Pens for urban sketching

In this article, we'll go through the pros and cons for various types of pens that can be used for urban sketching, namely rollerball, technical drawing pens, brush pens and fountain pens.

While you can certainly draw with any pen, there are more things & features to look out for in a pen used for drawing.

For beginners, don't spend too much money as good pens for drawing can be quite affordable. Urban sketching means you'll be outdoors so you don't really want to damage or lose an expensive pen.

Below are some factors that affect drawing performance and experience:

• Pen tip: The tip can affect how smooth drawing is on paper. The tip can affect line consistency and the look of the line
• Ink: Inks can be waterproof or water-soluble, archival or can fade. There are many colours to choose from. Some inks may be safe for use in pens, and some are not. Drying time is important too.
• Refillable: A pen that can be refilled is more economical, and you may also use your own inks

Paper also matters. Surface of the paper can determine how smooth the pen is on it, whether the lines will have solid or rough edges. All pens work well on smooth paper, but not all can work well on rougher surfaces.

Ballpoint or rollerball

The rollerball or ballpoint pen is probably the most common type of pen that can be found in a stationery shop.

The tip can be tapered or a needlepoint, and at the end is a ball that can roll to put out ink.

Tapered tips may produce ink blobs, and needlepoint usually produces more consistent line width and performance, e.g. ink blobs are less likely.

There's huge variety of inks and colours to choose from. Ink refills may be available depending on the pen.

Choose pens with waterproof ink if you want to create pen, ink and watercolour sketches. It's best to choose archival or fade-proof ink so that the ink doesn't fade in years to come. Always look for ink information on the label or on the company website.

My favourite rollerball pens are

• Uniball Air: This is a disposable pen that can produce thin and thick lines depending on the pressure applied while drawing. The ink is waterproof and archival
• Uniball Signo Gelstick: This disposable pen produces consistent line width with the occasional ink blobs. The ink is waterproof and archival. The flourescent colours can fade though.
• Sakura Gelly Roll: I use this white gel pen to create highlights and add details on top of watercolour

Technical drawing pens

Technical drawing pens usually come with needlepoint tips. Such pens are also commonly called multiliner or fineliner.

These pens are designed to produce consistent line widths and should not produce ink blobs.

Pen tip choices are either felt tip or metal tip. Felt tip is smoother on paper but can wear down with usage. Metal tips are durable and those with roller ball are smooth and durable, and those with hollow barrel (or sometimes with a needle inside) are more scratchy.

Pens can be disposable or refillable.

Technical drawing pens are available with a variety of line widths, from 0.03 ultra thin to 1.0 which is thick. There are also calligraphy tips for creating calligraphy art. Some sets also include brush tips.

Inks in such pens are usually waterproof and fadeproof, however it's best to check the product description.

If you're looking for a refillable technical drawing pen, the Rotring Isograph with Rotring Ink is good.

If you're looking for disposable technical drawing pens, there are many brands to choose from, such as Copic Multiliner, Kuretake, Shinhan, Mitsubishi uni Pin, Staedtler, Pilot, Pentel, Sakura Pigma Micron, Winsor & Newton, and more. For a more detailed review of such pens, visit this page.

Brush pens

Brush pens can produce more line width variation compared to all other pens mentioned in this article.

You can create thin or extremely broad lines, solid lines or rough brush strokes. These pens require more technique to use. I find them quite difficult to use and I don't see many of my urban sketcher friends use brush pens for creating line art.

The thought process of using brush pen is also quite different because not only can you draw lines, you can draw/fill big shapes, so you can use them easily to create negative shapes too.

The tip can be made with felt or bristles. Those with bristles can produce much wider strokes.

Brush pens can be disposable or refillable. My favourite brush pen to refill is the Pentel Colour Brush Pen. I've three brush pens filled with black and grays to create quick tonal sketches.

Inks can be water-soluble or waterproof, archival or can fade.

Fountain pen

The main advantages of using a fountain pen are they are refillable and you can use your own inks.

Good fountain pens can be purchased for less than USD 30. It is the type of pen nib, not the pen cost, that determines the type of lines that can be created.

Lamy Safari is a good inexpensive option for beginners. The other pen I recommend is the Duke 209 with a fude (bent) nib that can create expressive lines and really fun to work with.

Buy an ink convertor to refill ink if none is included with the pen purchase.

The type of fountain pen nib will determine the lines that can be created. For consistent line widths, you can go with EF, F, M, B nibs. For expressive lines or line width variation, there are the Zoom nib, fude nib, flex nib and other specialty nibs. For more affordable expressive pen nibs, go with fude nibs or zoom nibs which are more common and affordable.

Fountain pens can be expensive but there's really no need to spend so much when you're starting out with urban sketching. I have some expensive fountain pens and I don't bring them out to prevent damaging or losing them.

My favourite fountain pen to use for urban sketching is the Pelikan M200 and the Duke 209. Other companies that made fude nib pens are Jinhao and Hero.

To learn more about urban sketching on my blog, visit
https://www.parkablogs.com/tags/urban-sketching