In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Benu Bush Viper Fountain Pen

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Fountain Pen Review: Benu Bush Viper Fountain Pen

I love my silly, punk rock Benu Skull & Roses Fountain Pen that I was thrilled to grab one of the Benu Viper Fountain Pens in “Bamboo Viper” ($180) , especially in this Spooky Season. It’s a black pen with an embossed, snake wrapped around the barrel with a beautiful shimmery green iridescent color in the scales of the snake. There are also versions called the Mangrove Viper (green-blue pen body with purple iridescent snake) and Bush Viper (purple barrel with green iridescent snake).

The pen is quite lightweight, weighing just 22gms capped and 15gms uncapped. The cap, unfortunately, due to its unique shape, does not post.

The Viper pen design is based on the same size (5.25″ capped and approx. 5″ uncapped) and shape as the Skull & Roses design which also makes me wonder what other gothy designs Benu might create on this form factor in the future? I’d love an actual crow or raven design! Or maybe a spider and webs?

Seeing the iridescent color on the Viper, I now wish the Skull & Roses had a little splash of iridescent color to really get the leaves, skulls and flowers to pop.

The color on the snake is a lovely iridescent green and the texture of the pen barrel is the same faux leather embossing that is on the Skull & Roses barrel.

The Viper includes a small #5 Schmidt nib which some find tiny but on this design, the way it tapers, seems like the right size for the pen. I got the F nib which is surprisingly smooth. So much so that it felt a little “ice skating” to me as I normally use grittier Sailor nibs that tend to feel like graphite on paper rather than like a rollerball. The F nib on the Viper is rollerball smooth.

A lot of Benu’s pen designs are quite blingy and sparkly so the Viper adds a nice dark, moody vibe to their line-up while also being somewhat unique in the overall pen world. Teh only other snake-y pens that I know of are from Montblanc as a much higher price point.

Overall, this pen definitely has a specific appeal but if you have a gothy, everyday-is-Halloween aesthetic, you may want to add this little treasure to your collection. Even with my pink hair and love of Hello Kitty, the Viper makes me feel a little more punk rock.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Pen Chalet for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Pen Review

Pen Review: Tom’s Studio Lumos Duo Pro Refillable Pen

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments
Pen Review: Tom’s Studio Lumos Duo Pro Refillable Pen

The Tom’s Studio Lumos Duo Pro ($121) is a refillable pen with eleven nib options and TWO different pens in one pen body. I got the Ivy color which is a lovely green color but there are other colors available.

Can I just say I hate this packaging? The pen does not stay in the box and the ink bottle that was included was tucked inside and fell out and broke on my hardwood floors. It made quite the mess.

And the “lift carefully” message — it’s like it was laughing at me.

The packaging is all paperboard so its 100% recyclable and that’s what I plan to do with the packaging.

The back of the box shows all the tip sizes included with the pen. The writing tips remind me a bit of the tip included with the Wren though I have not had the chance to try it yet.

When disassembled, you can see the cotton reservoirs and nib holders, the brass nib covers, the aluminum pen body barrels and a rubber cap that can be used to help remove the tips. The threads of the sections include rubber gaskets to create a tight seal.

I pulled out the BR (Brush) tip from the set.

Then the next step was to pick ink colors. I was hoping with the large brush tip a lighter color could be used and then the 0.3mm fiber tip could use a deep color that matched the pen barrel. I chose Colorverse Morning Star No.11 for the 0.3mm nib and the Sailor Manyo Hinoki for the brush tip.

The filling was quick, taking mere seconds to work up the capillary action and ready to use.

Once filled, these were ready to test. The step between the tip and the barrel is a bit server and a little awkward in the hand. The two half pens are too short to use by themselves but when the full length, with both barrels screwed together, is a bit too long (over 6″ long capped).  Luckily, the aluminum barrel is light enough that its not too awkward to use the pen at its full length. It doesn’t fit in most of my pen cases though!

The brush tip is soft and the fiber tip I tested, the 0.3mm, seems consistent with other 0.3mm tips I’ve used.

Once filled, I was again surprised by how light the link colors looked in the Lumos Pro. I was hoping that some of the multichromatic qualities of the Sailor Hinoki but instead the color shifted completely.

