Adventures into the best calligraphy pens

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Calligraphy Pens and Nibs on Table

Finding the best calligraphy pens can be a very challenging task and great care should be taken before purchasing just any old kit.

Calligraphy pens are not only used for lettering but can also be incorporated into your pen and ink drawings and illustrations.

I reviewed some of the more affordable sets even though there are more high-end products out there for those who know what they are looking for.

This review only covers the classic dip-style pens.

These quick reviews are designed to help you to make a quick decision and will help ensure you get the quality product you are looking for.

My Choice for Best Calligraphy Pens

Speedball Calligraphy Collectors Set

The Speedball brand has been around for generations (since 1899 to be precise) and is well known for its calligraphy pens. I thought this was a good choice as the price is right and all the tools needed for getting started are there.

Speedball Calligraphy Collectors Set

Everything you need to get started is included!

As an affiliate, I receive a commission on all qualifying products and the proceeds help to keep this site running.

Best Calligraphy Pens Reviewed

Hours of time have been spent researching each of these calligraphy pen sets plus my experience to bring you the most accurate information. Let my hard work help you find that perfect calligraphy pen.

1. Daveliou Calligraphy Pen Set

Pros:

  • Great Customer Service
  • Comfortable to hold
  • Nibs are easy to change
  • Quality Ink
  • Excellent starter set

Cons:

  • Have to re-ink often
  • Trouble with nibs staying secure
  • Mouth of ink bottles are small
  • Ink bottles hard to open
  • A little on the expensive side

This is a 19 piece set and comes with a wood and glass nib holder, 12 nibs, and 5 different colored inks. Black, blue, indigo, red and green. Classic dip pens.

Overall this seems like the best choice for practicing calligraphy. Care must be taken when removing caps from ink bottles.

These had a lot of positive reviews and satisfied customers. Although one suggested the nibs may be difficult for children to change. Cleaning the nibs before use may also be required as they may have a protective coating on them to prevent rust.

More research may be needed to make a buying decision. This is a family-owned brand and pride is taken in customer care.


2. Plotube Wooden Pen Calligraphy Set

PloTube Wooden Pen Calligraphy Set

Pros:

  • Comfortable Rosewood Pen
  • Smooth flow onto paper
  • Quality black ink
  • Affordable price

Cons:

  • Nibs are a little stiff
  • Smaller reservoirs on nibs

Nice packaging makes this the best calligraphy pen for gifting. Comes with 1 gold nib and 10 standard nibs. This set also has a golden (not real gold) pen holder

The golden nib seems to be the better nib to use and it also holds more ink so the user can write longer without dipping in ink. Looks to be around 20 words or so before dipping into the ink. Of course, the size of your letters is going to change this dramatically.

You should be able to use these straight out of the box as there is no protective coating on them.

After much research, this calligraphy pen set ranks pretty high with a fair amount of positive reviews.


3. Lettering Tribe Calligraphy Set

Lettering Tribe Calligraphy Pen Set

Pros:

  • Smooth control of ink flow
  • Wide mouths on ink bottles
  • Learning tools included
  • Downloadable workbook
  • Has oblique and standard pen nib holders
  • Nibs hold fair amount of ink

Cons:

  • Downloadable ebook link may be broken
  • Some nibs seem a bit firm

Update: The downloadable e-book link has been fixed and can be found in your Amazon account Sellers Messages after purchase.

This set comes with everything needed to get started making this the best calligraphy pen for beginners.

Sporting 2 Calligraphy pens, 2 inks, 5 different nibs, a tracing pad, guide booklet, a downloadable workbook, and a nice magnetic box for storage and display.

Even though this set is for those interested in getting started in calligraphy it is still of decent quality. I thought the oblique calligraphy pen was a nice touch.


4. Essshop Handmade Crystal Glass Dip Pen

Crystal Glass Dip Pen For Calligraphy

Pros:

  • Easy to clean
  • Twisted glass nib
  • Also good for drawing
  • Smooth comfortable feel
  • Great Gift

Cons:

  • Hard to find information on
  • Fragile

This is a larger set than what the picture suggests and is a handmade piece that also comes with an ink drip tool, pen holder, 4-15ml colored inks, and a cleaning cup.

The compact box with elastic bands to hold the parts and accessories makes this the best portable calligraphy pen.

Displays very nicely when set up on a desk and is a great gift idea just be careful not to drop it.

Great for practicing lettering and drawing with a twisted glass nib capable of 40 to 50 words before refilling. Appears to be of higher quality and other larger sets with inks are also available.


5. Speedball Calligraphy Collector’s Set

Speedball Calligraphy Collectors Set

Pros:

  • High quality
  • Smooth ink flow
  • Can practice different styles
  • Highly recommended by other artists
  • Flexible fine point nibs

Cons:

  • Careful when transporting with inks in box
  • Screws on box may be loose

This brand is well known among professional artists and has been around for a long time, making this the best calligraphy pen for artists.

