One can never have enough art supplies (do I hear applause?) and my latest art “problem” to solve is finding the perfect (for me) fountain pen for sketching. I am looking for a “working” pen, not a collector’s pen, i.e., low-price, but good quality. I also want a pen/nib that produces a variable-width line rather than a consistent-width line. My research indicates that this quality primarily results from a flexible nib (another link), which is normally associated with dip pens. My conclusion is that I have about four decent options and I’ll share these with you: (all prices are from Pendemonium.com except Ackerman and do not include SHH)

Lamy Safari with ink converter ($30 + $5)- Nina Johannsen’s site influenced me the most; and possibly the Lamy Studio which is $56 with converter at Swisher.com

Pelikan Traditional 150 piston fill ($50) – I love the separate screw-in nib units ($15 each)

Ackerman pump pen ($30) – Here’s a persuasive forum post ; supposedly you can fill this pen with ANYTHING it will suck up, including diluted watercolor paint, India ink, whatever.

Sailor Profit Super Script with ink converter – This 4-in-1 nib sounds very cool ; this is a wonderful artist’s sketchbook site and she uses a Sailor pen (but a fairly expensive one); another interesting option is the Zoom nib, but this doesn’t seem to have the charming line quality that I’m looking for.

Here’s a website that compares the nib widths of various pen brands, which is very useful.

While I’m on this topic I might as well add what I’ve found on inks:

if you are sketching the biggest question is whether you want the ink to not smear if and when you lay on a watercolor wash. The Noodler’s Bulletproof ink is said to be waterproof and noncorrosive for fountain pens. For my purposes I believe that I want to try (in this order; all $12.50 each from pendemonium.com w/o SHH):

Noodler’s American Eel black ink (supposed to be kind of lubricated; good for pump mechanisms)
Noodler’s Bulletproof black ink (may be redundant if I get the above)
Noodler’s Eternal Brown ink
Noodler’s gray ink

So you see, it’s been fun, but confusing! I want all of these pens (and more!), but I must choose. I’m REALLY thinking hard about trying an Ackerman pump pen with a Crowquill nib. If I do, I’ll post a sample of the lines I’m able to draw with it.

Cheers,

Lane