In this article, I want to talk about the right ballpoint pen for Kuligraphy and tell you which specific pens I use and recommend.
I started to learn Kuligraphy with a standard ballpoint pen which I had lying around on my table.
The pen does not really matter in the beginning, if you just starting with Kuligraphy.
At first, you need to learn the right movements and how to write individual letters before you think about special pens.
Just grab a standard ballpoint pen and start practicing Faux Kuligraphy for example.
If you want to learn the more advanced scripts like the Copperplate in the Traditional Beginner’s Guide, for example, there is no way around the BIC 1.6mm Ballpoint pen*.
Pencils for Traditional and Modern
The best ballpoint pen for these two scripts is the BIC Crystal 1.6mm ballpoint pen* which you can buy on Amazon for example.
BIC Crystal 1.6mm
Why do I need this particular pen for these scripts?
These two scripts depend on the thickness of the line strokes you create with the pen.
In the following picture, you can see the difference between a BIC 1.6mm Pen (left) and a standard ballpoint (right).
You can clearly see the difference between these two examples.
The one on the left has thin and thick line strokes where the other word on the right has the same line thickness for the whole word.
This small but important difference makes a script more elegant and reconcilable.
Pencils for Faux and Blackletter
You don’t need any particular pencils if you write these scripts.
Those scripts do not have thick and thin lines therefore you could use any ballpoint pen.
Here are two examples of suitable pencils for Kuligraphy which you can get from amazon.
I use this standard ballpoint pens which you also find on amazon*.
Standard Ballpoint pen
These standard pens have a small nib (1mm) and write mostly thin lines. They are perfectly suitable for Faux and Blackletter Kuligraphy.
Pilot Pen EasyTouch
The Pilot pens* have refillable ink and a comfortable rubber grip, which makes writing more fluent.
You could also use a Fineliner*, pigment liner* or any other pen which creates relatively thin lines.
Didi „Use the right pen“ Peters