A Tombow Dual Brush Pen Review
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You may have seen these pens in the bullet journal or brush lettering circles. I cover everything you need to know in my Tombow Dual Brush Pen review!
The Brush Pen Buzz
Whether you are brand new to bullet journaling or you’re a seasoned pro, you’ve certainly heard some chatter about Tombow Dual Brush Pens. It seems as though they are mentioned all over the place in the bullet journal community. And in the brush lettering crowd? It’s a staple! But how do you know if these highly recommended pens are right for you? I’m going to break down everything you need to know in my Tombow Dual Brush Pen review.
My Tombow Dual Brush Pen Review
Full disclosure: I am a Tombow Brand Ambassador, and I have been for a while now. However, this post is not sponsored by Tombow in any way and my assessment of Tombow Dual Brush Pens is 100% my own. I just want to make sure you know the full picture before we dig into this juicy review. Now let’s jump in!
Where to Find Tombow Dual Brush Pens
You can likely find Tombows at your local art store, either sold in packs or as individual markers. If your local store doesn’t carry Tombow Dual Brush Pens, then Amazon has you covered! There is a large range of sets with different fun palettes. Here are some of my favorites!
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Tombow Dual Brush Pens – Galaxy Palette
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Tombow Dual Brush Pens – Pastel Palette
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Tombow Dual Brush Pens – Landscape Palette
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Tombow Dual Brush Pens – Bright Palette
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Tombow Dual Brush Pens – Full Set of 96 Colors with Pen Stand
- Water-based pens ideal for coloring, fine art, illustrations, doodling, journaling, hand lettering and more.
- Set of 10 Tombow Dual Brush Pens
- Flexible brush tip and fine tip in one marker.
- Brush tip works like a paintbrush to create fine, medium or bold strokes, fine tip gives consistent lines.
The Pros
There are a lot of things that to love about Tombow Dual Brush Pens. Let me get into some of the best features of these pens.
Two Tips
As the name suggests, the Tombow Dual Brush Pens have two pen tips. One is a brush tip, which is flexible and allows for huge line variations. The other is a bullet tip, which is perfect for normal writing and drawing.
Colors Galore
The Tombow Dual Brush Pens come in a ton of colors, and they’re always coming out with new palettes. If you’re a color collector like me, this is a huge plus.
The Brush Tip
There are a ton of different brush pen brands, but the tip of this brush pen is excellent for beginners or experienced brush letterers alike. The nylon tip is very flexible, strong, and not too bendy or too stiff. I use mine for brush lettering constantly.
Blendability
You know how when you were a kid and you had that one yellow marker that was stained with a darker color? That doesn’t happen with Tombow Dual Brush Pens. You can blend colors together directly on the brush nibs — even with the lightest colors — and they will always snap back to their original color. Each palette also comes with a clear blending marker that you can use to blend two colors together on paper.
They are Water Based
If you are afraid of staining, you’ll be happy to know that the Tombow Dual Brush Pens have water-based ink. That means that in most cases, you can use water to clean up any accidents. Or if you want to blend with a water brush or get some kind of a watercolor effect, you can!
Brush Lettering and Bullet Journaling
There are lots of people like myself who are into both bullet journaling and brush lettering. Tombow Dual Brush Pens are perfect for both! Use them to add decorations, illustrations, or highlights in your bullet journal and then easily use them for brush lettering, too.
The Cons
While I love these pens, they aren’t perfect. Here are a few issues that may or may not be a deal breaker for you.
Living Large
Tombow Dual Brush Pens are not exactly small. While it isn’t a problem to throw one or two Tombow pens in your bag, their size makes it inconvenient to carry a whole set on the go. And when it came to storing multiple sets in my office, I struggled to find a satisfactory solution until I got a pen stand from Tombow.
Price
While these brush pens aren’t expensive by any means, even one pack of 10 could be a bit too costly for students or people on a tight budget. If you’re looking for a cheap alternative, check out Crayola markers instead.
