Loving a Bent Nib

Fude nibs, more rainbow topography, and a bunch of photos.

Today’s post is about a bent nib or three, the quest for effortless flow, a palimpsest of drawings, and more rainbow manipulations and contours.

“Childhood memories surge back more vividly midway through life – like some palimpsest whose original text suddenly reappears after the manuscript has been chemically treated.” — Gérard de Nerval

Hello! Yes! Literally, a bent nib.

The few of you who arrive here looking for wordplay or metaphors so twisted and woven that you lose sight of up and down, water and forest, will be woefully uninspired today. I’m sorry.

Today is nuts and bolts, with a bit of bend and a bit of blur.

I found an odd list this morning that almost warranted an introductory note, but I’m trying to steer clear of the weeds this week.

Thank you for reading.

Amy

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Fun with Fude

Not “fun with food.” Say it “foo-day.”¹

I almost always use fountain pen in my journal and for my daily writing. (I do enjoy a classic ballpoint, too.)

I used to be a fine or extra-fine nib person. I still prefer something really fine (and wet) when drawing, but I’ve mellowed into the smoothness of broader nibs. More and more I think I simply crave “flow.”

When it comes to drawing, I like a fine line and an even line weight. I’m fine with non-flexible nibs. I don’t want to exert a lot of pressure, and, while I know comic artists talk a lot about varying line weight, it isn’t true to how I draw.

Despite preferring to draw with thin lines, I like to fill in space and lettering with ink. This can be a chore when using a fine nib. It can take a while. It can be a bit streaky. It can feel scratchy. While I enjoyed a 100 days with a dip pen a few years ago, mostly using a very, very fine maru nib, my goal right now isn’t to “etch” lines into the page. I still hear the scratch of the maru nib in my head and feel the needle-like sensation of the nib on the page. It was a visceral experience, one that right now seems unfathomable.²

These days, “filling in” feels like a pain point.

Frustrated with how long it takes to "fill in" a section with ink, I swapped an old Lamy nib for a broad nib maybe a year or so ago. It was all about simplifying the process of getting more ink on the page. It did feel more fluid for filling, but the broad nib really wasn’t for me in terms of anything else.

The broad wasn't really a pivot. It was me feeling tired. It was me admitting a bunch of other things that I know are affecting my art. It was also me feeling impatient.

The same set of contours may have led me to try a fude, but nothing really prepared me for the magical way it lays down ink. Maybe it’s my hands, or my eyes, or my age, but I’ve been surprised at how much I’ve enjoyed the flow of ink from a fude.

Trying an inexpensive fude nib was eye opening.

It’s bent.

A fude nib is similar to other fountain pen nibs, but it is bent at the end. Different versions are bent at different angles (Sailor, for example, has versions with 40 and 55 degree bends), which changes how much contact they make with the paper. The more contact surface area, the thicker the line.

It’s not a flex nib.

A fude nib isn’t the same as a flex nib. A flex nib will give you variable line width based on pressure. I haven’t used flexible nibs, but I like the fact that the fude offers variable line weight without any extra effort. With a fude nib, you can achieve both thick and thin lines by changing angle (not pressure).

It’s like a brush.

A fude nib is talked about as “brushlike.” If you don’t think of your pen as filling space like a brush, the way the fude nib glides across paper may be a surprise. It was for me.

It’s versatile.

Depending on how you hold the pen, you can write and draw with a fude nib. It takes some practice to find your angles, but you may be able to use a fude nib a) at an angle, 45-90 degrees, depending on the nib, b) vertical, or c) reversed.³

You can write with it.

This is really not a nib you would choose solely for writing. Having said that, I have been using fude nibs for most of my journaling on my pages for weeks. I actually enjoy writing with them.

Three Inexpensive Fude Nib Pens

I’ve tried three fude nib pens now, and I am using all of them on my pages. (I use multiple fountain pens each week, often inked with the same or slightly varying shades of ink.)

I gravitate to one more than the other two, but truthfully, these pens right now just feel comfortable. They feel easy in terms of getting ink down. They feel buttery smooth when filling in blocks. These pens have great flow, and that’s what I need these days.

