I got a new pen recently that I am LOVING.
I spent an hour or more filling up about 10 pages of little experiments… here are some of my favorite bits:
Have a great day!
PPPP – Pilot Parallel Pen Play
11 Saturday Feb 2017
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The Pilot Parallel pen comes in various sizes. It is a great “go to” pen for calligraphers. They have cartridges, but you can also put ink directly into the barrel. I love this pen and highly recommend that you hurry and get one if you have never tried it! You will love how handy it is.
OOOOHHH … gotta’ try this one! love the ‘sepia’ ink!
A few tips on using the PPP: the pen has been in the hands of calligraphers for many years….I’m guessing 8??? It’s a great pen because the ink keeps on flowing. You don’t have to keep dipping your nib into the ink bottle. “Keeps on flowing” can be a problem. If you don’t use them for a period of time they stop flowing. The end nib end dries. Usually this can be remedied by running it under water to wash off the dry ink and give the ink inside a path out. There is a little flexible plastic rectangle that comes with the pen. This is a life saver. Don’t loose it. At first I didn’t know what it was for. (Instructions with more recent issue of the pen may be better) The pen nib is actually two separate pieces of metal. I thought at first it was one piece of metal folded. No. That little plastic rectangle actually slides between the two pieces of metal. Slide it through while you are running the nib under water. (It doesn’t break the nib!!! Don’t worry). If you lose it you can also make one from a sheet of thin acrylic.
When I used the pen for calligraphy I had a LOT of trouble with the smaller nib sizes. They clogged up much more than the wider pen widths. Eventually I gave up on the smaller ones. But I love the wide ones.
Be careful what kind of inks you use to reload. Be sure they are fountain pen friendly. Check the instructions or ask your art supplier.
Some pretty cool books I found are great for drawing with a wide pen nib. Carla may already know about them. They’re fun and can inspire further drawing adventures. Both books are by Andrew Fox. “Learn to Draw Calligraphy Nature” and “Learn to Draw calligraphy Animals.”
I got a little long winded here but I’m excited about Carla and others discovering the Parallel Pens. In Carla’s words: “Have fun!”
Thank you, Joyce!!!
Joyce, this means no using acrylic inks, right?
And no India inks?
No India Ink!!!!!!! No Higgins Eternal. No Acrylic Ink like FW. They are too thick and will clog the pens and not flow. I was going to say no Acrylic in my original post but wasn’t 100% sure. I say this because since those pens have been out the Golden High Flow acrylic paints have been developed. That’s why I recommend asking someone at an art supply resource who should know for sure. If you don’t know who to ask I often talk with staff at http://www.wetpaintart.com/ They are great folks and knowledgeable. They’re in St. Paul, MN. The other supplier that have very helpful customer service is Daniel Smith http://www.danielsmith.com/ in Seattle. There are many more. These are just the ones I have used the most for product information.
Excellent advice from Joyce! I love a pen that is well designed to be a workhorse and this pen is in that category. The only other advice I would add is to not use permanent ink in them. You could but definitely do not leave it in and forget about it. Same goes for most good fountain pens. If you do loose your little rectangle you can cut a piece of mylar, the plastic kind that is strong but not too thick. I think if I was just buying one pen I would get the one Carla got, the 3.8. Its a nice fat line 🙂 or you can turn it into a skinny line. enjoy!
cheers
Just to add to Joyce’s great comment….you can actually take the whole pen apart and soak everything to get them clean and unstuck. My friend Alice Young has a workshop on Parallel Pens she teaches called “Strong Lines”….she has a Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/onlinecalligraphyclasses/ where you can see some beautiful samples of things she has done with the parallel pens…..
I love the ragged lines especially! 🙂
Great marks! I think I need one!
So fun!!! ❤️
Gina
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I think I own one! Off on the search!
You spent hours doing them, and I could spend hours looking at your sketches!! They’ve got that delicate and fragile touch that I love !!