Hi everyone. I know most people here create their comics digitally, but there might be a few of you here that use pen and ink on paper like I do. I normally use a Pilot Precise V5 or V7 rolling ball pen, but I’m kind of tired of using a disposable pen. We have enough plastics being thrown into landfills and the oceans.

I’m about ready to start using some Koh-I-Noor RapidoSketch pens. Back in the “bad old days” when I was a printer, I used the Rapidograph pens. Although these are traditional technical pens, they do require a lot of maintenance and care to keep working properly. One thing that I’ve noticed with the RapidoSketch pens is that you can use these at a slight angle instead of drawing strictly at a 90 degree angle, which is great.

If there’s anyone here that uses these technical pens, I’d love to hear from you, or at least commiserate with you (compare notes). Thank you.

— Rick Rudge

Hi Rick! Sure, analog drawing is one of the things I love the most. But it's also an expensive hobby if you want the best tools (or at least above average quality). So I went for the digital stuff, but I keep all my tools and from time to time I have a great time with them. Well, any piece of paper and pencil/pen are good ;)

So here they are:



Thank you for let me share this old stuff ;)

Wow, Avart. Thanks for showing me your supplies. You do some excellent work, both digitally and analogue. “The Gloom” is a fantastic comic series.

https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/The_Gloom/5534409/

The two RapidoSketch pens that I got are .50 and .25 and I’ll start using them very soon. Thanks again for your post.

—Rick

Hi @RickRudge and @Avart!

Reading you talk about Precise V5 and V7 pens make me so happy. Those are terrific for drawing that thin, dark black line.

I love using the old standard Drafting Pencils. I had a set of four mechanical pencils that were beyond worth their weight in silver because the 0.3mm pencil gave me so much control by being a very light pencil.

I still have most of my pens from the past. I am afraid the ink on most of the wells have dried up.

Avart, you have a very serious and beautiful pen and pencil collection!

Thanks for your comments, kawaiidaigakusei. I still love the Precise pens, but I have since purchased some Rapidosketch pens, a .50 and a .25 thickness pen. I’ve started a comix series using the Rapidosketch pens called, “Strike Like a Spark From a Stone” and it’s found here. This is rated for Mature readers.

https://www.theduckwebcomics.com/Strike_Like_a_Spark_from_a_Stone/5636769/

These pens really have a sharp learning curve to just regular ink pens and the amount of maintenance that is required is really intensive but the ink is a strong dark color and the lines are very thin. I’ve blogged my early experiences using these pens called “The Koh-I-Noor Rapidosketch Pen”.
You can find those here:

https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?tab=rj0&blogID=3844195901530688968#allposts

Again, if anyone reading this is an “Old School” Rapidograph user, I would love to hear from you. Any tips that you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

— Rick Rudge

I would sort of like to add to this posting. I have since given up playing with the Koh-I-Noor Rapidosketch pens. They were simply too complicated to work with and requires too much maintenance. I have just gone with using regular fountain pens instead. My favorite one is the Pilot Kaküno fountain pen with a medium nib.

These can be easily refilled with ink and, although the ink dries quickly on paper they won’t dry out so fast inside the pen. I now use a Con-70 cartridge converter that holds a lot more ink inside the pen. The ink that I use isn’t waterproof, so there won’t be any use of watercolor after using the ink, but I don’t use watercolors for color anyway, preferring just colored pencils instead.

The metal nib isn’t gold so there isn’t much flexing, and so there’s no gradient of ink thickness. The lines are pretty consistent unless you chose to write “Reverse Writing” with the metal side of the nib facing down towards the paper, which brings a much thinner line. I worry about using the pen with a ruler, but I haven’t experienced any damage to the nib.

— Rick Rudge