Best Tools for Modern Calligraphy: Brushes & Pointed Pens You Need

Last Updated on March 10, 2025

A good calligraphy set for beginners is one of the best ways to jump start anyone’s learning. That paired with the free practice sheets and resources here at Calligrascape will definitely boost your learning.

When I first started learning about calligraphy there were so many tools out there that the Instagram users I followed were using. I had so many questions about what to buy: What was good? Would I be able to use that? How hard is it to get the hang of it? This post was written to answer those questions and give recommendations to completely new writers on the best tools to start learning modern calligraphy. If I was going to make a list of beginner friendly all-star products every item here would be on it. However, before you buy the tools, you will need to choose between two categories of tools (or both I guess).

Picking Brush or Pointed Pen – A Comparison

First things first, you must select what kind of calligraphy tool you want to use for modern calligraphy: Brushes/Brush Pens or Pointed Pen. They both can achieve the same kinds of strokes and styles, but there are some differences with the tools:

Brush and Pointed Pen Featured Image
Brush Calligraphy and Pointed Pen Calligraphy Examples
  • Brushes are often bigger – Brushes can be found in many different sizes and the resultant letters are often much bigger. Due to their larger size, they are better for things like birthday cards, custom labels, and Calligrascapes. Pointed Pen is better for smaller applications like handwritten notes, and wedding calligraphy. NOTE: There are brush pens that write the exact same size as a pointed pen would, and can use my Master Practice Sheets (more details later).
  • Startup costs for Pointed Pen is higher – You will need to buy 4 things (Pen holder, a pack of Pen Nibs, Ink, and special paper) while brush pens can just be a pack of brush pens and can use any old paper you have around.
  • Brush pen nibs wear out much faster – The elasticity of a nib is important for curve in letter formation. If the nib wears out, the letters have less clean curves and eventually don’t work. The metal nibs of pointed pen last a long time unless they are over-flexed (aka bent).
  • Brush pens are easier to learn for beginners – The learning curve is easier since you do not have to deal with the quirks of metal nibs and ink flow.
  • Pointed pen has multiple different nibs – If you purchase other kinds of nibs, you can learn Blackletter calligraphy, or monoline calligraphy. However, specific Brush pens like the tombow Brush pen has two tips, one for brush calligraphy and the other for monoline calligraphy.

Now that you have the positives and negatives of both brushes and pointed pens, you can make your selection below:

The Best Brushes for Modern Calligraphy

I have two size recommendations for my practice sheets. The smaller sizes can work with my Master Class Pointed Pen Practice Sheets, and the larger work with my Master Class Brush Calligraphy Practice Sheets. Okay now from smallest to largest:

1. Small Brush Pen Recommendations

All 3 of these recommendations are compatible sizewise with my pointed pen sheets.

2. Large Brush Pen Recommendations

There are many types of brush pens out there and I definitely haven’t tried them all. But of the ones I have tried, the Tombow Brush Pen has been my favourite. It’s flexible broad tip lasts quite a while for being a marker. Like all brush pens they come in so many colours that you may get accidentally get too many haha. They have two tips, one for brush calligraphy (lower left) and one for monoline calligraphy (lower right).

Tombow Brush Pen Modern Brush Calligraphy Example
Every English Entrant Effortlessly Exhibited Excellence

3. Practice Sheet Recommendations

If you selected the Tombow Brush pens, you can use with my Master Class BRUSH sheets below:

Master Class Modern Brush Practice Sheets Featured Image
Check out our Brush Sheets here!

The 4 Tools you Need for Modern Pointed Pen Calligraphy

1. Oblique Pen Holder

I originally started with a straight pen holder when I was learning modern calligraphy, but after much practice, I purchased an oblique holder. This increased my quality of letters, and my consistency quite considerably as I was holding the straight pen at different angles every time I went to dip it again. An oblique holder keeps the nib at around a 52 degree angle to allow consistent angling on letters. The holder is an important tool but is nothing without a nib. You can get an oblique pen set with assorted nibs, as I first did, but the nibs they include with it are very touchy and wouldn’t recommend for a beginner. Therefore, I heavily suggest just get just the holder for half the price of the set and get the beginner friendly nibs below.

2. Nikko G Nib

You can definitely tell how serious I am about this nib by checking my entire post devoted to it. To summarize it in this tiny paragraph, without how to use it and care for it: This nib is the best modern calligraphy nib for beginners, hands down. Its flexibility allows new learners of the craft some play and is very forgiving compared to other nibs. Not only that but compared to the average, the Nikko G nib holds much more ink in the well. This allows for less dips and more writing. When I bought the pack of 10 nibs my first one lasted over a year! So you are definitely getting value if you choose to get these fantastic nibs.

3. Speedball Super Black Calligraphy Ink

Ah, calligraphy ink, the art creator and clothes destroyer. Without the proper consistency, the ink sticks on the nib too much or slides right off. I have found that Speedball Super Black Calligraphy Ink is a great balance of fast drying and consistency. I personally bought it in bulk (up in the header image) as you get much better value and it will last for such a long time.

4. Rhodia DotPad or HP Premium Choice Paper

Rhodia Dotpads are a great practice paper. You can take it anywhere, and it works well with any calligraphy tools out there. However, I would say it is a little on the pricier side of things and if you are just starting. I can definitely understand not wanting to spend too much when first starting. Because believe me, you will fill a book like this really quick. So an alternative would be to buy HP Premium Choice Paper in bulk for the best value. If you want to a visual comparison of the two mentioned papers head over to my in-depth paper comparison post here. The bonus of using sheets of paper instead of a book is to print off some free practice sheets or premium practice sheets to get a jump start on your practice.

5. Practice Sheets Recommendations

Now that you have the pointed pen tools required to learn pointed pen calligraphy, check out my Master Class Pointed Pen sheets below:

Master Pointed Pen Bundle
Check out my Pointed Pen Practice Sheets!

Example of Lettering with the Mentioned Tools

Above is an example of what you can expect with the Nikko G nib in an oblique pen holder, on Southworth Linen Paper, written in Speedball Super Black Ink. If you now have the tools, you can start learning modern calligraphy from my post here: Modern Calligraphy for Beginners – Basic Strokes & Free Practice Sheets

Now Over to You…

What tool did I miss?
Is there something better than the products I have mentioned?
Any questions and comments are encouraged.

Thanks for reading the whole thing!

-Richard

Looking for More?

Check out some very helpful beginner starting posts here:

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