Kuretake Fountain Brush Pen TAKUJO (No.8), Black Ink, for Calligraphy, Manga, Drawing, Professional, Artist, Made in Japan

Great brush. Good price for a brush pen that works better than expected. I get great thin to thick lines that taper nicely. Nice rich black ink, too.

I have several brush pens, but keep coming back to this one which is the cheapest of them all. It fits my hand perfect, it is light, you can refill the ink cartridges yourself with other inks (after washing the cartridge, just use a syringe to refill), and the tip is neither too soft nor too hard. Due to the low price, I am not afraid of losing it when sketching outdoors. Perhaps the only drawback (for me) is the length, as it is longer than a standard pen, and therefore does not fit most standard pen cases or it sticks out on my sketching bag. But I “fixed” mine by cutting an inch off the back, lol! I did not notice any difference in pen balance after cutting a piece off. I normally take 2 of these along, one with black ink and another with gray ink, which is a quick way to apply shade/shadow to urban sketches. And if you chose to go monochrome, you could prepare more shades and fill different pens with each. You can also buy a converter for this pen and fill it without a syringe, but the converter will cost more than the pen! I chose to use the cartridges that it came with, although I empty it and refill with waterproof ink. There is nothing wrong with the ink that comes with the pen, but it is not waterproof, and for my purpose, where most of the time I watercolor my sketches, the ink needs to be waterproof! The water based ink that comes with the pen (and other water based inks too) can achieve interesting effects as you can do your sketch and then use a water brush pen or a wet paint brush to “smear” the dark portions of the sketch to make your shades and shadows. So you might want to have some fun with the ink included before emptying the cartridge to replace the ink! So much sketching to do, but so little time, lol!

Pros: I really enjoy this pen overall. The casing is plastic, so don't expect something with lots of weight in your hand. Would be good for daily carrying. I think that for the price it does what you expect a brush pen to do. It looks kind of cool as well, as a lot of these Japanese-made pens do. Cons: The pen has a very heavy flow of ink, at least the one I got did! Don't get me wrong, it's good to have a flowy brush pen, but I feel that this one lays down ink too fast/thick. This means that it also takes several minutes for some areas of ink to dry, which is the first time I've encountered that issue with a brush pen. Also, the darkness of the black is definitely not as dark as other brush pens I have. So in conclusion, the ink comes out very heavy but when dry, the black is not as dark as I was hoping.

I love this brush pen. Anything from Kuretake is a must buy if you’re an artist.

When I started my search for the perfect calligraphy pen for my Chinese hanzi practice, I was worried I wouldn't find the right one. I had tried a few before this, and they were adequate, but not nearly close to what I was looking for. This pen instantly became my favorite! The brush flows fluidly along the page, ink flowing at a consistent rate so you get steady, consistent lines. Strokes are even with pressure, and can do both fine and thick lines. Perfect for both my workbook practice and my calligraphy projects! Also works great for art, especially since you can control the output so easily. I highly recommend this pen! It is now my everyday brush!

Swift arrival in good condition; No flaws or damage to the package. The pen is easily my new beloved as it is simplistic, sleek and convenient with a very nice brush tip. A bit fluffy but very soft (like an actual brush) and with great control although I could see it fraying for people of they use the brush too roughly. Produces lovely and fluid lines even with the most gentle strokes giving a great feel of flow that appeals to me for how you don't feel the friction. Setup is simple and it comes with two cartridges though it is empty so one of them is to fill the pen and the other is a refill. Pen case is hollow to allow the cartridge to be socketed into the brush (you pop the wide end with the metal ball into the slot of the brush tip) but one little thing I love is there's just enough room in the pen casing to slide the unused cartridge and give the pen a normal weighted feel. This, I like a lot. The casings are for a very lovely kind of ink and so the designs are already pleasant but being able to keep a spare ink cartridge in the pen at all times just feels thoughtful. Ink does take a bit to start flowing and I think my first one was a bit off since it looked a little emptier than the other one. When it does go, though, keep an eye on if it continues flowing well. Somehow I actually like when the ink looks spotty from slow dripping, however, and it's likely not common. You may use the ink a bit quickly, though. Try the pen first and if you like it, I would get a good supply of replacement cartridges since this feels like a pen that can last well with care.

I really like using brush pens with waterproof inks in my watercolor paintings so I got different models from different brands. Out all 6-7 brush pens that I own from different brands, I like this the most. They have a very good built (The body is made of metal and has a sleek design), The brush tip is very pointy and you can use platinum ink converter to refill it with any ink you like (I use Sketchink by Rohrer & Klingner with them which are awesome too) Anyhow, I definitely recommend it specially over the Pantel brush pens.

Schrijft fijn en afgelijnd. Ink vloeit goed, is niet watervast maar wel geschikt om te 'wassen'.

初めてカートリッジタイプの筆ペンを購入。 そもそもこういうタイプの筆ペンがあること自体を知らなかった。 まず印象としては、想像していた物より全体が長めだった。 今まで使っていた筆ペンは一般的なボールペンぐらいのサイズだったのだが、 この商品はそれよりも数センチ長い。恐らく通常の小筆ぐらいはあるかもしれない。 その長さのおかげもあってか、文字を書く際にはしっかりペンのバランスを保持しながら書くことができる。 書き心地は柔らかすぎず硬すぎず、ちょうどいい筆感である。 本当に習字の筆で文字を書いているかのような印象をもてる。 趣味で文字の練習をしているので、あくまで素人が使った感想にしかならないが、 それでも今までの筆ペンとの書き心地とは違うと感じた。 金額的にもリーズナブル、替えのカートリッジも付属しているので、コストパフォーマンスも良い。 世の中にはそれこそ高価な筆ペンも多数有るかと思うが、自分的にはこの商品で十分事足りるので、 初心者の方や趣味で練習している方など、まず一本目の筆ペンという方にお薦めである。

This is a fantastic pen. If wielded the right way, the artist can accomplish lines as fine as any a fountain pen might produce, and without the annoying hassle of leakages and frequently broken nibs. The pluses are: - You can draw on two sides of a sheet of paper, and the ink dries instantly, not flooding or causing paper to warp. I have done such on thin, low quality paper. - Versatile. I used this on high, artist quality paper, which is rather porous, but regardless this is always like writing with silk upon silk. - I highly recommend artist quality paper, as the tones and indentations will add definition and pizazz to your works, but as there is no bleeding this is not mandatory at all. I would say, try traditional rice paper, but only if this is specific to an effect you wish to produce. There is no requirement to use paper that is thick, as the ink is of such a type that bleeding does not ever occur. - Attractive design. This is obviously not an expensive pen, but is aesthetically pleasing, the parts being joined with brass rings rather than plastic. It is the length and girth of a traditional Tsume (meaning claw) pen. I recommend that you buy a refillable cartridge, though the disposable Kuretake cartridges are hardly excessively priced compared to - ahem! - the OTHER brand, yes Pentel, we mean you.

De très bonne qualité, j'en est acheter plusieurs et je doit dire qu'il m'ont toujours donner satisfaction le pinceau et souple tout en gardant une pointe net et précise, très pratique pour la calligraphie.