Uncomfortable's Advice from /r/ArtFundamentals

Where can I find "Draw-a-box approved" refillable fineliners?

https://www.reddit.com/r/ArtFundamentals/comments/v96kkr/where_can_i_find_drawabox_approved_refillable/

2022-06-10 12:24

Benve7

I feel like throwing away fineliners is a waste. The official fineliners aren't refillable are they? Is it common to have refillable fineliner pens?

Uncomfortable

2022-06-10 16:56

So there's one refillable fineliner that comes to mind - the Copic Multiliner SP. They have replaceable ink cartridges and replaceable nibs as well. The thing is though, while they're definitely less wasteful than regular pens, it still involves a fair bit of plastic being thrown away even when just replacing the nibs, and they can be rather costly up-front (though they become more cost-effective over time).

What would be ideal is a pen whose cartridge you can refill with bottled ink, but that's more fountain pen territory, which are considerably harder to use than fineliners.

In the long run we do want to produce our own refillable pens, but it's a very tricky (and expensive) project to bring to fruition, so it's something that's kind of on the back burner while we work on addressing more immediate needs - like right now, we've acquired a laser cutter and are working on producing our own ellipse guide sets that we can sell for vastly cheaper than the full sets that are currently available for over a hundred dollars.

Benve7

2022-06-10 20:24

Thanks for answering my question! I'll take this into consideration with my purchases.

[deleted]

2022-06-11 03:55

I've been wondering if something like the rotring isograph would be appropriate. Are you aware of these kinds of technical pen? I've never used one but what I've heard suggests they're basically fineliners but with metal instead of felt tips.

P.s. I think it's awesome that you do so much to keep the course as affordable as possible.

Uncomfortable

2022-06-11 15:53

So the thing about those metal-tipped technical pens is that by design they're meant to create extremely uniform lines with no variation in thickness. The fineliners we use in this course have more flexible plastic tips that allow them to create lines that vary more naturally, and help us develop more finesse in our pressure control.

So, for that reason, the rotring isograph would not be a good choice for what we're doing here.

[deleted]

2022-06-12 05:23

Thanks that makes sense. I guess it's a good thing I asked before buying one.

Benve7

2022-09-25 05:50

Is there any significant difference between the SP and Classic? Can't find a store that has the SP near me.

Uncomfortable

2022-09-25 15:15

I believe the SP is the refillable one.

Benve7

2022-09-26 16:32

Oh, ok. Ty.