Finding the perfect fountain pen for drawing - my favourites tested.
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- čas přidán 22. 07. 2024
- A fountain pen can bring a lot of character to your sketching style - but which one is best?
Here's a short journey through a few of my favourites, with tips about what to look out for in a pen. Also, there's a clever pen mod at the end :)
Pens tested...
Copic Multiliner (control)
Jinhao X450
Dip Pen
Noodlers Ahab
Rotring Art Pen (BB Nib)
Duke 209 ('Fude' nib and Pilot Parallel pen body)
Ink - De Atramentis Document Ink. Black.
Do let me know if you have any great ideas about what pen might suit me.
If you really, really enjoyed this and would like to perhaps have a sketch, I've just set up a Patreon account and will be randomly giving away drawings to the patrons...
Patreon: / stefanmarjoram
Instagram: / stefan.marjoram
Facebook: / stefanmarjoramart
Website: stefanmarjoram.com
Prints: www.etsy.com/uk/shop/StefanMa... - Jak na to + styl
Great video. I lost my Ahab last year - that's the only problem with fountain pens is they are very easy to lose, and very easy to disappear into pockets. Saying that my husband dropped his Mont Blanc in a taxi in Cornwall a few years ago, and the taxi driver phoned him to let him know he had found it. He even drove it to where we were staying - he got a huge tip out of that!
What a lovely taxi driver. The world needs more of this sort of thing :)
@@StefanMarjoram Certainly does!
laughed out loud after your Dip Pennnnnnargh... 😆😆😆 Thank you for the video, it was really very helpful. 😘
Thanks for the feedback. I shall have to do an update as I've been having a lot of fun experimenting with some fountain pens that can take dip pen nibs - take a look at the Ackerman Pen :)
Wow! what a coincidence! i also just bought the same fountain pen as yours. Very informative, thank you 😁
Lovely calm presentation. Great info and comparisons. Thank you!
Thank you for the nice comment. A lot of people mention I sound calm - some even that I'm like Bob Ross - haha!
Thank you! This is super useful!
This was a wonderfully informative video. Thank you for posting
So glad you found it useful! I’ve since got a couple of interesting new pens - I’ll have to do a part 2 :)
Great video, i want to point out everyone who want to use fountain pen for drawing ,dont use cheap ink from economy packets, dry within pen and wants continusly cleaning, i use waterman and lamy for lamy pens, every good brand quality ink for this pens will do.
Interesting! It's definitely been my experience with the DeAtrementis ink.
I'm considering buying my first fountain pen; so it was helpful to see the kinds of marks different nibs can make. Thanks.
I'd like to be able to go from very fine to very bold with the same nib; looks like your Rotring Art Pen or a Fude nib might be my best option.
Have fun experimenting! Thankfully there are a few good budget options available so you can test the waters without it costing too much.
Hello!
I like the Honest recommendation and sure I will order several of them )),
Thanks for helping and sharing the experience,
Appreciate!)
Glad you found it useful. You can never have too many pens :)
Top shelf video. I found it helpful. Looking to get a fountain pen to sketch with and this is a good visual as to what is out there. Thank you
Terrific! Really pleased you found it useful. I need to do an update as I've recently discovered some fountain pens that will take flexible dip pen nibs :)
@@StefanMarjoram I will gladly wait for that video.
Thank you for this - I found it so useful!
Excellent! That's great to hear :)
definitely buying the Rotring Art pen :D thank you!!
Great, it’s a lovely pen! You might find it tricky to find the BB nib. Good luck!
Sadly, Rotring decided to stop making the Artpen quite a while ago..
Lamy however DO make a new "Artpen" style pen called the Lamy Joy. I like the ordinary Lamy Safari pen for drawing as do a couple of my ex students that are now illustrators - might just give the "Joy" a try and it's not too expensive.
So helpful thank you so much 😊
Happy to be of service Amanda!
Wow, I also like to draw with fountain pen. Your video helped me a lot~^^
Great! Do you have a favourite?
Very cool
Thanks!
Great video. Simple and useful. Thank you 😊
Thanks Iain - simple and useful is what I'm aiming for :)
@@StefanMarjoram of course, I do now hold you responsible for me ordering a BB ArtPen 😆 can't wait to try it out 🙂
@@iaindavidson7354 I'm amazed you managed to find one!
@Stefan Marjoram yeah, a used one obviously but hopefully it'll be ok. It was a lucky find.
I've bought a few fountain pens so far looking for a good drawing one and I'm seeing this can be an expensive proposition. Recommendations for good and inexpensive options are appreciated. Thank you!
Don't despair - there are plenty of good cheap pens available. The Duke 209 with a Fude bent nib is $10, the disposable Pilot V pen can be refilled with a syringe, or perhaps you can find a relative or friend who has an old pen they no longer use :)
searching for a pen. nice video
Hope you find a good one!
Try A Sailors 50 degrees Fude pen. They are brilliant with lots of variety in Line, and relatively cheap. They also have a long body.