Many of you may have used a fude before or may always carry one for sketching. If this is new to you, here are three accessible and inexpensive options you might consider:

• Hongdian: This pen has great flow. Of the three I am using, this is my favorite.⁴ I’ve kept gray and gray-brown inks in it, so my response to it over the last few weeks may be partly tonal. Even though the flow is smooth, it doesn’t feel like I’ve spilled ink in quite the way the Sailor sometimes does, but that may be partly a response to color.⁵ I do like the feel of this pen in the hand. It also has a satisfying snap cap. (This comes in other finishes, and Hongdian makes many of their pens with a fude nib. They may or may not all be the same.)

• Duke 209: This was the first fude nib I tried, and it hooked me enough to put the other two on my list last Christmas. The Duke 209 has nice flow, and I really enjoy using it. This is a slim pen, and the barrel feels maybe a bit slimmer than the Hongdian. It looks similar, but I think it has a very subtle taper near the bottom of the grip that makes it a bit more slippery (for me). It seems maybe a bit more prone to stalling and needing me to manually feed ink through the cartridge. Of the three, it feels the finest, and it tends to feel less loose with its ink, even when making its broadest lines. Even so, I use this one a lot. I have no trouble writing with it. There are other Duke models, some of which are noted as being real gushers and some that are larger and heavier. I chose this specific one after looking at a few blogger reviews. Like the Hongdian, the Duke 209 has a convenient snap cap.⁶

• Sailor Fude de Mannen (I’ve only used the green one, which is the 55 degree nib): This one is a fire hose, really. My natural angles make this one harder for me to find footing with, but, again, this is a very common pick among people who sketch (and many urban sketchers). Of the three I have used, this one has the broadest line. The pen is super lightweight and long, literally “brush-like.” (Sailor also makes this pen with a fude nib that is 40 degrees.)

The angle on the three I have looks roughly the same. I am going to guess the Hongdian and Duke 209 are comparable to the green Sailor’s 55 degrees. Maybe? Maybe not?

From left to right: Duke 209, Hongdian, Sailor Fude de Mannen.

A Fude in Hand

Mostly I just look, but there are several other fude pens I would like to try. I like to keep pens inked in several colors, and I do admit this isn’t the most minimalist approach. There is another Duke I might try that has a special feed, but I might just get another Hongdian in silver or black. Or maybe I’ll take pliers to a nib. I saw someone out there has a way to convert a Lamy nib. (Directions aren’t provided, but it’s a thing.)

Mostly these fill a need for me because they streamline the process of “filling in.” I haven’t convinced myself I love drawing with the fude yet other than for quick inking, but I am using it more and more. These pens are definitely my most-used right now. Maybe you enjoy them, too?

I do know that lots of people use them, including Paul Heaston (who I have followed for years). I am sure you know others. I’m certainly not claiming to have invented the wheel. It’s a wheel that’s been around for years. But if the fude nib is new to you, you might decide someday to try it.

(Someday I would like to try an architect nib for writing.)

We all come to things in our own time and respond differently to pens, nibs, and inks.

(Note: Each of the pens above is linked to Amazon, which makes it easy to see them. I do realize many of you are not using Amazon at this point. It isn’t political one way or the other that I’m linking these. You can certainly look them up elsewhere.)

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Week Three of 100 Days of Contours

Days 14-21 of this 100-day series of contours with rainbow topography.

Days 15-21 of this 100 day series of contours with rainbow topography. A. Cowen 2025

I am continuing to experiment with the background topographies. Someone commented, jokingly, about the number of ways one can use a rainbow. Hopefully there are at least a 100, I replied. Maybe it will run thin, but right now, it’s got a lightness and a freshness to it that appeals to me. It feels hopeful. It feels soothing.

This lightness continues to be why I’ve been unwilling to break the space with words.

As I explained last week, I am spinning these topographies lots of ways each night. There is a rhythm to the process. There is something in mapping the initial topography, full-sized and flat, and then warping it, tilting it into the distance, into the future, or into the ground. Again, with each iteration, the story changes. (Yes, all stories can be true. But if you think about showing “one” piece in a series, you have to settle on one. Generally, the iteration is stronger than the first pass. Sometimes they are equal.)

Here are a few of this week’s iterations:

The one with the weeds was particularly interesting to me. I am most drawn to the weeds version, a colorful forest these people are all moving into, but some of the others also work. They read very differently, but they work.

This maybe says way too much about me, but I think I found something here. I’m a bit obsessed with this kind of layering:

Palimpsest of days 15-20. A. Cowen 2025

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Ready for a Color Shift

Partly because the fude nibs lay down ink so beautifully, I’ve been thinking of a color shift in my illustrated journal. I am constantly pining over inks, and I have a lot of ink, but I really do mostly resort to black, purple, and (this year) gray or gray-browns. But a color caught my eye recently when I was watching a My Dandelion Diaries video. (Her swatch videos are great.)

