Top 10 Fountain Pens for Drawing (2022 Edition)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ต.ค. 2022
- Pen Friends, it is that time again!
In this video, I’m showing off a new look, and a pen display box that I am loving!
Check it out here:
amzn.to/3QBIUrD
I saw this as a perfect opportunity to showcase my top 10 pens for drawing. I made a rubric to “grade” my pens, which you can check out here:
bit.ly/PenGrade
Hope you enjoy, and hope we spark a cool conversation in the comments!
Some of my links are affiliate links. I get a commission at no cost to you. You know the drill. Help me buy more pens :)
Thanks! Please subscribe to my channel if you like what you see!
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You can also connect to me and find me on other social media platforms through my website:
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Contents:
00:00 introduction
Music attribution:
Local Elevator by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/...
Source: incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: incompetech.com/
Not sure why, but my cat found this video to be mesmerizing. I put it on to listen to while I doodled, and she watched the whole thing very intensely. 😊
Tell your cat I said hi.
Under weather....will come back to watch.....pretty excited.....
Hope you feel better. I could use some rest myself.
@@stepheninks thanks:) right at the start of inktober...and your new video.....this cold has terrible timing just terrible.....
Hope you are able to get a little rest even if it is just for a day....
Congrats on the new camera! It's a nice improvement!
Lovely pen case too. :)
Thanks to your video, I have added the Muji pen to my cart. I don't have all the pens you listed, but I have the Pilot Kakuno, Twsbi Eco, and the Sailor PGS (thanks to your recommendations). They're all great pens. I think Sailor is my favorite so far, followed by Kakuno. The Twsbi Eco works great, but I find it slightly bulky so Kakuno has the slight edge there. I have a Platinum 3776 arriving mid October so I'm quite excited about that. I'm tempted to add the Hongdian Black Forest fude nib to my list as well.
If you can, go straight to the Fude nib and don’t even bother with the extra fine. The extra fine is okay, but the Fude is a game changer! Hooray for Muji! Now that I’ve said out loud how much I like it, I guess I have to get on the video for that one. Coming soon!
@@stepheninks Yep, I would just get the fude nib!
Looking forward to your Muji video! :)
Great content my friend! I love my Pilot Kakuno. It actually writes much better than some of my $50-$100+ pens. It feels cheap, but writes like ice on ice.
Agreed! If only Pilot made converters that matched the quality of their pens.
Great review Stephen! Other than the TWSBI ECO (which ranks very highly on my list), and the PenBBS456 (which is also pretty darned great), I don't have any of the pens you mention. I'l have to track some of them down, and try them. Thanks for the recommendations!
With the exception of the Muji pen, there are long form videos of all these pens on my channel. Check them out!
@@stepheninks I certainly will! You and I cover similar stuff (fountain pens from an artist's perspective) and I like to keep track of my competition/colleagues.:) A rising tide lifts all boats, so keep up the good work!
Very cool selection! Have a lovely Autumn, Sir. 🍁🙂🍂
Thanks, you too!
Loved this video! Will you please show us how you organise your pens in this box?
That would be an interesting subject for a short!
New camera is quite an improvement!
We’d to wait 2 years until the lockdown was over before we managed to get our Muji pen from Singapore, that really tested our patience 😅 great workhorse pen
That is quite a long time to wait. I still think the Muji is worth it, even if I had to wait even longer!
surprised to see a Muji pen sitting at the top of the list! very lovely selection you have! although I will move kakuno to the front of the list because I use injected cartridges on it :)
Fair. But let’s see if we can humiliate Pilot into designing a better converter. That would definitely bump the Kakuno’s stats right up.
@@stepheninks exactly, bullying is caring :P
Great channel, thanks!
Thanks!
I still don't get what people dislike about the pilot converters. I think they're fine but each to their own.
I love the muji pen It's such a great writer. Personally I love drawing with a 1.1 stub so I was surprised to not see any on here.
I'm also a big brush fountain pen person and find them fun to use. I don't know if you've tried any but would definitely check out a kuretake (takes a platinum converter) cool video!!
I have 3 Kuretake pens, and I hope to put together a video comparing them soon.
I think my issue with Pilot converters is the low ink capacity compared to other converters. The con-40 is really small for some reason, and even then, it doesn’t fill completely. The con-70 looks promising, but I have never been able to get it to fill more than halfway. It’s not as if they don’t work, but they don’t work as well as they could, which is frustrating because Pilot pens are pretty consistently awesome.
