that did work) and the Sharpie shows through the later ink. Gave me an idea to try these pens under another ink, not all non-reactive inks will allow this ink under to show through, going to need more testing on that, but the Zebra mildliners did allow ink to show from under and some from over the ink. So maybe the visible ink for a dual image needs to be reactive already, or maybe it depends if the ink under is still wet when layering, couldnt quite tell. Was thinking it would be cool to draw bioluminescent mushrooms where the way they look in daylight is visible and then with the UV lights these inks show up to see how the mushroom looks in UV light, maybe the same for crystals/minerals too. Had been thinking of dual images where the visible image is one message and then the UV ink has a contrasting image, like an intact heart visible and then a UV broken heart, which worked pretty well in my hasty doodles so thats a possibility, might not be able to do much detail. Still working on which pens to use them with and how to layer, could also just have additional image with the UV ink. Also noticed my Ooly Chroma Blends neon watercolors and almost all of my 50 neon colored pencils were reactive, plus the Pentel Milky Pastel acrylic paint brush pens. These dont seem to show up on black paper though. The included Uv light can get a little cumbersome to press continuously while laying down ink and it is a fairly dim UV light, very spot like. I used another small handheld UV light that turns on with a press and I just hold it, it was both more powerful and easier. (Shows in my later photo where the light looks whiter and less blue and everything is more visible.) They layered well with colored pencils but they were so evenly reactive that it was hard to make out any image, probably a way to have some details alternating, shading marks and extra outlines. Needless to say whatever I come up with that works Im already having fun. Might even add hidden details to everything, my poems included, like a palimpsest but with invisible ink. Could be cool for quizzing oneself with the questions and answers on the same page but the answers in this ink for checking.

I have been a huge fan of Sakura products for years now, so I was super excited to get the opportunity to try these new pens that can only be seen using a UV light. I am confused by the other reviewers who left negative comments about these pens. They are clearly listed as being UV pens - despite if they are considered "impractical" by some, that has nothing to do with this pen and should not affect the review. So far - I have been loving these pens to write a secret message or a discrete signature on my paintings. I also want to start adding little features like lights or something with these, I really think it would be cool if the pens revealed something that completely changed the image. However, I would probably need to buy a larger UV light then, as the mini UV light that is included with each pack of pens does not light up a huge area. I have only used these on watercolor, gouache, and regular computer paper so far with good results. The ink is slightly visible while still wet, so you can kind of still see what you're doing. I noticed while writing on my watercolor painting that sometimes the pen was leaving a little indentation in the paper, which isn't very obvious unless you are looking for it. The UV light keychain is super nice and small, it would fit nicely in a pencil pouch. Not the best light ever, but I'm just happy that it actually came with one. Overall - I am super impressed with these pens. You can clearly see the ink with the light and they look super cool. I would recommend these and will continue to use them.

Sakura's UV gel ink pens create clear ink under regular light that glows under UV light. You can see in my photos I wrote in pencil on white paper then used each color pen to write. I used a UV light to light the whole page. I could not see much difference in color under UV between the blue or the green inks. The UV Pen Magic has red, blue, and green inks under UV light, but is clear under regular light. They included a UV light on a keychain in each pack. They give you 3 sets of 3 pens with one keychain light per set. It really works. Vine review products are sent to me without paying ZeeBooth for it. Everything I get is reported as income to me, so I will have to pay income taxes on the list price. I pay for them, just not to ZeeBooth. I may actually lose on the item.

Great for text and line doodles, but the ball-point tip is not optimized for shading areas. The package says the ink dries clear, but it also writes clear which can get tricky! I needed the UV light to write. The ink glows with electric vibrance. The red is intense, the blue is a bright light blue, and the green reads more like white. I tried to take more pics, but my phone camera couldnt accurately capture the color or brightness as it appears to the eye.