A fountain pen for artists: Pilot Justus 95 impressions.

[edmundronald]

The purpose of this post is to explain my own entirely personal feelings about the Pilot Justus 95, from the perspective of an amateur artist. Nutshell summary: a pen with adjustable ink flow, good line variation, and a remarkable textured body that is perfectly balanced  for an artist's grip. What is there not to like? 

 

As an amateur watercolour artist, I guess I buy about $1000 to $1500 of artist's materials a year. Most of this spend is on paper and paint, about $20 a week, but I budget for a couple of  expensive items eg a  palette or now a pen, every year. This spend has taken the place of my photo gear. 

 

My style is pen and wash , so when I mislaid the wonderfully consistent Pilot Custom 91 (M)  that has for the past year or so been my daily sketch pen, I took it as a sign to go out and treat myself to my artist’s grail pen, namely the Pilot Justus 95. This is a specialty pen whose nib hardness can be adjusted by means of a twist mechanism. I knew of this product because my local pen store had a couple and I tested them on one of my regular browsing visits — they put up with me because it's a family-owned store and I buy a pen every year or so, and trying out a pen raises my mood when I'm depressed. 

 

You can find some very good online writer and artist reviews of the Justus, and I especially like the one by Marc Kompaneyets, who also has a comparison review of 4 flex pens on his channel; the upshot of the net reviews I found  is that everyone seems to like this product, and that it's a bit of a Swiss army knife. 

 

Let me now list my own impressions about usability of the Justus 95.  Note that I do freehand sketching, but I'm not a trained classical cross-hatcher like Marc Kompaneeyets.

- I have small male western hands and got tired holding my Custom 91. The Justus 95 is one size up (10 nib) but the same shape as  my Custom 91, somewhat fatter and larger. I prefer this size.

- While writers grip the pen close to the nib, as I did with my Custom 91, I hold the Justus further away from the nib at the middle of its body which is its balance point. . This works well on the Justus as  body of the pen is stippled giving a very good grip

- The grip and balance improves when I post the pen, because I can now hold it at its posted balance point, which is actually where the cap ends on the body. I really like this distant posted grip for sketching, whereas before I never posted a pen. 

- The Con 70 converter is like all converters too small for sketching. I find the press-down action dangerous as it can lead you to damage the nib while filling. 

- Like many artists, I use Platinum Carbon bottle ink; Pilot ink smudges when using watercolor, Platinum ink is permanent. I've tried using Montblanc Calligraphy Black ink, it's darker and graphically nicer, but I'm not so sure it's good for my pens and it's seriously expensive. The Platinum Carbon ink can now be bought at many art shops, and my pen retailer carries it. The Platinum ink plays well with the Justus 95.

- I've set the adjustment mid-way between soft and hard. I find this actually works well, giving both ample line variation and enough ink for watercolor paper. 

- I left the silver "F" label on the pen; it is pasted on in a way aligned with the nib (Japanese precision) and allows me to see immediately where the nib is. At the moment, I post the clip opposite, ie. on the underside of the pen.

- The pen starts well and has an ample feed. With my middle setting I don't think I'll need to readjust it for drawing or watercolor paper.

- The pen is really alive in the hand when held by the body (not the grip). Good feedback!

- The feeling on watercolor paper  is really scratchy. I'm worried that the nib will get filed down by too much use. The M nib was smoother. 

- Lines are much finer than with the "M" nib" on my Custom 91, and on the "M" Justus which I got by mistake.

- Apart from the converter, which I dislike, I have nothing bad to say about this pen; I do find that as a tool-pen it could be a bit cheaper. Marc Kompaneeyets says he doesn't take his good pens out in the field, but as I am always sketching on the go in cafés or in the street, the pen is my camera so we will see whether it is robust enough for EDC.

- If there were a pump or vacuum version of the Justus that was cleanable, I would have bought it. 

- I did try out a Pilot 823, and a Falcon. I dislike the Falcon for drawing; the 823 is a wonderful, marvelous writing pen, I really would like to get one, but for me it is useless as a sketcher, I just don't get enough line variation. I own a vanishing point too, and used that a lot for taking notes until it too crawled away into a hidden corner one night and was never seen again. 

