Lamy Fountain Pens

I have had Lamy Safari fountain pens for such a long time that I am not sure when I bought my first one. The Safari design is also available in pencils, ballpoint pens and rollerball pens, but it is the fountain pens that I use the most. You can see them all here, along with a video. They have been in production since 1980 and are a great design. They are lightweight at approximately 15gms and very comfortable to hold for writing and drawing and the calligraphy nibs add another dimension. In Europe many children learn to write with a pencil with this very comfortable grip, then move on to a student fountain pen called an 'abc'.

For drawing, I choose the EF nib. They come in EF, F, M, B as well as 1.1, 1.5 and 1.9 calligraphy nibs. There are three models - the Safari, with its plastic body in a range of colours, available for just under US$30 from Goulet Pens; the slightly heavier (19gms) and slightly more expensive Al-Star with an aluminium body in a range of colours, and the Joy with the extra long tail, in black or white or silver or sometimes a mix of two-tones among other configurations. The Joy weighs approximately 17gms. This is usually only available as a calligraphy pen but the nibs are all easily interchangeable so you can put any nib of the nibs on any of the pens. (See a great Goulet Pens post here which shows how to change the nibs between many Lamy pens using a piece of sticky tape. There are loads of terrific videos on the Goulet site.)

As far as inks go, the Lamy ink that comes in a cartridge with each pen is not waterproof. It is fine for writing and it can be fun to use a non-waterproof ink for ink-and-wash effects. If you want to use watercolour and have the lines stay where you put them, I'd recommend getting a converter and using the De Atramentis Document Ink range. You can see the colours here. I love the Black and Brown, which I also mix with Blue to make a Grey. These are wonderful for drawing with an EF nib.

Below is my Al-star from 2006. It has a converter and I use it with my mixed grey Document Ink. Sometimes I switch it to the original Fog Grey regular ink, which is not waterproof, if I want a water-soluble line and wash effect. Working with a grey ink can be softer than a black and allows greater emphasis to be placed on the tones of the watercolour rather than just the line of the ink.

Next is the Copper Orange Al-Star with a metal EF nib. It is the special model for 2015, and was a birthday present. Each year a new colour is released and my daughter knows I adore burnt orange :-) It is very new and a particularly fine EF - quite lovely to use. I am using this with the MonteVerde cartridge ink in Brown, designed for use in Lamy pens. It is not waterproof but washes out to a lovely burnt sienna colour when wet. It is particularly good for quick pen and wash portraits or sketches.

Here is a close-up of the EF nib. These are easily removed and changed if desired. (Have a look at this video from Goulet Pens to see how easy this is.) Notice this is a metal one where the previous pen had a black nib.

The Lamy Joy model usually comes with a calligraphy nib but I changed it for the 14K gold nib for a little more flexibility. It is an unusual two-toned nib - you can see a closeup of the Broad model here. It has been well used and is lovely for writing and drawing but mine creates a thicker line than the newer nib above, even though they are both EF. Individual models do vary! This nib has some flex but if you go too fast pressing hard enough to flex it tends to railroad as you can see. I like the balance of this extra long tail though if you post the cap on the end of the other models you will have a similar length of pen. The Joy caps can also be posted but I never do. Without the cap, the joy is only 9gms, so very light in the hand for sketching, or writing of course.

I am not so interested in drawing with a calligraphy nib but they are great for writing, especially Italic and Gothic scripts. I use these pens for writing certificates.

I used to have a different coloured ink in each pen but as I am using them more and more for drawing rather than writing I have various black, grey and brown inks in most of them. I do have a blue Lamy with blue ink and an orange one with orange ink that I use in my journal (pen and ink match-ups are fun :-) and another Joy with water-soluble black ink. I've been a fan for a long time.








While the Lamy nibs are interchangeable between the various Safari models, they are also interchangeable with some of the other Lamy pen models, such as the Studio 2000 pictured here with a gold EF nib. This is a more expensive and heavier model at about 32gms (21gms without the cap) so may be too heavy for sketching for long periods of time.