Thanks for the excellent suggestion. I do actually have a Sailor's Fude pen - a green one. It's very broad - which would be great for larger work - but you do have to tilt it quite far to get the finer lines. I think I saw somewhere that it comes in two different angles? Perhaps I got the steeper version.
Looking for a permanent black that flows and dries like Mont Blanc but resists clogging. Something new to try...
I'm not an expert but was very impressed with those two :)
I tried a fountain pen for the first time last night (just some random Chinese one I bought off Amazon) and it was instantly apparent how much better the line quality was than the uniliners I've been using for years.
Might check out a couple of the ones you showed once I get a better feel for how to use it.
That's great! I'm sure you'll enjoy trying a few more out. I've just ordered an Ackerman pen (another that uses dip pen nibs). Looks like I'll have to do an update to this film soon :)
@@StefanMarjoram Sorry to bug you, but could you recommend a good brand of nib holder for the dip pen? Have you used the Ackerman before?
After a bit of experimentation I've found the nibs constantly fall out of the cheap one I've got, but all the Amazon reviews I'm seeing for other options report the same issue...
@@RobDrawsPictures when you say nib holder do you mean the basic wooden or plastic stick that you slot the nib into? I’m no expert but I haven’t had problems with nibs falling out. One mistake I remember making was trying to fit the nib into the cross shaped slot in the centre - that won’t hold it well. The nib slots between the metal and the wood or plastic. It’s hard to describe. The Ackerman and my new Desiderata pen are slightly different in that they are fountain pens which can use dip pen nibs. They have a feed and you fill the barrel with ink - so no dipping :)
@@StefanMarjoram Yeah I basically just want one exactly like the wooden one you used in the video (I remember using them in art class maaaany years ago, too) but for some reason I can't turn them up on Amazon; it's all the same plastic knock-off ones I've already got.
I've ordered a 'Tachikawa' one in the meantime, which seems to be a reputable brand, so hopefully it goes well!
@@RobDrawsPictures The wooden one is by Lyra - but it's just the same as the unbranded plastic ones in practice. I'll see if I can show you how the nib fits in - will send a picture on instagram.
I have only 2 fountain pens so far, a Kaweco Parkeo and a Lamy safari, one is fine and the other is medium, and I like using them to draw because it's very annoying to have to dip the dip pens in ink all the time. But I also draw with fineliners and technical pens, and even ballpoints (Ohto Orizon, Mitsubishi edge 0.38, and Staedtler Mars draft)
Thanks for commenting! I find that although I have quite a few pens, I nearly always use just one :) Since this film I have experimented with some fountain pens that use dip pen nibs. They can be great but are generally a little less user friendly than a stainless nabbed mass produced fountain pen. I'll have to do a follow up :)
Please text the name of the document black ink . Your video on fountain pens is the very BEST. Thank you
So glad you liked it - thanks! The ink is De Atramentis Document Ink. I can't find it in the UK any more - so have been using Platinum Carbon ink - which seems to work just as well :)
You might be interested in a guider desk pen with an FPR ultra flex nib. It has that longer barrel shape like the Rotring and the ultra flex nib should be easier to flex than the noodler's ahab.
Thanks! Never heard of one of those - it sounds perfect. Will check it out - and hope it's not one of those super duper expensive pens :)
@@StefanMarjoram I also use an FPR Himalaya with a steel ultra flex nib. It's the closest I"ve seen in performance to a dip pen, but it's not super expensive either! I got mine for sale for about $30 bucks. Amazing pen.
@@ckmoore Thanks - will definitely take a look. Mostly seem to be doing pencil sketches at the moment but hope to get back to ink soon :)
I would love to hear about your favorite paper for ink. I would like to do some urban sketching. What paper would you use? Thank you
Finding the perfect paper is has hard as finding the perfect pen - and a lot of it comes down to personal preference. I really like smooth paper for drawing and mostly use sheets of Bristol board (perfect for ink). This is quite thick (250gsm) but you can occasionally find sketchbooks with it in. Derwent do some nice A5 books with nice 165gsm smooth paper and Fabriano Classico 5 FatPads (300gsm) are good too - especially if you're going to add some watercolour. If you want to get the most out of watercolour the proper Hot Press type often comes in a smooth version. But watercolour is most exciting on the rougher paper - but harder to draw on :) Time to experiment with a few I think. Good luck!
Thank you for this video, very informative. Question about the Duke 209 & the Pilot Parallel pens; since the nib on the Pilot Parallel is different does it matter & and will that combination work with other Duke pens such as the Duke 2 Fude nib pen? Additionally, which reservoir/refill do you recommend for the Duke pens? Thank you, Larry
Hi Larry. The Duke nib is still in its original 'section' (the bit of the pen you hold). I just discovered that the barrel had the same thread size as the Pilot Parallel and swapped them over to make a lighter. longer pen :) I refill the original cartridge using a blunt tipped syringe and Platinum Carbon Ink.
