Transcript:
Hey, I’m Becca with the happy ever, crafter. And today I’m going to show you how to setup and use a pointed pen in calligraphy so one of the most common things I hear from people is that they really love brush pens and they want to try pointed pens, But every time they pick it up, They have trouble getting it started or they think they’re doing something wrong or it. Just straight up, intimidates them so today. I’m gonna break down that barrier and I’m gonna show you exactly how to get this set up and how to use it. Let’s jump in first thing I want to talk about. Is the supplies so with pointed pen? It’s really important that you’re using the proper supplies or else you’re gonna really frustrate yourself trying to get it Set up so for paper. I’m using my Rodya grit pad paper. This is just a really smooth paper that works really well with brush pens. I have two different kinds of holders. One is called a straight holder and one is called an oblique holder. I’ll go over that in a minute and I have a zebra G nib. This is a really good nib for beginners, And, of course, I’ll link to them in the notes below, but I would suggest trying out this nib. If you can, I’m also using Sumi ink, – ink all over it. But Sumi ink is are really really great, easy to set up and a good quality ink for beginners and just for anyone in general, and then I have a lighter and a baby white which I’ll show you in a minute. So those are the tools that you would want to try to find. Of course, there are alternatives, but for the purposes of this video, that’s what. I’ll be showing you with so first. I want to talk about how a nib actually works. So a nib is made of steel and it has this hole in the top of it. That’s called a vent hole and the vent hole is where all the ink that you’re going to use is gonna be stored so with pointed pen. Nibs what happens is when you push on it. The tines, these two things on the end spread and the ink gets let out, and that will give you a thinner or a thicker line. So if you’re pressing nice and soft, you’re not gonna have the tines spreading. And if you press hard, those times will spread and let out more ink, so that’s essentially how the nib works. The next thing is how to get it Set up in your holder. So for your straight holder? If you look at the top of it, you can see that there’s this groove and the so all you’re gonna do is slide your nib into that groove. You don’t have to push it or shove it in or anything. You just want it to be snug enough that it’s not going to fall out, and that’s it. Same thing with the oblique holder. Your oblique holder would have a groove along this part and it’s the exact same thing, so you’re just putting it in nice and snug, and it’s not going to fall out, and that’s all so the idea with this is especially if you’re using this oblique holder that you want that vent hole. We talked about to be pointing up, so you don’t want your nib to be installed upside down or else when you press on it, those times aren’t going to spread so again, it’s pointing towards the ceiling, and when you press on it, those times will spread, so that’s essentially how you get it set up the next thing you need to do to prep your nib, and this is a step that a lot of people Miss is you’re actually going to try and get the residue off of this nib. So when nibs come from the factory, they’re actually made of steel, so they’re coated with a residue that keeps it from rusting and so what you need to do is burn that off or use another way to get that residue off before you can dip it in ink so all. I’m gonna do is, I’m gonna grab my lighter and my baby wipe, and I’m gonna just really really quickly like one second on each side of the nib. I’m gonna burn it. This doesn’t damage the nib. Don’t worry, and then I’m gonna really gently Take my baby wipe and wipe in one direction on the nib to wipe off the residue. So sometimes you might see her nib. Actually turn a little bit black, which is totally fine and what you want to do with this baby wipe is try and wipe in one direction so that these little fibers aren’t getting stuck in your nib, and if you notice that, you might be getting those fibers, just make sure you go in and pull them off before you start working with it. And so this is a set that you might only have to do once or twice when you first get the nib, and you start using it, but anytime that you notice that the ink is not sticking to your nib, that could be the reason why so there are multiple different ways. You can clean it off. Some people use a potato. Some people will use. Windex or acetone, or something like that, just something strong enough to get it off there and just wipe it off some people. I’ve actually seen just put it right in their mouth, which is not something. I’m a fan of doing, but anyway, there are multiple ways to do it. This is just my favorite one, so that’s a really important step. And when you’re nib is prepped, you’re actually ready to start putting some ink on it, so if you have your. Sumi ink, or whatever ink you’re using, just give it a gentle swirl. Make sure that all the what is it. Called pigment is not leaking to the bottom. You want it to be nicely mixed, but you don’t want it to be full of bubbles, so don’t shake it too vigorously and open it up and then you’re just gonna dip your nib in far enough that your vent hole is black. So now your vent hole should not be see-through. It should be filled with ink and as soon as that’s the case, make sure your nib is pointing to the ceiling again like we talked about, and you can actually head to your paper and start drawing, so you can just start doing some light-up strokes with no pressure. You can do some down strokes and really see how thick those lines can be. So here. You see my nib? My ink ran out. Just refill it every time that happens. And sometimes it happens more than others. If your nib is not fully cleaned properly. If you find, it’s happening too much, you can actually just rinse it off in water and restart the process of burning it and resetting it. And that’s really it. That’s how you set up a point in pen. I’m not going to go over too much of how to actually do strokes or calligraphy with it. That’s enough for another video, but we will just be talking about how to set it up properly. So you’ve now got it all set, and if I just really quickly want to talk about how to determine whether you want to use an oblique holder or a straight holder, so some people really like to use the oblique holder, because naturally, if you’re holding your hand straight to the paper, your nib is angled away from you. So if you want to write on an angle, that’s like that it’s a lot easier on your hand, right, but if you would prefer to have a style where your writing is straighter, you can use a straight holder and you, can you whatever angle you like. So It’s really a personal preference. I started with using the straight holder for the first probably six months of my calligraphy career, and when I switched to the oblique holder, it was a very different feeling. It’s totally something you have to get used to, but it’s really up to you on what kind of style you want to do. So that’s it for this video, and I hope that this helps you set up a point and pen and makes you a little bit less scared of it and I’ll talk to you next week [Music].