They are Water Based
This might be a pro for some people, but to others, water-based ink is a big fat con. If you’re using Tombow Dual Brush Pens for envelopes, cards, or anything else that might be in danger of getting wet, it could ruin your work — so it’s something to keep in mind.
No Refills
Tombow Dual Brush Pens are many things, but refillable they are not. Once the ink goes dry, you have to just replace the pen. However, I have never had a pen go dry, even after more than three years of use. The nib usually degrades faster than the ink can dry up anyway.
A Great Addition to Your Toolkit
It can be tough deciding how you want to spend your hard earned cash, but I can happily say that these Tombow brush pens won’t let you down. I have been using Tombow Dual Brush Pens for over three years now, and my collection has only grown. They are fun, sturdy, and they can be used for so many different projects or purposes. If you are thinking of grabbing yourself a set and you want to learn brush lettering, head to my free Fox Den Resource Library for brush lettering printables — or just enroll in my online ecourse Brush Lettering 101!
I hope you have found this Tombow Dual Brush Pen review helpful! Comment down below what product you want me to review next, and head to the My Supplies page to see some of my other favorite materials!
- Water-based pens ideal for coloring, fine art, illustrations, doodling, journaling, hand lettering and more.
- Set of 10 Tombow Dual Brush Pens
- Flexible brush tip and fine tip in one marker.
- Brush tip works like a paintbrush to create fine, medium or bold strokes, fine tip gives consistent lines.
Bright, bold colors. And 2 size tips a great feature. Only issue was keeping black caps properly,matched to pen. Not for color, obviously, but for size. Some caps are very loose.
If small sections of a piece of fabric is colored, will color fade, smear, transfer, wear out quickly? If yes, suggestions on how to “set” the color. Thanks.
What about left handed people?
I’m not a lefty, so I can’t offer any specific tips. However, Dawn Nicole is an amazing letterer and she’s a lefty, too! You can see her post on tips for left-handed lettering here: https://bydawnnicole.com/lefty-tips-hand-lettering-calligraphy/
Do they dry to the point of not smudging.
As long as you give it a minute to dry, they don’t smudge with normal use. If your hand is particularly wet for some reason, it might activate the ink a little since these markers use water-based ink. But I haven’t had any problems overall!
Hello,
I was just wondering if you had discovered what the ghosting was like? I use 80gsm paper most of the time, and I just don’t want them to bleed through!! If you could let me know about the pastel pack and galaxy pack that would be lovely. Thank you!
Rhiana x
That’s a great question, Rhiana! I’ve found that Tombow does ghost a bit, but it doesn’t bleed at all. So you can see it a little from the other side of the paper, but it won’t ruin the paper or stain the other side. As far as I can tell, there seems to be no difference on this from color to color – obviously, darker colors will ghost a little bit more, but all the pens do it to some degree. It doesn’t bother me, but it’s something worth knowing before you purchase!
Please Compare Tombow brush pens with Arteza or any other brand you know about.
Thank you
Definitely something to keep in mind! Thanks for the suggestion Kay.
Hello,
I was wondering about buying these for a while now, but I don’t want to invest on the 96 pack. Which color palette (of the 10 packs) do you recommend for beginners?
Thank you!
I say pick the color palette that you love the most, the one that you would reach for time and time again, Sarah! There isn’t really one that’s better than another so you’re really safe to pick any of them.
I actually buy 4 or 5 a month from Michaels. I started with the colors that I wanted to use for the month and then the colors that compliment those that I bought previously. Whereas I do not have a full set, I have almost all of them. Plus with Michaels, if you buy when the sales come out, you will save a lot. Just a thing that I do.
I can see how the coupons and sales they have would make them more affordable which is a great way to get them. Thanks for sharing Kim!
Could you tell me if they are vegan friendly please.
Looking into it, I’m not seeing anything saying one thing or another about it being vegan. I guess that means probably no!