My fountain pens

💌 Demonstrated with five owls

Dear Powells,

My second correspondence to you in a week. Feel free to get a restraining order placed on me.

This is a letter about fountain pens and owls. If neither excite you, then you’re excused from the table and may go and watch TV. For the rest of you, here are the 5 fountain pens (referred to henceforth as FPs, to protect my sanity) that I currently have in rotation:

1. A titanium flex nib by The Good Blue ~ my favourite

2. A titanium flex nib by Tom’s Studio ~ brand new, unsure

3. A semi-flex nib by Tom’s Studio ~ brand new but already a fave

4. A semi-fine 3776 Century by Platinum ~ trusty but not flexy

5. Platinum desk pen ~ unreliable (but that’s not the pen’s fault)

That’s the bullet point list out of the way.

Now, let me expand on each. I have included a drawing made with each pen and, in an effort to make a fair comparison, I have drawn an owl each time.

Paying subscribers can watch videos of me drawing each owl - they’re at the end of the letter!

My favourite pen…

You can tell this is my favourite because it’s filthy! If you’re looking for line variation the titanium flex nib by The Good Blue is hands down the best FP I’ve tried. As a rule, fountain pens do not have much flex in the nib (unlike dip pens) which means they generally do not produce much variation in line width. But a flex nib splays, letting out more ink which gives you fatter lines. This nib is made from titanium but feels soft and is unbelievably flexible and bouncy. The amount of ink it lays down is stupendous, but that means it doesn’t give a particularly thin line, especially if used on very smooth paper, unless you tilt it slightly, which I don’t have a problem with. It doesn’t roll off the table thanks to it having a flat side. You can’t pop the lid on the end (called posting - done with FPs to balance the weight of the pen) but you don’t need to with this because it’s weighty enough already. I use an ink converter in this pen (rather than cartridges) with Carbon Platinum ink.

Beware: if you use carbon ink then clean and flush your pen regularly so it doesn’t get clogged.

I use this pen enough that it rarely gets clogged because the ink is always flowing, but if I was planning on not using it for a while, I’d clean it out first before dumping it in a drawer.

Here is an owl I drew with this pen:

My need to get to know you better pen…

The titanium flex by Tom’s Studio. I’ve had this 4 days so take this review with a pinch of salt. It’s a lovely pen. I bought the pocket size and use a refillable cartridge, which I filled with Tom’s Studio waterproof ink using the handy syringe that comes when you buy one of his FPs. The pocket size is nifty and portable, but easily becomes a regular pen size when the lid is posted on the end. The nib isn’t as flexible as I was expecting though. It does give a decent line variation but it’s a harder and sturdier nib than my favourite pen and the variation isn’t as easy to get - I need to slow down a bit (I draw quite quick!).

BUT I’ve only had this pen 4 days so let us get acquainted first and I’ll re-review it when we’ve become better friends.

TIP: Use your FP a lot to get to know them - each has their own personality!

Here is the owl I drew with this pen:

My second in command pen…

The semi-flex by Tom’s Studio (pocket size). I’ve also only had this 4 days but I love it already. The nib is more flexible than I was expecting and gives an impressive line variation. The thinest line I can get with it is also much thinner than my favourite Good Blue pen. This will likely become the pen I’ll reach for when I want to achieve a finer detail. In fact, I’ll keep the same ink in this as in the Good Blue so I can use them on the same drawing. So clever.

Here is the owl:

My trusty but reliable pen…

3776 Century by Platinum. For starters, it’s not cheap, albeit not as expensive as a Mont Blanc (which is famously the brand Ronald Searle used). This is a very reliable pen though. Never clogs or skips lines. It has a little bit of line variation, but not loads ,and not if you draw quickly like I do. If I want a thinner line with it, I’ll turn it over and use it upside-down.

The owl:

My old and knackered and doesn’t work properly because I never flush it but I like it this way pen…

Lastly, I present to you the Platinum desk pen. Cheap as chips. This is the first FP I bought and at the time I was into fine detail and the did the job just perfect. I now keep it when I want barely there lines. I actually like that it when the ink doesn’t flow so well from this pen and so I rarely flush it. This has Octopus purple ink in.

Owl:

Other things…

All drawn on Arches bright white 300gsm hot press paper.

Last, here’s an owl getting a wash in neutral tint by Winsor Newton. The paintbrush is a travel brush by Escoda, I bought the set of 3 and keep them in my pencil case.

That concludes the end of my presentation on fountain pens. Thank you for watching. I will now take questions in the comments, whilst drinking tea and eating a custard cream.

Powell x