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In this article we are going to talk about the Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen. If you are new to brush lettering or have been hand lettering for a while now you definitely need this pen. It is a small brush pen that is easy to control and fun to use.
Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen: Is it worth it?
Tombow is one of the more popular brands in the brush lettering world. They offer a number of products including the Fudenosuke and the Dual Brush pens.
Features:
Hard and Soft Tip: The Tombow Fudenosuke comes in a hard tip and a soft tip. The hard tip is more rigid than the soft tip brush making it nice and easy to control. The soft tip brush allows for more variance between thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes.
Size – Small Brush Pen: This pen is considered a small brush pen. It is nice for projects when you want to write smaller. I like to use this pen for creating headings for my bullet journal.
Water-based Ink: The Tombow Fudenosuke is made from water-based pigment black ink that is odorless.
Colors:
The soft tip only comes in black ink; however the hard tip comes in 16 different colors including black. You can buy the 10 colored pack or the 6 neon colored pack.
Available colors: black, gray, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, brown, neon red, neon orange, neon green, neon, blue, neon pink, and neon yellow.
This brush pen set features a fine hard brush tip in 10 colors.
Check out the video below to see a review of the Tombow Fudenosuke hard tip and soft tip brush pen.
If you are still curious about the Tombow Fudenosuke color options check out this video review to see them in action.
Is the Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen good for beginners?
This 2-pack set or 3 pack set (which includes grey) is perfect for beginners. The hard tip is more rigid which is great for newbies because it is easier to control. The soft tip brush is also nice because when you are first learning to letter you have to develop your hand pressure and be able to create thick downstrokes and thin upstrokes.
As a beginner one of the harder skills to learn is hand pressure and the hardest part is creating the thin upstroke. The Tombow Fudenosuke is a great pen to use to practice your basic strokes and alphabet.
Here is an example of the basic strokes and alphabet using the Tombow Fudenosuke hard brush (top) and soft brush (bottom).
What is the best paper to use for brush lettering?
If you are going to invest in a good brush pen make sure you invest in good smooth paper to extend the life of your brush pens.
Brush pens require a smooth surface. Normal copy printer paper is more rough and not a good option for brush lettering.
Consider using HP Premium 32 paper for your everyday use when brush lettering.
This smooth thick paper is great for your brush pens and hand lettering projects.
Where can you buy the Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen
The Tombow Fudenosuke brush pen is carried by most arts and crafts stores like Joann’s, Hobby Lobby and Michaels. I have even seen it at Walmart. At Amazon you can find the 2-pack or the 3-pack. The 3 pack also includes a grey color which can be nice for shading and to add dimension to your brush lettering projects.
How to store you Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pens
Since the Tombow Fudenosuke is made from water based pigment ink you can store them vertically or horizontally. Generally you want to be careful with alcohol based ink brush pens which require you to store them horizontally or the ink dries up.
Here are some of my favorite brush pen storage solutions:
- ArtBin Plastic Storage Marker Case
- Foraineam Plastic Marker Storage Container
- U.S. Art Supply Multilevel Storage Rack
Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen Alternatives:
If you are still unsure or maybe you want to try out a few different brush pens consider these small brush pen alternatives:
Zebra Zensations brush pen
The Zebra Zensations brush pen (also called Zebra Fude Sign Brush Pen) comes in three different sizes: super fine, fine, and medium. It only comes in black ink so if you want more color options then this might not be the brush pen for you. See our full review of the Zebra Fude Sign brush pen.
This 4 piece brush pen set includes medium, fine, extra fine and Usu-Zumi gray ink. Great starter set for beginners.
Tombow Fudenosuke vs Zebra Zensations
If I had to pick between the two options I would still probably choose the Tombow Fudenosuke over the Zebra Zensations brush pens although they are growing on me the more that I use them.
Here is a side by side comparison of the Tombow Fudenosuke hard brush tip and the Zebra Zensations super fine brush pen.
Here is a side by side comparison of the Tombow Fudenosuke soft brush tip and the Zebra Zensations fine brush pen.
Zebra Funwari Brush Pen
Zebra also makes the Funwari Brush pen which is a super fine brush pen that comes in 8 different colors including: red, golden yellow, green, light blue, purple, pink, grey and black. You can see my full review of the Zebra Funwari Brush pens.
Pentel Arts Fude Sign Touch Brush Pen
The Pentel Arts Sign Touch Brush Pen is another good option for a small brush pen that comes in 24 colors. If you love color then this would be a great option. See our full review of the Pentel Arts Fude Sign Touch Brush Pen.
This brush pen set features 12 vibrant colors and has a fine brush tip.
Other Tombow Brush Pens
If you are looking for more brush pens consider the Tombow Dual Brush pen.
The Dual Brush pens are one of Tombow’s signature products and great for hand lettering and watercolor projects. The Tombow Dual Brush Pens come in 108 different colors so there are a lot of colors to choose from. You can usually find these pens in packs of 10 or you can purchase all 108 colors together with a fun carrying case.
You can see my full review of the Tombow Dual Brush Pens.