Anne Robin Calligraphy suppliesEvery time I post a photo of my work on Instagram, I am asked what nib, or what ink, or what brush I used.  I get it – I often wonder the same thing when I see other artist’s work – and the right supplies are definitely crucial to good calligraphy.

I supply some of my favorite nibs and inks for my students in my workshops, and I also contributed some of my favorites to the Modern Calligraphy Summit supply list, but I thought maybe I’d let you in on the supplies that I use every day – the ones I absolutely can’t live with out.

One of my favorite online shops for supplies is Paper and Ink Arts.  They have good prices, almost everything I need, and ship really quickly.  I also love that they are a small business, and exclusively dedicated to calligraphy.

Here’s what I always order from there:

Brause EF66 nibs – My absolute favorite nib.  I hardly ever use anything else.  It’s flexible but creates nice hairlines.  Ink flows from it smoothly.  Seriously, my #1 love in the world of pointed pen.  I buy them in bulk, as you can see above.

Speedball Straight Holder – I use a straight holder (not an oblique) and it doesn’t get cheaper than this.  Standard but works totally fine and I can have a lot of them and not feel bad about it.

Koh-I-Noor Cork Tipped Penholder – This is a little more expensive, but nicer than the Speedball, and it has a flexible prong to hold any size nib.

Tachikawa T40 Holder – Even more expensive, but super cute, with a nice rubber grip and slots for different sized nibs.

Anne Robin Calligraphy supplies

Winsor Newton Calligraphy Ink (in black) – My go to black ink.  It’s not too thin but still flows nicely.

Dr. Martin’s Bleedproof White – My go to white ink.  Opaque.  Flows nicely once you get it to the right consistency.

Dr. Martin’s Iridescent Colors (Copperplate gold) – My absolute favorite gold.  Nice color.  Nice shimmer.  Flows when a lot of metallics don’t!  (I also use the Silver and the Copper)

Winsor & Newton Gouache – I almost always use gouache over colored inks, and you can’t go wrong with Winsor & Newton.

Pentel Aquash Waterbrush – My favorite brush to use, whether it is filled with water or not.  I love it because it keeps its point so well.

Single Refill Jar with Cap – Great inexpensive jars for mixing and storing gouache or ink.

Anne Robin Calligraphy supplies

Sakura Gelly Roll (White) – A great monoline white pen. Writes on a lot of different surfaces and goes on very opaque.

Small Staedtler Mars White Plastic Eraser – The eraser I’ve been using for about a million years.

Deluxe SpeedStir magnetic Ink Stirrer – This is great for metallic inks, which tend to settle.  Now you don’t have to stir your ink for every envelope!

Canson Marker Paper – My favorite paper for spot calligraphy and practice.  It is really smooth and semi-transparent so you can see liners under it without using a light box.

And below are a few other things I use all the time that, unfortunately, Paper and Ink Arts doesn’t carry (yet – hopefully soon, because it would be so awesome to only have to shop in one place.)

My light box – I used the same small, clunky light box for about 10 years, and just recently bit the bullet on buying a new one.  And it wasn’t even expensive – I don’t know what I was thinking!  I love it!

Tombow Dual Brush Pen – Great marker brush pens, especially for beginners.  They come in almost any color you can think of.

Pentel Standard Brush Pen – Similar to the Aquash brushes, but I use these when I want black ink.

And of course, my magical Envelope Template Liners.  I have been using them for years and years and can’t imagine my life without them!

Envelope template liners

(Please excuse how dirty some of my supplies are!  They are obviously well loved and I am NOT GOOD about cleaning them…ever!)