What are POSCA Pens?

There's a whole world of POSCA Pen artists out there, and we think once you've finished reading this article you'll want to be one of them! 

POSCA Pens are an odourless, water-based, and water-resistant pigment ink marker. They're incredibly popular amongst artists, illustrators, designers, calligraphers, and more for their extremely versatile list of use cases. POSCA Pens can be applied to almost any surface – from glass to paper – without bleed. They're used by both hobbyists and professionals on all types of materials, as the range of surfaces that they draw onto is almost endless.

The acrylic paint is encased in a hard plastic tube which features a polyester fibre nib for application. Nibs come a wide range of shapes and sizes, so you can choose exactly the right line width for your project. The colours that this acrylic pigment ink produces are incredibly vibrant and vivid - almost poster-like. Once applied, they're opaque and will dry like acrylic paint. 

Are Uni-ball POSCA Markers Permanent?

On porous surfaces, like wood and textiles, yes. On non-porous surfaces, such as smooth metals and PVC-style plastics, POSCA acrylic ink can be erased using a damp rag.

POSCAs are lightfast and water-resistant and will write on virtually any surface from glass, primed canvas and wood, to paper and metal without any bleed. Once dry, the opaque colours can be completely covered with a new paint application, working colour over colour. Also, POSCA markers are amazing for laying down opaque blocks of vivid colours next to each other. A graphic designers dream medium.

When still wet, the POSCA ink can be diluted with a little water to create washes, either directly on the substrate or in a palette. Paint can also be blended when wet on the substrate to create new colour combinations.

Draw Anywhere, Anytime

Uni-ball POSCA markers are lightweight and easy to transport, they can be used for painting indoors or outdoors. Take them on holiday or sketching days out. Using  Posca art pens will allow you to start and finish a painting in one sitting as there is a very short window on drying times, only a few minutes at the most!

Water resistant Uni-ball POSCA Markers are the ideal medium for customising many of your favourite objects such as skateboards, bedroom doors, bedroom walls, mobile phones, mirrors, lampshades, trainers, denim jacket, leather jacket, water-bottles, your bicycle and a whole host of other objects.

Download the Uni-ball POSCA PDF guide here.

What Sizes are Available?

5 POSCA nib types and 8 different POSCA sizes; For writing, painting, drawing, colouring, decorating and mark making that can be used on virtually any surface.

POSCA PC-1MR

If precise linework is what you need, the PC-1MR is the POSCA for you. These pens feature ultra-fine 0.7mm tips which allow you to produce clean, consistent lines that won't vary in width. They're handy for use when creating outlines, fine details, or for hatching techniques.

POSCA PC-1M

These pens feature an extra-fine bullet nib that allows you to vary your line weight from 0.7mm to 1.0mm. They're excellent for small-scale work, creating expressive strokes, and for adding fine details. Ideal for card markers, illustrators, designers.

POSCA PC-3M

PC-3M's universal bullet nib makes it incredibly adaptable, enabling it to be used for all types of illustration. It features a reversible and replaceable tip that allows line weights between 0.9mm and 1.3mm. It can be handy for for fine detailing, designing, drawing, decorating, and lettering, but generally serves as a great all-rounder.

POSCA PC-5M

The versatile, medium-sized bullet nib of PC-5M allows it to create line widths between 1.8mm and 2.5mm, making it an ideal all-rounder. As a multi-purpose marker, produces neat and precise lines for detailed work, while also being create for blending colours together. Useful for colouring and lettering.

POSCA PC-8K

PC-8K's broad 8mm chisel nib is great for bold linework, blocking in colours, and illustrating backgrounds. With it, you can create thick and thin lines, neat curves, and tapered lines. Excellent for calligraphy, lettering and outlining, street art, Italic-style hand-writing, and large format work. It's especially useful for murals both indoors and outdoors.

POSCA PC-17K

Thinking big for your next project? PC-17K's 15mm extra-bold chisel nib offers extra-bold lines, perfect for murals and larger artwork.

Extra Broad 15mm tip; Extra Broad chisel/square 15mm tip. Available in 10 vivid colours, it has an extra-broad square shape tip, will create fat and thin lines, it is great for creating lettering and excellent for filling in large areas. Excellent for large scale artwork, murals, indoors and outdoors, great for using on walls, and windows. Used for Street Art, Graffiti Art, large italic style handwriting and large format work.

POSCA PCF-350

Looking for varied line weights? The PCF-350 features a soft brush tip that makes it excellent for expressive mark making, calligraphy, and blocking in large swathes of colour. The precise tip of the brush is great for filling in gaps and getting into the corners that other markers cannot.

What Surfaces Can I Use My POSCA Pen on?

POSCA's opaque acrylic ink allows them to be used on a wide variety of surfaces. Before starting any project, you should ensure that your surface is dust and grease free. On smoother, less porous surfaces, the ink will have a longer drying time. However, POSCAs usually take only a few minutes to dry under the right conditions.

