Review: Noodler's Flexible Nib Piston-Fill Fountain Pen

This review is by Kalina Wilson, who can also be found at geminica.com.

Noodler's Flexible Nib Piston-Fill Fountain Pen is an exciting product unique to its price range.  It costs approximately $14 plus shipping from online retailers - if you can find it in stock.  Both Goulet Pens and I Sell Pens are out of stock at the time of writing but will put you on an email re-stock notification list.  

Besides the clear demonstrator model shown, it also comes in various colors.

In short, this pen is a little bit wonderful and a little bit a pain in the neck.

The body is simple and sturdy, certainly aimed more towards functionality than beauty.  The piston-fill mechanism is easy to use and loads up a fair amount of ink.  The nib leaks a little bit while not in use (note the splatter visible in the photo of the capped pen), but the cap seals well so there have been no accidents.  The tip can draw a very fine line all the way up to a super bold line, and man is it fun to use for making fancy letters.

The drawback of this pen is that there can be flow issues. Even after washing the entire pen out multiple times with soap and warm water, it was a struggle getting it to write consistently. This sample was made with J. Herbin's Poussiere de Lune, and I got similar results using Noodler's Antietam.  Note that some of the letters just... peter out.

This may partially be a matter of getting accustomed to using a flex pen, which requires some care to be taken with angle and speed.  After pages and pages of tests, I did manage to do the animal sketches below using Noodler's Antietam without quite so much trouble as is evidenced by the above writing sample.

 

After a lot of efforts to make this pen behave with the J. Herbin and Noodler's inks, I obtained Waterman's South Seas Blue ink, which is recommended as one of the most free flowing inks around. It did seem to help and enabled some casual sketching on the bus at something close to my regular speed.  Note that because this pen can lay down a broad line, it's especially susceptible to smearing.

After the above sketches I switched back to Antietam to confirm that what I consider a "regular" flowing ink has problems in this pen, and it was absolutely true - the sketch on the right was laborious to make.  I switched back to South Seas Blue to produce the small drawing below, and perhaps you'll see from the sketchiness of that drawing that I was moving much more quickly and it basically worked, though even then the pen ran dry a couple of times.  If your hand moves more slowly than mine as you sketch or write, you'll probably have an easier time of it, but it's still going to be a good idea to use an ink that is reputed to be fast flowing.

One other thing about this pen - it smells terrible, straight out of the box.  Before you use it, take it apart (remove the nib and the plastic feed behind the nib, and unscrew the body parts) and give all the pieces a good, thorough wash with warm water and soap.

The bright side of the Noodler's Flex is that the variable width of the line gives a very distinctive look to any drawing made with it, and that's a lot of fun.  With an ink that shades, the results are reminiscent of bamboo pen drawings but with a more precise minimum width.  This is a perfect pen for showing off a beautiful ink.

When you want a smooth, reliable line you can just go to town with, this pen isn't the one to grab - but if you want an intriguing style that will give your sketches or writing a different look than you've been able to generate before and you don't mind working slowly, the Noodler's flex will provide new and unique opportunities.

Note: If you own a Noodler's flex pen and don't have the flow problems I've talked about, please post a comment and let us know!  Maybe I got a bad nib; maybe there are a lot of other inks that will work well; I'd love to hear more happy stories about this pen especially regarding using it for drawing.

Review: Noodler's Antietam ink

This review is by Kalina Wilson, who can also be found at geminica.com.

Antietam (pronounced something like an-TEE-dum) is not one of the more frequently appreciated colors of Noodler's ink, but I'm a big fan.  This ink is generally described as looking "antique" or like dried blood. It caught my eye while searching for a rich, red-tinted brown, and it fits the bill very, very well.  

This particular color of Noodler's isn't widely available but right now it does appear to be stocked by both Writer's Bloc and Goulet Pens. 

Because the color has such strong shading, it changes a lot depending on what you're using it with - your paper and especially your pen make a huge difference.  In general, the thicker it is laid on and the less absorbent your paper, the more the ink moves towards an extremely rich deep red.  A lighter layer can look like rich orange or thin tomato, depending on the paper and pen.  Some paper pushes it towards brown.

Here's the ink looking like thin tomato, loaded into the cartridge of a Kuretake Hair Brush pen and applied to cream-toned Aquabee watercolor paper. While I don't love the tomato shade, the layering options it allows for are quite fun.

Here it is looking like a rich, antique brown, loaded in a Lamy Safari and laid down in a Moleskine Sketchbook.  These are salvaged architectural pieces sketched last December during a Portland Urban Sketchers expedition to the Architectural Heritage Center.

