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What kind of pen do you use?

... to complement the sketchbook thread ...

Can anybody recommend a smooth black drawing pen that lays down a good thin line? Like 001 or 1/.50? I've tried microns, too scratchy, and rapidographs are too hard to maintain.

The rapidoliners that were put out by koh-i-noor a few years ago were ideal, but my last set started leaking on a plane this summer and now they've stopped making them. Is anybody using anything that they like?

It's great being an art supply snob, isn't it?

 
Mar 12, 06 10:51 pm
Hasselhoff

You have to be careful with some pens on planes because of the pressure. When I was in Japan, we were all given brush pens and he reminded us not to use them on the plane because they would start to gush.

Mar 12, 06 11:02 pm  · 
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That's exactly what happened. The Spanish stewardess asked me what was wrong and I started to try to say "My pen is exploding!" en Español before I realized that probably wasn't a good idea.

Mar 12, 06 11:17 pm  · 
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Jeremy_Grant

some pens i use are stylists, pentel sign pens, sharpie extra fine or staedtler lumocolor F

Mar 13, 06 2:01 am  · 
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e909

stopped making kohinoors?
i use(d) 00=.3 for fine lines. what else can line that fine? no felts.

the pointy end of a sheetrock screw.

Mar 13, 06 4:05 am  · 
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sporadic supernova

whatever's available to flick from the office stationary !! .. haha

Mar 13, 06 4:12 am  · 
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wood_

sharpies are no good. I use to like microns until I found a better alternative - the staedter pigment liner.

Mar 13, 06 4:25 am  · 
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b3tadine[sutures]

Pilot P-500 extra fine

Mar 13, 06 9:04 am  · 
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3ifs

pentel sign pen.

can produce a fine line or a broad bold line, depending on the angle of attack...

Mar 13, 06 11:50 am  · 
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A Center for Ants?

someone keeps stealing my green pentel sign pens!!!

Mar 13, 06 12:58 pm  · 
 · 
e

i use the closest at hand.

Mar 13, 06 1:25 pm  · 
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8888

do we all have aversion to bic (or any other) ballpoint pens? why is that?
i carry pilot pens with me for use at the bank and elsewhere i might need a real pen.

Mar 13, 06 1:30 pm  · 
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i've tried others but i always come back to the sanford uniball micro. good for copier paper, trace, windsor & newton sketchbook paper, whatever.

Mar 13, 06 1:30 pm  · 
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post-neorealcrapismist

every time I see the word "pen" in type I always think of that snl jeopardy skit where Sean Connery takes "the penis mightier for 400 Trabeck"...still funny

other then that I like stylist or these great fine tip markers I got in Warsaw, have never seen them again and most of them are dead now. they had some unpronounceable name, but they were great.

my lamy fountain pen also works charms for most tasks.

Mar 13, 06 1:39 pm  · 
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whistler

Pilot fineliner .... liked 'em since University
Sharpie ... for fatter lines
Red permanent marker ( big and fat for revising the staff's drawings)

Mar 13, 06 1:44 pm  · 
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celeriter

safari lamy...berol mirado

Mar 13, 06 2:33 pm  · 
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Hasselhoff

I hate the new fine point nib on Prismacolors.

Mar 13, 06 3:13 pm  · 
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GtHtAu.

I like Rotring fountain pens, lettering and sketching sizes

Mar 13, 06 3:46 pm  · 
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mightylittle™

maybe i'm the only one who still does use bics.

not for anything technical, certainly, they're too messy, but they're so smooth!

i sketch with my blue bic ballpoint all the time. they smudge almost as good as charcoal, and have a huge variablility in lineweight depending on the pressure.

anyone else sketch with the old school bics?

Mar 13, 06 4:03 pm  · 
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3dGraffiti


I have been using these since I left my last job. Maybe because I have walked home with enough to last me until 2010. They work great on trace.

Mar 13, 06 4:17 pm  · 
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e909

i grew up drawing with ballpoints. seems i've shifted more often to mechanical .5, but sometimes draw with ballpoint (only for art type drawings).
sometimes desirable is the "twisted" ink line within the line. it's unique to ballpoint.

i don't like roller balls because they dig and jag unpredictably.

the staedtler (313 s) is the best i've used for medium felt. at least i haven't seen one as fine as micron.

the microns choke too soon. fine felts are either too soft and mush over, or if stiff enough, they choke.

i haven't settled on a decent fat felt. so far they've all tended to bleed or the color goes weird over time. but i don't have much use for fat felt.

Mar 26, 06 4:33 am  · 
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Medusa

I have a Rotring fountain pen that was working beautifully until I dropped it and now it leaks all the time.

I also like anything that lays down a line thicker than 0.5.

Mar 26, 06 9:37 am  · 
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outed

pilot precise v5, extra fine, black - main sketching tool. (how can any of you sketch with a technical drafting pen? wow. i'd destroy the tip within an hour...)

also, i like the sign pens as well, but only for really large scale (1/4" or larger) drawings...

Mar 26, 06 2:31 pm  · 
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Appleseed

No Copic fans?

Mar 26, 06 2:43 pm  · 
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khmay

typically a pilot 'super' black SC6600 1" sqaure block of ink. it's great for lines and fast square buildings.

Mar 27, 06 12:19 am  · 
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AbrahamNR

Black Sharpie twin tip marker. Love these things.

Mar 27, 06 1:26 am  · 
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tiana

Rotring fountain pens - 'F' types - are fabulous...you need to handle with care..they begin to leak if dropped on the floor too often..

Mar 27, 06 2:29 am  · 
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zero1

ditto on the rotring 600 fountain pen, mine has a Fine nib and the rare and coveted Lava finish (heats up for comfort!). These are no longer in production so its a perfect time to pick them up (originally $100, now can be had for $30 or less widely). Full brass construction, no plastic.

Copics are awesome, but more for rendering than sketching.

Mar 27, 06 9:46 am  · 
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strugs

Columbia over pen.

Mar 27, 06 10:01 am  · 
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bic over columbia.

Mar 27, 06 10:09 am  · 
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