Sailor Fude de Mannen: an artist review
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- Опубліковано 23 лип 2024
- Hello pen friends!
In this video, I am finally looking at a much requested pen, the Sailor Fude de Mannen!
Fude nibs have many outspoken fans, and plenty in the urban sketching community seem to like them. What is it like to draw with them, and what considerations do you have to make in order to transition from traditional fountain pens to Fude nibs? Watch on!
If you like this pen, you can find it here:
bit.ly/Fudedeman
If you need a converter with your pen, this is the one I purchased:
amzn.to/3TXhCPA
The ink I used today was Colorverse Somnium, which you can find here:
bit.ly/ClvrsMini
Also, I was really impressed with my newest sketchbook, the Strathmore 500 series mixed media sketchbook. You can find that here:
bit.ly/StrathMxMm
Thanks! Please subscribe to my channel if you like what you see!
bit.ly/3iVayOb
You can also connect to me and find me on other social media platforms through my website:
www.stepheninks.com
Chapters:
00:00 introduction
01:36 parts and features
06:10 ink fill
08:10 practice lines and new sketchbook
19:10 design process
22:22 drawing sample
27:30 sketchbook thoughts
29:27 final thoughts
Great video Stephen! Always fun to see such a talented person step outside their comfort zone and create something wonderful.
Thanks for the kind words! I love to experiment, but it’s a pretty new thing to place my experiments in a public place like my videos.
Always good to see a new video from you Stephen!
I tried the fudé nib on the Black Forest type pen (mine was blue) & it definitely wasn't for me. I was happy to penable a friend interested in FP's though, so i pray she's getting use out of it now.
I hadnt heard of this Sailor pen at all, you're the first one to introduce it & i've been in the hobby about 5-6 years now, so thank you for that! Always a great sketch/art produced, but you already knew that. God bless Stephen & pray you & your family are doing well!
I have a Fude for my black Forrest (as of just recently) and I’m going to check it out soon. I agree that this weird little nib isn’t for everyone, but it was definitely fun to look at.
Actually, Sailor makes two of these Fude nibs, this green one and a black one, which has a different angle to the “bend.” This green one is a 55 degree angle, and the black one is a 40. That might also be something that makes for a better (or worse!) experience with Fude nibs!
I have the same pen. I kind of love it. It makes everything look more expressive.
And it makes your other pens look smaller! It’s a great value for what you get.
Wonderful drawing, and you got a lot of control with that nib. I found out about these bent nibs a few months ago, and thought it would be fun to try. It’s my understanding these Sailor pens are for schoolchildren in Japan to learn their calligraphy marks, that’s why they are very inexpensive. I got the green Sailor, and a Hongdian Dark Forest. I wanted to try sketching faster and a lot more loosely, and that green Sailor pen has been absolutely wonderful for what I wanted to achieve. I’m not a skilled sketcher At All, but my sketches look light years better than they did a couple of months ago. I find tilting the nib comes really easily to me, whereas I dont like flex nibs where I need to vary the pressure. Ive also ordered some Jinhao fude nibs to swap out on a Jinhao x750, but I don’t like heavy pens in general, so we’ll see. Thanks for a nice informative video, cheers.
Thanks for the kind words! Another pen to check out with a Fude nib is the Hongdian Black Forrest (Also comes in fine and extra fine ). I have been loving mine. I don’t really mind heavy pens, but I think the Black Forest is on the lighter side.
Great video Stephen. I love the idea of using the bricks as a reference for the arrangement of your drawing. Never thought to do that before! I can't say I've enjoyed my experience with fude nibs for drawing, but it is also probably because I gave up on them while I was still in the beginner phase with them.
Yeah, I kind of felt like giving up a couple of times when I was doing that drawing for sure! No reason to fix what isn’t broken when there’s already something you like. Personally, I’ll continue to play with this style of nib, but I’m not throwing out my Twsbi Eco any time soon, if you know what I mean :)
Gorgeous! Thank you for all the informations…
Thanks for watching!
I have been using this to enhance my watercolors and I love it.
It’s a great sketching pen!
Thank you for the review. It seems like many urban sketchers use this pen. I like your expressive sketch! I am happy with my self-customed-Architect nib and Pilot Falcon, but I would like to try this Fude nib.
Great video and it's nice to see how much your channel grew! 👏👏👏🙌🙌🙌
Thanks! Yeah, there’s a learning curve to this nib, but I’ve really grown into it! I just got an architect grind, and I’m really curious as to how it works as well. Thanks!
The variation is crazy!