This was on vintage accounting paper, applied in combination with a Kuretake Fudegokochi gray pen and lots of water (Antietam is a water soluble ink).

These two animal sketches are from the same Moleskine notebook, but the giraffe page had a coat of red acrylic on the opposite side which may have affected the ink absorption... which affected the ink color. I think that's why the giraffe looks a deeper red, while the sloth is a little bit orange.

The Noodler's flexible nib pen (review forthcoming) was a great match for the Antietam ink - check out the gorgeous shading on the sloth's fur. It's a little like what you get from a bamboo dip pen.

Antietam ink has a huge amount of character and a lot to say - all these sketches show different tones, but all the ink came out of the same bottle.  I recommend this ink most highly for use in line drawings using a pen that allows line variation, in which case it adds a lot of energy and shading without the need to add watercolors.  

If you do want to use it in combination with other colors, it will take some caution as the Antietam is strong and can clash with your regular palette, and of course be careful adding water since it is not waterproof - but there's a lot of room for adventure here, and the gorgeousness of the color will make you want to find new ways to use it.

Review: Kuretake No. 8 & 13 Fountain Hair Brush Pens

Hello Pen Addict readers! My name is Kalina and I’ll be contributing some reviews from here on out, focusing particularly on using materials for artistic purposes. As an Urban Sketcher I do a lot of quick sketches of my city and the people in it, and often don’t have much time or a convenient work space – this means I’m always on the lookout for exciting results in a convenient, no-fuss package, and it usually comes down to pens. Besides urban sketching I also draw comics.  You can find more of my drawings & goings-on at geminica.com.

Drawn on Canson Foundation Bristol using a Kuretake No. 13 brush pen and Platinum Carbon ink.

I’ll start off here by reviewing my current favorite brush pens – the Kuretake No. 8 Fountain Hair Brush Pen and No. 13 Fountain Hair Brush Pen. These pens are identical in the brush (besides the coloration of the metal band) though the bodies are quite different, with price points to match. The brown plastic No. 8 is significantly longer than the more expensive metal No. 13. 

 My initial reaction upon laying down a line with one of these pens was a bit of a drunken rush.  Oh, the possibilities!  With this pen, I can make magic!  --of course, in reality, brushes in general take a lot of practice to learn to control and I've been working on that ever since, usually by way of the Kuretake and sometimes the Pentel Pocket Brush.

Top to bottom: Kuretake No. 13, Kuretake No. 8, and (for comparison) the popular Pentel Pocket Brush.

Speaking of the Pentel Pocket Brush – that’s a great pen. I’ve had mine for years and the tip is still flawless and producing a reliable, gorgeous line. However, I prefer the Kuretake for a couple of reasons.

This quick sketch in a Hand Book Artist Journal made use of the Kuretake's brush-like qualities.

The Kuretake is slightly more responsive than the Pentel Pocket Brush. That’s not always good – a responsive brush translates every little tremor of your hand onto the page, so it's more challenging to master. A stiffer brush can make a more predictable line which is handy for a lot of uses, and I know one great cartoonist that was lured in by the Kuretake only to end up back in the loving arms of the Pentel Pocket Brush before too long. I'd say when it comes to line quality, the Kuretake wins particularly when you want to work with the looser qualities of a brush, say for gesture drawings.

On a slightly toothy paper, this kind of brush tip results in interesting variations based not just on pressure but also the speed of your stroke. Below are some test strokes made on Aquabee Super Deluxe Sketchbook paper, which has some tooth to it.

The other reason for my Kuretake preference is that both the No. 8 and the No. 13 take a Platinum Converter. Pentel offers no converter for the Pentel Pocket Brush, so you’re stuck using the Pentel ink (which, to be fair, is good waterproof ink) or buying a syringe so you can refill the disposable cartridges. I like the convenience of being able to purchase converter cartridges, and the Platinum Converters are well made. My No. 13 brush pen is currently stocked with disposable Platinum Carbon cartridges (for ease of replacement on the road – and this is fantastic, extremely waterproof ink), and the No. 8 has a cartridge converter filled with Noodler’s Lexington Gray which works very well in these pens. (The ink Kuretake provides with purchase is unfortunately not even slightly waterproof.) An example of this ink arrangement is below.

Two tones of ink, both in Kuretake brush pens, makes it possible to add midtones. (Canson Foundation Bristol paper with Platinum Carbon ink and Noodler's Lexington Gray ink)

Brush pens aren’t for everyone and they aren’t useful for every sketch, but if you want the sensitivity of a real brush for a low price along with the flexibility to choose your own inks, this pen fitted with a cartridge converter gets my vote.

This weeks' sketches of Victorians were inspired by photos in the excellent volume Fashion in Photographs: 1880-1900.