Three Brush Pens

[Renzhe]

I just bought three brush pens, all less than $2 each. Check them out. (Yes, I know they aren't fountain pens. Dip pens aren't either. Neither are rollerballs or pencils or quills. There are other writing instruments in the world. Don't miss out.)

 

http://i7.tinypic.com/4u28zk4.png

 

From right to left, they are 成才[Cheng Cai] 水性書畫筆 [Watery (?) Writing Brush], ポケット[Pocket] 筆ペン [brush Pen], and Platinum ツイン筆ペン [Twin Brush Pen].

 

So, let's talk about them a little, shall we?

 

First up we have the (what I'll call it for now) Cheng Cai Watery Writing Brush. It's obviously not made to look pretty. It's got stuff printed all over its body, even a barcode. It writes like a brush. Not a good brush, of course; the bristles don't seem to bounce back to a single point after writing something. It's also a bit dry for my tastes. I'm being excessive in my criticism though. It performs as expected for a <$2.00 brush. It isn't as good as this one, which is about the same price. It isn't refillable. Take a look at the sample. I apologise if you find my writing unsatisfactory.

 

http://i18.tinypic.com/62n5rhj.png

 

Next is the Pocket Brush Pen. It's actually not a brush, but a felt tip marker with a soft pointy tip. I did not know that when I bought it. Like the Cheng Cai, this is also ugly. Refer to the writing sample. To the reader, it may look pretty convincing, but it's a pain to the writer. With felt, I need to press harder to get sufficient swells, and it feels like the felt doesn't want to move across the paper if I press hard (like markers squeaking on white boards). I've never needed a paperweight when writing with a brush, but I ended up dragging to paper because of the friction between the felt and the paper. Anyway, it's nothing like a brush. It's not refillable. Writing sample below.

 

http://i13.tinypic.com/5ywba6v.png

 

Finally, the Platinum Twin Brush Pen. This looks like somebody put at least a little effort in making it look pretty…I mean…It's black and there's gold lettering!...Okay it's also ugly. It has two tips, one on each end. One is bigger than the other. It also has a handy clip on one of the caps. Pretty nifty, no? That is until you uncap one of the ends and find that this is also a felt-tipped pen. Same problems as above. I also find it too fat to hold like a brush. The ink is pretty dark though! Writing samples below; big tip on the left, small tip on the right.

 

http://i14.tinypic.com/6gsur6s.png http://i9.tinypic.com/6d0hbg5.png

Edited July 8, 2007 by Renzhe

[jonro]

It looks like your Cheng Cai gives you the best results. Which of these three produces the best strokes?

[Renzhe]

Which of these three produces the best strokes?

It's the Cheng Cai, of course. It's the only real brush.

Edited July 8, 2007 by Renzhe

[nimrod]

I agree that the "fake brush" flexible felt/whatever tip type pens are no good. I recently bought a Sakura Pigma Brush (about $3 in the US) and it's pretty awful. To make things worse the tip seems to fray rather easily as you twist it around trying to write basic strokes. The best thing about it is that I only wasted $3.

 

There was once this pen that I think Sakura made called a "Sumi" (that's what the pen had written on it, in roman letters) that had fake brush tips on both ends of the pen. (One was larger than the other.) It actually worked pretty well as the tips didn't fray and kind of rolled on the paper as you twisted it around, but it seems that they're no longer being made. Art stores in the US actually had them and they just disappeared one day. Perhaps they lost out to newer pens with real brush tips.