Drawing and painting are two completely different things. Even though both of them are visual arts that can be done on paper and canvas or even on metal and wood surfaces, they are mainly different in the media they use. While you need brushes, paints and some other supplies for painting, for drawing you’ll only need professional artist pens and that’s it.
What Is an Artist Pen?
Although quite similar to traditional pens, the pro artist pens have finer tips for drawing more precise lines. They’re much more pigmented and perfect for creating a longer-lasting drawing that has all the needed realistic-looking details.
What Makes Them a Better Option Than Pencils?
Well, practice shows that pens actually force you out of that perfectionist habit you might have which is awesome. In the end, drawing is about adding something new with each line and making the imperfect perfect in a way.
Unlike pencils, pens don’t need any sharpening. Instead, you can entirely rely on its sharp end that makes precise lines that are extra thin or bold, depending on your needs and preferences. Unlike pencils, pens are available in a range of colours and types of brushes which gives you the ability to draw with confidence. Given the fact that there’s a huge range of professional artist pens, this makes them perfect for both beginners and professionals.
Types of Pens
Liner
Also known as technical pens, they’re perfect for those of you who love to be precise when drawing. The liner or fine liner pens have a fine tip that allows for drawing thin lines and for some detailed work. They’re available in different colours and in a variety of widths from very thin to medium thin. When in the search for the highest quality ones, look for ones that have quality pigmented ink that doesn’t bleed through any kind of paper.
Brush
Unlike liner pens, these ones are mainly popular among professional artists. They have a soft brush-like tip that can be used for creating both thick and thin lines. An important thing to have in mind when choosing the right type of brush pens is to consider the ink type which can be water or alcohol-based.
The alcohol-based inks have more vibrant colours and a longer finish, unlike water-based inks which are soluble in water. However, the latter usually are free form acid which makes them non-toxic. They’re perfect for those of you who want to add some colour to your drawings without exaggerating with paint.
Markers
Unlike paint which can be messy to work with, markers are another option to add colour to your drawings. Just like brush pens, markers are also available in water and alcohol-based form which gives you the freedom to pick whatever you like.
Alcohol-Based Markers
These markers are perfect for all those of you who want to achieve a vibrant and more colourful drawing, so quite often, they’re used by comic book artists, manga artists and cartoonists. Being made from ink and alcohol, these markers have a smooth finish and an even coverage.
Watercolour Markers
As the name suggests, these pens are made from water-soluble ink which means that you can activate it with water. One way to use these types of professional art pens is to swatch colours on a porcelain or plastic palette, wet the brush with water and pick up the desired colour to paint on the paper. An important thing to know when working with these markers is to use only paper designed for watercolours like cold-pressed, hot-pressed and rough paper.
Fountain
Fountain pens are perfect for drawing since they allow for achieving consistent fine lines. They are perfect for precision and line drawing, contour drawing, etc. These pens have a reservoir designed to hold the ink and a feed that allows the ink to flow freely to the nib.
Ballpoint
These artist tools have a ballpoint designed to distribute ink to the paper as you draw or write. The best thing about them is that they allow you to make different lines depending on the amount of pressure you apply to them.
Rollerball
These pens have a ball point that distributes ink onto the paper when writing or drawing. The ink on these pens in mainly water-based which makes it less vicious. These pens come in disposable and refillable varieties and they allow you to make more consistent and dark lines.
You can also choose between gel and paint pens, however, the aforementioned types are among the most commonly used. The type of pen you choose should mainly depend on your needs. One thing is certain, whether you want to draw thinner lines, thicker lines or you want something special to improve your calligraphy skills, be sure that there is a pen for each and every need of yours.