How to Draw and Write in Fountain Pen: A Modern Guide

How to Draw and Write in Fountain Pen: A Modern Guide by Ayano Usamura is a tutorial guide and graphic essay in praise of the humble (and not so humble) fountain pen. Originally published in Japan as Simple Sketching (シンプルスケッチ) by Graphic-Sha in 2017, the English language release is due out 17th Sep. 2019 from The Experiment. It's 128 pages and will be available in ebook and paperbound formats.

This is an appealingly illustrated, logically arranged guide with special emphasis on journaling and decorative papercrafts featuring letting and inking primarily with fountain pens.

The introductory chapter gives a quick overview over materials and supplies, papers, inks, and tools, as well as a short but very useful troubleshooting guide ("Fountain Pen Don'ts).

There are four main sections. They cover simple line drawn sketches of familiar daily objects (kitchenware, clothing, outdoors things, etc), lettering, embellishments, and more advanced techniques. The last segment includes some tutorials for toothpick flags, personalized table cards, planners, stick on labels, and more.

I've been a fountain pen fan for ages. This book would make a lovely gift with a good quality starter fountain pen or as a standalone book with lots of fun ideas for the journalers and papercrafters.

High quality, accessible, appealing. Four stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.