What Pen Is This Guide
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“WHAT PEN IS THIS” MODERN CALLIGRAPHY & LETTERING SUPPLIES GUIDE WHAT PEN IS THIS?! DISCLAIMER Clickable links within this guide may be aliate links where appropriate. This means that your purchase through direct links in this guide may result in a few cents in payment to me, to support creating further resources like this one! Thank you! That being said, I will never suggest supplies that I do not personally use and fully recommend. 1 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. CONTENTS 2 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. The type of paper you choose to use for your calligraphy & lettering is one of the most important decisions you’ll need to make. Using the proper types of paper will ensure a longer life for your pens. If you choose the wrong types, you may end up quickly fraying or drying out your pens- which means more $$ spent on new ones! In the simplest terms, you’ll want to look for the smoothest paper possible, and with as little “tooth” as you can get. “Tooth” essentially means grittiness- so you know those pretty scrapbook papers you can find, or those textured cardstocks? Yeah- those won’t be nice to your pens. Try to always run your hands across the paper you’re choosing and make sure it is nice and smooth. Over time, you’ll get a feel for which paper will work well, and which won’t. Let’s take a look at some best recommendations for paper. 3 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. MY PAPER MVP’s These are the paper types I use most often. Read more about each one in the following pages! 4 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. PAPER RHODIA PADS USE WITH: These come in three types- graph, dot and plain. They are all great, but my favourite is definitely the BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- dot pad. It’s still got the guidelines, PENS PENS PENS COLOUR but they’re faint so it looks a little prettier to practice on. These also come in tons of different sizes- that part is entirely personal preference. HP LASERJET 32# USE WITH: Generally, printer paper isn’t great for use with brush pens or pointed pens. However, some laser printer BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- papers tend to be very smooth and PENS PENS PENS COLOUR work well. HP 32# paper is one of those- the package may look differ- ent, but just check for the 32# on the front. TOMOE RIVER USE WITH: Let me be honest: I have never personally tried Tomoe River paper. However, I have seen it highly rated BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- and recommended by other PENS PENS PENS COLOUR credible calligraphy resources, so I have listed it here. FABRIANO PADS USE WITH: Fabriano is one of the notebooks I use for my doodle journaling. I like that it comes in fun colours, BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- different sizes, and also has the dot PENS PENS PENS COLOUR pad versions. That said, it’s not quite as smooth as Rhodia so using it with pointed pens is dicult. 5 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. PAPER MOLESKINE USE WITH: Moleskine is a great option for a bunch of different uses- they make all sorts of shapes & sizes of note- BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- books, and they also make them PENS PENS PENS COLOUR with different types of paper. So just make sure you choose the one you need (ie. don’t use the watercolour one on your brush pens!) WHITELINES USE WITH: Whitelines is another paper I have personally never used, but I’ve heard great things. The lines on BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- these pages are white (duh), so PENS PENS PENS COLOUR theyre not distracting with your work on top! STRATHMORE TRACING USE WITH: Tracing paper is great for practice with brush pens or drawing pens. It doesn’t suck as much ink out of BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- your pens as regular paper would, PENS PENS PENS COLOUR and you can also use it to trace (uhh, duh) overtop of things you want to practice more! Strathmore is one of my go-to’s. STAEDTLER VELLUM USE WITH: Vellum is like a thicker, smoother version of tracing paper. It’s still translucent so you can trace with it, BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- but since it’s thicker and smoother, PENS PENS PENS COLOUR you can also use it for pointed pens! It’s a bit more expensive than tracing paper. Staedtler has a great option that is cost effective. 