Pilot Justus As Sketching Pen?

[requiescat]

Hello--has anyone used the Pilot Justus for sketching? You know, when you're on the go and you're trying to grab a quick sketch of someone who might be about to move soon, so you're using (e.g.) fast sweeping lines? I'm asking because I have a number of fountain pens that are great for writing but either become scratchy when used at speed, or the feeds just can't keep up inkwise. The adjustable softness sounds like it could be fun, but I am hesitant to buy the pen without knowing more about its behavior.

[Keyless Works]

Based on what I have read about the Justus pen, the adjustable nib is a bit more of a gimmick than a valuable feature.

 

Look here:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/245283-pilot-justus-95-m-nib-lined-guilloche/

[requiescat]

Based on what I have read about the Justus pen, the adjustable nib is a bit more of a gimmick than a valuable feature.

 

Look here:

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/245283-pilot-justus-95-m-nib-lined-guilloche/

Good to know--thanks! Maybe I should stick with my Waterman 52V wet noodle. It's a lot of fun to sketch with. The only thing "wrong" with it is that it's clipless and vanishes into the ginormous slots of my Franklin-Christoph Penvelope 6! (I usually use a much, er, smaller pen case for it...)

[heymatthew]

I have the Justus 95 and I really love it. I haven't used it for sketching yet, but I could give it a shot (I'm not much of a sketch artist). What I will tell you is that the Fine-nibbed Justus 95 does offer up a pretty significant difference in feel between the Soft and Hard settings. With the nib set to hard, it's darn-near a perfect daily writer for me. Just slightly springy the way a gold nib should be. It offers some line variation with a good amount of pressure, but for general note-taking and office writing, I love it set to the hardest setting. On the Soft setting, it offers significantly more variation. It's about the same as a Namiki Falcon in terms of line width, but requires more pressure to get the line variation. I can write for a short amount of time with it before my hand gets tired, similar to an Ahab or Konrad from Noodler's.

 

I think the disappointment with the Justus is in that people buy it expecting a nib that goes from a hard, nail needlepoint to a soft, full-flex wet noodle. It doesn't do that. At all. At best it's a semi-firm gold nib on the hard end and a semi-flexible or extra-soft gold nib on the soft end.

 

Here's a quick sample... Sorry for the sloppiness. I'm at work and had to do it quickly. I can give you a more in-depth written sample later if you need it.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7303/10137539334_83eb181d0f_c.jpg

[Juicyjones]

Honestly I don't get this pen at all. It's totally impractical to adjust the nib while you're sketching or writing. What most people do is have more than one pen or a nib that has different thicknesses on it. This pen just sort of adjusts flex a little, between 250 and 350 g is the range. IMO it's just completely a gimmick and the large majority of users would probably adjust the pen once and leave it where they like it.

[heymatthew]

Honestly I don't get this pen at all. It's totally impractical to adjust the nib while you're sketching or writing. What most people do is have more than one pen or a nib that has different thicknesses on it. This pen just sort of adjusts flex a little, between 250 and 350 g is the range. IMO it's just completely a gimmick and the large majority of users would probably adjust the pen once and leave it where they like it.

 

I adjust mine a lot, actually. I've only had it for a few days, but I was working on an illustration for a friend of mine and used this pen for one of the concepts I gave him and the adjustable nib came in really handy. I was able to use the slight flex to add some line variation in certain parts and I could adjust the nib to the hard setting in order to draw in some of the finer details. It was highly practical for that application. Also, I can turn it to the soft setting to write a quick thank you note with some variation and then adjust it back to the hard setting to do basic writing, which is highly useful as well. It keeps me from carrying a Falcon and a Custom 74.

 

I will admit that the "flex" capabilities are slightly disappointing at first, but once you understand the limitations of the pen, it's really a unique pen with a great amount of potential.

 

Here's one of the concepts I sent him. I wrote/drew it with the Justus 95 and scanned it in. I converted it to vector art in Illustrator and then added texture in Photoshop. I've been working with files this way for a while now and it's sort of become a signature style. This was for a charity music project for a friend of mine that wrote a piano piece for the victims of the floods in Colorado recently. There is a bit of symbolism in the illustration as well as the title of the song (that part I don't fully understand, but he does).

 

Anyway... This is a good example of the abilities of the Justus 95:

 

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3745/10140871184_b9cf7621ff.jpg

[georges zaslavsky]

I tried one some weeks ago but I was vastly disappointed

[heymatthew]

I think I might be the only person that likes this pen. LOL!

[requiescat]

I have the Justus 95 and I really love it. I haven't used it for sketching yet, but I could give it a shot (I'm not much of a sketch artist). What I will tell you is that the Fine-nibbed Justus 95 does offer up a pretty significant difference in feel between the Soft and Hard settings. With the nib set to hard, it's darn-near a perfect daily writer for me. Just slightly springy the way a gold nib should be. It offers some line variation with a good amount of pressure, but for general note-taking and office writing, I love it set to the hardest setting. On the Soft setting, it offers significantly more variation. It's about the same as a Namiki Falcon in terms of line width, but requires more pressure to get the line variation. I can write for a short amount of time with it before my hand gets tired, similar to an Ahab or Konrad from Noodler's.

 

I think the disappointment with the Justus is in that people buy it expecting a nib that goes from a hard, nail needlepoint to a soft, full-flex wet noodle. It doesn't do that. At all. At best it's a semi-firm gold nib on the hard end and a semi-flexible or extra-soft gold nib on the soft end.

