Picture review of my brush pens collection

For sketching with pen and ink anywhere, brush pens are a neat convenient portable alternative to the rather cumbersome brush and ink well set up. Some of them feature marker-type felt brush nibs affording moderate line variation, and others actually have filament brush heads that perform more like regular brushes. For hair type brush nibs, I have only tried the ones with fine nylon filaments. There are some premium Japanese calligraphy brush pens with actual natural sable hair tips, but they tend to be rather pricey (like the Kaimei brush pen). My collection consists of brush markers and synthetic brush pens in disposable and refillable formats with self-contained waterproof and non-waterproof ink cartridges or reservoirs. Typically they are not prone to ink spillage accidents, but use caution when traveling with them by air (a few might leak when the cabin pressure changes, so I tend to keep them in a sealed Ziploc bag as a precaution). Goes without saying, but leaving them inside a car during a hot summer day might not be such a good idea either.
I have been using many brush pens in my sketching kits for so long, that I'm puzzled that their use has not yet become as widespread among sketching and drawing aficionados in the USA as their convenience and current performance would merit. I supposed the few choices offered in the general market might be partially to blame: mainly Faber Castell Pitt Artist Pens, the current Sakura Pigma brush pens, Copic multiliners with brush nibs, and Prismacolor Premier archival brush markers. A larger and better brush pens selection hail from Japan where they are marketed for calligraphy purposes. Flashback to the early nineties: pictured above is the now discontinued Sakura Pigma Sumi brush dual felt tip pen that that was probably among the first of its kind to appear in art supplies stores over a decade ago. The pigment ink was certainly waterproof when dry and the felt brush nibs produced graceful lines of varying weight. Unfortunately the felt nibs were rather delicate and rapidly lost their sharp points. After this one disappeared from the market, the remaining alternatives at the time were the Tombow ABT dual brush pen markers, the Staedtler Mars Graphic 3000 duo double sided marker, and the Kuretake No. 13 Fountain Hair Brush Pen with a Black Body. None of which featured waterproof ink. Later Faber Castell introduced the Artist Pitt brush pens line-up in 48 colors with felt brush nibs and archival waterproof india ink (useful tip: once the Pitt nib gets damaged, it can be reversed for a longer useful pen life).
My collection (link to my Flickr album with notes on each individual brush pen) grew mostly from gifts and from checking out art supplies and specialty Japanese stationery stores during my travels. For example the above brush pen, Pentel FP6L, was a nice surprise found at the San Francisco Kinokuniya store after testing several of their calligraphy brush pens with a waterbrush loaded with water. Its ink dried quickly, was completely waterproof, and did not smear (or course this type of tests can be affected by the paper choice, temperature, and humidity; so it's always best to do your own performance testing). So far I have not found an online supplier for this particular brush pen, but I would certainly recommend trying it if you happen to come across it.
Just a shot of my current selection of brush pens. The most recent additions were the Kuretake No. 8 Fountain Hair Brush Pen and the Kuretake Pocket Color Brush Pens that Lily from JetPens graciously sent me to try and review.
Close up of the bottom row.
Close up of the top row. The brush pens on the right are actually waterbrushes that I load with water and use with watercolor media. For an in-depth review on waterbrushes see this excellent post by Russell Stutler.
This photo simply shows a large doodle test of the watercolor resistance of some of these brush pens.
Doodle drawn with one of my favorite brush pens, the soft Platinum Pocket Brush Pen, with a responsive bristles brush head and rich dark waterproof ink.
A Kuretake No. 13 Fountain Hair Brush Pen with a Black Body test doodle. At faster drawing speeds this brush pen yield a "dry brush" effect.
The Pentel Pocket Brush is a good popular choice for its compact size, responsive bristles brush head, and water resistant ink once dry.

The Pilot Double Sided Brush Pen - Hard Tip - with a generous dual reservoir of liquid Black & Gray Ink coupled with a reliable mechanical pencil make for an ideal compact travel sketching kit. The pencil and black nib can be used for sketching the basic outlines, and the gray nib is ideal for shading them.
Illustration rendered with the new Kuretake brush pen samples. The Kuretake Pocket Color Brush Pens in Scarlet Red and Blue were fairly water resistant once dry. They are a quick convenient tool for coloring cartoons quickly with good coverage. The Kuretake No. 8 Fountain Hair Brush Pen is a good sketching tool for creating flowing lines of varying width, but does not come with waterproof ink. Some reviews suggest that the waterproof Platinum black ink cartridges might be compatible with it, but I have yet to test that hypothesis. Once I use up the current Kuretake ink cartridge, I will plug in a Platinum one and blog accordingly.
The Akashiya Sai Pigment Ink Outline Brush (waterproof) and the Akashiya Sai Watercolor Sky Blue Brush Pen (watersoluble watercolor) are a couple of affordable brush pens that can be found in my regular sketching kit often. They both sport filament type brush heads and tend to yield a "dry brush" effect at my normal drawing speed. I have yet to try the rest of the 20 color palette available.
Uni-ball Brush Pen Set - Gray Fine & Broad Tip is a neat sketching pen set that produces water resistant drawings once dry. The Fine and Broad tip are good for drawing while the gray pen has the right tone for efective shading.
Platinum Japanese Art Pocket Brush Pen produces nice dark waterproof marks, but its felt marker brush tip blunts easily. I reserve mine for filling in blacks and drawings where a thicker line is desired.
While most brick-and-mortar art supplies stores might carry just a few kinds of brush pens and brush markers, online specialty stores tend to offer more choices. The largest Japanese brush pens selection I have ever come across online at a single retailer would have to be JetPens brush pens section.