6 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. PAPER STRATHMORE BRISTOL USE WITH: This is the thick, smooth white paper I use for my finished lettering pieces. It is nice and thick quality, but BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- smooth and easy on brush pens or PENS PENS PENS COLOUR pointed pens. ARCHES COLD PRESS USE WITH: Arches is a very high quality, thick, heavy watercolour paper. The cold pressed version is rough to the BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- touch, which is wonderful for wa- PENS PENS PENS COLOUR tercolour effects. However, it can be really tough on your pens. Use it carefully with those! ARCHES HOT PRESS USE WITH: Arches hot pressed paper is smoother than cold pressed. It’s a better option if you’re looking to use BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- more brush pens on it, or if you like PENS PENS PENS COLOUR the different effect it can make with your watercolours. The bleeds will be a little different, but it is definite- ly easier on your brush pens. ARCHES ROUGH USE WITH: Arches rough paper is very, very toothy (ie. textured & rough). I would not suggest using your pens BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- on this paper at all, but it can have PENS PENS PENS COLOUR an amazing effect on your watercolours if you want to use it! 7 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. PAPER Arches paper is also sold as a “block” instead of in sheets, so that you can paint liberally on the sheet without it warping due to water! Then, when its dry, you peel it off the block. These are a bit more pricey, but definitely worth it if you have that issue! STRATHMORE COLD USE WITH: Strathmore is my go-to waterco- lour paper for practice, because it is still decent quality but it isn’t as BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- expensive as Arches. Since it’s cold PENS PENS PENS COLOUR pressed, again, it’s not great for your brush pens. Be careful with it! FABRIANO COLD PRESS USE WITH: Fabriano cold press paper is anoth- er option for more cost-effective practice, but you can definitely tell BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- the difference between it and the PENS PENS PENS COLOUR more expensive papers. It’s a little bit less toothy than other cold pressed papers, and the paper itself is a bit less thick. FABRIANO HOT PRESS USE WITH: Same comments apply to this one as with the Fabriano cold pressed papers, except that since it’s hot BRUSH POINTED DRAWING WATER- pressed it is smoother. Better for PENS PENS PENS COLOUR your brush pens, but not necesarily as good for your watercolours. 8 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. BRUSH PENS Brush pens are flexible-tipped pens that you can use to create the thicks/thins in modern calligraphy. These days, there are SO MANY brush pens to choose from that it can be very overwhelming to choose one that is right for you. In this section, we’ll separate the groups of brush pens by size- large and small. When we talk about the different size of brush pen, we’re talking about the actual size of the TIP. You’ll often find brush lettering/calligraphy worksheets that specify which size brush pen they should be used with. This is because there is such a huge variation in the size of the tips of some brush pens- and using a large tipped brush pen on worksheets scaled for small pens will be tough, and vice versa. Knowing the difference is key! Generally speaking, smaller tipped brush pens are also easiest for begin- ners- though, there are always exceptions! The brush pens you choose will always come down to personal preference. It’s really a process of testing different ones and finding your favourites. Let’s take a look at some best recommendations for small and large sized brush pens. 9 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. MY BRUSH PEN MVP’s These are the brush pens I use most often. Read more about each one in the following pages! 10 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. SMALL TIPPED BRUSH PENS TOMBOW FUDENOSUKE Available in hard tip, soft tip & dual tip. COLOUR OPTIONS? YES / NO KURETAKE FUDEGOKOCHI Available in regular, fine & extra fine sizes COLOUR OPTIONS? YES / NO ZEBRA MISC. FUDES Available in medium, fine & extra fine sizes COLOUR OPTIONS? YES / NO ZEBRA FUNWARI Similar size brush tip to Tombow hard tip COLOUR OPTIONS? YES / NO PILOT FUDE MAKASE Similar size brush tip to Zebra extra fine COLOUR OPTIONS? YES / NO 11 | “What Pen Is This” Guide © 2018 The Happy Ever Crafter Inc. SMALL TIPPED BRUSH PENS PENTEL SIGN BRUSH PEN Slightly more flexible than Tombow Fudenosuke COLOUR OPTIONS? YES / NO KURETAKE BIMOJI Available in broad, medium, fine and extra fine COLOUR OPTIONS? YES / NO KURETAKE ZIG MANGAKA Available in fine & medium.