Brush Pen Comparisons | Pentel, Kuretake, and Pilot

[@Geigez]

With the pentel brush pens, you can refill the cartridge yourself with blank waterproof india ink. Just need a syringe or something small to get the fluid out and put it into the tube. I've been doing this for years, and I can use my favorite inks rather then what Pentel provides. Have fun creating!

[@salamander337]

What ink do you use? I heard that some ink can clog the brush pen. I have Speedball super black ink & Yasutomo sumi ink black. I tried putting these in my Pentel aquash water brush and added water. The Yasutomo ink clogged my water brush even with a lot of water mixed with the ink (not trying that anymore) but when I tried the Speedball ink it work just fine. Maybe that's an indication that Speedball ink can work on other refillable brush pen or fountain pen?

[@raynabehl]

+salamander337 I've always used speedball ink and never had an issue with it as well, so it's safe to say that works. The trick is finding the super fine carbon inks because the smaller the particles, the less it will clog.

[@thechannelitrollwith1645]

illustrayna just regular speedball ink that people use for dip pens?

[@unfortunate27]

anyone know if it’s alright to use waterman ink to refill the pentel brush pens?

[@zel12]

@@unfortunate27 Yes. But it isn't waterproof. Most inks dedicated for fountain pens can be used on brush pens.

[@aquariaaustin2077]

I have the Pentel Pocket brush pen. It helps to remember that it's most popular use is for Japanese calligraphy, and that's where it really shines. The technique is a little different than what Westerners are used to, because you hold the pen perfectly straight/perpendicular to the paper to write the characters. Then you get those epic flourishes for large kanji or hiragana. It takes a great deal of control and concentration to get the characters just right, so it definitely takes a lot of patience to master the technique. Once you do, though, you appreciate what the Pentel can do in comparison to the traditional dip brush pen. The ink flow is much friendlier with the Pentel, and the pen is a lot more maneuverable and forgiving. I've used it for backgrounds for watercolors, and you're right that you have to let it dry to get it to play well with other inks. But once it's dry, it's really dry and nothing budges it.

[@Ucceah]

you can refill all of these with just about any ink or die, that isnt too thick and pigmented (like india ink). diluted inkjet ink is great. waterproof once on paper, as fine ink can be, and you get a ton of milage. dliute it easily 1:20 with water and still get a deep black, or 1:50 or more for washyer ink. (undiluted it's a mess and wont dry) PS: you can pop the sponge from an empty ink cartrige in a bottle with some water too, and shake a good amount of free ink out of it. :D that's how i got hooked.

[@margessw]

If I can make you a little recommandation, the music background is a little bit too loud compared to your voice. Otherwise, thanks for this review !

[@MeowMeowKapow]

Oh neat! I just did a huge ultimate brush pen showdown and I think you’ve only got two of the ones that I tested. Maybe three. How are there so many brush pens out there?!?!?! I’m intrigued by that Red kuretake one you like, especially because if it works with platinum carbon ink, they make a waterproof ink and that’s super important to me. Thanks for this review, a year in the past. Wish I’d seen it back then!

[@erasemenot]

Thank you! That was the best pen brash comparison I found on YT. It's very helpful you tested it with alcohol markers, because this is the biggest concern for me

[@rasimozturk2430]

i really really search for these information and i gald ive bump this video thank you soo much!

[@EveBolt]

That was so informative! Thank you so much for taking the time to do these tests! Love the Light Black one (for watercolors!) and the last one (for alcohol ink!) :)

[@donreuter9793]

Refills are cheap actually. Pentel Pocket Brush Pen Refill - Pack of 2 cost me $2.63 but are also easy to refill. Thank you for the great review. It was the Kuretake, and Pilot I really wanted to see.

[@Velvetzienz]

I ordered a pilot one (it’s not here yet) and my heart was racing when you were doing the marker test hoping it worksss

[@midollafun]

Find out there's a way to refill it

[@midollafun]

I so bought mine it's coming in 5 days.

[@glithch]

that was so much good info! now i gotta analize all of this and check out if i could even buy them in my country haha

[@tallis.andrea]

I used to use the Kuretake bimoji pen, and I refilled the foam bit a few times after it had gone dry with no problem, but it eventually stopped taking. I got a lot of use out of it nonetheless!

[@raynabehl]

That's good to know!! I had no idea if it was supposed to pop apart or not since it happened to me so randomly. Can I ask what sort of ink you used to refill the foam bit with?

[@tallis.andrea]

illustrayna I honestly have no idea what ink would have been best, but I just used some India ink I already had on hand.

[@midollafun]

I know this is an old comment but what tip was it. Is it the same as the one in the video? I wonder why it stopped taking the ink.

[@tonyrichengod9280]

Hi! :) Thank you for such a wonderful review. I am leaning towards the Kuretake 40

[@thechannelitrollwith1645]

My Pentel pocket is fine after drying with markers. I do however use it mostly for black/white manga style stuff. My Kuretake no 22 is better with copics. Both are great with erasing in my experience; more so than microns on my deleter paper.

[@LingatsuDesignAndDev]

4:15 I did'nt know it was possible to replace the brush tip. I wonder if it's the only brush pen that can do that.

