Fountain Pen v/s Dip Pen

May 5, 2021

Hello everyone,

I was wondering what is a better tool for drawing, a fountain pen or a dip pen. Let me first tell you what I think:

In the case of a dip pens,

1. I can use inks like sumi, india ink or even acrylic inks which cannot be used in fountain pens and thus, a greater variety of ink can be used.

2. It gives a greater line variation.

3. You have to dip your nib again and again after few strokes of line. Now this is off course inconvenient but I also think that this process teaches us to be more patient.

4. You need a greater skill to handle dip pens which I think is good for artist.

5. It's very difficult to do outdoor sketching with dip pens since you have to carry additional things like inkwell, blotting/ tissue paper. To me it is more of a studio medium.

6. Now this is what concerns me the most—the nibs are meant to be disposable. So, only thing permanent is the holder, which is nothing but a stick. Also, I think a lot more ink is wasted while using a dip pen as compared to FP. Therefore, feel its not very sustainable.

As for fountain pens,

1. They are much more convenient than a dip pen and hence, doing outdoor sketching is much easier.

2. However, don't give a lot of variation in lines, which makes me question—Can someone create drawings of the same quality of 19th century illustrations with a fountain pen?

3. Most of the fountain pen inks fade with time. The only safe and 'archival ' inks I know are the carbon inks produced by sailor and platinum. Thus, the choice of ink becomes very limited if I want to conserve my work for years.

What is your opinion about both kind of pen and what is your preference?

May 6, 2021

There are a few fountain pen makers that design for a dip nib: FlexibleNibFactory, Desiderata, Ackerman, and Osprey. So you can get that dip-nib flex on a more convenient/portable form. Ackerman's pump pens are even designed for thick inks like acrylic - though they're 5 months late shipping me a pen, so I hesitate to recommend them right now despite my liking the pen they did send on time.

I don't worry about wasting ink -- it's mostly water with a little dye/pigment, the most unsustainable part is probably shipping (I wish someone still made just-add-water ink pellets!)

The nibs are recyclable, I presume -- though I save mine in a jar, eventually I'll make some sort of art from the nibs.

I do like my dip pens, some of the holders are fun. But they are so inconvenient that I don't use them except when I need special inks -- acrylic/gouache for non-FP-friendly colors like metallic/white, or when I'm writing with glue for leafing/embossing-powder/glitter/etc. Noodler's safety pen is supposed to be safe for those inks, but I don't like its nib...

May 6, 2021

I highly recommend the Rohrer and Kligner sketch Ink line. It comes in some nice colors and they are all 100% budge proof water proof inks. And they are safe for fountain pens. As well as the DeAtramentis Document line which also comes with a dilution liquid so you can mix your own custom colors from their inks without changing the viscosity.

You can get line variation with a fountain pen. in 3 different ways.

Flex fountain pens, stub nib fountain pens and fude nib fountain pens.

Many artists who draw with fountain pens swear by the fude nibs since they have the most line variation. Sailor makes a nice long body green one that is very reasonable. (under $20)

fountain pens 99% of the time beat out dip pens for me.

May 7, 2021

15 hours ago, ASCIIaardvark said:

There are a few fountain pen makers that design for a dip nib: FlexibleNibFactory, Desiderata, Ackerman, and Osprey. So you can get that dip-nib flex on a more convenient/portable form. Ackerman's pump pens are even designed for thick inks like acrylic - though they're 5 months late shipping me a pen, so I hesitate to recommend them right now despite my liking the pen they did send on time.

I don't worry about wasting ink -- it's mostly water with a little dye/pigment, the most unsustainable part is probably shipping (I wish someone still made just-add-water ink pellets!)

The nibs are recyclable, I presume -- though I save mine in a jar, eventually I'll make some sort of art from the nibs.

I do like my dip pens, some of the holders are fun. But they are so inconvenient that I don't use them except when I need special inks -- acrylic/gouache for non-FP-friendly colors like metallic/white, or when I'm writing with glue for leafing/embossing-powder/glitter/etc. Noodler's safety pen is supposed to be safe for those inks, but I don't like its nib...

Thanks for your reply

The pump pen sounds interesting. I might order one after the covid situation normalises a bit.

The idea of making an art piece with the worn out nibs is really cool. It also reminds me of the islamic calligraphers, I have heard that they store their reed pens in jar once they get too short to use and never throw them away.

Thanks again,

Antar

May 7, 2021

13 hours ago, mouse2cat said:

I highly recommend the Rohrer and Kligner sketch Ink line. It comes in some nice colors and they are all 100% budge proof water proof inks. And they are safe for fountain pens. As well as the DeAtramentis Document line which also comes with a dilution liquid so you can mix your own custom colors from their inks without changing the viscosity.

You can get line variation with a fountain pen. in 3 different ways.

Flex fountain pens, stub nib fountain pens and fude nib fountain pens.

Many artists who draw with fountain pens swear by the fude nibs since they have the most line variation. Sailor makes a nice long body green one that is very reasonable. (under $20)

fountain pens 99% of the time beat out dip pens for me.

I will surely check out a fude nib fountain pen...can also suggest a good flex nib fountain pen?

Thank you,

Antar

May 7, 2021

So here is the link to the sailor fude I got. Most artist seem to prefer this 55 degree angle green pen.

https://www.amazon.com/Sailor-Fude-Mannen-Calligraphy-11-0127-767/dp/B002U0SOLU

Although they also make a 40 degree blue pen.

For flex I have the Fountain Pen Revolution Himalaya with the ultra flex nib and ebonite feed. And I find that is takes less pressure to flex than the falcon and is a cheaper pen. I don't love the piston converter but I can live with that. https://fprevolutionusa.com/collections/fpr-fountain-pen-collection/products/fpr-himalaya

I have seen a lot of artist loving the Pilot falcon $180. Mind you it's not going to give you as much flex as a dip pen and so when you use it feel the resistance and don't overdo it. I don't have a falcon myself but I have tested it and it's on my short list. I would recommend getting fine/ extra fine nib so which will show more difference in line weight and if you are used to dip you will want a very fine point.

Liz Steel is an artist who has a great blog on this and she hasn't steered me wrong

https://www.lizsteel.com/fountain-pen-sketching-part-7-pens-with-variable-lines-2/