Sky Glory Fineliner, 0.4 mm, Blue

A fineliner draws one width and only one width. There is no pressure response and no thick-and-thin, which sounds like a limitation right up until you are lettering, ruling, outlining or filling in a form — all work where consistency is the entire point.

The tip is the part that fails, and it fails in two ways. Pressed too hard it splays, and the line thickens permanently. Left uncapped it dries from the point inward. Neither is repairable, so hold the pen closer to upright than raked over, let the ink do the work rather than your hand, and cap it the moment you put it down. Smooth paper also matters more than people expect: rough stock abrades a fine fibre tip within a few pages.

Blue reads as handwriting rather than print, which suits journalling and annotation where black would look too final.

• 0.4 mm fineliner tip — one constant width
• For outlines, lettering, journalling and fine detail
• Works best on smooth paper; rough stock wears the tip
• Cap it immediately — a fibre tip dries from the point inward