To see my other favourite pens for drawing, see here. I have also added a photo of the blunt syringe I use to fill fountain pens completely.

Plein Air Painting Materials - showing full work in progress.

I have painted my favourite art tools in my sketchbook but I thought I'd add more information here and post the photos of the work in progress.

You can use a very limited plein air kit, as I've shown in my previous post and also in another called 'travelling light with watercolour'.

Here I'll show the tools I use when I go out sketching with the Sydney Sketch Club, Urban sketchers, for my own sketching or for my teaching locally or internationally. I never know quite what I may choose to paint or draw so I like to have a good range of materials. Quite daunting to tackle, but as a study rather fun as there are lots of different materials to render - wood, plastic, metal, clear plastic and so on.

Stage one was to lightly draw all the pens and pencils into a double page spread of my A4 Moleskine watercolour notebook. I chose this one as the paper is lovely to work in and I can paint all the materials life size.

While not the most important items, I started with the natural sea sponge, which I like to use for painting vegetation, a regular eraser and a little tube of white opaque watercolour (or gouache) that I have with me for splashing on a bit of sea spray at the beach or touching white highlights to an objects. The pencils are a water-soluble Faber Castell graphite 2B or 4B (Derwent are also good) that is a lovely pencil to use as it blends into a wash with either water or watercolour. Next is a Derwent Inktense Neutral Grey watercolour pencil. I like to use this for quickly adding dark details as it matches my 'Jane's Grey' premixed paint. It creates a more solid and matt dark than the graphite without the graphite 'shine'.

Natural sea sponge, white watercolour, eraser, Faber Castell watersoluble grahite pencil, Derwent inktense pencil.

Here is stage two - my Faber Castell clutch pencil is starting to take shape. 

Next I drew in a white chalk pencil. This one is from Gererals. It is nice for adding white highlights to a finished piece or for creating highlights on painted or tinted paper along with a dark pencil, or dark watercolour, for shadows. 

...Faber Castell clutch pencil and General's White Charcoal Pencil added..

The clutch pencil is now painted in. I like to have a clutch pencil as it doesn't need sharpening. I also have a regular pencil in my tiny travel kit if I want to do extra shading, or the graphite pencil. This is a 0.7 lead and is also nice to write with. I generally write on my sketches with whatever I drew with - pencil on pencil sketches, ink on ink sketches and so on.

Natural sea sponge, white watercolour, eraser, Faber Castell watersoluble grahite pencil, Derwent inktense pencil Faber Castell clutch pencil and General's White Charcoal Pencil.

Now I have drawn in my Lamy pen and painted the Copic cool grey pen. I like to use these when I want a more gentle line rather than a black. It's not easy to find a waterproof grey. This is light but I like it.

...copic pen added...

Now my Lamy Joy is painted in, though not the lid as yet. I have put an EF nib on this and it is lovely to draw or write with. I am using a converter with De Atramentis Archival black ink, which I have tested and found to be waterproof. It also doesn't affect the warranty of the Lamy pen. De Atramentis black Document Ink is also excellent, and may be cheaper in some countries.

I have also painted in another permanent pen - a Sakura Pigma Micron in 0.1. I like to have the option of black, grey or brown line-work, depending what I am drawing. I have started on the nib. I hold each item to draw and paint it in, then put it on the page to see what the shadow does and add that.

...Lamy Joy pen, Sukura Pigma marker and dip pen added...

 I love to use a dip pen with ink or paint. It is a great way to add fine lines and details into a drawing. I use a brush to brush the colour onto the nib and draw away with colour or even white. This has a nice strong Post Office nib.

Now I have added my lovely squirrel mop brush from Rosemary & Co. It carries a lot of water and comes to a fine tip so is a fabulous brush for plein air painting. At this stage I still had my pencil sharpener in the picture but will move it onto another page...or remove it altogether.

