30 Comments

I want to share w daughter in law; how?

Expand full comment

Good luck. I have the Manga G Tachikawa Classic. It has been nothing but trouble. I've tried two inks in it: Sketch ink (the brand), Noodlers Eel black), and it drops ink on the work, and runs dry... nothing in between. I won't use it for my real work as it will kill it with big globs of ink.

Expand full comment

Brush pens are my go to as well. So versatile. I just tried to do some graffiti style drawing with them (not my usual thing) and it worked out great.

Expand full comment

Where can I get that syringe?

Expand full comment

Blunt syringes are wonderful for all sorts of things! I got a multipack with some little empty eyedroppers and flexible ends too - super handy for all kinds of stuff. Anyhow - I'm a diehard Pentel (and Kuretake) brushpen fan, and am now an even more diehard Rotring Isograph fan. They're refillable, write bold superblack lines that are waterproof, and you can refill em. I draw and write more now than ever just because they're such a joy to use. Just noodling around until something comes is probably the closest I'll ever get to transcendence.

Expand full comment

Thank you very much for all that precious information and inspiration. I wonder which kind of ink you use to refill your brush pen. Is it indian ink or ink for fountain pens? Is there a brand that you recommend? Thank you very much in advance!

Expand full comment

Thanks for the extra letter! One request: it would be really helpful to know how much the tuesday letters cost before signing up. Since I went freelance I've been loving your stuff, but also -- cash is tight, you know how it is. Keep up the great work!

Expand full comment

Thank you, Austin! I didn´t know I could refill those small ink cartridges, how neat, and also a tiny, tiny, tint ant step towards a more climate-friendly way of living. And of course, thank you for an inspiring newsletter.

lisbeth

Expand full comment

I love this! Just subscribed last night. Your drawing about time made me think of the Dar Williams song I have been listening to a lot lately…”Time, be my friend”…

Expand full comment
Oct 26, 2021Liked by Austin Kleon

Austin, you made my bed time! I was setting the alarm, when...what? Your newsletter on a Tuesday? Impossible not to open it! Great idea to be here on Substack. And to write about Lynda, and the brush pens and the feelings and the desires of freezing time some times...how do I fall asleep now *+*!

Expand full comment
Oct 26, 2021Liked by Austin Kleon

It was my son’s birthday on the 25th he turned 21. I have been wanting time to slow down too…

Expand full comment
Oct 26, 2021Liked by Austin Kleon

I looooove brushpens. The Tombow Fudenosuke is my absolute favorite. It’s a harder brush pen tip and the ink us SO deeply black. Very satisfying!

Expand full comment

Thanks for the brush pen jaunt. We have a love/hate relationship, the brush pen and I, and it's good to see the grittiness of someone else's process.

Expand full comment
Oct 26, 2021Liked by Austin Kleon

I took a semester of Mandarin at City College of San Francisco. Chinese characters look WAY better with a brush than ballpoint. I took it with me to China.

Expand full comment
Oct 26, 2021Liked by Austin Kleon

Years ago we were on highway 5, in the middle of nowhere, California, driving home from Legoland, where we’d taken our two kids to celebrate the ninth birthday of our oldest. I was pregnant with our third. Suddenly it hit me that this baby wasn’t even born and our oldest was halfway through his childhood! I started sobbing uncontrollably, totally freaking out my husband and the kids. THE FEELINGS. I remember.

Expand full comment
Oct 26, 2021Liked by Austin Kleon

In the last few months I've started playing around with the brush pen and I'm way too old to not have picked one of these up beforehand. Thanks for the videos on reloading and your own way of working with the pens. I find after writing in my journal, that doing a drawing lets me decompress.

Expand full comment