Which pen do I need for my Gothic Blackletter workshop?

You need a pen with a calligraphy (italic) nib, or a chisel nib. If you do one of my face to face workshops you would get a Copic calligraphy 4mm marker as part of the course fee.

For your zoom workshop you will need to supply your own pen, but it is not necessary to spend a lot of money on a fancy calligraphy pen (tempting as it may be).. you can use a calligraphy marker (koki to all you South Africans).

Calligraphy Markers

A calligraphy marker is the same as a ‘normal’ felt tip pen, but with a flat chisel nib instead of a bullet nib. They are cheap to buy, fairly durable, but the larger sizes (4mm and bigger) are quite hard to find in the shops in South Africa so I’d suggest looking online if possible.

The size that I prefer for beginners is a size 4 nib (4mm). A 2mm nib is better for Italic calligraphy, but the bigger nibs are better for the chunky style of Blackletter. However, a 2mm marker or a fountain pen with a 1.9mm or B nib is absolutly fine!

Examples of good affordable larger calligraphy markers are: Copic Multiliner Calligraphy Medium 4mm (CM on the lid), Centropen set (make sure there is at least a Broad and an XBroad in the pack).

Centropen set (there must be a B and XB in the pack)

Examples of other good affordable 3mm markers are: Artline Calligraphy Pen (size 3 nib) and Pilot Lettering Pen (size 3 nib).

Although the 4mm would be my first choice, the 3mm nib is absolutely fine if you can’t get a bigger one.

Artline Calligraphy Pen size 3 (a bit small for learning Gothic, but absolutely fine if that’s all you can get)

Pilot Lettering Pen size 3 (a bit small for learning Gothic, but absolutely fine if that’s all you can get)

Pilot Parallel Pens

If you are very keen to get yourself a nicer pen that uses actual ink, then the best one would probably be a Pilot Parallel Refillable Calligraphy Pen. These pens are fairly inexpensive and can be used for all types of calligraphy requiring a flat ended nib. The ink that they come with tends to bleed quite a bit on uncoated paper, but you can always just use a small syringe to refill the empty cartridges with a better quality ink. There are four different sizes, but the bigger two (3.8mm and the 6mm) are better for Gothic. I would suggest starting with the 3.8mm (green lid) until you are comfortable with such a big nib, and then you can move on to the 6mm (blue lid). The great thing about these pens is that they can also be used as dipping pens (with or without their own cartridges still inside)

The four different sized pens in their packaging

The notes for the Gothic Blackletter workshop