Calligraphy is a beautiful style of handwriting that anyone can do with enough practice. Pens are an integral aspect of calligraphy. There are a variety of utensils that can be used for hand lettering, but recently, brush pens have taken the art community by storm. Popular brands such as Tom Bow, Pentel, and Ecoline brush markers are frequently bought by calligraphists, artists, and beginners looking for a pen to start with. One brush pen in particular that does not get enough recognition, is the Kuretake ZIG Fudebiyori.

One of the most appealing aspects of this brush pen is the medium-sized tip. With great flexibility and bounce, the Fudebiyori is a fantastic pen to use for all levels of calligraphy. The tip is very forgiving and relatively stiff, allowing for better upstrokes and downstrokes for heavy and light-handed calligraphy writers. This is a great option for beginners compared to more popular brushes such as Tom Bow, due to cleaner and more consistent strokes. The quality of strokes has to do with the size of the brush tip as well.  Unlike Tom Bow and Pentel brush pens, the tip of the Fudebiyori is bouncy and flexible and can create thicker or thinner downstrokes without any problems. Over time, the tips of the brushes do fray, but it does take longer for Fudebiyori to become unusable compared to other brushes.

The ink and color of these brush pens are especially notable, having some strengths and weaknesses. These water-based markers come in a variety of vibrant colors, along with a metallic set. One issue found when using these markers, is that the variety packs sold on Amazon do not come with a black marker. Having a black marker is essential to hand lettering, and the only option is to buy it separately, which is pricey on Amazon. From a coloring standpoint, if the primary focus of getting a brush pen set is for the assortment of colors and nothing else, the Kuretake ZIG Fudebiyori does not particularly compare to the extensiveness of the TomBow Dual Brush Pens but does have a nice selection of 14 colors and 6 metallics.

Another feature that is particularly enjoyable is the price range of the brush pens. Relatively speaking, brush pens can be pricey and not worth the purchase for beginners or people who do not want to spend that much money. The Fudebiyori is $12.99 for a set of 12 vibrantly colored brush markers, compared to the widely popular Tombow Dual Brush Pens, which run 14 -19 dollars per pack of 10 markers. However, the black Kuretake ZIG Fudebiyori is relatively expensive on Amazon and can be found at a cheaper price on JetPens.

I would rate this set of brush pens 4.5/5. The biggest issue is the lack of the black brush pen, which is a color that I predominantly use when I hand-letter. However, apart from that, the Kuretake ZIG Fudebiyori is extremely easy and fun to use and has a beautiful assortment of colors. I would recommend this to anyone who enjoys handletting, and especially to beginners looking for the perfect novice brush. You can find the link to the 12 pack on Amazon here.