Fountain pens for sketching

Three fountain pens came in the mail today that I have been wanting to try for sketching. All three of these pens have the capability to draw from thin to thick lines depending on the pressure, or the angle, at which the nib is used.

1. Kuretake Fountain Brush Pen - from eBay ($8.95). The plastic that the pen is made with has a cheap feel to it, but the real brush (as opposed to a felt tip that is used like a brush) lays down a rich, gushy line. I need some practice, but it is exciting to use this brush to get a quick sketch with fewer details.

7/16/19 Sydney hamster, gestural study. Kuretake Brush Pen with Kuretake black ink.

The black ink cartridge that was included was deep black, and appeared to be water resistant as it did not wash well even when fresh.

7/16/19 Hand #13 Kuretake brush pen, Kuretake black ink.

2. Jinhao X750 with a Fude nib installed - from eBay ($3.56) The eBay description is a calligraphy nib because this nib lays down a thick to thin variable line depending on the angle of the nib to paper. It is used in Chinese calligraphy. I need more practice with this nib also, but I was really happy with the results. The ink goes down very smoothly. Noodler's Lexington Gray ink is water resistant, but if I put a water wash down first, it makes acceptable shadows.

7/16/19 Hand # 14 Jinhao X750 -Fude nib; Noodler's Lexington Gray ink; Artist's Loft journal paper

I have several other Jinhao X450/750 pens. They are metal bodied (brass, I think) pens that I find to be pretty, but too heavy and unbalanced. The nibs are medium width, which is very wet and gushy, so I expected that the feed on a Jinhao X750 would be able to keep up with a fude type nib. I took pictures of the medium nib and the fude nib side by side. The tip of the fude is bent (which gives fude nibs the thick to thin line variability) and does not have the "iridium" tipping ball that I see on the medium nib. Otherwise it looks the same to my eye.

Jinhao fude nib on the left, Jinhao medium nib on the right. The style and lettering are the same.

Jinhao fude nib on the bottom, notice the bend upward and the lack of a balled tip when compared to the Jinhao medium nib on top.

3. Jinhao X750 with a Zebra G flex nib installed. eBay ($4.50) Zebra G dip nibs are popular for drawing Japanese Manga comics. They flex very widely and easily by putting light pressure downward on the nib. I have used these nibs as dip nibs with a holder, and found the spidery thin lines and the wide flex to be great for lettering, but I don't like how frequently I have to dip the nib when using fountain pen ink. There are YouTube videos on how to hack the nib to fit in a Jinhao pen, but my attempts to hack pens have not gone well for me. So I ordered this pen, hoping the wet feed would be able to keep up. The result was initially beautiful, but soon had major railroading (the two track lines) even though I went painfully slow. I will NOT be drawing Manga, or any other sketches, with this pen!

Comparison of Jinhao Fude nib pen with Jinhao Zebra G Nib pen. Noodler's Lexington Gray ink in fude, Diamine Oxblood ink in Zebra G. Notice the railroading in the word "Zebra". Rhodia #16 paper.