 

 

I plan to add to this review in a few weeks. Here are a couple of my own sketches done yesterday when I got the pen. I have also included a Youtube review which I like, and hope this doesn't break any rules. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Inky_Ben]

Possibly the best pen review in terms of comprehesive nature and demonstration that I have ever seen!   Many thanks for the time you put into making all of this available to the rest of us.  Very valuable.

[edmundronald]

Inky_Ben,

 

 Thank you for your kindness. I hope everyone here will forgive the very subjective nature of this review and still find some use in my presentation of the Justus 95 - I can see that many here apply very careful and repeatable evaluations to their purchases, something which I simply can't do because I'm not a serious pen person. 

 

Edmund

[Glenn-SC]

Just a point, every reviewer’s comments are “entirely personal feelings”.   Every reader should fully understand this concept.  

[PAKMAN]

True we all have our likes and dislikes. The Justus 95 is a very interesting pen with the adjustable nib softness. I've quite enjoyed mine.

[AmandaW]

Thankyou, it's interesting to read an artist's opinion on the Falcon vs Justus. I have several Falcons, in different nibs and both body materials, which I do use for drawing. I especially like turning them over to use the back of the nib for areas of shading.

[A Smug Dill]

6 hours ago, Glenn-SC said:

every reviewer’s comments are “entirely personal feelings”.

 

If a reviewer remarks that the Justus 95 feels heavier in the hand than the Custom Heritage 912, that would not be ”entirely personal feelings” when the former weighs 27g and the latter 20g according to Pilot's official product specifications.

[edmundronald]

5 hours ago, AmandaW said:

Thankyou, it's interesting to read an artist's opinion on the Falcon vs Justus. I have several Falcons, in different nibs and both body materials, which I do use for drawing. I especially like turning them over to use the back of the nib for areas of shading.

Hello Amanda - 

 

Could you show an example of that, please? I've heard it can be done with that pen, I think I saw someone turn ithe Falcon over in a video, but I've never seen the effect actually used for a purpose. 

 

I was hesitating to get an 823 with an FA nib, maybe as an artist you could opine and clarify for me how this compares with the actual Falcon when sketching? 

 

When I started drawing with a fountain pen, it was simply because the 0.5 or 0.3 fineliners (Micron, Staedtler, Unipin) which I purchased ran dry quickly -too long in the shops locally- and I had to get India ink and a syringe to refill them, and my patience with this process ran out.  It turns out the fountain pens need filling much more often than the fineliners, but then I realized they were more fun.  I guess I got  the bug

 

I have tried sketching with a variety of cheaper fountain pens, including one of the cheapish long-tailed Platinum sketch pens, and one of those angled nib thingies from Japan. I rehoused the Platinum nib in a standard Platinum pen tube and cap, and strangely enough it works better for me that way, the big advantages of Platinum vs Pilot are  that one can get Platinum ink cartridges, and basically the pen NEVER dries out, it's unbelievable. I've left it out on my desk as a note pen.

 

Edmund

[edmundronald]

3 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

If a reviewer remarks that the Justus 95 feels heavier in the hand than the Custom Heritage 912, that would not be ”entirely personal feelings” when the former weighs 27g and the latter 20g according to Pilot's official product specifications.

I agree. Furthermore some pen reviewers on the net have developed a process which really allows the viewer  to compare the pens they evaluate, Marc Kompaneeyets is an example, he seems to reproduce his strokes with complete consistency from video to video. The aggregation of reviews on the Internet is amazingly informative. 

 

I did a couple of tryouts, but really would have liked some more semi-objective info on the pen before buying, eg - does the nib abrade (what is its Shore hardness)?  Will it survive being dropped? Is it easy to take apart? Does it dry out quickly or slowly?  but unfortunately there isn't as far as I know anyone who does controlled tests on pens like one does for some other products. As I mentioned, although $300 is not an expensive purchase per se -   it is the major art-tool purchase I make in a year, which is why I spent time on the decision. 