Contains 4 broad nibs, 4 flexible nibs, a classic pen holder, an oblique pen holder, a crow quill pen holder, 3 inks (black, red, and blue), pen cleaner, textbook, and a nice snap closing box for transporting.

Speedball calligraphy pens have been around for a while.

I learned some lettering styles when I was in Art school using this brand when I was a kid. Possibly one of the best calligraphy tools out there making this a sound choice.


Best Calligraphy pens Buyers Guide

Calligraphy Pens and Ink

Calligraphy is the art of letter design. Other than staying within general parameters of shape and design there are no boundaries in lettering or styles so long as it is readable. One of the oldest known forms of calligraphy started in ancient Rome which is what the English alphabet is based on today.

There are some important things to keep in mind when looking for the right pen to purchase.

Pen Styles

  • Brush Pens – This style of brush has a container that holds the ink and feeds the bristles the ink. Brush pens come in sets of different colors and are shaped like pens. Often having 2 tips, a fine and broad. Works similarly to a brush but considerably cheaper.
  • Dip Nib Pens – Most common style of pen among professional calligraphers. This style of nib pen sports a metal tip that is dipped into the ink. Requires a nib holder to use and has a built in reservoir that varies in sizes. Larger reservoirs mean more writing or drawing before having to re dip the nib.
  • Fountain Pens – Very similar to the dip pen. The difference being the fountain pen has a cartridge that feeds the ink to the nibs. The fountain pen nib is less flexible than the dip nib.
  • Calligraphy Brushes – Like the dip nib this style has to be loaded with ink. Pressure applied while making pen strokes determine thick or thin lines. Can be one of the most difficult tools to master but brings more to the table by steadying the hand using painters brush strokes. Which can be very beneficial to painting also.

Calligraphy Pen lettering styles

When beginning calligraphy you need to have a clear path for a particular style of lettering because of the wide variety of accessories. Different nibs and pens are used in different styles of lettering.

So choose the type of nibs for your lettering style. It is easier to learn one style at a time and will also save you some money when first starting out.

When designing letters a pencil is used for guidelines before the ink is applied and then erased after the ink is applied. Each letter is composed of strokes in a specific order and variable pressures giving what seems to be endless variations to each individual style of the letter.

Gothic

Gothic Calligraphy

This style of lettering is done with a single stroke with no line variations or thickness differences making this type of letter easier for the beginner. This lettering is popular in newspaper headlines and posters. Excellent choice when first starting in letter design.

Roman

Roman Calligraphy

Being somewhat more complicated and decorative this style is one that is not boring to learn. An upstroke will give you a thinner line and a downstroke gives a thicker line. Adding in the serif (finishing touches) to the tops and bottoms of the letters gives these letters an elegant touch. Most Roman variations use serifs but not all.

Italic

Italic Calligraphy

When writing, these letters tend to lean a little creating the Italic lettering style. There is not a set rule as to how far the letters slope over. Very similar to the Gothic letter, having a single weighted stroke thus making it a good choice for beginners. Used to give emphasis to words but sparingly due to Italics being difficult for the eye to read comfortably.

Script

Script Calligrapghy

Being drawn with more precision and accuracy makes this style more difficult to draw. The slope of the letters is drawn at a consistent angle and flows smoothly from one letter to the next. The thicker lines run gracefully into the thinner lines to form curves.

Freestyle

This type of letter design should be done after learning the previous three styles mentioned above. Only after hours of practice can you start to manipulate each style into your own signature style which is the art of freestyle calligraphy.

There are endless possibilities to giving letters a personality of their own. The perfect example of this is the signature. Just like fingerprints, a good calligrapher can be known by their own personalized style of writing.

Calligraphy Pen Nibs

Styles of Calligraphy Pen Nibs

Broad Nibs

These types of nibs are great for bold and single stroke techniques. There are varying sizes of this broader type of nib helping with broader strokes with smaller letters. Best for the Gothic style of lettering.

Fine Nibs

This style of nib has quite a large amount of various sizes allowing the artist to draw extremely fine lines whether lettering or drawing.

Flexible Nibs

I consider this the specialty nib of choice. This one allows for the most freedom once learned. Best suited for the Roman lettering style. Practice using upstrokes and down strokes while adjusting pen pressure to create thick and thin lines that flow nice and smooth from one to the other.

My Final Thoughts

I chose all dip nib calligraphy pens to review because this is the best style of the pen for a classic lettering design. The brush pens can be a very good choice also when learning calligraphy.

Calligraphy brushes seem to be the most expensive and are for the more professional artist.

Experience and knowledge of the Speedball brand make it my top pick and best all-around calligraphy pen for beginners to professionals.

Thanks for reading and as always I hope this information has helped to guide you to the calligraphy pen best suited to your specific needs

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