Sketching with Fude: Bringing Life to Your Lines with a Bent Nib Fountain Pen
Art Toolkit Ambassador Thainlin Tay shares the range this pen offers from creating bold, sweeping lines to delicate, whisper-thin details—all in a single stroke.
By Thainlin Tay
Over the last ten years of sketching and painting, I’ve experimented with countless sketching tools—pencils, fineliners, brush pens, markers—but I always find myself returning to the Fude fountain pen. Its distinctive bent nib offers something no other instrument can: organic, expressive line variation that feels alive on the page. It’s akin to sketching with a “hard” brush pen, but probably much easier to control than a regular brush pen.
Whether I’m sketching in my home country or drawing on the go while traveling, my Fude pen is always the first tool I tuck into my sketch kit. Sometimes, I’ll even bring a few along, each with a different nib size to cater to the varying levels of detail I want in my sketches.
While I own a few Fude fountain pens, the recent introduction of the Sailor Fude de Mannen Fountain Pen in Art Toolkit’s shop reignited my interest in this trusty “old” pen, and I just had to take mine out for a spin!
The Sailor Fude de Mannen can easily become any sketcher’s favorite. It’s an inexpensive, lightweight, and reliable option that still delivers the kind of line range and responsiveness you’d expect from much pricier models. Its 40° or 55° bent nib (I chose the 40° Navy Blue version) makes it perfect for quick urban sketches, travel scenes, and expressive line work—without breaking the bank.
Why Fude?
Unlike regular fountain pens or technical liners, the Fude pen responds to your movement and mood. A slight shift in your wrist changes the ink flow, creating bold, sweeping lines or delicate, whisper-thin details—all in a single stroke. It feels like you’re channeling your artistic energy directly into your sketching instrument. This flexibility is what makes sketching with a Fude pen feel both spontaneous and deeply personal.
The Power of Line Variation
Every successful sketch relies on thoughtful lines. Line variation isn’t just visual decoration—it’s how we communicate texture, depth, and emotion. Thick, confident lines anchor form and structure; thinner ones suggest distance or subtle edges.
Like a musician adjusting volume and tempo, a sketcher varies line weight to make a drawing sing.
Without variation, drawings can feel flat and mechanical; with it, they gain rhythm, character, and movement. Line variation also gives your sketches a “signature look.” It’s hard to replicate—much like your handwriting or signature—your sketches quietly say that it’s you behind the artwork.
Thin, upright-held strokes (fine lines)
Medium strokes at about 45°
Thick, low-angled strokes that almost look like brush marks
A squiggle of thin, medium, and thick lines
The unique bend of the Fude nib allows for exceptional range and responsiveness. By changing the angle between pen and paper, you can smoothly transition from razor-thin contours to bold, painterly marks. This makes the Fude pen ideal for quick plein-air sketches or urban scenes, where speed and expression matter more than perfect accuracy. It behaves almost like a brush—fluid yet precise—giving a distinctive, hand-made quality to your work.
I find the Sailor Fude de Mannen especially well-suited to this. Its steel nib is flexible enough to feel expressive, yet stable enough for everyday sketching, and its compact size slips easily into a pocket or travel pouch.
Tips for Getting Started
If you haven’t used a Fude fountain pen before—or any fountain pen for sketching, for that matter—here are some tips to get you started.
Choose your setup: A Fude pen filled with waterproof ink, such as De Atramentis Document Ink, pairs beautifully with watercolor washes. For looser sketches, water-soluble ink adds a soft, blended effect, but this also means you may risk washing away your lines when applying watercolor.
Get a grip: Hold the fountain pen using a relaxed three-finger (tripod) grip: your thumb and index finger rest lightly on either side of the grip, while the pen is supported by your middle finger. Keep the pen angled about 40–55° to the paper so it glides smoothly with minimal pressure, protecting the nib from damage.
Find your angle: Start around 45°, then experiment—tilt slightly upwards for fine lines, and lower and flatter for thicker strokes. You may also want to gently rotate the pen as you draw to introduce another form of variation.
Vary your pen pressure: In addition to angle, you can adjust how much pressure you apply to the nib. Gentle pressure allows you to control line thickness. For example, applying slightly more pressure at the start of a line and gradually easing off as you move forward creates a beautiful tapered stroke.
Sketch and repeat: Practice with lines, squiggles, circles, textures, and shapes before moving on to familiar subjects like buildings, landscapes, human figures, and still life. The Fude pen’s portability makes it ideal for travel sketching—capture a café, a street corner, or the curve of a distant hill, each with its own rhythm of lines.
The Fude pen may take some time to get used to. Practice makes perfect—or in this case, perfectly imperfect (and delightfully variable) lines.
Elevating Your Sketches
As you grow familiar with the feel of the nib, you’ll begin to see how line quality elevates a drawing. Use heavier lines to anchor foreground objects, lighter lines to push backgrounds away, and broken strokes to suggest texture or atmosphere. The secret lies in intention—every line should say something about light, distance, or energy.
Very soon, you’ll start to discover little surprises along the way: how your “organic” variable lines come together naturally in a sketch. If you’re using waterproof ink, you can begin applying watercolor washes once the lines have dried, usually within a minute or two.
Whether in a bustling city overseas or a quiet park near home, sketching with a Fude fountain pen transforms ordinary scenes into expressive stories. The Sailor Fude de Mannen, with its accessible price and rich line variation, is an ideal tool for artists who want to bring more life and personality into their sketches without complicating their kit. It’s not just a tool; it’s a way of thinking about drawing, one that connects fluid motion, emotion, and design in every mark you make.
If you haven’t tried the Sailor Fude de Mannen, or any Fude fountain pen yet, I’d encourage you to give it a go. Experiment with angles, play with pressure, and let your lines breathe. Break the monotony of uniform strokes and predictable tools. Try something new, even if it feels awkward at first. You might just discover a way of sketching that surprises you—and the art you create may surprise you even more.
Thainlin Tay
Social Media | Ambassador Page
About Thainlin
Thainlin Tay is an Art Toolkit Ambassador who has led an Art Toolkit Travel Sketching live demo and instructed People in Motion, available on our workshops page. Learn more about him and see his art on his Ambassador Page and read his first blog post on composition here: Unlocking the Power of Composition.