What are your favorite pens to draw with?
#1
Since I'm working through the Draw a Box course right now, I'm drawing with fineliners a lot. I've found that I rely enjoy drawing with pens! It sounds funny, but I found that trading pencils for a medium I can't erase actually increased my confidence. Ink forced me to make a bold statement and accept making mistakes, rather than try to avoid them by drawing really lightly and erasing a lot.

Asides from that, pen drawings just look freaking cool. I want to draw more with ink, and I want to try different kinds of pens and eventually markers. So what varieties of pens and markers do you guys and gals like? I'm open to all kinds of suggestions. :-) 

This is what I'm thinking about so far:
  • For fineliners I'm using the Staedtler pigment liners, nothing really special here, but they work. I also really like the Fabr-Castell Pitt pens (I find that Staedtler makes products that work fine, and Fabr-Castell makes things that are just a bit fancier and higher quality). I am thinking of trying some other varieties like the Sakura Pigma Microns. If you have any suggestions about the best varieties I'd love to hear them.
  • Fineliners run dry far to fast. :/ I was thinking of switching disposables out for something like the Copic Multiliner SP pens, which are refillable and renibbable (not really a word, lol). Is it worth it?
  • Feng Zhu mentions something called a hybrid pens, like the Hi Tec Cs he uses, that have waterproof ink like fineliners with a ball tip. I definitely want to try these. They are harder to find in the states, but I can obtain them from Jetpens.
  • I would like to try a classic technical pen (the kind with a metal tip that takes ink from a bottle). Something like the Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph. They are pricey, but I might end up using them enough.
  • I want a brush pen. In particular I want the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, which Scott Robertson uses in this video. I'm thinking of using it as a reward for when I finish Dynamic Sketching!
  • Eventually, I want some Copic markers. Not sure how to start a collection–I guess I should start with a set of grays? These too are a bit more pricey, but look totally worth it.
So yeah, I want to build up a big pile of pens and markers just like Feng Zhu had on his table in that traditional tools vid. :P I just love drawing with that permanent ink. I know that I don't really need any fancy tools to learn, but it is fun to try out different things.

But what pens and markers do you like to draw with? Is there anything ink-based you've used that you really enjoy to use? Please share all your thoughts!

BTW–what about calligraphy pens? I found this marker marked "Zig Memory Systems" and "Calligraphy" that has two neat chisel tips, one large and one small, on each end of the pen. You can see them here. I'm going to try it out and see what can be done. It is kind of neat to be able to go from a very thin to a very broad line. Have any of you used pens like this?

I guess in the end it comes down to trying out whatever you can get your hands on and seeing what you like!

"Drawing is a skill like hammering a nail. You might not be great at it yet, but there is nothing stopping you from gettin' down and hammering away." -Irshad Karim

Sketchbook!
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What are your favorite pens to draw with? - by Mechanizoid - 07-15-2016, 08:26 PM
Orange Pekoe - by Orange Pekoe - 03-17-2017, 06:36 AM

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