Because the pen will always be mightier than the sword 

Days like these when my 8 to 5 have been slowly killing me from the inside, I have come to find refuge by going back to the things I love when I was still in Kinder – arts and crafts. 

My hoarding of Pens is now on its all-time high, with me not being able to step inside the mall without a quick detour to the book store for my latest pen-supply run. My favorite pen brand so far is Faber Castell with its rich, striking colors and endless choices when it comes to pen thickness and hue. A quick second is the Artline brand of pens which produces a really nice Calligraphy line, with thickness and weight ranging from 1.0 to 4.0, with 4.0 being the thickest. I also have Sharpies in my arsenal, as well as Staedler but the two above are always my go-to brands for clear and vibrant lettering/calligraphy pens. 

The best thing about Faber Castell is their wide range of pencils and markers. I also have their watercolor pencils which I use for my coloring books and their connector pens which I use to supplement the lettering.  

At the risk of sounding like a real nerd, I always liked my pens and markers to be vibrant, with long ink life and a body that is just feels right when I grip it during my calligraphy practice sessions. Eversince I was in pre-school, I have the tendency to grip pencils and pens real tight, as if my life depended on it. Proof is a thick, hard callous which became a permanent fixture on my right ring finger. So if a pen is too thick, it becomes harder to grip. 

Below are just some of my finished sheets during practice: 

 

    
 
Below is something I did using my Speedball pen nib in C2 using my wooden pen holder and Rotring ink in Noir. 

 

 
I know that the pieces still needed a lot of work. I am scouting the bookstores for cheaper calligraphy and typography books, but you know how it goes here in the Philippines — arts and crafts books are more expensive than the usual text books. 

Hopefully, I get to finish a more refined piece one of these days, during my nightly “art as stress buster therapy.”

And oh, I must give a thumbs up to Muji’s unruled notebooks. The paper is smooth and tough and remains unfazed by the markers and pens. No bleeding to the next page plus the leaves are also pretty sturdy. They are perfect to use as workbooks for calligraphy exercises.