Pentel Brush Pens—Variety and Use

Above: Quick Sketch (television actor) made in a Fabiano Venezia 9 x 12 inch journal using a pigmented fine-tipped Color Brush pen from Pentel. (And attacking the lines immediately with a waterbrush.) Click on the image to view an enlargement.

Besides the fabulous Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, Pentel makes several other brush pens—some with pigmented inks, some with dye-based inks. Some of the inks are water-soluble, others aren't.

I get questions all the time from students about all these pens. When I first started blogging in 2008 one of my early product reviews (in 2009) was a comparison of the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen and the Pentel Color Brush Pen.

Students were using a black Color Brush and wondering why they weren't getting the same results I was getting when I used a Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.

There are so many factors involved in getting repeatable results, so many variables that alter our artistic outcomes (variables with tools and materials, not even method and approach). It's nice to know at the beginning which tool you'll have the best chance of success with, for a certain effect.

Because of that, and because I have in the past several months, over the summer and fall, been playing with many more brush pens than my usual standby the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen, I wrote the lengthy post "RozWoundUp: Pentel Brush Pens—Which Are Which and What Type of Inks do They Hold?"

You can see the full discussion of the Pentel family of brush pens at that link. I include photos of the packaging used at the stores in my area (packaging my differ in your area).

If you don't have time or inclination to dive into the entire examination of these pens the brief breakdown is this:

•Pentel likes to use Color Brush in the names for several different pens, that look similar, but contain different inks (some pigmented and some dye-based and fugitive).

•Read the labels and if you want lightfastness go for pigmented inks.

•Realize that pigmented inks in Pentel Brush pens are probably not going to be water-soluble. However, I've had great luck working quickly and then working over lines with a waterbrush—all while working on heavily sized paper upon which the ink floats long enough for me to dilute it.

•Realize that the fun factor is high in brush pens even if they are filled with dye-based, fugitive inks. If you enjoy using such a pen and it gets you to sketch all the time, by all means keep using it, keep sketching, and just remember to scan all your finished art and treat the digital files as your originals—and back up your digital files.

Brush pens should be an essential part of your drawing practice—they are just too much fun. They help us see mass quickly, make graceful (and sometimes not so graceful) lines, help us edit details to essentials, and aid us in seeing pattern and design. They help some artists to speed up, and slow other artists down. They really are that versatile.

With so many choices available it's time you started testing some of them out.

Pen Tests...favorite tools

Many of us are on a never-ending hunt for the Perfect Drawing Tool...and for some of us that means a fountain pen, with it's ready supply of ink.

A lot of us use a Lamy Safari or Vista (which is clear but the same pen!)--with the charcoal nib rather than the steel one, they're smooth and dependable.  (If you want to replace the nib, it's EASY, and you can get replacement nibs from several sources, including JetPens.  Here's one of the many tutorials for replacing the nib.)

 
This one's a favorite of mine, a Waterman Phileas--it's dependable and sturdy, and almost never skips--when it does, it's usually the paper's fault, not the pen's!  I've gotten these for a reasonable amount on eBay, and one was a STEAL, complete with a converter.  They also come in cobalt blue, red marble, and other colors...

NICE pen.  Interestingly, the Lexington Gray ink looks almost black with the Phileas, much grayer with the Lamy--a difference in how they deliver the ink or how the nib is designed, I believe.

Here, I've tested a variety of nibs--click on the image if you want to see them better!    I've tested out the Lamy Joy nib, too, which you can also find at JetPens--if you already have a Lamy, this may be the way to go, just replace the nib.  New Joy pens can be found for a reasonable amount, though--try Googling!

Our friends and blog correspondents Liz Steel (Interview # 2 on this blog) Alissa Duke (Interview #7) have both had good success with the Joy nib, thank you for the recommendations!

I have a lovely, flexible antique waterman pen which unfortunately likes to leak and clog...you can see that the Joy nib somewhat approximates the thick and thin lines though with a bit more if a mechanical effect.  (Now if I could just get hold of one of Noodler's new Flex pens correspondent Nina Johansson--our Interview # 10!-- mentioned on her blog--but they're out of stock till mid-May.)

Finally, you can see a quick sketch done with the Joy nib, Noodler's Lexington Gray ink, and watercolor washes...FUN.

Let us know what YOUR favorite pen is...