Crazy potential, but also crazy hard to control! You know the saying about what comes with great power :)
At last: FUDE!!!!!!! A whole new dimension to drawing!!! Once the learning curve is over it's quite nice...💪💪💪💪💪😋
Yeah, I’m definitely going to stick to it. I think I needed try it with some less structured doodling activities or something else outside of my regular drawings.
I heard about the fude and heard that it was really good for drawing. Glad you did a vid on this because I had my eye on the sailor. The sketchbook is supposed to be professional grade in 500 series again had my eye on it and glad you reviewed this as well. Thank you
They’re both winners in my book! Definitely the pen takes some getting used to though!
The Strathmore is a 500, it takes watercolor like a champ and is 100% cotton paper. (The reason for the expense 😊) I have several of the others from "M" for regular sketching tho'. I really like the pen now that I know how to use it. Enjoyed your video.
I like this paper a lot. I don’t need paper this fancy most of the time, but I love it for finished pieces and client work.
I got a fude pen, the Duke 209, earlier this week and I love it for drawing. There's a bit of a learning curve, but I'm able to easily control the line variation that I want. I've seen other reviews of the Pilot Fude de Mannen that claim the way the nib is bent on them makes it not as easy to control. If you have 12 bucks to spare you maybe want to check out the Duke 209 for comparisions sake. Good review, and I appreciate that you review not just pens but sketch books/papers for artists. That's something I don't see a lot of in other reviews that cover fountain pens.
I’ve heard that about the Fude de Mannen. It interesting because there are actually 2 pens with the exact same name, that are different colors. This green one is a 55 degree angle, and the other one (which is black) is at a 40 degree angle. I’m not sure which one is the “bad” one though… the Duke 209 would be a great next purchase for me. I’ll check it out!
Good review! I have been looking at this pen all day and now I know I need one, but the 40 degree angles one. I feel like it's a good pen to explore and let loose. I'll see how that goes with my love of control of the lines. Haha
If you love having control of your lines, this pen will push you in interesting ways. That’s not a bad thing though! Hope you enjoy it!
underrated channel! thankks for sharing your art :)
Thanks for watching! It totally blows my mind to see my art enjoyed around the world.
I’m here for the pen. But, I enjoyed more your art advices and actual demonstrations. 😅 My fude de mannen arrived in the mail yesterday so it is like a break-in period for me. I think I’ll be using it more for urban sketching where I am happy with the “little accidents” done with pen and ink. Very nice video glad I found it 👏
Thank you! I think the Fude de Mannen will be a great pen for urban sketching. It does take a little time to get used to though.
Great video and lovely drawing, Stephen! The ink matches your pen too! :)
I've never tried a fude fountain pen, but now I'm a bit curious after seeing all the line variation. I've been experimenting with the Pentel Arts pocket brush pen and am fascinated with the line variation on it. I have poor control over it though.
I also like how you used bricks as reference for the house. Good idea!
I am thinking about doing a video on some brush pens I have. Pentel Pocket brush pen is one of them. Just like the Fude, they take some getting used to. I think the Fude nibs require a little less control than brush pens, so it might be a fun thing to try!
@@stepheninks That's good to know! I may give the fude nib a try! :)
Great video. I use the 40 degree Sailor, that Strathmore Sketchbook and I found if I turn the pen over, instead of standing it up, to use I get a really thin line & can write with it that way as well.
I’ve heard the 40 degree is way more comfortable. I have something close to that in my HongDian Black Forrest. I really like that one with a Fude nib as well!
@@stepheninks Klinking glasses to Fude pens!!!!
Enjoyed your video.
Thank you!
Stephen, what is the symbol you have drawn in the upper right corner and does it have anything to do with perspective in this drawing?
I forgot I put that there. It’s to represent the direction I want the light to go, so I place the shadows properly.
Great to see an actual drawing with this nib. Thx for that.
But still, the perspective of the top roof is completely off. :D
You are correct. I’ve had to adjust my perspective quite a lot in my lifetime.
@@stepheninks Who doesn't? :D
Hey Stephen! What would you recommend for an artist super flex fountain pen?
To be honest, I’m not much into flex pens. I have two Noodler’s pens, and I don’t really care for the nibs. They’re a bit “mushy,” if that makes sense. I do like the nib in my Platinum 3776 soft fine, although that’s not a true flex pen, it serves my needs. From people who love flex, I keep hearing about he Conklin Omniflex (steel) and the Pilot Falcon (gold, but on the budget-friendly side for a gold nib). I have not tired either, but maybe someday...
If you want real flexible lines, why not try a brush pen? It takes a lot of control, but it’s worth it! I highly recommend the ones from Kuretake. They take Platinum converters!
I absolutely love the line variation and feel of this pen.. but I can't keep it from drying out on me and going empty quickly. Have you experienced this or have any tips?
