Drawing: Favorite nib type and/or size?

January 11, 2009

I really like to draw with my fountain pens, almost as much as I like to write with them. I just finished a doodle with a stub nib, and wondered which nib types and/or sizes people prefer to draw with. Any must-haves?

Disclaimer: I said I like to draw, I never said I was any good at it

January 11, 2009

My favorite pen is my Lamy Vista with an EF nib. I've lately been playing around with using a Safari with a 1.1 italic nib to add bold accents to drawings done with the EF nib.

January 11, 2009

I mostly draw with my pens (I illustrate children's books) check out my site: www.stevelightart.com most of the drawings were done with fountain pen. I recommend a Namiki falcon to start--great flexible nib--reasonable cost. I like piston fillers-hold lots of ink--easy to fill--quick and easy. I also have a customized nib from Richard Binder that I can not seem to stop drawing with. It is on a Pelikan M805 3b nib that is flippable to a fine line--by changing the angle I hold the pen I can get 3B to medium line width and then a fine line when I flip it. For me this is a great way to draw. I have not missed the flexable nibs I usually draw with--it just works for me. I do like to switch pens that have different feels to match the feeling of the project. An Aurora Talentum is more toothy and more of a drafts mans nib --I can feel the paper and every line--great for drawing on location. My M805s are more for imaginative, from the head/idea drawing the pens just glide along with my thoughts. Well I have rambled on here --hope i helped a little--not many threads on drawing so I was excited to talk.

January 11, 2009

Right now I am obsessed with my Platinum with Music nib. It is like the missing link between pen and brush. I draw fast and it has been a lifelong challenge to find pens that will keep up with me.

I also use an Aitoh brush pen; uses ink cartridges and the brush is replacable when it wears out. I always carry a brush water chamber; I can turn my Fountain pen or brush drawings into wash drawings wherever I am.

My Aurora Talentium B is a workhorse.

I tend to like the broader nibs because then I can get a variety of strokes.

I am looking for a pen to give me the effect of a Rembrandt quill and a VanGogh metal point or reed pen.

I use laid paper with my pens; soft, hard, thick, thin paper.

I work from observation and invention.

The fountain pen is a wonderfully portable tool.

I am curious to try to get to a pen show and try a Binder custom nib.

January 11, 2009

For lines with no flex I like my old Sheaffers with Triumph nibs, although I keep a Feathertouch Balance xxf filled with Noodler's Lexington gray for lighter toned crosshatching.

For flex I like my vintage Waterman's, mostly 3v's and a few 92v pens. I also keep a flexy Waterman's Thorobred inked up with the Lexington gray. I also have a couple Esterbrooks I like to use for drawing.

There are times when dip pens or tech. are needed for different projects but I have much more fun drawing with fountain pens.

January 11, 2009

It sounds like Steve Light has the right setup in a single pen (3B / M / F). There's a lot to be said for drawings with variable lineweight

I use a medium nib at the office (architectural design) since it is fairly bold, but can still use it for filling out documents and lettering. When teaching design studio, I used to bring a OB Montblanc 146 since I needed a heavier lineweight for sketching with my students (pen is now gone, but not forgotten).

You should give some serious consideration to having a nib dialed in by one of the nib masters to get optimum results since very few nibs give that level of performance 'right out of the box'.

good luck!

Jason

January 11, 2009

I draw with whatever I can get my hands on, but like F nibs.

January 11, 2009

Generally a Sapporo EF, with any accents being done with a Pelikan F. I'd like to try doing more expressive drawings with a flex nib, but lack the talent.

January 11, 2009

Usually any pen on hand, but I do like using my 1911M and its nice, thin, EF nib. I prefer not to draw with thick nibs because I draw tiny (because I suck at it).

January 12, 2009

Wow looks like people like a pretty wide diversity of nib types and sizes with their drawings. I really would like to get a Richard nib at some point, everyone has rave reviews about them. For now, I think I will stick with my EF and Stub nibs, maybe throw in a M now and again (as I eye my pens on the shelf above me) but we'll see. Thanks everyone!

Edited January 12, 2009 by minemap

January 12, 2009

Disclaimer: I said I like to draw, I never said I was any good at it

Hah! Same here! Few things more pathetic than a singer who can't hold a tune in a bucket, or an "artist" who can't even draw a straight line to save his life!

Anyhoo... for drawing cartoons, sketch with Dixon pencil & whetstone.

M605 w/'Binder" (.15mm) nib for inking in details like hair, eyelashes, & so on.

For captions & lines of various weight, Waterman 12, 52 & 94.

thx

--Bruce