see the brushes on the right? those are pentel sumi-like hollow brushes. that’s what i’m calling them, the packaging was all in japanese. couldn’t find them anywhere online to provide a resource except for a japanese link. i picked them up at kinokuniya in little tokyo. pam gave sister & i some small plastic containers she found in the dollar bin at target. i used mine to mix up some tube gouache with water that i could store without having it dry out. my intent was to try doing some calligraphic brush writing in my visual journal with my new brushes yesterday. HAH! not as easy as it looks. watercolor would be easier. or ink.
i tried those too.
the blue ink above is FW acrylic that i had on hand. i used it with the dip pen and also my new pentel brushes.
also had fun filling a waterbrush pen with some mixed ink samples from goulet pen company. i first wrote about wanting to try this HERE. i can report it is every bit as wonderful as i thought it would be!
i can also verify that my new calligraphy practice notebook takes watery ink, acrylic ink, and pen/nib writing v. v. well. without any troublesome wrinkling or bleeding through the page. i am thinking it would make a fine writing journal.
writing above done mostly with the parallel pen. i found THIS great reference for nibs. my newest nibs are the HUNT 99 & 101. i dislike having to dip so often, but they are v. flexible and easier to use. sort of. using the word easy in relation to dip pens would just be false advertising. i lack the patience and fortitude necessary to become skilled. this is not a complaint as much as an admission. i will soldier on.
turning off electronic devices and sitting down to my art table. must make the most of the hours i have left of the weekend! happy sunday to you. blowing kisses from los angeles…
Hi Mary, to add to your interest: the slim Pentel brush I see on your blog is called a MENSO FUDE (pronounced foo-day)–traditionally used for painting very fine facial details (eyes, nose, mouth) on Japanese dolls and for extremely detailed painting and calligraphy. Hope this helps since you couldn’t find any info on the fine calligraphy brush.
P. S The very fine brush as I see on your blog is called Menso fude (pronounced as foo-day). Menso=facial, fude=brush
Menso fude, “feature” brushes are used for painting very fine facial details such as the eyes, nose and mouth of small human figure (Japanese dolls etc.) and for extremely detailed painting and calligraphy.
There are many types of sumi-e materials on the internet. If you google “MENSO FUDE” you can find many helpful sites.
Carrie
Hi Mary! I linked the pentel brush to http://www.yodobashi.com/community/product/100000001000323910/02/image.html (translation of the japanese version). The very fine brush is pentel’s XFDM5-2 (sold in pack of 2) Another link to check out is
http://www.asianbrushpainter.com/brushes.html which also carry some fine calligraphy brushes. Hope these help.
Carrie
hi anna maria!
about that notebook…it is a CLAIREFONTAINE. love it!
I love your determination, or is it obsession, ha, ha!? Can you please tell us the brand of your wonderful no wrinkle calligraphy notebook?
This is such a great post!! Thanks for sharing this!!
thank you sweet, amazing woman for verifing that I am not a complete slacker in my limited relationship with dip pens. I was all set with a boat load of questions on all the finer details but when you wrote that about your ‘lack of patience’ I immediately felt better, I always thought there simply something wrong with me, not using the right pen, nib, ink had something to do with my failure with dip pens, all I ever seem to get is what I can only describe as ‘chicken scratching’ but AHA…it’s patience. That’s it!!!! That’s my problem. I ADORE seeing all of the amazing pages you, Pam and Carol execute, you all make it look awesome, not to mention fun. See now I will appreciate these pages with even more jaw dropping awe.
I am a big fan of messy, imperfect lettering/calligraphy. Love what you have done. Gouache makes good ink.