I've been wanting to buy a calligraphy pen ever since I saw my friend Andrew using one. The thick and thin strokes look interesting.

Actually, the one I wanted to buy was the Lamy Safari Calligraphy Pen which cost around $30. I've been putting off that purchase because I'm not sure if I would like it as a drawing pen.

Andrew managed to find a cheaper alternative in the form of a Pilot Parallel Pen. It's selling around $10 so I decided to give it a try. In Singapore, the sale of this pen didn't do very well and Pilot pulled all the stocks. The one I had was the bought locally at Pilot's office.

The Pilot Parallel comes in an attractive packaging box with the pen cap, the pen, two ink cartridges of different colours, a pen cleaning cartridge and a piece of cleaning plastic sheet.

There are different nib sizes to choose from, namely, 1.5, 2.4, 3.8 and 6mm. The 6mm is as thick as some flat brush!

There are a total of 12 ink colours. And the colours are formulated to blend together if you switch cartridges - although I don't know where you would keep the unused cartridge.

When you first put in the disposable ink cartridge, just squeeze the cartridge slightly to push the ink out. Don't do it too hard or the cartridge will crack. I destroyed one cartridge just like that.

Although there's something like a fork on the nib, it doesn't affect the stroke in any way.

The pen gets its name because the nib is actually two metal plates being held together. Don't go forcing the two plates apart. My friend Andrew destroyed one pen like that. The small cleaning plastic sheet is used to go between those two plates for cleaning, to get rib of stuff like stuck paper.

This is how it looks dismantled. If you want more ink than the cartridge can hold, you can just pour the ink into the pen's lower case. Note that the case and the cap are the screw-type so this pen is incapable of leaking. Very nice.

Every part of the pen is made of plastic except the nib.

The ink flow during writing is generous. You'll see a glistering trail of ink following behind the nib. The ink uses up very fast as a result.

How fast it dries would depend on the ink you use and the paper. I find that it glides smoother on smoother paper.

This was drawn on a train on cartridge paper. The pen has to be angled in a certain way to get the unbroken lines.

While it's capable of varying strokes, you have to make extra effort to create those strokes especially if you want them to behave in a certain way. Say the nib is horizontal, when drawing a horizontal chin, it will always be thin unless you turn the nib vertical.

This piece was drawn using mainly the edge of the nib for that extra fine stroke. The edge of the nib can create strokes finer than an Extra Fine Lamy fountain pen. When used this way, the stroke is darker than that from a Lamy. However, you can feel the nib's sharp edge scratching the paper.

In the sketch above, lots of finer work would not be possible if I were to use the broad side of the nib. So this pen is not suitable for drawing certain subjects. It takes more effort than other types of pen when used for drawing.

Here are some examples from my friend Drewscape who likes using the pen.

A video by Leigh Reyes:

For drawing, time is required to get used to it. For writing, I think it's a fantastic calligraphy pen that's value for the money.

Pilot Parallel Pen cleaning process: www.donlowillustration.com/blog/?p=2339

The Pilot Parallel Pen is available on Amazon:
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