Recommendations for sketching fountain pens?

[pieemme]

I would like to share here my experiences with sketch pens.  I love plein-air painting, which means to me having my kit ready for use on short notice. Another key requirement is that the pen should allow to use bottled inks, rather than cartridges, for which I have a personal loathing. Last but not least, the pen should be inexpensive and easy to clean, given the kind of permanent, waterproof inks which are commonly used.

 I noticed that, among fellow sketchers, Lamy Safari was a favourite staple.  So I bought this clear version. To my disappointment, while this pen has an excellent nib, it is prone to drying very quickly. I have tried disassembling the converter and generously applying silicone grease almost everywhere in order to shut all possible air inlets, but, unless I fill the pen right before leaving home, I can be sure to find it unusable when I take it out to draw.

I think that one of the problems with the Safari is the converter, which takes little ink and is far from being airtight.

 

I also have been using a Duke pen, with the Fude nib. The pen is quite nice to sketch with and the nib also makes a fine consistent line when reversed. Its reservoir holds a little more ink than the Safari and it dries a little less. It is a bit slippery to hold and the cap is prone to coming off. But certainly a pen worth carrying around, due to the nice Fude nib.

 

However, my all time favourite pen is the Pilot Kakuno, costing about half the price of a Safari, in combination with the outstanding push-button, vacuum filling CON70 converter, which can fit any Pilot pen. This takes a lot of ink and never dries. It writes very smoothly and is always ready to get to work.  I wish I could redeem my Safary by adopting this converter, but though it can get into it, it doesn't stay in place.

 

 

 

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[pieemme]

These are the pens I was writing about.

[inkstainedruth]

@Colin M -- Depending on the kind of work you're doing, you may want a variety of nib widths.  

While pricy, a few years ago I got a Sailor Pro Gear Slim with a "zoom" nib, which is designed to put down different line widths depending on the angle to the paper the pen is at.  I waited to get it until I could try a friend's pen, to see if I could get used to altering the angle of pen/nib to paper surface. 

Of course, I do stuff in a very different technique from your work (more fine-line stuff), although not nearly to the level of someone like Andrew_L).  Part of that is because back when I was in college (I have a BFA in Painting) I often did drawings and sketches with the set of Rapid-o-graphs I asked for as a high school graduation present from my parents (it wasn't until I was in college that I found out those were "ruling" pens, because the only other person I knew who had any also used hers for drawing, not drafting...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[AceNinja]

4 hours ago, pieemme said:

the outstanding push-button, vacuum filling CON70 converter, which can fit any Pilot pen. 

CON70 can't fit all pilot pen.  Famous example being Pilot metropolitan and Prera.  The Con70 can fit in the section yes, but the barrel is simply not long enough to accommodate Con70.

[pieemme]

4 hours ago, AceNinja said:

CON70 can't fit all pilot pen.  Famous example being Pilot metropolitan and Prera.  The Con70 can fit in the section yes, but the barrel is simply not long enough to accommodate Con70.

 

[pieemme]

Well, I cannot vouchsafe for all Pilot pens. However, it does fit greatly on my Kakuno.

[pieemme]

7 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

@Colin M -- Depending on the kind of work you're doing, you may want a variety of nib widths.  

While pricy, a few years ago I got a Sailor Pro Gear Slim with a "zoom" nib, which is designed to put down different line widths depending on the angle to the paper the pen is at.  I waited to get it until I could try a friend's pen, to see if I could get used to altering the angle of pen/nib to paper surface. 

Of course, I do stuff in a very different technique from your work (more fine-line stuff), although not nearly to the level of someone like Andrew_L).  Part of that is because back when I was in college (I have a BFA in Painting) I often did drawings and sketches with the set of Rapid-o-graphs I asked for as a high school graduation present from my parents (it wasn't until I was in college that I found out those were "ruling" pens, because the only other person I knew who had any also used hers for drawing, not drafting...).

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

7 hours ago, inkstainedruth said:

@Colin M -- I often did drawings and sketches with the set of Rapid-o-graphs I asked for as a high school graduation present from my parents (it wasn't until I was in college that I found out those were "ruling" pens, because the only other person I knew who had any also used hers for drawing, not drafting...).

 

Yes, I remember them. They had a special design to prevent drying, but they all did unless you were using them very regularly.