Of course, on this channel, I criticize products, not people. You’re free to feel any kind of way about Pilot converters as you like, and a contrary opinions add value to this channel. Thanks for your comment!
I was considering buying a penbbs and a different nib to change it or a lamy but my categories scores really were the same as yours. Im really leaning into buying a penbbs and purchising some nibs now.. 👍😂🖖
Glad I could help! I’m thinking I need to revisit this subject for this year. I have new favorites.
Pilot used to make a CON-50, and they were GREAT. I was lucky enough to buy a bunch of them when I got my first set of Pilot Parallel pens. They seat firmly and don't leak, they hold a substantial amount of ink, and their piston is reliable and smooth. Everyone who owns Parallel pens has been scratching their heads for nearly a decade as to why they stopped making the CON-50.
Luckily, the Parallels can be converted easily to eye-dropper fill, so you don't really need a converter, but most other Pilot pens can't be eye-droppered...
I have heard the legend of the con-50. Sadly, that converter was no longer with us when I began my fountain pen journey. I can only dream of it.
In the past year I acquired a King of Pen (half price on Amazon). Now I need a specific, positive reason to use any other pen instead, basically a thinner or thicker line needed. All hail the King!
Someday maybe I’ll own one of those… in the meantime, I’ll have to be satisfied with the 50+ lowly serf pens that I own.
@@stepheninks OTOH, you could buy my pen but I cannot buy your skill.
@@ichirofakename I’ll trade you. I’ll get one of those basketballs from Space Jam.
I just started drawing with fountain pens and have an Opus 88 fine flex nib that I really love! I find the eye dropper filling to be easy and it’s nib is smooth and pretty consistent. The capacity is its biggest plus. Only problem is that it’s not fine enough. I bought an EF but still it’s pretty heavy. Have any suggestions for a EF or F that has a big capacity?
I see a few things in what you’ve described that may but the issue with the line width. First of all, eye dropper pens are usually heavy flow pens, due to the fact that gravity is the force that expels the ink out of the pen. A lot of the hardware in other types of pens tends to slow it down, resulting in a more predictable flow. For that reason, an eye dropper is going to be a thicker line by default.
Also, flex nibs are notoriously heavy liners, even when advertised as “fine” or “soft fine,” because the nib tines wear, degrade, and become more flexible the more you use them. Some people love their flex nibs and their eyedroppers, but those qualities are dealbreakers for me.
The finest extra fine nibs in the industry are made by Pilot, Platinum, and Sailor, with a close second (the others tied for first) to Faber Castell (in my opinion). The thing is, not many of those companies make pens beyond the cartridge/converter setup, so their ink capacities are limited. Pilot does make the Custom 823, and the Custom Heritage 92, but those both hit at about the 200USD mark. Not super affordable, and unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with either of those pens.
You may find that a smaller capacity with a Japanese Extra Fine works okay, since the thinner lines automatically mean that you use up your pen’s capacity much slower. If you go that route, I recommend trying something like the Pilot Kakuno (budget), or the Platinum 3776 (expensive) in Extra fine. You may however, he more interested in capacity, and might not mind if the lines are a little bit thicker as long as you can get the ink capacity you want. In that case, I would recommend trying something like the TWSBI Diamond 580 ALR, or the PenBBS 456, both of which have ef nibs available (though I think you would need to order the Penbbs ef nib extra, at about 6 USD). An extreme budget option would be the Wing Sung 3008. The line is a bit thicker (more like a Japanese FIne, than an extra fine), but it is actually a more reliable pen than my TWSBI Eco, which I have stopped recommending, due to quality control issues. Hope these recommendations help.
@@stepheninks thank you so much for your reply and the information! There is just so much to learn when starting out drawing with fountain pens! I believe the line will trump capacity if I have to give on one or the other. Nothing I’ve bought so far is giving me the fine line I want so I will certainly check out the brands you suggested. Thank you again for all the information! It was very helpful!
@@mdesutter1 If you want to dip your feet into Japanese Extra fines, you can also check out the Platinum Preppy, which comes in both fine and extra fine. That was my first fountain pen, and it's a nice, clean extra fine line!
@@stepheninks thank you! I will check it out!
I’ve struggled a bit with my Sailor fude. An artist I follow on TH-cam used a Duke d2. Are you familiar with this pen? I couldn’t find a converter listed for it and wonder if you have to use cartridges. I was impressed by your description of the Platinum 3776 so I might give it a try. Thanks for a great review. Have you considered doing drawing tutorials? Or ink and watercolor tutorials?
