Beginners learn fine gold, so it is recommended not to use soft pen, but hard pen, because fine gold marks are obvious, while fine gold strokes are slender, and the stroke speed will be much faster, so it is recommended that novices use hard pen.

Soft pens are preferably made of elastic stiff hair, wolf hair, mouse hair, etc. Li Xiubi or gel pen is more recommended for fine gold hard pen. In addition, the painting pens sold in Four Treasures of the Study stores, such as the plum-pointing pen, the fine-drawing pen, the clothes-grain pen, the fancy flower pen, the Gou Xianbi pen or the long-pointed wolf's hair pen, are all suitable for practicing writing thin gold. Because the wolf brush is difficult to control, it is suggested that novices who have no foundation may wish to practice hard pen and fine gold first.