Reposting because the question of BRUSH PENS! has come up again frequently in recent weeks, so I hope it will be as useful now to folks as it was several years ago!

I wrote this as a reply to a few inking inquiries I got a few weeks ago, and thought it might be useful to share more broadly, since I get a lot of questions about my inking. So! Here you go! Please feel free to ask question OR suggest other brushes for us to try. I could talk about this stuff all day, and am always keen to find the Next Best Thing :)



My preferred inking-apparatus is a Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky sable brush, size varying based on the project (anywhere from #1-#6). These are getting harder and harder to find in the US, unfortunately, so grab one if you find it!

However.. it is not always convenient to carry around a nonreplacable brush and inkwell.. so I use brush pens quite a bit, too! I'm just very picky, because I like ones that replicate as closely as possible the feel of inking with a brush.

So, are you ready? Here we go.

Ranked in order of my favorite, in orders of magnitude (and coincidently, also ranked in order of price):

1] I am a BIG fan of the Kuretake #40 and #50 (only difference is barrel finish and price). It's a refillable brush pen that uses sable hairs, so it has wonderful spring that is the closest I have found to a brush (and close enough that I will often use it instead, just out of convenience/portability). The sable brush head is also replaceable, and is such a dream that I do most of my sketching with this pen, too.

Replace the stock ink cartridge (which is neither particularly dark, nor waterproof) with a Platinum fountain pen converter, which will look like this once installed.

2] The Kuretake #13 is also an excellent choice, and about $20 kinder to your wallet. It uses synthetic fibers, but is otherwise quite similar to the #s 40 and 50. (It also conveniently comes in one of my favorite colors, a delicious red.)

3] The Pentel Pocket Brush pen that others here have linked is a good choice. Synthetic, good spring, refillable (and you can use a converter to supply ink of your choosing), durable, and cheap to replace if it gets lost. I find that it is not as good for fine lines as the Kuretakes, however. It is slightly better for very thick lines, as a result.

Honorable Mentions: I don't use any other brush pens except those, because I am ultra super duper picky, and hate the feel of felt/anything other than hair-like fibers. But, I specifically value a pen that feels as close to a brush as possible, because brush inking is my most preferred method. You might have different preferences! Felt brush pens are way cheaper, but are not refillable, and often fray beyond usefulness well before they run out of ink. They also do not have the same degree of spring as hair/like fibers, and do not offer the same amount of line variation (in either direction), and are different to control when making particular curves/turns.

So far as buying them, JetPens isn't always the cheapest, but they are fast, have great service, and an excellent selection. You can easily find the Pentel in local art stores/Michael's/etc. The Kuretakes might be available at Japanese stationary stores, but your best bet is buying them online.

Hope this is helpful to someone! NOW, tell me about what YOU use!