pen 95: sharpie brush tip

available in 12 colors, this pen answers the age old question, what would it be like to paint with a sharpie permanent marker. the answer, awesome.

these pens are yet another example of sharpie quality and versatility. the brush tip puts down a fully saturated line, and with a flexible yet firm (the tip is not as inflexible as the standard fine tipped pen) brush making things like fine detail and line width variation a snap. the ink has little value range, again all or nothing, but the tip allows shading in terms of stipple, hatching or crosshatching. 

the brush tip makes for some fun experimentation, and can push the artist in terms of creative uses, these pens would be good for inking over pencils, detail in watercolor or acrylic paintings, contour and gesture drawings, the latter two even more so if you are working in a larger format. the flexibility of the tip really lends itself to drawing organic subjects. yes, it is a bit funny that i say that considering that i drew a robot as the example, i did this because the original was actually 10 inches tall, and i was testing the saturation and fill potential of the pen, i was pleased with the results. 

these pens are available as stand alone pens in larger big box office supply stores, in packs of four and twelve colors and of course, everywhere online. i personally bought the four pack at wall-mart for around $6 - the 12 pack was around $10, i didn't really want any of the colors other than black so i stuck with the less expensive option.

the only problem i have with these pens is that the tip is not all that durable, and like the traditional fine point marker, has only a few uses in detail work before becoming a filler pen for large areas of color or black or whatever.

so yeah, its a sharpie, nuff said - go get one.

website:
www.sharpie.com

what they say:

One Tip. Plenty of Tricks.

• Create fine lines, bold strokes and shading
• Control the width of your lines - thick or thin - with the pressure of your hand
• Make your ideas permanent on almost any surface
• Create with brightly colored, fade- and water-resistant ink
• Quick-drying ink AP certified nontoxic formula
• 12 assorted colors to make your marking unique