I was going to challenge you to guess, but that would be silly. I only buy what I can easily order, so it is a Pilot Iroshizuku, and it isn’t a color I’ve used before. Guesses? (This is really a test of your psychic abilities.)

(I also saw in a recent video that Kiri-Same is being retired. That’s a favorite gray ink for me, so that’s really too bad.)

I think I’ll fill one of these fudes (which keeps autocorrecting as ‘dudes’) with something different next, maybe citrus black, which was disappointing in my finer nibs. Maybe it will be more inspiring with these broader lines and fill-in.

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Hilda and Twig Hide from the Rain

By Luke Pearson

It’s been a while since I devoured the Hilda books. Hilda and Twig Hide from the Rain is a 2024 title, and it’s a sweet one that puts Twig, her deerfox, in the spotlight. Hilda and Twig seek shelter from the rain in a cave where they meet an assortment of forest animals and spin tales trying to guess the nature of the cave. Twig meets up with the guardian and finds his courage.

I also read Parenthesis (a graphic novel) by Élodie Durand this week.

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Weekly Bits and Pieces

Prompts for Illustrate Your Week - Week 12 (2025)

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Made It?

Thank you for reading along! I always enjoy your comments and invite you to chime in. Let me know what stands out for you, what you think after reading, or where we connect.

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Even if you don’t comment, I hope you’ll click the ❤️ to let me know you saw this. Scrolling to look at pictures counts.

Thank you for reading.⁷

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1. Or maybe “food-eh.” That still may not be totally correct, but that’s where my pronunciation research landed me. I have heard a lot of people refer to it as the “food” nib though, so I’m not sure. It reminds me of how we all used to say Moleskine differently. I said it wrongly for years and am still often unsure.

I don’t carry traces of my southern accent, but people always give me a hard time because they can’t tell if I am saying “pin” or “pen.” Spoken language is a funny thing.

2. Two old videos about my 100 days with dip pen: scratch with maru and a journal flip that now looks really old (dip pen starts at 9 minutes).

3. I’ve experimented with the three I have, and my experience using them upside down (reversed) hasn’t been great, but you may have a different experience based on ink, paper, the way you hold the pen, and your angles. I know many people use the Sailor fude pen upside down for drawing.

4. In doing some intentional comparison swatches for today, I felt like I had good control with all of them and found myself questioning choosing one over the other. My tests were on various scrap/journal papers, and it may be that on my typical illustrated journal paper, the Hondigan sometimes flows better than the Duke or with more control than the Sailor, but, really, they perform very similarly.

5. I topped off the cartridge with Lexington Gray (a darker ink) before doing my second set of swatches.

6. I am beyond confused. In pulling the link, Amazon tells me I bought this pen for $9.99 on Feb 9, 2024. I apparently bought it the same night I placed an order for a thermometer, since we were having a medical issue at home and didn’t think our thermometer was reading properly. I was trying to find an overnight delivery solution. I remember that. The confusion is that I didn’t think I bought this fude nib pen until maybe October-November. I remember the research I did that led me to decide to try a fude nib and this specific Duke pen. But I would have sworn it was just a few months ago — not more than a year ago. I get it that this detail matters to no one, but it feels really disorienting to me.

7. I did a lot of yo-yo thinking about Illustrated Life this week. I landed in one place with an extended “walk the dog,” deciding I was going about this all wrong. I started rethinking, but then I read a few things that reminded me what really matters to me, what I love about writing. I popped back up with an “around the world” move that made me wonder why I was giving in, flattening out, considering pulling back, and shutting down. Then I fact-checked my simplistic yo-yo references (probably the only two “tricks” I can name, although I think there might be a sleeper) and ran into this sentence about tricks: “…categorize them based on their starting mounts (trapeze mount, brother mount, wrist mount, kamikaze mount, etc). For instance, Houdini mount: Gondola, Triple Tower, Mini Heart Combo, Ladder Escape, Ladder Mount…” Whoosh. Yo-yos aside, I’m still questioning things here.

I wasted about a half hour tonight trying to see if a simple Rubik’s cube algorithm I saw works. It didn’t. But now I’m wondering if my kids ever messed with the stickers on this cube. For some reason, I think that happened somewhere along the way. Sigh.