As far as the going empty quickly, yes I have noticed that, and I think it might just be one of the quirks of the pen, since the wide line variation is definitely going to put down more ink, in addition, Sailor converters don’t have a terribly generous ink capacity… if it’s drying out because the ink is running low, then I guess that’s the same problem, but if you’re talking about the feed not delivering ink, there are a lot of factors that may be a part of the issue.
Have you tried:
Cleaning and flushing out the pen with warm water?
Checking the alignment of the nib to the feed, just in case it’s off a little?
If you really feel comfortable trying this, you can try to widen the grove on top of the plastic feed with a razor blade to get slightly more ink to the paper. This is delicate, and can be overdone and ruin the pen. I wouldn’t recommend doing it unless drying out is really ruining the pen for you, and you’re not afraid to ruin it completely trying to fix it. If the pen were any more expensive, I wouldn’t even say anything… but at 10USD… it might be with a try.
Another thought is that I have really enjoyed using the Fude nib available on the HongDian Black Forest, which has a slightly different angle, and a converter that hold more ink. It is more expensive than the Fude de Mannen, but not extremely so. Worth looking into if you want to upgrade your experience!
@@stepheninks Thank you for the reply! I'm sure the problem is just low ink capacity... Since they nib is good towards beginning of use. I currently use cartridges for this pen, but there is an old converter lying about somewhere that I can try. Maybe it won't dry as quickly.
I got the pink Pearl one with the 40 deg fude nib. I have not tried it yet filled, just dipped it. Mine did come with two prefilled cartridges which I should be able to refill. Do you have a link to your converter?
Just added the link to this video description. Enjoy!
@@stepheninks Thanks!
I like the "cheap" plastic because this pen is very light in my field bag, where every ounce counts.
I guess that would be an advantage. The price doesn’t hurt either. For me, I much prefer a sturdier build, so I really like the HongDian Black Forest with a Fude nib. I mostly draw at home though, so I’m not a big expert in urban sketching/plein air. Thanks for your thoughts!
Would you say this nib is closer to a #6 or a #5? Love the video!
I’m tempted to say a 5, but there’s no way of knowing. There isn’t really a universal numbering system for nibs, especially ones made in-house, like Sailor nibs. Many European nibs are made by 1 of 2 companies (Bock or Jowo), but the numbers don’t line up even between those two companies, at least from what I’ve heard. Certainly, size and shape-wise, it does not line up with number 5 or number 6 nibs, as I have both on different European pens that I own, and I can tell you, this nib is a whole different creature entirely.
1. I've just about filled my Strathmore 500 Mixed Media sketchbook. I like it and recommend it. Granted I am insensitive to paper cost as my consumption is slow.
2. Next up is a bristol sketchbook. I'm hoping it will allow more detail, and feather and bleed through even less.
3. It never occured to me to warm up, so a video thereon would be quite instructive.
4. You might like to try the Duke 551 Confucius fude. It has the biggest fude nib I've found. Extremely heavy.
5. Personally I don't find fudes that useful. I work slow, and generally prefer inking up one F/M pen and also a Pilot Parallel with the same ink, and using the two together for more control.
I’ve got about 29 pages left on my 500 mixed media sketchbook. I don’t really care that much about expense, as I don’t really spend my money extravagantly on anything else. The only issue I have with it is the texture feels really gritty sometimes. Everything has its pros and cons I guess.
I’m actually planning a warmup/hand training video for the new year. It kind of doubles as meditative/mindfulness with drawing as well. Something different for 2022
I definitely feel like Fude nibs aren’t for everyone. I like mine, but I don’t feel like using it every day. If you have the time, building up value with fine lines is a thoroughly rewarding experience.
I have a parallel as well. I want to get more comfortable with it before I do a video. It’s a surprisingly versatile pen.
According to Jet Pens, Fude de Mannen is a play on words. In Japanese, "Fude" is brush pen, and "Mannen" is fountain pen.
Good info! The Korean word for fountain pen is (approximately) “mannyeonpil,” which is eerily similar.
Fude fountain pens are meant to be a cleaner/easier way to write traditional calligraphy (Japan, China, Korea). Typically you'd use a calligraphy brush that is held vertically to the paper. Because drawing and writing are so interconnected in those cultures, it's no wonder that the pen works well for art. But yeah, I tried it with a friend's pen and it was a learning curve. I had the same with my actual brushes, they drove me nuts until someone from Taiwan showed me how to do it. It takes a while to get used to it but once you do, it's a pleasure to paint with them!
I know how you feel. I have a brush pen video in the works but I keep putting it off because brushes are such a shift for me. The fude is a nice space in between for those of us that struggle.
did you use a ballpoint pen for the sketchbook?