• Black paper, white paper, cardboard, Bristol board, primed canvas, primed or un-primed wooden panel -  Will dry permanent, can be varnished with 2 coats of water based spray varnish in a matt, satin or gloss finish. On more absorbent un-primed wooden panel, it will take slightly longer to dry. 
• Glass - Bake in the oven at 160ƒ for 45 mins then spray with clear varnish, hand wash only. Not suitable for use on items used in contact with food.
• Stone - to fix spray with clear varnish.
• Textiles - Iron on reverse to Fix. Posca paint will absorb into the fabric. It will fade after 20 washes, but will not wash out completely. Can be reapplied to refresh colours.
• Smooth exterior and interior walls - Make sure the surface is clean and dry and dust free, Posca will dry waterproof, can be spray varnished for longevity or to change the look of the finish.
• Windows - No need to fix will dry waterproof. Can be wiped off with water or a microfibre cloth and a scraper can be used for stubborn paint.
• Metal water bottles - Fix with clear varnish.
• Ceramic - Porcelain  - Fix in the oven 160° for no more than 45 minutes, then apply clear varnish spray. Hand wash only.
• Plastics - Fix with clear varnish.

How Do I Prepare My POSCA Pen for Work?

How to Release the Paint:

Before using your new Uni-ball POSCA pen, you'll need to shake your pen vigorously to mix the paint inside the tube. Then, dab and press your new POSCA a few times to enable the flow of paint and impregnate the fibre tip. Don't flood the nib too much, or the paint will pool and flood on the surface. As soon as you see the paint being loaded into the nib, stop pressing down.

Once you can see the paint in the nib, do some tests on a spare piece of paper. Use a paper towel for any excess paint. While waiting to use between colours, stand your pen (vertically with the lid on) on a flat surface with the fibre tip down. This will ensure your nib is fully loaded with pigment. If needed, you can shake your marker (with the lid on) between applications.

When you are finished using your POSCA markers, they must be stored with the cap firmly on. Most POSCA pens can be stored vertically or horizontally, apart from the brush-tipped Posca which should be stored horizontally if possible.

If your tip becomes damaged, it can be turned around or replaced with a new tip, bought separately. 

These POSCAs feature reversible tips: PC-3M and PC-5M

These POSCAs feature replaceable tips: PC-1MC, PC-3M, PC-5M, PC-7M, PC-9K, PC-17K.

Most of the POSCA tips are washable. If you find one of your tips has dried out, you can soak it in a glass of water and then replace it.

Linework and Mark Making Tips and Tricks

The differing sizes of nib can help to accentuate certain aspects of your linework. Using bold outlines and stronger marks will help characters and objects stand out from the background, while finer nibs can be used to highlight details in the scene. Finer tips are also great for using time-honoured illustrative techniques like hatching, which you can use to give your work an added degree of dimensionality.

The brush tip of the PCF-350 is great for achieving more organic-looking linework. With it, you can create exceptionally expressive marks, making it a great option for depicting foliage. The PCF-350 can be used much in the same way as a traditional brush pen, which are often used by illustrators and cartoonists to give work a more flowing, fluid feel.

While the POSCA paint is still wet on the surface, you can give it a quick spritz of water to dilute it, which you can then use to blend colours together, create washes, or make other interesting effects to help your work stand out. 

If you don't want colours to blend or bleed into one another, wait until the paint is completely dry before applying the next colour. Since POSCA dries to a matt finish, you can easily tell if it's still wet by checking it if has a slight glossy sheen to it.

Aim to work with the flow of your marker nib fibres, similar to that of a paintbrush. Think about the direction of your line when outlining and pull your marker towards you if possible. When working in the wrong direction, too much friction from the nib on the paper may make the paint splatter, and leave a large drop of paint, rather than creating a smooth transition of line.

Because of the opaque nature of the POSCA marker paint, you can easily overlay one colour on another. Even the lighter colours, such as white or yellow, will be seen over the darker reds, blues, and even black.

POSCA Markers can be used over surfaces painted with different paint mediums, such as watercolour paint, acrylic paint, gouache paint, coloured pencils, or over inks. POSCA can be used to create a star filled night sky over inks or acrylic paint or provide lost highlights in a watercolour painting. However, only add small details as the water soluble mediums may re-ignite if too much POSCA marker paint is used. 

When working with a large area of block colour, work one section at a time and work from right to left if you are left handed or left to right if you are right handed. This will ensure you don't put your hand into the wet paint!

Always have some spare paper to test out your markers before you commit to your artwork. Apply different pressure to create your lines and keep the paint flowing into the nib.  

Think of the POSCA-bilities!

We hope this article has given you a good understanding of just how incredible POSCA Pens are. If you've been inspired to start creating with these versatile pens, we recommend you get started by trying out one of the many POSCA sets we have available at ARTdiscount.

We'd love to see what you make with POSCA! If you post your work on social media, don't forget to tag it with #ColouringTheNation so that we can see your art!

Check Out the Uni-ball POSCA Collection