For the past year, I acquired and tested new pens and art supplies that piqued my interest!
Many are impulse purchases, but I have found select pens that I want to stick in my utility belt of drawing tools! I have links to Jet Pens and Blick Art Supplies so you can get these pens for yourself!
Pilot Varsity Disposable Fountain Pen Medium Nib
I impulse purchased a Pilot Varsity Pen and give it a shot. At first, it feels not as smooth as my older Pilot Metropolitan Pen, but like most nibs you need to sketch in it for a bit to get the ink flowing and flex the nib.
With it’s small round nib, you can draw thin even lines. It’s a good starter fountain pen for anyone who also wants to learn how to write and draw with a portable nib pen but don’t want to spent a bunch on a more expensive pen.
Pilot Prera Clear Body Fountain Pen Medium Italic Nib
When you’re ready to spend more on a refillable fountain pen, I recommend the Pilot Prera. I have both a Fine and a Medium Italic Nib which I took this Medium Italic Nib Pen for a spin on a 5×8 Stillman and Birn Zeta Sketchbook.
The Prera is smooth to draw with, as I was expecting horrible paper scratching with the other disposable, refillable fountain pens I’ve used. The pen itself feels tiny in my giant hands without the cap, but I’m always going to have the cap, so it’s not a dealbreaker.
The ink flow is great with little dry strokes. The pen also come with it’s own converter for refilling ink! These days, I’m refilling with Pilot Iroshizuku Take-sumi Ink left over from using my Metropolitan.
This pen fits the bill for my need for a portable nib, and it should be a fine drawing companion with my Kuretake Brush Pen.
Kuretake No. 13 Fountain Brush Pen
The Kuretake Brush Pen passes my litmus test of being able to draw in my cramped workspace.
Despite similar sized synthetic bristles, the brush feels springier than my Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. Maybe the older Pocket Brush has had more use or I’m using fountain pen ink verses Pentel’s refills
Molowtow Blackliner Brush Markers and Pen
I was curious about Molotow pens since I see other inkers use this pen and I like how dark the blacks are on it. I tried the Molowtow Brush Markers and a 0.5 mm Blackliner on one of my older ink drawings with interesting results.
The difference of the the black ink to my other alcohol markers blows me away. Plus, it doesn’t bleed through the pages of my Stillman and Brin sketchbook. These pens might be a game changer for me.
Olo Markers
What attracted me to buying the Olo Alcohol Markers from an Instagram ad to try out is that they’re half markers that can combine with a screw attachment that comes with any pair of markers. One can mix and match colors and detach to smaller individual markers for portability!
I first purchased Black, Red Grey, Warm Grey and Cool Grey. If you want to press further, Olo has an varied lineup of colors to choose from!
As half markers means that they’re half price compared to Copics. If you’re looking for a cheaper starting set of Alcohol Markers to invest in, I recommend Olo Markers!
Conclusion
Many artists say bad crafters blame their tools, but my counterpoint is how will you know what art you want to make if you don’t know what tools you like to use? Ever since I draw more pages in my comics, I’ve taken a liking to learning about inking and how to use my pens better. So I like exploring cool pens that look interesting to use. Perhaps in this list you’ll find something that will peak your fancy.