Ohto Graphic Liner Drawing Pens

Review of the Ohto Graphic Liner Needle Point Drawing Pen

Earlier this week JetPens did areview on several of the drawing pens in their product line. It was an excellent review except that there were no examples of drawings! I had to do something about that didn't I?

I couldn't afford to buy one of all the pens included in the review (and I had to buy some more color-pencil like gel pens too!) but I was intrigued by the description of the Ohto Graphic Liner Needle Point Drawing Pen (JetPens has a giveaway going for a set of these pens, which ends on 1/28/13. Disclaimer: Timing is coincidental. JetPens didn't give me any pens and I didn't know about the giveaway when I bought mine).

My example was drawn with anOhto Graphic Liner Needle Point Drawing Pen in .01 point size.

Heavy-handed: A person who holds their pen tightly and presses down hard on the pen in an attempt to control the line has a heavy hand.

A light hand is usually recommended for writing or drawing but most of us hold our pens too tightly and apply too much pressure. It cramps our hands, causes more wavering as the hand grows tired, and most importantly, in terms of this review, it damages fibre-tipped drawing pens. Whenever I hear someone complain about a pen that barely lasts a week, I think--aha! A heavy-handed writer or artist!

The Ohto Graphic Liner pen has a metal tip which makes it less likely to be damaged. I won't know for sure until some time has passed, but I think it might also be a better pen for use on rough, toothed paper since such paper can also wear down fibre-tips quickly.

Personally, I've never drawn with a pen that glides so smoothly. I drew my example in a Clairfontaine Carnet de Voyage travel album which has definite texture, but the ink went down as smooth as silk. In some ways, it was almost too smooth. I am fairly light-handed and had to adjust--just a bit --to keep the pen from moving faster than I wanted it too.

The pen produces a bold, clear line. This will be a joy for many. I wasn't able to get the wispy lines I use for shading. I can get fine lines, just not the broken wispy ones that I love. I'll need to get to get a smaller point size and use two pens (this is fairly common for me, even with Micron Pigmas).

I did find that the ink blobs up a bit if you are drawing quickly but the blobs don't smear (I had no problem with smearing at all). You just get a slightly thicker spot on your line. It doesn't happen often, and only when drawing very quickly. Most people wouldn't even notice it, but experienced artists might find it disturbing.

The Ohto is listed as waterproof but I when I used a water brush on it, I did get smudging. I wet a very dark area, that had dried for several hours, but it is possible that the ink takes even more time to cure. I'm going to try it after a couple of days and see what happens. I'll let you know if there is an improvement. It is waterproof enough that writing would still be readable and a drop or two would not utterly destroy a drawing, if you spilled water on it. However, I wouldn't recommend using watercolor with this ink.

Overall, I think this would be a great drawing pen for either beginner or experienced artist. It won't be my everyday pen, but I think it will be easier to use when my arthritis acts up, so I will be buying more to keep at hand, so I can draw with excellence even when my hands ache!