Kuretake MANNEN MOUHITSU brush pen, with 3 black ink refill, AP-Certified, made in japan, lettering, illustration, calligraphy

Absolutely one of my FAVORITE writing instruments ever. I'm a giant fan of pens and brushes and pencils and anything that can make a consistent mark on paper...and this brushpen is HANDS DOWN in my Top Ten all-time favs.There are many brush pens out there, not to mention good old brush and bottle of ink setups. But this pen has it all.• Portable• Non Spillable• Classy• Not too fat or too thin• Affordable• Long LastingI have nearly every other Brush Pen on the market, including other models by Kuretake. Many brushes use red sable, ox or camel hair brush tips as well as synthetic. If you're a brush enthusiast or artist, you'll agree that Red Sable is the industry standard for perfection in brush material. Red Sable has the ideal combination of resiliency, firmness, flexibility, ease of care and ability to retain its shape. Now, Kuretake also makes a RED SABLE version of this pen which I also use, but this model is SYNTHETIC and it's superior.It's superior and here's why:This synthetic brush tip is SO CLOSELY simulating Red Sable that it's actually better. This tip draws the ink from the ink cartridge in a longer, smoother draw, allowing for much longer and stronger brush strokes. The Red Sable, in its sublime beauty, tends to "run out" of ink much earlier in the stroke, giving your art that beautiful 'dry-brush' look. The synthetic tip gives you more of a 'finished' and professional brush stroke with confident and rich black ink.The TIP snaps back over and over again consistently retaining its shape.It's much more versatile than any other pen. I used to carry Sharpies of various sizes, Fountain pens, Rapidiograph and fineliner pens...THIS brush replaced ALL of them. With ONE versatile brush pen you can carry an entire art arsenal in your pocket with confidence.But almost MOST importantly, I carry this in my pocket everywhere I go because it costs almost HALF the $$$ of its Red Sable counterpart with no real loss in quality or consistency. I've put more than 30 ink cartridges through this particular pen and it's as amazing today as the day I received it.Attached are a couple 5-minute doodles, straight in brush-pen. You will enjoy this product.

When I was researching the internet for a brush pen, I was looking for a beautiful, quality instrument that I could enjoy using for a while. Except for some Kuretake brush pens, I could not find a brush pen that had a good reputation and looked great at the same time. When I received the Kuretake No.13 brush pen, I found out that this is a beautiful, exquisite instrument that looks as good as it works. It exceeded my expectations.Cap and barrelThe cap and barrel are metal, finished with a rich, glossy red. It slightly shimmers with a metal luster under bright light. The gloss deepens the shadows on the edges of the curvature. The golden accents are finely rendered, adding to the luxurious feel of the brush pen.CapThe cap is sophisticated. From my observations, the cap has two springs built in for a tighter fit. Inside the cap is another, smaller cap. I believe this smaller cap is plastic with a spring behind it to keep it pressed against the nib. The cap closes with a click, after applying considerable pressure. With use, the metal cap slightly wears the plastic grip section.Nib and grip sectionThe nib and the grip section are plastic, separated with a metal ring. The shape of the grip section smoothly transitions into the nib and into the brush tip. The thickness of the grip section does not bother me as being too thick or too thin. There are no ridges on the nib that would have pressed on my fingers when I would hold the pen. The smooth shape and the right thickness of the nib allows me to comfortably hold the pen very close to the brush tip for drawing fine detail.Brush tipThe brush tip is soft and springy, giving me a great range of line thickness. With one stroke, I can create a thick line that ends with a fine tip. Being extra careful, I was able to draw extremely fine lines. The English alphabet fit into a square less than 7 mm!When I was researching about this brush pen, some people have said that this brush pen developed hooks. Indeed, occasionally the very tip of my brush acquired a curved end. However, it easily straightened out, either against scrap paper or with my finger (or use a napkin). Also, a strand of dust sometimes may stick to the brush and move towards the tip of the brush, causing a similar effect.InkMany people have commented that the Kuretake ink, that comes with this brush pen, is not waterproof. Yes, when I smudge water onto fresh ink, it smears significantly. However, when ink has dried for a week or two, it does not smear at all, even under a standing puddle of water that soaks plain paper through. When the water dried, a slight tint remained, but the lines remained crisp.You may try other inks, but make sure that they work well with fountain brush pens to avoid ruining the brush or clogging the pen. Do not use ink that is only intended for dip pens or regular brushes. Because a "fountain pen" is a pen with ink flowing from inside, as opposed to dipping, this brush pen is also a fountain pen. Inks that will clog a regular fountain pen are likely to clog this brush pen.ConclusionAfter owning this brush pen for more than a year, I am glad I bought it. To me, it is worth more than $19. I enjoy looking at and using this brush pen and would certainly recommend it to others.

This is a fine tipped small brush pen, good looking, good quality, and inexpensive. I have about 6 different brush pens for artwork and this is my current favorite. Also the included black ink is pretty good, fast drying and relatively water resistant. I tried the Pentel GFKP as well looking for the smallest most precise brush, but this Kuretake's brush is even smaller, and the Pentel ink on that pen is not waterproof at all.The only drawback is the cap is very tight and stiff, hard to take on and off. When drawing and switching between different tools, I like to just put the cap on about 90% and not snap it closed, to keep it from drying out.It's extremely light weight, almost too light. Makes it feel a bit cheap although it seems quite well made in other respects. Not sure why Kuretake doesn't sell a more premium line of these. Take my money.

Works exactly as I'd hope (which is very rare). I use it for drawing and it can make extremely fine lines, wide, and drybrush. It's break into drybrush if you move too fast, but you don't have to be super slow. It'll lay down very dark blacks. I've given these as gifts and bought duplicates for myself. Love this pen.

It's a beautiful piece of work. I find, for my needs, that the brush tip is too soft and is too flexible. You can make awesome looking brush strokes with it, great for calligraphy but hard to control for creating a consistent medium line for illustrative work. Still, I recommend it but you better know how to handle a brush!