On the Tomoe River paper, none of the purple hue was visible.

The Morning Star ink looked more turquoise/light aqua than the deep teal that shows on my swatch. It was a bit frustrating. The ink didn’t show its notable sheening qualities either.

I’m definitely going to have to try to fill the Lumos Duo Pro with much darker ink colors.

As I did with the Wren, I cleaned and refilled the Lumos with darker colors. I refilled them with Colorverse Vortex Motion and Pillars of Creation. I, once again, decided to test the Lumos against the Kuretake Karappo and used the same ink colors in both the Karappo and the Lumos Pro Duo.

In the Lumos brush pen, Vortex Motion looks distinctly purple while in the Karappo Brush, the color is more grey. I even tried to use a Colorverse Permanent Black ink in the Lumos Duo and Karappo and both look light like a grey rather than black. So frustrating.

I will be ordering more reservoirs ($3 for a pack of 5) and a couple packets of replacement tips ($3 per set of 3) in an effort to try some different inks and see if I could get a deeper, more accurate color.

Overall, as much as I want to love the Lumos Pro Duo, I was just ho-hum about it overall. The concept is wonderful and the colors of the aluminum barrels is excellent. Some of the details could use more refinement. The transition between the nib and the grip on the Wren is more aesthetic and comfortable for many writing styles while the step-down on the Lumos is a bit severe.

And, I don’t understand why the ink colors are so distinctly washed out with the felt tips.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature, Ink Review

Ink Comparison: Tom’s Studio vs. Diamine

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Ink Comparison: Tom’s Studio vs. Diamine

A new player has come to light recently in the pen world – Tom’s Studio. This is a pen maker in England who broke into the scene with calligraphy tools and is quickly expanding into fountain pens, refillable fiber-tipped pens, and most recently, Tom’s Studio ink.

I ordered a Lumos pen from Tom’s Studio months ago when I saw a stainless steel special edition of the pen – I love the extra weight from the material. While ordering it, I noticed that the store offered ink samples of their 20 ink lineup.

Or at least there are inks numbered up to 20. There’s actually no number 13.

The ink samples came packaged in individual sleeves of heavy paper with a swatch of the actual ink on the paper.

The bottles themselves are adorable.

Each bottle comes with a dropper. Which is good because it’s a very small vial – the same size as the Ferris Wheel Press sample vials – too small for most fountain pens but fine for most dip pens and converters.

I chose the most interesting 10 inks from the line up and when the package was delivered, I found an additional sample (Stainless Steel) had been included – I assume it was included because the pen was a special edition in stainless steel.

The shape of the Tom’s Studio ink bottle plus the location of the store made me wonder if these were inks produced by Diamine – many inks are manufactured by a large ink maker and repackaged for a retailer – so I thought I’d take a shot at comparing these inks to existing Diamine inks.

Since there are ten inks here, I’ll let the photos do most of the talking.

Tom’s Studio Marmalade is a touch lighter than Diamine Autumn Oak

Tom’s Studio Dove Grey is a bit darker but very close to Diamine Grey.

Tom’s Studio Deep Black is nearly identical to the base color in Diamine Solstice which is probably Onyx Black (of which I do not have a swatch!).

Tom’s Studio Iris is close to Diamine Majestic Purple but a bit darker.

Tom’s Studio Strawberry Jam and Diamine Wild Strawberry are very close (AMAZING red ink – either of these choices are wonderful).

So that’s the first 5 inks. Now for the remain 6:

Tom’s Studio Raspberry Sorbet and Diamine Deep Magenta are a nearly perfect match. My Deep Magenta swatch has seen a bit too much sunlight, it seems.

Tom’s Studio Sunny Teal is close to Diamine Soft Mint but a touch darker.

Tom’s Studio Neptune reminded me of Diamine Marine but it isn’t quite as blue. It is nearly identical to Diamine Helen which is a Cult Pen’s exclusive color.

Tom’s Studio Cassis is close to both Diamine Syrah and Diamine Burgundy Royal from their 150th anniversary inks. Beautiful color.

Tom’s Studio Damson is somewhat close to Diamine Purple Dream from the 150th anniversary collection but much closer to Monteverde Rose Noir (another gorgeous color).