 

I've found that the objects I buy this way, more carefully, end up unused about 50% of the time, but then they have a way of crawling out of the box again a few years later when I feel a need for something. 

 

Edmund

[AmandaW]

44 minutes ago, edmundronald said:

Could you show an example of that, please? I've heard it can be done with that pen.

 

Like so... the finest lines here were drawn in the usual way with varying amounts of pressure. While the broad washes are from the reverse. A great deal of control can be achieved with just a little practice.

 

[edmundronald]

24 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

 

Like so... the finest lines here were drawn in the usual way with varying amounts of pressure. While the broad washes are from the reverse. A great deal of control can be achieved with just a little practice.

 

Now, that's interesting!

Thank you!

 

Edmund

[sajiskumar]

4 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

If a reviewer remarks that the Justus 95 feels heavier in the hand than the Custom Heritage 912, that would not be ”entirely personal feelings” when the former weighs 27g and the latter 20g according to Pilot's official product specifications.

Weight can also be a personal matter. When my son was young, I found him to be heavier to carry, while my wife managed his weight with ease.

[Glenn-SC]

11 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

If a reviewer remarks that the Justus 95 feels heavier in the hand than the Custom Heritage 912, that would not be ”entirely personal feelings” when the former weighs 27g and the latter 20g according to Pilot's official product specifications.

I disagree. 
There are other factors that affect how heavy a pen feels, both independently and comparatively.  Such factors as the distribution of the weight (toward the nib or toward the distal end), the barrel and section material, the grip surface finish, etc.  

For example, the Lamy Al-Star (22 grams) is 30% heavier than the Safari (17 grams), yet the Al-Star has always “felt” lighter to me.  

Edited April 26 by Glenn-SC
Added clarification

[A Smug Dill]

8 hours ago, Glenn-SC said:

There are other factors that affect how heavy a pen feels, both independently and comparatively.

 

Sure. The issue is not whether those factors are present, but whether the content of the reviewer's comment can be considered/assumed to be entirely personal feelings, without the reader or viewer first looking at the objective data. If personal feelings are only part of it, then the qualifier of ‘entirely’ makes that statement logically invalid.

[Glenn-SC]

21 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

If a reviewer remarks that the Justus 95 feels heavier in the hand than the Custom Heritage 912, that would not be ”entirely personal feelings” when the former weighs 27g and the latter 20g according to Pilot's official product specifications.

Thank you for confirming!

The statement ”feels heavier in the hand” is a personal subjective appraisal.  
A statement long the lines of “weighs more” is not subjective as it includes data that is measurable, verifiable and reproducible.

[edmundronald]

Turns out the Justus is exactly what I needed. 

[AmandaW]

50 minutes ago, edmundronald said:

Turns out the Justus is exactly what I needed. 

The picture isn't there for me. Anyone else seeing it?

[edmundronald]

I apologize. When uploading from the phone the pic doesn't show, I've transferred it again from the comp as an edit to the post. I can't manage to delete the no-show however, so let's call this a learning experience ...

 

Here's another image, created while listening to an ever-so long panel discussion where plenty of hot air was generated concerning generative AI. I had all the time I needed to do them Justus 😇

 

Edmund

 

[AmandaW]

Thankyou.  Great drawings! How are finding the line variation from the adjustable nib? Is it more than the Falcon? Better control?

 

24 minutes ago, edmundronald said:

I had all the time I needed to do them Justus

[edmundronald]

53 minutes ago, AmandaW said:

Thankyou.  Great drawings! How are finding the line variation from the adjustable nib? Is it more than the Falcon? Better control?

 

Hi Amanda, 

 

I find one interesting thing about this pen is the stippled "guilloché" effect, giving a good feel of the feedback when holding the pen at its balance point like a paintbrush. The pen sketches very differently -for me- posted and not posted, including line width.  My impression is one gets just a bit of line variation with pressure, or speed, but also fairly fine lines are possible if holding the pen lightly. (this part is of interest only to sketchers who hold like a brush, not writers who have to grip the pen close to the nib). 

 

I think anyone looking for a sketchpen and able to afford this should give it a test drive. In spite of the steep price I don't feel buyer's remorse on this one.