When I first embarked on my 100 day sketching challenge I went down a supplies rabbit hole. I knew nothing about fountain pens or different kinds of ink. Over time I found a small collection of favorites, listed below, which are my go-to's because of good performance and affordability. If you already have tools you love, that's awesome! Please note that I will use a BRUSH PEN in every class. You don't need the exact brands I list below, but every student last year eventually got one! 

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• Brush Pen Option 1: Pentel Pocket Brush Pen- This is the most affordable option (https://amzn.to/40DjfmR) and comes with a few extra cartridges of ink as well.  It does have a longer brush tip, which makes for a wider line variety but less control. 

• Brush Pen Option 2: Kuretake No.13 Brush Pen- if you know that you will want the maximum control over your brush strokes, this pen costs about $10 more, and some students last year found that the the shorter and smaller brush tip was easier for them to use. (https://amzn.to/3XE26sM)

• Last year, many students ended up getting both, as they found it helpful to have a more precise and easy to use tool (the Kuretake) and a pen that made bolder lines and challenges us to use the pen like a paintbrush (the Pentel). 

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• Fine Tipped Pen-

  • If you are unsure about using a fountain pen, then something like a Micron pen is great! A multipack like this one will likely last weeks

  • Fountain pens are refillable, which is why I now use them instead of felt tip pens like the micron (you don't need to buy any fancy converters to refill, you can put ink right into the cartridge that comes with the pen).

    • Extra fine tipped pen- if you are someone who loves super fine lines, then the Platinum Desk pen is a great option- affordable, feels nice to hold, and designed to work with waterproof ink (. (pen link - https://amzn.to/3NeN2gs) Originally I had another fountain pen on this list, but over time it stopped working well with the waterproof ink. so I removed it. The fine point of the Desk Pen does wear/break in with time and gets a bit wider lines. 

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• Sketchbook/ Paper- If you want to use printer paper, you can, and this is what I use during the live classes on zoom. Really any kind of non-textured paper will work.  With that said, when I did my 100 days challenge, I unexpectedly really loved having all my sketches collected in a book. I like this one ( https://amzn.to/3ufZNAy) because it is not too expensive, ink flows beautifully on the pages, and the thinner paper REALLY helped me let go of perfection and worry less about results! 

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• Pencil and Eraser- Anything works here! My go-to pencil is always this little pentel mechanical pencil (https://amzn.to/3Tz2p7t), as I like the soft lead and no sharpening required. 

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If you sketch every day for a month you will need to refill your pens. The easiest way I've found to do this is to buy a blunt tipped needle and just refill the cartridges that come with the pens instead of buying messy converters. My current favorite ink is the Platinum Carbon Black -  it is beautifully dark, and also waterproof so I can sketch under watercolor paintings, too!​

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• Carbon Black Ink- ***Most fountain pens will NOT come with waterproof ink. If you want waterproof ink, put the cartridge on the pen to break the seal, dump it out and pull it out with the refill needle, and then dry out the cartridge and refill with an ink like the Carbon Black!  this is my favorite refill ink for the fountain pen and the brush pens. Please note that this ink contains pigment particles so it might clog or be slow in other pens with more narrow feeder mechanisms.   https://amzn.to/35ryS8I 

• Refill Needle- I use blunt tipped needles to refill the ink cartridge that come with the pens- easier and cleaner than the other cartridge options I tried! Here's the link for a 5 pack from Amazon (I bought mine originally from Jet Pens or Goulet Pens when I ordered some ink!) - https://amzn.to/4bBfpzU

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