Are Brush Pens Hard To Use

Under: Frequently Asked Questions/By: Ximena

When getting your brush pens ready to do hand lettering or just to draw it can be intimidating at times, with having to deal with a weird pen. So are brush pens hard to use? Well, I’m going to be answering that today and giving you a few tips.

Brush pens, at first might feel off when you are trying to use them. It is just like when trying out a new medium, you are going to have to learn how to use it. At first, it may seem hard to control, but with practice it is possible.

Summary of today’s post:

Factors that can make Brush Pens Hard To Use
How To Make Brush Pens Easy To Use
Mistakes you can make using Brush Pens

If you are wanting a full in-depth tutorial on how to use different brush pens for brush lettering you can check out two of my other posts.

Factors That Can Make Brush Pens Hard To Use

One of the main things that make brush pens hard to use is because it has a very flexible felt tip. This felt tip makes it hard to control the different strokes that you can make with the pen.

Some brush pens are easier to control than others. For example, small tipped brush pens are known to be easier to use, because it has a smaller easier to control tip.

Brush pens can also be hard to use when you are using them for the wrong things. For example, there are water-based brush markers, and there are alcohol-based markers.

Water-based markers are most commonly used for calligraphy, when you are trying to use alcohol-based markers for calligraphy I have found it has a different felt tip. A lot of the time you might find it to feel a bit more “floppy” and too flexible.

How To Make Brush Pens Easy To Use

Here are just going to be a couple of tips so that it can make it easier for you when learning how to use brush pens.

Beginners usually don’t know how to use the pen, and when they are being to draw, they don’t’ know how to get line variation. So instead of simply starting to randomly draw with the pen, there is a specific way that you can use it.

Essentially the more pressure that you put on the pen, the thicker the stroke is going to be. If you put no pressure at all, the stroke is going to be very thin. Once you get a hang of changing between pressures, that will make it easy for you.

Another thing to keep in mind is how you hold the pen. A lot of the time we think if we hold the pen closer to the tip, we will gain more control, but for brush pens that is not a good idea.

Instead, you should have a looser grip and hold it a little bit higher, than usual. Neither don’t you want to hold it too close to the top, because then you won’t have any control of the pen.

Mistakes You Can Make Using Brush Pens

One of the most common mistakes people would make is by holding their brush pen at the wrong angle. If you hold the brush pen to upright, like a regular pencil, you won’t get the same line variation and at the same time can cause your brush pen to fray.

Neither should you hold your brush pen too much at an angle.

It should be just in the middle at a 45-degree angle. This will lead to the best control and line variation.

Another mistake a lot of beginners make is using the wrong materials with your brush pens. This means that you should be using specific paper with your brush pens so that they don’t start to fray. If you have no idea what this is check out my post about it here.

I recommend not use rough paper for practicing your brush makers. This includes no watercolor paper, cardstock, regular printer paper, mixed media.

Instead you can use paper specifically for markers, like marker pads.

If you want specific recommendations, check my guide about it here.

Final Thoughts

Essentially brush pen can be hard to use if you make it hard, and don’t know how to use it. Learning how to use it correctly can make it easier for you in the long run. If you have any more questions about brush pens feel free to comment.

Are Brush Pens Hard To Use