 

Here's a quick sample... Sorry for the sloppiness. I'm at work and had to do it quickly. I can give you a more in-depth written sample later if you need it.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7303/10137539334_83eb181d0f_c.jpg

Oh! This is exactly what I was curious about--and I love your sketch. I wish I were that good! (I sketch for fun. I'm not notably good at it.) I have read the reviews, so I knew I wouldn't be getting a wet noodle and also I already have two very good vintage wet noodles, so I feel I'm covered in that regard. But I was really curious about the drawing possibilities of the adjustable softness. Thank you so much for your description.

[quinden]

Count me as another who loves this pen.

 

I got the fine nib. At work, I keep it on the hard setting, and it's just perfect for jotting notes in meetings. At home, for sketching or playing around with my journals, it's usually on the soft setting. It's semi-flex at best, but in most cases that is all I want.

[JessR45]

I watched a promotional video made by Pilot of the Justus and was very impressed. No doubt this pen can be used for sketching. The sketch of a famous composer or person (was it Mozart ?) was just stunning.

[Keyless Works]

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7303/10137539334_83eb181d0f_c.jpg

This looks pretty decent to me. Do you feel like you have to apply a significant change in pressure to get the variation we see here?

[heymatthew]

This looks pretty decent to me. Do you feel like you have to apply a significant change in pressure to get the variation we see here?

 

I'd say the required pressure is roughly equivalent to that of a Konrad or Ahab. It's not as easy to flex as a vintage flex nib or even a Namiki Falcon. But the variation is roughly equivalent to the Namiki Falcon. Most people would say, "Well, if the variation is the same as the Falcon, but it's harder to get said variation, then why not go with a Falcon?" My response is that the adjustable nib allows me to stiffen up the nib so that I can write with normal pressure and not get any line variation. Whereas with the Falcon, even the lightest touch produces line variation.

 

You sort of have to choose... Do you want the ability for no variation and some variation with pressure? Or do you want variation all the time, even with the lightest touch? If the former is your preference, then the Justus is the pen for you. If it's the latter, get a Falcon or 743FA or Mabie Todd or Waterman or any number of other easily "flexible" fountain pens.

[PAKMAN]

Love mine, with the fine nib it gives just the right amount of character to my writing. I'm playing with a new to me Waterman One Hundred Year with lots of flex today and have some other very flexy vintage pens so I understand flex. The thing I like about the Justus 95 over the Falcon is that it NEVER seems to starve for ink whereas the Falcon could never seem to keep up.

[requiescat]

Love mine, with the fine nib it gives just the right amount of character to my writing. I'm playing with a new to me Waterman One Hundred Year with lots of flex today and have some other very flexy vintage pens so I understand flex. The thing I like about the Justus 95 over the Falcon is that it NEVER seems to starve for ink whereas the Falcon could never seem to keep up.

Oh, I'm glad to hear that it doesn't have ink starvation issues. I should have listed that as one of my questions.

[Inkspill]

I just got mine last week with an M nib. I don't sketch. I'm using it on the soft setting, which gives some nice line variation although not like a wet noodle or italic nib. So far I absolutely love this pen, it is smooth as silk and has a perfect ink flow. This could easily become my preferred daily writer!

[joebobbillyfrank]

I have the Justus 95 and I really love it. I haven't used it for sketching yet, but I could give it a shot (I'm not much of a sketch artist). What I will tell you is that the Fine-nibbed Justus 95 does offer up a pretty significant difference in feel between the Soft and Hard settings. With the nib set to hard, it's darn-near a perfect daily writer for me. Just slightly springy the way a gold nib should be. It offers some line variation with a good amount of pressure, but for general note-taking and office writing, I love it set to the hardest setting. On the Soft setting, it offers significantly more variation. It's about the same as a Namiki Falcon in terms of line width, but requires more pressure to get the line variation. I can write for a short amount of time with it before my hand gets tired, similar to an Ahab or Konrad from Noodler's.

 

I think the disappointment with the Justus is in that people buy it expecting a nib that goes from a hard, nail needlepoint to a soft, full-flex wet noodle. It doesn't do that. At all. At best it's a semi-firm gold nib on the hard end and a semi-flexible or extra-soft gold nib on the soft end.

 

Here's a quick sample... Sorry for the sloppiness. I'm at work and had to do it quickly. I can give you a more in-depth written sample later if you need it.

 

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7303/10137539334_83eb181d0f_c.jpg

 

Love the ink in this sketch! (nice sketch too =D) What is it??? If I had to guess... Noodler's 54th?

[balson]

if you have a wet noodle already it sounds like you might be better off finding an accommodation clip for your waterman 52. personally i find a nice wet stub nib or flexy stub to be really handy for quick drawing.

[Algester]

I would say just keep it on the soft side of things... rather than hard... but eh... your probably better off with a standard Pilot soft gold nib SEF, SF and SM... but meh... but what I do know the feeds are the same which you can also factor in the ink's flow

[Brotzmann]

I love my Justus 95 and think it's a great sketch pen. The fine nib is great for quick sketching. I adjust my pen all the time. I don't find it impractical at all to adjust while sketching or writing. You just twist the section and go back to work. It's a great pen and the adjustments do make a difference. The difference is subtle but not really that much of a gimmick if you have used the pen a lot. I agree that too many people expect it to flex from fine to 3xB when that's not what it's meant to do. I think you should try one out if you can. You need to use one for a while to be able to comment.

This being said, if you already have a Waterman that you are happy with, a $300 Justus 95 may not be worth it.

Pilot promo video showing and artist drawing with one:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r08ZpZxCUSA

 

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvJophbQOoo

Edited June 2, 2014 by Brotzmann