I have heard of that pen, but I don’t know anything about it. A lot of Chinese pens use standard international cartridges, so that would be a good bet. If you have a Jinhao pen, you could try using it’s converter in your Duke pen to see if that works.
I’ve been told that the Sailor Fude (the green one at least) has a higher angle which some people find uncomfortable. I also have a Fude nib on my HongDian Black Forest, and I prefer it. I looked at it up close on my pen cleaning video on this channel, and it’s definitely a lower angle.
I would love to do tutorials some time, but I wonder if I have skills that people want, or if they would rather learn from a more polished artist (of which this platform has many). I did recently learn that my nephew (he’s 7) watches my videos to get ideas for drawings. I might try a few out, just to give him something to play around with. Who knows? 2023 may bring a bunch of different things to this channel :) thanks for watching.
@@stepheninks thanks for the info. I didn’t know about universal converters. I don’t have that duke pen was just considering it. I’m pretty new to fountain pens. I have the Lamy Safari and the Sailor Fude. I bought a Noodlers flex nib pen recently but it blew up this morning when I unscrewed it. Probably operator’s error but it went into the trash. I like the idea of making varied lines with one pen. I think your are right about the Sailor (green one) being too bent. Especially for a newbie.
@@Coco-ne5ix I also disliked the Noodlers pens that I own. For varying line weights, my favorite fountain pen nib so far has been the Fude, but I like the one that HongDian makes better. Sailor and Lamy make their own converters, so they don’t have the standard international converters. Some pen companies that use standard international are Jinhao, Faber Castell, Kaweco, and Hero. A really good standard international converter is made by Schmidt. You can find them for pretty cheap on Amazon.
By the way, I did a little research, and found out that Duke uses standard international. Hope that helps :)
@@stepheninks Thanks again for the info. Can you recommend a fude pen to replace my Sailor?
HongDian Black Forest? Or a different style?
Is there both an aluminum & a brass MUJI? Amazon shows that but not sure if it’s a mistake.
I have not heard of a brass Muji pen, but I know the Black Forest from HongDian comes in brass. Maybe it’s a mistake listing from a third party seller?
What kind of converter can the Muji pen use? Also, I tried looking for the PBS 496 on Amazon in Germany and it's not there. However, they sell the 494, is it similar/just as good? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
The Muji pen uses a standard international converter. Lots of companies make them, but mine has a Schmidt converter in it, if you want specifics.
If you’re looking for the PenBBS pen that I used in the video, you will be looking for the 456, I am not familiar with a model number 496, or 494.
Actually, I did include an Amazon link in this video because that is where I bought the pen from, but Amazon isn’t the best market for PenBBS. You might try to see if you can access their stores on EBay or Etsy, where I understand they have international shipping. You can also find @beini_zheng on Instagram and ask her. She runs the online shop for the brand, and might be able to let you know how to get one in Germany.
@@stepheninks Thank you for the info. It’s very helpful.
After watching it, I am surprised that the picasso 916 is at the top consider me surprised ( might get one after this, but am somewhat burnt out on fountain pens atm). Can't wait for the Muji one, I stayed away from it thinking it is overrated, I'll wait for your reviews as a fellow lefthanded user to think about it.
Also, Delike is a sub brand of Moonman/Majohn. The reason there is confusion is because on some moonman/majohn pens that uses no5 nibs, they have delike nibs installed in them (usually these are wooden pens), all of this is based on my reading through taobao listings and my own enjoyment of delike brass pens . Also, that model you have is the delike HyunYuan, there is a longer version which is similar to the kaweco supra and is called Delike element. The element is way superior imo, though I like both equally.
I appreciate the info about Moonman/Delike. I looked everywhere for that, but couldn’t find it. I knew there was a connection, but it was weird.
The fun thing about the process on creating this list was such that the Picasso was a surprise to me too. It’s really a great pen, but it it flies under the radar because it’s just not too flashy. This was a fun concept to bring about!
1. I like my Muji well enough, but prefer 3 other pens with the same basic design. Same benefits in nicer pens:
Lamy CP1
Faber-Castell Neo Slim
TiLiner (in your preferred metal, aluminum, brass, or titanium)
They are all thin, smooth metallic cylinders.
2. Nibwise, I like Sailor's 21k. For me it is the perfect line-making machine.
3. Earlier today I was thinking all you really need is a fude. Mine happens to be on a Sailor Young Profit, but every fude I've ever used was great.
