An Introduction To Brush Pens

Fountain pens are pretty awesome, and gel and ballpoint pens have their place. I'm not totally on the pencil bandwagon yet, but I have been experimenting for a while with another genre of writing instruments: brush pens.

Before JetPens, I didn't know that brush pens existed. They're not a typical item you find in a office supply store or even an art store. I worked in a college bookstore that stocked lots of fancy art supplies, but never saw anything like this. That's why I purchased a couple so that I could see what they're about.

There's many different brands and models to choose from when you decide to try out a brush pen, but I went with the Pilot Petit3 first. I already owned a couple of Petit1 fountain pens and loved the form factor, so I knew the brush version would at least feel good in my hand and make me smile when I noticed the charming translucent design.

I won't lie – when I first tried writing with these pens, I was really turned off by how they felt. It's so different than anything I've tried. Most pens have a very firm tip that allows you to write in a very controlled way. Brush pens offer a different kind of control. You just need to back off a little.

Brush pens write the way they do because of a cluster of tiny fibers that form the tip. Since there's hundreds (thousands?) of these fibers in a cluster, you get a beautiful variation of line widths and ink flow. I would compare it to a flex nib, but I don't own one to compare it with.

After figuring out to press lightly and limit my upstrokes, I began to really enjoy writing with the pens.

These aren't pens that I would use to write for long periods of time. I've mostly used them to jot down notes and (more often) draw quick doodles. These pens are fun to play with, and that's a good enough reason to have a few. They're fun.

At just under $4, it's a pretty low risk experiment. Whatever you do, be more adventurous when you're picking out your colors. I went with black and blue, and the former is pretty boring. Check out the vibrant colors as they'll shade more and have more character! Personally, I think the Apple Green and Apricot Orange are a great combo.

Also, these pens (as well as the rest of the Petit line) are refillable. For about half the price of the pen, you can pick up three more cartridges. All 8 colors are available as refills, which is awesome.

These are a great introduction to the brush pen category, and you can't beat the value of the Petit line.

(You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution, Twitter, and App.net.)

New Pilot Petit1 Mini Fountain Pen Review

Almost exactly three years ago, I reviewed the original Pilot Petit1 fountain pen. Needless to say, I was not a fan at that time, but I have learned a lot of things since then. First and foremost, Moleskine paper is not fountain pen friendly. I alluded to that fact in the original review, but never followed up on different paper - until now.

The new line of the popular Pilot Petit series just recently came out, and included the traditional Petit1 fountain pen, but also added the Petit2 marker pen, and Petit3 brush pen. I went with the Petit1 first because I wanted to give it another shot, and this time on some good paper!

Doane Paper has been my go to paper for years, and the Pilot Petit1 works like a champ on it. I chose blue black ink to test first (why is it that I think all fountain pens are supposed to have blue black ink?), and with its fine nib the Petit1 performed impressively, and I might even say flawlessly.

I got very clean and sharp lines on the Doane Paper. The ink dried into the page quickly, and while there was some show through on the back of the page, there was no bleeding through to the next page behind it. I also tested it on a Rhodia Dot Pad, and it performed superbly as well. The ink doesn't soak into the fibers of the Rhodia as much, so the line is finer, but doesn't dry as quickly.

Pilot has done a great job reintroducing the Petit line, making it fun and affordable for everyone to try out refillable fountain pens, marker pens, and brush pens. I can't wait to see more reviews on these.

Products used:

Pilot Petit1 Mini Fountain Pen - White Body - $3.00 from JetPens

Pilot Petit Pen Refill Cartridge Blue Black - $2.25 from JetPens

Doane Paper Writing Pad - $10.95/3-pack from Doane Paper