I carry a portable art studio – pencils, erasers, and pens, along with a sketchbook and some reference book for drawing – almost everywhere I go. Since this is a “carry it with me” sketchbook, I draw in pencil, then draw over it in pen, so the final drawing doesn’t get smudged away by being carried around everywhere for weeks or months at a time.
ERGO, I care a lot about line quality of pens.
Pigma Micron are my current favorites, with 08 being used most frequently for heavy line work, 01-03-05 for interior work, and 10 for exterior lines on “artwork” as opposed to “practice sketches”. Derwent Sketching 2B is what I use most frequently to sketch out the drawings I will later ink.
But for drawing one six one for 2026 (actually drawn on day 60, because I try to draw ridiculously far ahead) I was apparently testing out Sharpies, Pigma Brush, and Staedtler Mars Lumograph pens as well as some other Derwent pencils.
I still haven’t found a portable brush pen that I like.
-the Centaur
P.S. My math seems off, it lists (30(m+1) +1w + d + 3), but I think that’s probably actually m+2.