3. I'm intrigued by your description of the 3776, as recently I've felt that a reliable dry pen gives the most control. I better do some research...
1: I don’t have any of those pens. My wallet is about to get lighter.
2: The 21ks are on which pens? I want to try them!
3: Yes to fude 1,000x. I do, however, like using straight solid line machine is a specific mood. I feel the same way about brush pens. Like them, and they can do everything, but I don’t want every pen to be them.
4: Everything Platinum is, in my experience, on the dry side in a good way. Some other brands are excessively dry in a bad way, but Platinum seems to strike a nice balance.
@@stepheninks 21k nibs come on the Pro Gear, the 1911L, the KOP, and occasional special editions of the Pro Gear Slim and 1911S.
I have the Black Forest with a regular fude nib and like it better than the Sailor with the bigger handle fude. Just noting 😊
Greetings from Canada 👋👋👋
Hi!
Great video!!!! On the muji pen, do you use the EF or F?
It’s an F. I didn’t even realize Muji made an EF
@@stepheninksthey only make F
Where do you buy jinhaos?
Usually on Amazon, but I have found them on Aliexpress and Goulet pens before.
Aww yeah, it's been a while my dude
Yeah I normally publish every 2 weeks. I have a job that’s demanding on my time, so I’d rather put out less content that I like better than just churning it out to meet some recommended schedule. I appreciate your patience. I think this one’s is going to be a good one!
I find the Penbbs 456 to be a frustrating pen. It's the only one I own that skips and hard starts or simply refuses to draw. As a writer it's ok but drawing it feels like a pen that'll only do what it wants rather than allow me to make the marks/lines I want like so many other pens I own do. Rather underwhelming for me but I hate letting a pen go unused so it's my daily writer instead of an art pen.
That’s a bummer. If you would rather, you can switch out the 456 for a cartridge converter pen in the Penbbs lineup, and my feelings would be the same. Especially true of the 308.
Quick question: do you unscrew the blind cap on the back of the pen when you use it? I had those same problems with my first PenBBS 456, and once I started unscrewing the cap, my flow issues were pretty much gone. From what I understand, this is a quirk that applies to all vac-fill pens.
@@stepheninks I've tried that and it helps somewhat but still not how I'd like.
Ive seemed to have resolved it by taking it completely apart and applying silicon to the piston/plunger contraption.
@@gunsmokeandghouls That helps. Those pens are certainly a high-maintenance bunch, compared to your average cartridge-converter type.
If Karas is claiming that the Starlight XL is coated with CeraKote, but that finish scratches easily as you say, I'd SERIOUSLY doubt they are using real CeraKote.
CeraKote is an industry standard for high-durability coatings, and is the most common kind of paint used for custom firearms, specifically BECAUSE of it's amazing resistance to scratches, heat, and staining. If these pen scratch easily, either they aren't using real CeraKote paint, or they are applying it incorrectly, or in a method other than the certified method recommended by CeraKote. Real CeraKote is supposed to be applied by spraying on in light layers, and baked on at high temperature. If they don't heat-cure it, it will scratch and wear like ordinary spray paint...
If I were to guess which of the two it is, I think it’s probably the latter. Their other cerakote pens are sold much more expensive. They might be skipping a step. The texture is about the same as my matte finish Majohn A1, which is a very scratchable pen.
No Pilot makes fantastic converters, Sailor makes garbagr converers which is why I hardly buy sailor pens.
I’ll say this: Pilot converters are well constructed. Sailor less so. However, the con-40 has almost no ink capacity, and the con-70 barely fills halfway no matter what you do. Sailor has one of my favorite qualities of a converter, in that you can take it apart completely, for cleaning and lubrication. I much prefer the converters of Paltinum, which also do that (event though they are almost criminally expensive).
Excellent video. It's so confusing. I'm new to fountain pens so don't want to invest a lot.
I k ow the feeling. If you’re looking for pens to do art like what I do, I think this video is a good start point. I know there are a lot of other fountain pen TH-camrs with similar videos too, so look out for people making lines like the ones that you want to make. There’s something for every budget.
HURRAH!!! Black Forest Fude makes the Rubik cut!!!!!!🦄🤘🤘🤘🤘
Was there ever any doubt?
Long winded
Cool.
Oh. My. GOD! 10 mins of waffling before getting to the point.... dude....
I don’t know if explaining my thought process counts as “waffling,” but there’s a skip button if you just want the highlights…dude.
You’re a little dramatic, a little impatient, and a little lazy for not being willing to lift your finger and slide forward instead of complaining.