The Akashiya Bamboo Brush Pen.
I’ve been liking brush pens lately. From none, I now own three. One of them is the Akashiya Bamboo brush pen, which I must admit I bought because it was made of bamboo plus it had butterflies on it.
There is a butterfly on the cap.
There are two butterflies on the barrel, but I don’t think they’re ganging up on the loner up there.
The cap pulls off to reveal a plastic section. That section unscrews from the barrel so you can put in a cartridge or converter. This brush pen came with a box of 3 cartridges. I believe a Platinum converter will fit (if I remember the jetpens write-up correctly). The brush is made of synthetic hair, and reminds me of the Aquash brush.
To allow the plastic section to screw in, there is a threaded brass fitting inside the bamboo barrel.
The brush pen is longer than ordinary pens, and feels very light and easy to use.
It is slightly longer, capped, than a full-length colored pencil.
It takes some getting used to. For this one, I wanted to make very fast, loose strokes.
This one has more detail. (Obviously done during a longer meeting than the previous doodle.)
The ink in the supplied cartridges dries very glossy and black. I hope it’s available in bottles.
July 29th, 2010 at 12:45 am
I wondered why you picked that brush pen out of the other bamboo ones. I should have known it was butterflies.
July 29th, 2010 at 1:11 am
You’re a great artists and this is a great review. Just wondering how you get fountain pens to behave like calligraphy pens? At least that’s how I’d describe it. I’ve tried to get different stroke sizes but can’t pull it off like you. Or am I mistaken and you are just thickening lines manually?
July 30th, 2010 at 4:21 am
[...] Leigh Reyes stellt einen Pinsel vor. Das klingt erst einmal unspektakulär, ist es aber nicht. [...]
August 1st, 2010 at 1:32 am
This is a beautiful pen – I love the bamboo and the butterflies as well. Brush pens intimidate me; I want to try one but I’ve never been sure which is the best one for me. This one definitely looks like a possibility. I love the loose, flowing look of your drawings.
August 1st, 2010 at 5:11 am
Thanks for posting that review. I was a tad curious about that brush pen. Nice sketches btw!
August 20th, 2010 at 2:26 pm
Hi, sygyzy! To vary line widths using a pen with a flexible nib, lighten hand pressure on up and side strokes and add pressure during downstrokes.
Modern fountain pen nibs tend to be on the firm side so if you’re looking to get line variation, it’s best to hunt down vintage pens with flexible nibs on eBay, the Green Board or FPN. 