@@StefanMarjoram Thank you for your informative response, interesting discovery.
what size nib do you prefer for finer sketches?
As you can see I prefer broader nibs or nibs that can make both thick and thin lines - but the standard Art Pen is nice (could be an F?). The Lamys are nice too. And of course many broader nibs can make a very fine line when used upside down :)
Useful review. I've always enjoyed using dip pens and fountain pens so when I heard about converting Jinhao pens to hold a dip pen nib, I gave that a try. It works but it's fiddly and not ideal. Some people now make fountain pens specifically designed to hold a Zebra-G dip nib but they are not always available in the UK.
Your Duke "Dude" pen seemed promising - hopefully, as this is a 3 yr old video - there might be an update on your use of it?
Glad you found it interesting. I too have experimented with Zebra G and other flexible nibbed pens, with mixed success. I have a the Ackerman, Desiderata Pen Co and a cheap and cheerful Manga Pen from Inkursive on Etsy. I think I have reviewed most of them here. They definitely seem a bit more prone to leaking so that means they mostly live on my desk. Also, some nibs can corrode so need washing and drying after use - which is hardly ideal. The Fude pen is still one of the tools I use the most as it makes lovely marks and ‘just works’. Feels so much better with the long handle too.
@@StefanMarjoram Thank you for the update - I had actually ordered a Sailor Fude pen from Amazon before you replied so it's really positive that you are still using yours.
Seemed to be a lot of artists reviewing the Fude nib very positively there.
I have several boxes of antique dip pen nibs here that I regularly use at home and someday, I might see if I can make a form of (almost) universal fountain pen feed as I find those nibs last a lot longer and don't corrode like the modern ones do!
@@fablewalls The Fude I use most is the Duke 209. I do have a Sailor (the green one) but I find the nib has too steep an angle, so you have to hold it very steeply to get the thin lines. They also do a blue or black one which I think has a shallower angle. For flexible nibs , I’ve heard good things about the ones from Fountain Pen Revolution. Unfortunately the shipping is really expensive for me in the UK.
Hi, thanks for the video. Very useful to see pen reviews from artists. Is that ink, water proof? Have you tried the platinum carbon ink? Does your nib get clogged after using the water proof ink?
The De Atramentis Document ink is waterproof, flows nicely and doesn't seem to clog at all. I can leave a pen unused for a week or so and it will still be fine. I had to buy the Carbon ink last time and it seems equally good.
@@StefanMarjoram thanks for clarifying
What is the nib on your dip pen?
I'm afraid I think it's a vintage one I found in a box of nibs at a flea market.
Hey, do you know ANY nib, that is neither fude nor stub (perfectly if flex) that can write thick upstrokes and thin downstrokes?
Haha, you'll have to ask an expert about that. You would need one that angled the nib towards you. I have some old dip pen nibs that have a 45 degree angle or so. Perhaps there is one with 180?
@@StefanMarjoram could you anyhow give me a picture of how the nib having a 45° angle looks like?
@@user-xf9hb8zo5c Mine looks like fig. D on this image... www.iampeth.com/lesson/demystifying-oblique-penholder
@@StefanMarjoram but they are oblique. Impossible with straight ones?
@@user-xf9hb8zo5c I think you would have to make a holder that can hold the nib at 180 degrees.
What paper is that?
Simple printer paper :)
My very fave drawing pen at the moment is CHEAP at $5 NZD each.... the Schneider Easy FP.... I find them smooth... I keep one loaded with Platinum Carbon and the other with Da Atramentis Archive 🤗🤗🤗 but hmmm... I think I want a Rotring Drawing Pen now as well, I like that bold line 😂
I also use my “disposable one-use” Microns and just refill them with Platinum Carbon or even cheap India ink when they’re empty, they’re waterproof and India ink is cheap and works good 🤗🤗🤗 It’s never clogged... but if they did, so what? You were going to throw the empty pen anyways.... 🤗🤗🤗
Great tips on refilling the Microns - I'm all for making less waste. Cheap pens are often some of the best. I really like the feel of the disposable Pilot fountain pen - but have never bought one because I don't think a fountain pen should be thrown away after one use. If you could take it apart and fill it with some permanent ink it could be a winner :)
@@StefanMarjoram Haha, guess what? You can totally refill the disposable Pilot FPs too! Lots of vids on YT showing you how (or Google) 🤗🤗🤗
@@cazkiwinz4300 No way! I'm going to have to try that. Thanks for the tip!
*cough* Platinum Carbon Desk Pen *cough* :)
That looks very tempting. Have just ordered some Platinum Carbon ink. Probably ought to get the pen to go with it :)
Is not too Clear too much chicken scratch, sorry ,and I know that he his an excellent instructor Zoe
Seems perfectly fine to me, nor do I see any glare.
Hello, the glare on the paper is overwhelming, not so Clare Zoe
Thanks for commenting. Sorry it wasn't perfectly clear. I think in this case the commentary was the important part. But I'll make an effort to get more even lighting in future :)