Squirrel Quill added.

Now I have added a Pental water-brush. I like these for quick studies with a water-soluble pencil and also for using with my watercolours if I don't have time or space to set up with a water container to use my regular brush. You can see the shadow on the real water-brush sitting in the middle of the page. I use the medium brush size.

..and a Pental water brush

So here they are so far....Lots more to add. :-)

Natural sea sponge, eraser, white watercolour tube, Faber Castell watersoluble grahite pencil, Derwent inktense pencil, Faber Castell clutch pencil, General's White Charcoal Pencil, Lamy Joy pen, Copic Cool Grey pen, Sukura Pigma marker, Squirrel Quill pocket brush, a Pental water brush and dip pen.

Onto the second page. I've added in my lovely Brass watercolour palette from Classicpaintboxes and started to draw some other favourite tools

The very fine eraser is by Tombow and allows really detailed erasing. Not a necessity but very helpful at times. The pen has the gold started and the pencil is gradually coming to life. It's a Palomino pencil - nice and dark and claims to require less effort to use. They come in three tones - the grey is the lightest then Pearl, then the black which is very soft and dark. They also have their own special sharpener! 

Another Lamy pen. I have quite a few of them - three with calligraphy nibs, three in my kit...and a couple more :-) This one has a lovely orange/brown ink - De Atramentis Ochre Yellow - that is not waterproof so will run if washed over with water or watercolour - useful for some purposes. I nearly always use Burnt Sienna so a permanent and a water soluble version of this hue is rather fun for sketching.

Now the pen is nice and dark the the pencil has its first wash of grey. The pen is a Sailor fountain pen with an EF nib. I love writing with it but it is also very nice for drawing. I have it filled with Sailor Nano ink, which is supposed to be waterproof. It seems to be from this fine pen on most paper but has run on occasions. It dries pretty fast. Sailor make the finest of fine nibs, which I really enjoy.

So here is the double page spread. Two more objects to paint in on the left - another travel brush and another Lamy pen so nothing new really. I've added the kneadable eraser here - Faber Castell are the ones I like best.
On the right page I have added another lovely Rosemary & Co travel brush - this is a sable quill, a Porcupine Quill that I use to scratch into a damp wash and to stir paint, a fine scrubber brush from Dick Blick and a travel dagger I asked Rosemary and Co to make - it's a mixture of 50% synthetic and 50% sable hair and a very versatile brush.

And here they are in real life, with the watercolour palette closed, some of the travel brushes put away and the pencil case they all fit in. I also add a ruler and a pencil sharpener but any brand would do of those so they missed out on their portrait! A couple of shadows and a couple more items to paint (can you find them?) and this will be complete. 

Here is the second page in progress. The metallic Lamy pen has a grey ink from de Atramentis called Fog Grey so I have the option of softer line-work than black. This ink is not waterproof so can create interesting effects if a wash is put over the top.

...And here the final brush has been added - the Isabey squirrel quill - this and the Rosemary Squirrel quill are my two most used travel brushes. I have another of these in my tiny kit. I've strengthened the colours in the palette and added the shadow to the kneadable eraser.

 All these materials pack into a pencil case ready to go.

 ...And here it is finished! This will be scanned and available as a limited edition print.

My full Plein air painting kit. From left: Classicbrassboxes Brass palette, Palamino Pencil, Lamy Al-Star Fountain Pen, Isabey squirrel Quill, Lamy Safari fountain pen, Kneadable eraser, Tombow eraser,  Sailor Fountin pen, sea sponge, eraser, white watercolour, Faber Castell watersoluble grahite pencil, Derwent inktense pencil, Faber Castell clutch pencil, General's White Charcoal Pencil, Lamy Joy pen, Copic Cool Grey pen, Sukura Pigma marker, Uniball White rollerball, Squirrel Quill pocket brush, a Pental water brush, dip pen, Sable Quill brush, porcupine quill, scrubber brush and Red Sable travel dagger brush.