Pen barrel rotation

Introduction

Barrel rotation is very easy to understand. It's just a rotation of the pen along its long axis - it is when the pen spins.

The photos below represent an untilted pen. The orange circle will indicate the barrel rotation.

Below are diagrams showing both tilt and barrel rotation. Tilt and barrel rotation are independent. Unfortunately people confuse them frequently so it's good to take a look at a tilted pen and then see barrel rotation.

The green circle shows the tilt azimuth. The purple circle shows the tilt altitude.

In the diagram below, barrel rotation is indicated by the arrows that go around the long axis of the pen (as indicated by the dotted line).

This video demonstrates tilt. I highly recommend you watch it.

Benefits of barrel rotation

Barrel rotation is intended to help have brushes that mimic what traditional media brushes do - where rotating the brush around its long axis will rotate the brush on the canvas.

Popularity

I don't think barrel rotation is widely used, but absolutely some people have an art style that requires it. And for them, barrel rotation is critical.

Pens that support barrel rotation

Barrel rotation is a very rare feature on pens. I know of only three pens that support it.

  • Wacom Art Pen (KP-701E)

  • Wacom 6D Art Pen (ZP-600)

  • Apple Pencil Pro

  • Huawei M Pencil Pro

Keep in mind that these pens only work with specific tablets. You cannot buy these pens and assume they will work with the tablet you have.

Will barrel rotation every be adopted more widely?

We don't know. We don't have any information about other brands adopting barrel rotation.

Turning on barrel rotation

See: Using barrel rotation with your brush

Videos

Last updated