Kuretake Tortoiseshell Brass Brush Pen – St. Louis Art Supply

This gorgeous brass brush pen from Kuretake is fitted with a handmade sable tip and finished with a dark brown and gold tortoiseshell pattern. Taking it out of the wood storage box, we felt a bit like we had pulled a gleaming sword from the stone. It's weighty and cool to the touch, and when turned in your hand, the high-gloss body flickers with subtle gold reflections from the tortoiseshell finish.

Uncap the Tortoiseshell Brass Brush Pen and you'll see a handmade sable brush (for the painters reading this, it's roughly a #2 round), with a wide belly and a very fine tip. To protect the brush from manufacturing to first use, the pen is actually pre-filled—with a conditioning solution that keeps the brush wet and perfectly shaped until you open it.

To ink this pen, unscrew the brass body from the plastic grip section. Remove the conditioning solution cartridge and discard it. Then insert one of the three included cartridges of black pigment ink and let the pen sit overnight. It will take some time for the ink to fully saturate the tip, and you will likely need to draw it out with a page or two of test strokes. They'll turn from yellow-clear (the color of the conditioning solution) to grey, to the full black of Kuretake's water-based pigment ink.

Once inked, this premium pen is ready to prove that it's worth the initial effort. The immaculately shaped brush can produce ultrafine hairlines and large, inky swells, making it a lovely choice for hand-lettering and calligraphy. Artists and sketchers will appreciate the range of values and textures that are possible with this brush. Move slowly to create dense, inky marks that stay wet longer and can be blended with water before they dry. Or move quickly to lay down loose, dry-brush marks and thin, organic lines.

Packaged in a paulownia wood box with three black pigment ink cartridges. Made in Japan.