I don’t really use ballpoint pens for artwork much. I have some friends that do amazing work with them, but I really prefer fountain pens. I did use this sketchbook for my J. Herbin rollerball pen review. So that’s a somewhat similar pen to a ballpoint.
What kind of water proof ink do you recommend for this pen?
Two waterproof inks that I really like are Platinum Carbon Black, and De Atramentis Document black. De Atramentis has a full line of “document” inks that are waterproof. I did a video on their offerings at the time, about a year ago. They have since added more colors.
Just a side note, that due to how much ink that pen puts down, there may be a slight lifting of pigment with heavy watercolor washes, depending on the paper. They’re still waterproof, and your lines should remain intact, but colors might be slightly muddied. I haven’t tried it with this pen, but I noticed it using Noodlers bulletproof black with a brush pen a few years ago.
@@stepheninks thanks so much! I just ordered the pen, converter & ink.
@@roxanneray4306 I hope you really like it!
I’m betting that the more you use the fude nip pen , no matter who makes it. You will find you use it for more and more of your drawing . The fine line to thick line will come the more you use it.
I have found that it does grow on you. It’s been a few months that I’ve had this pen, and every time I use it, I find more things that I love about it. I am using another Fude nib (not this pen specifically) to do inktober over on my Instagram!
which pen did you do the sketch in the sketchbook with?
The Sailor Fude de Mannen (green) in a Strathmore 500 series mixed media sketchbook!
@@stepheninks sorry for the confusion, I meant your rough sketches of the house concept in blue? You mentioned in the video they were not done with the failor fude? Thanks!
@@jingning309 ah yes, excuse me. It’s been a while since I made this video. This is the Artists Loft brand from American craft supply store Michaels. It’s really cheap stuff, and probably not any better or worse than a cheap sketch book you would find at any arts and craft store anywhere.
I realize once again, I read that comment wrong. Sorry. I do not remember which pen I used, but I think it MIGHT have been my Platinum 3776 in Soft Fine. The lines look too fine to be anything else!
@@stepheninks haha, thank you. this was my original question. Your videos are great and i've order several pens to try out b/c of them. Thanks!
I use mine as a dip pen. Much better than with a cartridge
Interesting. I have not had any trouble with the flow of the pen. Seems like there might be a nib you could just add to a dip pen holder to get the same effect, no? But given how cheap the pen is, I suppose there’s not much savings in trying to track one down. Follow your joy!
Lefty!!!!!
Guilty!
@@stepheninks I love spotting lefties on YT, esp in the art + callig world. Some of my favorite people are lefties, so I appreciate the extra effort you go through to produce beautiful inked works. Thanks for the video!!
@@hlegler most of my effort is in not smudging. Haha. Thanks for the kind words!
Never knew the converter came apart😬
These ones, and the converters made by Platinum are my favorites because they’re so easy to clean.
Great pen, nib section fits a sailor progearslim body. The length is too big, it doesnt fit among other fountain pen, I ended up sawing off the end of it.
You know, this pen and the Sailor Lecoule have a completely interchangeable nib/feed system. I just checked and it’s seamless. I agree that the body of the Fude de Mannen is pretty bad. Hard to complain, given the price, but there are a lot of other Fude pens that are nicer/more comfortable/more compact.
@@stepheninks Sailor sells fude nibs straight in *Profit Calligraphy Script Fude* sort of lecoule size body. But this long body actually better, just its like 1-2cm too long and it doesnt fit into pen cases xD.
Everyone seems to be happy about chinese fude pens yeah, just that european fp shops dont sell them.
Have you tried 3776uef ? that nib is a beast.
Are you considering the more expensive fp like sailor specialty?
@@Cortesevasive I guess it has to be the best middle ground you can get. I’ve only lived in the US and Asia, so I guess I’m not always attuned to what is available in Europe. Sailor does make good pens. This was my first Sailor purchase, and now I have 3 of their pens.
I have a 3776 in soft fine, and I love it. I was really close to selecting the uef, but went with the sf at the last minute, and I love it, so no regrets. I may one day but a uef (and I’ll definitely make a video about it), but for now, I have other priorities in the gold nib area, which I buy maybe one a year. I keep a strict budget for pen purchases, so I tend to buy pens in the sub-100USD range.
I’m getting a much fatter line.
There are a variety of lines you can get with this type of nib. Holding it at the usual 30-45 degree angle will get you a very fat line. For the thinnest possible line from your nib, I recommend holding it straight up (90 degrees) or reverse writing. Part of the fun is moving it around and seeing what happens at different angles. It takes a lot of getting used to.