handwritten SignWriting

[Kimberley A. Shaw]

Hello everyone:
of those of you who SignWrite by hand, how many of you have tried using
different kinds of pens/pencils/brushes etc to do so?
I have just returned from a 2-week immersion in ASL at Gallaudet
University, and kept a SW journal while there ... and have discovered that
a brush -- in the form of a  "Sumi" pen (that is, a Chinese-style brush)
-- is almost ideal for SignWriting! It does thick-to-thin lines much more
easily than a fountain pen, and it is great to do different kinds of arrow
heads (filled in or not) with one brush stroke, rather than having to go
back and fill in white space after the fact.
My class notes still are in ballpoint pen -- just too dangerous to have
loose pens and ink when there's a class discussion going on! Have already
spilled plenty of coffee, water, beer, etc while signing. 
But using a brush suits the SignWriting so much better than ballpoints.
What do you all think, what have you tried?
Best,
Kim from Boston