Are Calligraphy Pens the same as Fountain Pens?

The main thing when looking at the tools to create your script is what do you wish to achieve when creating the basic strokes. The “stroke fidelity” is most important factor i.e. can I create this stroke with such precision that it looks exactly like the exemplar I am following?

Pointed Pen

In order to create most traditional pointed pen scripts, you need to have the line swelling. This means that in one stroke of the pen, you can control the thick and thin with your hand. Fountain pens with flexible nibs are expensive; these tend to be very specialised because the ink has to flow through the pen and the nib and on to the paper, and that takes a lot of research.

I recommend using a pen-holder and nib (Nikko-G for beginners) with dip-pen ink (e.g. walnut ink or Higgins calligraphy ink). Note: dip-pen ink is different from fountain pen ink, which is also different from drawing ink. This gives you the freedom to change nibs and inks freely, you don’t need to wait for the cartridge to run out to change ink and you don’t need to buy an expensive fountain pen.

Broad Edge

Broad edge is slightly different as you don’t need the flexibility in the tip. I sometimes use Pilot parallel pens for my practice as it’s great for transporting and picking up and playing with. These pens in my mind count as a “fountain pen” even though it probably would not be classed as one.

Remember if you are changing the size of the script you are writing in, you need to change your broad edge nib - as mentioned in my first blog. This means that you would need to change your fountain pen too, which is something to consider when purchasing your pens.

Conclusion

Fountain pens have their place for handwriting and everyday penmanship but you are entering the world of calligraphy for the first time - nib and ink is your best friend.