Finally, Tom’s Studio Stainless Steel. This is a touch warmer than the Dove Grey from Tom’s Studio, but still a close match to Diamine Grey. It’s a bit cooler than Kala Spring Rain, an ink that is no longer available.

Here are all 11 inks from Tom’s Studio on Midori MD paper:

Cosmo Air Light paper:

And Tomoe River 52gsm paper:

I’m fairly certain the Tom’s Studio ink line is made by Diamine. However, that’s amazing news for everyone interested in these inks – Diamine has such a long history with ink. We know that they understand quality control, packaging, distribution, and supply. I wasn’t able to show the swatches of the inks I did not purchase, but there are several colors that I’m not certain have equivalents in the current Diamine line – Peaches and Cream and Lemon Yellow are two of those.

The Tom’s Studio line is a solid offering for a first round of inks from a new company. The price is amazing – $16 for 50mL glass bottle ($0.32 per mL), the packaging is minimal and recyclable, and the colors on the labels are accurate to the color of the ink (since they use a swatch of the ink as the actual label). Diamine inks themselves are packaged in either 30mL plastic bottles or 80mL glass bottles.

I started this review thinking it would be some kind of exposé about how these were just repackaged Diamine inks. But I don’t think it matters if they are. They are still very well priced, amazing colors, and the packaging itself offers new choices for size and color label clarity. I’ve seen great innovation from Tom’s Studio so far with the felt-tipped refillable pens and I’m excited to see what else they have in store for the future.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were purchased by me the purpose of my own use. Please see the About page for more details.

 

In Link Love

Link Love: A Very Papery Day (and Ereader Questions)

Author AnaPosted on 21 Comments
Link Love: A Very Papery Day (and Ereader Questions)

I need your help. I have had multiple brands of ereaders over the years. My latest ereaders are an 11-year old Kobo Aura and a Kindle Paperwhite purchased in 2018. These devices are old and it shows.

My Kobo no longer holds a charge on the battery and is having some refresh issues so its basically sat in the bottom of a drawer for about a year or so now. The Kindle is so old that it does not have the dark mode option and cannot be updated to add it which is annoying if I want to read at night.

For the last few months, I’ve been trying to decide if I should buy a new ereader and, if so, which brand I should purchase. I have been researching options from Kindle, Kobo, Onyx Boox and a few others. My goal is to read books and I check ebooks out from our library so I really want Libby support. The release of the new Kindle Colorsoft has thrown a little wrench into my research as I wait for reviews and comparisons to be posted online. So, I thought I’d throw it out to you, my lovely readers, do you use an ereader? If so, which brand/model? I could really use some recommendations. I’m leaning away from Kindle (for the most part) but I haven’t ruled it out. Let me know your thoughts!

Link of the Week:

Ooh, a Color Kindle Is Finally Here (via Kottke.org)

Now, on to the links!

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Planners, Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

 

Oh, one last thing! I know I’ve told you about our Patreon but have you checked out our shop lately? We even have an Etsy shop for our international readers. We have lots of new products like stickers, exclusive Rickshaw bags and cases, washi tape and so much more! Your support helps keep us going. So, thank you for reading this and supporting our site!

In Art of the Day, Art Supplies

Doodle-tober?

Author Laura CameronPosted on 4 Comments

This year instead of participating in Inktober, where I try and use different inks during the month, I decided to do my own “Doodle-tober.” So I took all the supplies I had at hand (more about those below) and started playing. I took lots of inspiration from Instagram, and I’m hoping to develop my own style. Here are a few of my doodles!

Now since this is a pen and ink and paper blog, here are the supplies I’m using.

Paper:

Pens:

My new favorites:

Tombow Fudenosuke Brush Pen Hard Black – I think I got this one in a sampler pack from Jet Pens a while back. It is now my FAVORITE black pen. It’s a brush pen, but the line it puts down is thin enough to almost me a liner for me. Edgings? Details? I love this pen.

TriC Art Performance Dual Brush – I don’t know what these are. A quick Google returns a set on eBay. When I started doodling my husband said, “I have some markers you might like.” He’s right. I love them. They’ve got a fine liner tip and a brush tip, and I think they’re basically Tombow knockoffs… I guess I’m saving my pennies for a set of Tombows?

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review, others I purchased with my own money. Please see the About page for more details.