Are Calligraphy Pens The Same As Fountain Pens

You are wanting to start out calligraphy but don’t know what types of pens to use. 

So you can get a fountain pen or you can get the pen that you need to dip into ink.

Right now I am going to be talking about what are the differences and which one you should use for calligraphy.

In reality, calligraphy pens are actually completely different than a fountain pen.

A fountain pen is not the same as a calligraphy pen. A fountain pen is a pen that has ink cartridges and can be used to simply just write letters. While a calligraphy pen (dip pen) is a pen that needs to be dipped into ink and is flexible.

Here is a quick summary of what you are going to be learning today:

• What is Fountain Pen
• What is A Calligraphy Pen
• Some Differences
• Can You Do Calligraphy With A Fountain Pen
• Final Thoughts

What Is A Fountain Pen

Let us quickly breeze through the definition of a fountain pen.

A fountain pen has a nib, very similar to a dip pen, but unlike a dip pen, this pen has an ink cartridge. This means you don’t need to dip the pen into ink like you would with a dip pen. 

This also means that a fountain pen is refillable. 

Fountains pens are usually used for luxurious writing or in general, can be used as an everyday writing utensil. However, these are not your regular ballpoint pens.

Fountain pens are known to be quite expensive and great for nice penmanship.

What is A Calligraphy Pen

There are actually multiple different types of pens that you can use for modern calligraphy, but today I am going to be talking about the dip pen.

A dip pen is a pen that is made up of two parts. A nib and holder, which are then connected. This pen can then be dipped into ink. Dip pens are mostly used for doing pointed pen calligraphy.

A calligraphy pen’s nib is a flexible tool that makes it so that you can get line variation between the different strokes (something you would no be able to do with a regular fountain pen).

Differences

Now let us talk about why these pens are so different.

ONE IS MADE UP OF TWO PARTS
As you can tell a dip pen is made up of a holder and a nib. While a fountain pen is a whole pen.

So when you are looking for a dip pen you are looking for both a nib and a holder. Sometimes some holders won’t work with some nibs. This also might lead to a bigger learning curve (for some beginners).

FOUNTAIN PEN HAS INK

Another thing we have to note is that a fountain pen comes with ink cartridges, while a dip pen is being dipped into ink. Meaning that if you get a dip pen you are also going to be needing ink.

While a fountain pen comes with a cartridge and can also be refilled, which is something that a dip pen can not do.

A dip pen has to be dipped into ink after a little bit of usage. 

YOU USE DIFFERENT TYPES OF INK

Fountain pens have their own types of inks and the same with calligraphy.

With black calligraphy a lot of the times you would be using India ink. With some research, I found that throughout calligraphy a lot of the times the inks are shellac-based which can not be used for your fountain pens.

Fountain pen ink is not exactly as waterproof and is also waterbased, which calligraphy ink is not.

This all just means that you would not use ink meant for calligraphy, for your fountain pens. The same thing with fountain pens. You can’t use ink for fountain pens, for calligraphy.

DIFFERENCE IN NIBS

A big difference between a fountain pen and a dip pen is the types of nibs that they use. A fountain pen nib is not flexible while a nib for a dip pen is.

What this means is that you can get line variation by using the same pen. This works because whenever you apply a lot of pressure to a calligraphy nib it opens, leading to a thick stroke.

While if you don’t put any pressure it will not open and it will lead to a thin stroke.

With fountain pens, you can’t get line variation unless you get a specific kind of fountain pen, which is a flex nib.

Having a flexible nib is very important in calligraphy since that is how you are going to get the line variation. Without thin upstrokes and thick downstrokes, you can’t do calligraphy.

Can You Do Modern Calligraphy With A Fountain Pen

You can actually do calligraphy with a fountain pen but not exactly something I would recommend for all beginners.

If you are a beginner who has no experience with a fountain pen, then don’t get a fountain pen that you are going to use for calligraphy. If you have a fountain pen, and is the only writing utensil you have, then sure go ahead and use it.

What I am trying not to say is that you can not learn calligraphy with a fountain pen, but anything is possible. One problem could be that it is actually hard to find a flex nibbed fountain pen that is affordable and there are dip pens that are cheaper.

A solution to this can be to do a technique called faux calligraphy which is also known as fake calligraphy. If you are interested in learning how to exactly do hand lettering with your fountain pen check out my tutorial all about it here.

Final Thoughts

As a beginner, it can be confusing navigating the world of pens when starting out learning calligraphy. You have all just learned the differences between a fountain pen and a calligraphy pen.

You also learned that you can actually do calligraphy with a fountain pen but not the best option.

I hope this was a helpful article. If you have any more questions go ahead and comment.