BIC Visaquarelle (VS. Tombow)

Today, I'm going to write about these little brush pens I've been loving to use: BIC Visaquaralle. I'm going to compare them to the Tombow Dual Brush Pen, one of the most hyped about brush pens around the internet.

 

I've been playing a lot with the BIC Visaquarelle brush pens. I've paid the equivalent of about U$ 7.50 in a pack with 10 pens, here in Brazil. I can find Tombows here for about U$ 6.50, each. So, the difference in price is quite considerable. This is one of the reasons why I think the Visaquarelle is ideal for anyone who is starting out in calligraphy and lettering, at least if you live in Brazil.

Another good reason is the brush tip. Both are felt tips, but BIC's is firmer and more resistent than Tombow's, which allows for more control and less fear of damaging the tip with a heavy hand.

BIC's tip is fatter and a little shorter, while Tombow's is longer and it can achieve thinner strokes, but also gets damaged quicker and then the strokes become "scratchy".

You can see the scratched appearance of the stroke in the next picture.

Of course, Tombow has the dual tip advantage, but I rarely use the bullet tip side.

I think both are very pigmented. Comparing the blacks (I only own the black Tombow), Tombow's is cooler or more neutral, while BIC's is a warmer, reddish black.

I find I can achieve very similar results with both of them, if the goal is brush lettering.

If you want to paint, I didn't think BIC's colors blend very well. BIC's ink is very wet, but you can clearly see the strokes overlaping instead of blending whenever you paint twice at the same spot.

I didn't have the problem of staining the next page with none of them and I've used plenty of regular print paper.

I prefer Tombow when it's brand new, but I was very disappointed with how quickly the tip got worn out. For practice and for the price, I recommend BIC.

Here are some pieces I've made using my Visaquarelles:

I've made a rough sketch in pencil and used the brush pen over it, then erased the pencil. Then I scanned them and vectorized them, I didn't do much editing at all.

I've found the mockups for the t-shirt and pillow here.

I quite like this rough, handmade style. What about you?