[@feefeee]

Thanks, this was very helpful. I wanted to get some for japanese calligraphy, I got the pentel pocket the kuretake 08.

[@sayits69]

Very cool. Love how your illustrating each pen. I've never heard of any of those pens but I'm a pencil & pen person lol. Im just now getting into markets, which are the prismacolor brush pens & they are a whole new world to me🤪! So I'm venturing out & tryin new things right now😁 thx for sharin, shawn!

[@abhinavbhardwaj5517]

Pls make a video on inks for brush pens

[@gabbaby]

Thank you for this very thorough review! I enjoyed watching it:)

[@Marta_z_Dabrowy]

This test was so useful. Thank you very much for sharing!

[@cherrizelart]

This is fantastic Ray!!

[@chivasamazona6533]

U have no idea how thankful I am for this. 💙

[@wolfandraven891]

I have the Pentel pocket brush pen I'm making a manga, hopefully it'll be good to use

[@chiroxxxrt]

Love writing on canvas with the pigma brush pen makes it look like Chinese calligraphy

[@jess2obsess]

Fantastic video hon!! :D

[@raina529]

A question: I've also found the pentel pocket brush to be "too squishy" and the refills are expensive. I love my pentel aquash-- just like you. I've been eyeballing the Kuretake no. 13. You mention it's your favorite. How does it compare on the squishy tip scale? I've seen people fill the water brush aquash with a water/sumi ink combo and was also considering that. But if I can have a pretty fountain pen...

[@vietzscheallagard2129]

How quick do you go through Pentel cartridges?

[@nathaliariv9838]

The video was very nice and informative, i have a pentel pocket brush pen and mine dries quite fast and it's marker and water proof, i wonder why the ink in every pen is so different.

[@marissaswinghammer3149]

Paper matters too. Inks dry slower on certain types of paper. And climate also matters.

[@aganya7046]

Marissa Swinghammer yeah

[@punkandrockgirf]

I needed this! thank you¡

[@tomaszzmora]

Great video. I love it !

[@scarpaz]

Thanks. Very useful!

[@10418]

1:38 I agree with you :(

[@airamaeformalejo4434]

i have a sign me brand of brush pen. its dual tip but the brush isnt really like a brush..its more like a long marker

[@romelmadray6706]

trying to figure out from the video, which one is the hardest brush pen that will give the thin as well as stay consistemt for the thicks. I know you said that some have more control, does more control mean its a harder brush?

[@JillValentine2013]

My pentel art brush pen doesn't in like yours, is it because of the ink?

[@emil1]

i know i'm late and nobody will see this but thanks soo much for this video!

[@arturoguzman5873]

omg I love your reviews

[@NAILgasmTV]

Soooooo helpful!

[@timothy790110]

You dont need to buy a refillable cartridge for the Kuretake no 13. you can just take an empty cartridge and fill it with a syringe.

[@kojiyonamine7880]

Hi Rayna! Nice video!! Question: The other day I bought a Kuretake #8, which is said to be a cheaper version of the #13, only with less fancy body. The issue I have is that the protectice tip (below the silverish ring) easily detaches from the pen. Does this happen with the #13?

[@raynabehl]

I've never had that happen with mine, wasn't even sure it came apart! Possibly a defect in your pen?

[@kojiyonamine7880]

illustrayna Actually my grip tends to be closer to the tip, which is why I ended up detecting that. I don't think it's an issue with the pen itself, but rather it doesn't click with my grip, which makes the Pentels better for me...... but maybe this helps when you need to clean the pen drom dry ink and stuff. That's why I wanted to know if the #13 has the same feature, and I haven't found this info anywhere.

[@kojiyonamine7880]

illustrayna It's not that it falls off, but it gets detach-y when I'm wielding it.

[@raynabehl]

I will check if my #13 does this as well soon!

[@kojiyonamine7880]

Please do! Then please let me know! =D I've been considering testing that pen, but if it really presents this feature, I'll think of something else... Thanks for the replies!! :)

[@arturoguzman5873]

I ended up buying the kuratake brush pen and it still hasent come in the mail and I think I made a dumb buy because I have no idea what so ever o hw to use it

[@raynabehl]

+Arturo Guzman It's not hard to learn how to use a brush pen! It just takes some practice learning how fast you can move with the pen's ink flow/how much you can press for line variance. When you get it, I suggest practicing with drawing fast straight lines and slow steady straight lines, then circles to learn how the bristles react to direction. Hope you like the pen!

[@은비-m4r4r]

Hello! I just saw this video. Thank you for information that about brush pen that i wanted.. by the way, you're voice is SO 🌸SWEEEEETTT!!!!.🌸 I just wanted to say it..😗😗😂😁😁🙌🙌🙌

[@3iHard]

kuretake is cool

[@ardiryozho5557]

i like her voices

[@SnabbKassa]

It's fine if you want to moderate comments on old videos by default. and you should follow your preferred channel style. I just think you are leaving a ton of views and money on the table by ignoring commercially lucrative ideas. But the best channels are usually the ones that don't chase views.

[@swekily3756]

OMI AESTHETIC

[@MalamikArt]

Hi Ilustrayna, Very good comparison vid! I use a few of these, Instag- Malamik17