i get a lot of questions about the types of pens, brushes and nibs i use on everything from invitations to little quotes i post over on instagram, so i figured it was time to give everyone a peek into my faves. but first, have you heard the story of how i got started? don't worry, it's not sappy… or long. i think you know sharon by now. well, when we first met, i think she was cleaning her garage out or something, found an old callig kit she got as a gift, and decided it wasn't in her cards to be a calligrapher… so she passed it on to me to give a try. the rest is history. so pretty much, i have sharon to thank for guiding my career the way it has gone! who knows… i may have never tried it.

we'll start with the basic calligraphy nibs. i've tried my share, but i always go back to the brause rose nib and the nikko g. the nikko g is much less flexible than the rose, so i use it for smaller projects and when i want the fine hairlines. the brause rose is perfect for larger scale projects and also metallic inks. with the flexibility of the rose, the metallic inks flow much better for me. obviously there are a million different scenarios that change what nib i want to use, but those are the most common.

so this pen (the copic marker) is a newbie to my collection but i am absolutely in love. i only use the brush style side, but it's 2 sided, you can read more about them here. they come in a ton of colors which makes them fun to doodle with, and you get a fun calligraphy look without the mess of ink. i love how much the line thickness varies. i created some initials and rsvp for an invitation you can see here. i've yet to create anything for my shop or clients with this, its mostly been for fun… but needs to be added into the rotation asap.

and last, for now, are the brushes i use for watercolor calligraphy. for most, i use a small flat shader. it gives the thicker lines that you see below. recently i purchased a spotter brush which basically looks like it has one little fiber coming out of the brush… super tiny. but it makes the most amazing lines with the watercolor! so much thinner and clean than the shader. there are definitely 2 different looks, so it depends on what you are looking for.

the spotter brush

the flat shader brush

the copic marker

top is the nikko g nib bottom is the brause rose nib

i hope that helps some of you starting out! oh… and did i mention that sharon gave me that kit about 4 years ago? i need to go dig up a picture of when i first started now right? practice is the only way to get this down, and the more you do it, the more you will develop your own style. good luck!