Time for another VS: This time Technical Pens vs Quills


PRICE:
Technical pen: sets can be up to $150 per set (if you can find them) and single pens typically are around $20 to $30.

Quill Pens: pen holders are as low as a dollar while various nibs can be found in packs for as low as $10.
WINNER: quill pens by a land slide!

EASE OF USE:
Technical pen: once a tech pen is filled and working (getting this to happen can be tricky) it will run without refilling for quite a while so you don't have to redip.
--The line will always be that width so even someone with a shaky hand can get a smooth and even line with it
--Works very well with rulers without bleeding under them
--Typically cleaner than dip pens
--WILL EXPLODE ON AN AIRPLANE! That's right; they will EXPLODE if you take them on a plane when filled and spew ink all over your luggage.

Quill pen: quills must be dipped constantly to keep ink flowing, sometimes every line or two.
--line width is controled by hand pressure, angle, and somewhat the nib. It takes a lot of practice to use them right
--Tend to bleed under rulers and straight edges
--You will be getting ink on you while using these and sometimes they will piddle a little on your paper while working
--crow quills can be quite sharp and occasionally will give you a little poke if you just grab for them randomly in their box.
WINNER: depends on what you like...but Quills won't explode over vacation.

MAINTAINING YOUR PEN:
Tech pens: to clean these pens they need to be taken apart and soaked in a special solution; then the solution needs to be pumped through the pens using a syringe or an ultrasonic cleaner to keep the tiny thread inside them floating, otherwise they won't work.

If you skip cleaning them and they dry out your pen is wrecked. There's no saving it once that happens and you just killed a $30 pen.


Quill Pen: nibs can be cleaned by gently wiping and washing in any soap and left to dry outside of their holder. If you don't take care of them and they get dried in on them they'll still work up to a point but if they don't, you're out like 50 cents and you can put a new nib on.

WINNER: Quills

NIB SIZE:
Tech pens have a range of line widths from 8mm all the way down to a frog hair.003mm

Quills: there are varous line widths for nibs but you'll find that in general you have "thick" and "thin" and that's about it. There is no .003mm quill pen. Crow quill is close to .005 but not a frog hair

WINNER: Tech pen

Technical pens are typically used for drafting and by many American comic artists who haven't moved onto using digital programs to ink. Now that its becoming more popular for artists to use AUTOCAD or Illustrator to ink and draft the popularity of these pens is dying out rapidly.

Quill pens are still popular with fine artists and manga artists. Their more organic line look lends itself will to illustration but many artists are discouraged from using them because it does take time to learn to use them right.


I use both sets of pens in my comics but I tend to prefer quills for ease of use.

Next time I'll cover the difference between Prizma Pigment Liners and Micron Sakura Pens