Beautiful Handwriting and the Secret of the Flex Nib

Ever wondered how those beautiful written texts of the past were written? There is a certain charm in the manner in which these were written, there was a rhythm, there was a graceful flow, a very expressive tone, and when looking at them now, produces almost a mystical look.

Often time we wonder , maybe it was the talent of the writers, with such gifted handwriting, which probably is too difficult to acquire. No question about the talent of the hand that wrote those beautiful texts, but no matter how hard one tries, unless the tool is right it will never be as good.

Apart from the style and grace of the hand, the variation in the width of the strokes is the key ingredient and the secret behind the expressive variable width is the Flexible nib of the pens that was used to write them.

Of course these were not written with modern ball point pens or roller gel pens. Even the flat edges Calligraphy pens can only come close. In olden times pens were in the form of nibs set in a holder and dipped in bottles(ink wells) of ink and used. The simplicity of the mechanism also meant a flexibility in the kind of ink one can use. The ink can be pigment based (opposed to modern dye-based inks) and hence can be very dense and non-feathering, waterproof and indelible.

Apart from that advantage, the nibs can be of varying types. very thin to thick, and from very stiff to very very flexible. The Flexible nibs again varied from Flex, to semi flex and no flex and everything in between.

These flexible nibs were capable of producing lines of varying thickness based on the amount of pressure exerted on them. some nibs such as the Hunt 100 is so thin, yet totally flexible that it can produce very huge swells if pressed even slightly. Some such as Gillott 404 and Gillott 303 had manageable amount of flex.

Using these a very interesting and varied types of text can be produced. The style and grammar of such handwriting evolved and one can see styles such as Spencerian or Copperplate as being more popular.

As dip pens gave way to fountain pens (we are still talking of 'ancient' times), the flexible nibs became a speciality. It was a challenge to produce flexible nibs that can work inside a fountain pen's feed mechanism. Gold was the most suitable since it can flex without breaking, and also at the same time resistant to corrosion, since fountain pens stayed wet even when not in use. Hence it became expensive to have flexible nib fountain pens, and slowly the flex nib along with the fountain pens faded away from public memory.

Of course it did not fade away from everyone, and there always existed a set of individuals passionate about handwriting, flexible nibs, and what not, and they continued the tradition, however with limited supply of vintage flex nib fountain pens, which became more and more expensive and certainly into the hundreds of dollars.

One always had the choice of using a dip pen. but it always comes with its own disadvantages, such as lack of portability and increased maintenance. The increased interest in Manga, has re infused the enthusiasm in dip pens , and there is a specialized set of nibs from Nikko, Tachikawa and Zebra such as the G-Pen, which offer great flex capabilities. One can still get Gillott, and from other manufacturers such as Leonardt, and Brause.

Most recently the intriguing company called the Noodler's Ink company has introduced a beautiful flex nib fountain pen that has satisfied the cravings of a flex nib enthusiast, at a price that won't pinch the pocket.

All of these is recent knowledge to me, and it was a great liberating experience to take a flexible dip pen, dense India ink, and produce some very interesting vintage style text with expressive strokes.

Some of the resources that helped are the Fountain Pen Network, Russ Stutler's Sketching Forum and countless blogs from great folks.

If you want to know all about Penmenship, the only place you ever want to go is IAMPETH. And of course you need your choice of dip pen, or fountain pen with a good flex nib and a bottle of beautiful ink, and endless supply of paper.

Next time you want to send a handwritten note, or a little note on the tiny little card on the gift, you are better equipped.

Made in India : Wality Airmail pens

While in pursuit of fountain pens that I can use for drawing and sketching, I got myself what looked like an ordinary pen in an artstore. My primary (rather only) use of a fountain pen is for sketching and drawing... having used the Rotring Artpen, Lamy safari, etc, this did not look slick. But it had its own old world charm.


The pen is a simple eyedropper clear demonstrator. Meaning.. no cartridges to fill, no piston convertors to use. simply open up the barrel and fill it up by pouring from your bottle :)

When I filled it up with a black ink from Camlin called the Permanent black, and put pen to paper, I was blown away. Its a fine tipped (Japanese-Fine) nib, and was wet. It drew beautiful precise lines. flowed as smooth as silk. The ink though not that dense, came out dense because of the F nib.

This is now my daily sketch pen. I can fill up the huge barel with almost 3 cc (maybe more) of ink, and keep going for ever.

After doing some research I found that this pen is made by a company called the Airmail pen co. in Mumbai and they have been at it for more than 50 years! They have quite a range. The one I had purchased in known as Wality 70 JT and it is Huge! it also has a variant where the barell is covered except for a window to show the ink. Though I love the fully transparent version, where I could see the ink swishing and splashing around likes the waves on the beach.

Now comes the sweet part. This pen cost me Rs. 100 ( $2) and a bottle of black ink that cost me Rs. 12 (30 cents). My best buy in Fountain pens.

Platinum Carbon Fountain Pen

India Ink is the traditional ink used by illustrators for ages for the purpose of waterproof application. These are pigmented, and/or Shellac based inks that are certainly not suitable for fountain pens.

This would mean we need to resort to the classic dip pen. Using a dip pen is in itself a joy that cannot be equated with any other form of pen. but thats a different story.

Using dip pens means they are not portable, needs maintenance of ink, work space, inkwells, spills etc.

Fountain pens on the other hand are awesome for their maintenance free and portable nature. They are available instantly, all the time and can be used away from the desk. fountain pens have a feed mechanism that controls the flow of ink from the ink container to the nib and on to the paper. This requires certain property of the ink, so that it does not clog the feed system. Most fountain pen inks are washable, non waterproof ink. While this is great for line art, sketching etc. it becomes impossible to apply a watercolor wash on top of this.

Enter the Platinum Carbon Fountain pen, and the Platinum Carbon Ink!

This pen comes from the famous Platinum , one of top three Japanese pen makers. The ink is waterproof India Ink equivalent, contains minute carbon particle that creates the dense black color. The pen, has a larger feed and flow channel that prevents this ink from clogging it. This is an amazing combination that produces waterproof black lines instantly.

One can apply color washes immediately and not a single feathering, or smearing of the ink. In the quick sketch above, I applied color wash immediately and I was surprised not to find a single smear, bleed or feathering !!.

Artists have successfully used this ink in other regular fountain pens as well.. such as the Rotring Artpen, Pilot 78G and the "crowd sourced" TWSBI diamond 530.

The carbon pen comes with a Extra Fine nib, and since this comes from Japan, this should be categorized a Extra-Extra-Fine. But the flow, and fine nib is simply amazing.