Review by Tina Koyama In July, I attended the 10th annual International Urban Sketchers Symposium in Amsterdam. Aside from barely surviving a record-breaking heatwave of temps up to 107 F, I had a wonderful time with my tribe of 1,500 sketchers from around the globe. It was my sixth symposium since 2013. One of the…
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Blackwing Eraser Hack-a-Thon
Review by Tina Koyama Palomino Blackwing pencils have a huge following. We love the high-quality graphite, beautiful finishes, distinctive ferrules and often intriguing themes, and we’re willing to pay $24.95 to $27.95 for a dozen (or much more if you missed a limited edition and you’re willing to shop on eBay after they sell out).…
Pencil Sharpener Review: Høvel Pencil Plane
Review by Tina Koyama When I first became aware of its Kickstarter campaign a while back, the Høvel Pencil Plane (£50, about US $65) was not something that caught my interest. It seemed like a novelty, and because I had no experience with woodworking, it also seemed like a new way to injure myself (I’ve…
Colored Pencil Review: Tombow Irojiten (36-color set) Colored Pencils
Review by Tina Koyama I have been known to look askance at and even mildly mock packaging that seems gratuitously fancy. And yet I’m the first to admit that I bought the entire original nine-volume (90-pencil) slipcased set of Tombow Irojiten Color Dictionary colored pencils for packaging alone. With most colored pencils, I like to…
Highlighter Review: Kutsuwa HiLiNE Highlighter Pencil
Review by Tina Koyama Like many students, I could not have survived college without neon-colored highlighter markers. Since that time, I haven’t used highlighters nearly as much, but I still have occasional need for them in my planner, on receipts, in catalogs, and the like. While I’ve broadened my scope in most other stationery and…
Baron Fig Writing Tools: Elements Archer Pencil, Squire, & Squire Click
Since all the Baron Fig writing tools I had seemed to coordinate so well, I decided to just review them altogether. The Archer Elements Pencil First, I’ll cover the newest item, the new Archer pencil release called Elements ($15 per dozen) which is a collaboration with Caroline Weaver from CW Pencil Enterprise. Like previous Baron Fig…
Pencil Holder Review: Tokyo Slider Twin
Review by Tina Koyama When the Tokyo Slider Twin Pencil Holder ($11.50) first came out, it caught my eye for several reasons. One is that conventional-size woodcased pencils are a little too slim for my comfort, and I experience less hand fatigue if I fatten the barrel with a holder. Another is that I have…