Akashiya New Brush Pen - Super Fine - Japanese Blue (Waterproof Ink)

This pen is nice, but it is not waterproof. It feels like the opposite - a watercolor brush. Even a week after drawing, the ink washes away with water with absolute ease. For this reason it works well for laying down the base of a watercolor sketch.

Also, to be clear, the color is much as shown - it's very grey, not blue at all.

I took off one star because I don't find the color to be particularly gorgeous - some greys are just lovely, this one's a bit ho hum. But it's a decent watercolor brush.

I love the thinner body of this pen, as it is a lot like using a paint brush. I think the Akashiya Pens require a lighter hand to get the very fine lines, and this might take a bit of practice for some.

I've tried about 20 or more different brush pens from Jetpens and this brush pen is one of my two favorites. I'm an illustrator and cartoonist and I use this pen daily for professional comic book inking. I grew up inking with brushes and india ink so my "brush pen search" has always been to find a brush pen that comes as close as possible to replicating real brushes. I can't recommend this pen enough if that's what you're looking for. It's got a small tip which really allows for fine detail. The other brush pen I love (the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen for Calligraphy) has a larger tip so the two go together very nicely. I've also found that the ink used by these two brushes dries quickly and don't smear. A lot of the other pens I've tried, especially brush pens with felt tips, have a tendency to smudge long after the ink looks dry.

Keeping in mind that art material preferences are highly individual, this pen is perfect for me. I'm halfway through inking a comic right now and regret I didn't start using this pen from page one. The 'spring-iness' level is just right- there's a good amount of control, and yet you can get amazingly fine lines out of this thing. Works better for me than the Zebra felt pens I was using. The ink is a bit too light- wish it was darker and denser, but then you might lose some viscosity. A great outlining pen that gives organic feel to your drawings.

I haven't tried experimenting with how waterproof it is, but the ink is so light it looks like it might fade in the sunlight (comparing this to black deleter ink or the Sai Watercolor black brushpen, or even the Pentel Pocket Brush). However it just feels (and flows) so well that I'll overlook those things for now. It doesn't skip or appear brush like the Zebra felt tip brushes at all.

I absolutely love this pen...first of all I'm taking the time to write this so I must love this pen...I love the soft brush tip that gives the smooth stroke line on the paper...I have told so many people about Jetpens it's ridiculous! Their products come quickly in the mail and, and, and, I could go on but you get the point! Here's to this brush and Jetpens!