The Well-Appointed Desk

Inkmas 2019

While it isn’t a new ink, I love turquoises and teals so I was excited to order KWZ Iron Gall Turquoise and try it out! (4mL sample, $2.50). Although advertised as turquoise, this one looked to be a dark blue-green which made me think of blue spruce (seasonally appropriate!).

I wasn’t disappointed. KWZ Turquoise is a dark blue-green and gorgeous. As you can see from my tests, it’s dark and saturated, and in it’s darkest applications tends towards dark blue and almost black. I know some people think KWZ inks have a certain odor, but I didn’t notice anything when testing this one.

The only thing I found slightly disappointing is that this wasn’t really a “new” color to my stash. In fact, KWZ Iron Gall Turquoise is SUPER similar to the special 2018 St. Louis show ink that KWZ designed: Meet me in St. Louis. It also bore a striking resemblance to Robert Oster Blue Denim. So while this is a gorgeous color, I probably don’t need a full bottle!

Papers: Crossfield Journal ($24.00)
Pen: Delike Glass Signature Pen ($37.80)
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) and Col-o-Dex Rotary Cards ($15)
Inks: KWZ Iron Gall Turquoise (4mL sample, $2.50)

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

12 Days of Inkmas: Day 4 – TWSBI 1791 Part 3: Emerald Green and Royal Purple

AnaDecember 17, 2019December 18, 2019Leave a comment

Review by Tina Koyama

For my third and final installment of the TWSBI 1791 ink set, I’ll review Emerald Green and Royal Purple. (Please see Part 1 for images and comments about the full set.)

Of the six inks in the set, Emerald Green is the most complex. Shading shows hints of dark green, turquoise and even a touch of reddish-brown.

Emerald is generally not my favorite side of green, so I had nothing in my collection that came close (or even lukewarm).

But the shading I saw in the swatch made me think it would be a good candidate for another hacked Pilot Parallel, this time the 3.8mm (you can see the hacked 6mm in Part 2). This ink is fun in the Parallel, which showed more of the hue’s full range of subtleties.

I sketched a couple of rows of people from the book People of the Twenty-First Century by Hans Eijkelboom. (This book, by the way, is a fascinating collection of possibly thousands of images of people Eijkelboom photographed on urban streets during the past couple of decades. They are made more visually interesting by being arranged in grids by theme – women wearing pink tanks, men wearing black raincoats, children in strollers, etc.)

TWSBI’s Royal Purple may be my favorite of the set (wait, I said that about Prairie Green, didn’t I?). Although I see no sheening or complexity in this vibrant purple, it’s saturated and rich even with my fine nib dip pen.

It’s obvious that I favor this hue – I found several close matches in my collection. Closest is probably Nagasawa Pen Style Kobe Sannomiya with Iroshizuku Murusaki-shikibu at its heels, though both are just a smidge more on the blue side than TWSBI. Slightly more on the red side would be Diamine Majestic Purple.

I like the intensity of this purple so much that I filled a waterbrush with it to make a brush pen.

Ink-filled waterbrushes are a lot of fun at life-drawing practice, especially the short poses, because it’s like painting with watercolors but faster. At a recent drawing event, where models posed two at a time, I made gesture sketches of both models within one minute. Royal Purple is on the left; Orange (reviewed in Part 2) is on the right.

Final Impressions

Overall, the limited-edition TWSBI 1791 set is a lovely jewel-hued collection, and the implication is that the company plans to continue releasing new editions. This is a solid start, and I hope TWSBI will explore more unusual or complex hues.

TOOLS

Papers: Canson XL Mixed Media pad, 98 lb., 10” x 7” (60 sheets/$6.90) and Stillman & Birn Zeta softcover sketchbook ($17.99)
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
Pens: Zebra Comic Pen G Model Nib (10/$13.50) with Koh-i-Noor holder and Pilot Parallel with 3.8mm nib (hacked) ($8)
Brush: Winsor & Newton pointed round 4 ($12.28) and Kuretake water brush – large ($7)
Inks: TWSBI 1791 Emerald Green and TWSBI 1791 Royal Purple (18ml/$7.50)

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

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

Update: 12/18/19 to add link to drawing event at Gage Academy.

In Paper Review

Giveaway Winner: BB7B B5 Binder

Laura CameronDecember 16, 2019December 15, 2019Leave a comment

Thanks so much to everyone who was interested in the BB7B B5 binders! I wish I could send one to everyone who entered, but alas, I only have two to give away! The winners are:

Karen:

and Lauren:

I’ve still got a few more things in my stockpiles, so enjoy Inkmas and stay tuned!

In Ink Review

12 Days of Inkmas: Day 3-TWSBI 1791 Part 2: Orange and Sky Blue

AnaDecember 16, 2019December 18, 20192 Comments

Review by Tina Koyama

For Part 2 of my TWSBI 1791 ink set reviews, I’m looking at Orange and Sky Blue (see Part 1 for images and comments on the gift set).

Orange is vivid and vibrant as orange should be. I don’t see sheening, but there’s a bit of shading that shows more of its yellow side. If anything, it tends more towards red than yellow – but no coral at all.

Closest to the hues in my ink collection are Iroshizuku Yu-yake and Diamine Autumn Oak, though the former has more yellow and the latter has more brown.

TWSBI Orange is saturated enough that I thought it would be a good candidate in a waterbrush. I filled one up and took it to a local drawing event to give it a try (see end of review).

Sky Blue is a medium blue that leans slightly toward the green side of the scale. (Or maybe the sky over the Caribbean has the same turquoise-y shade, but Seattle’s sky is much cooler.)

I had nothing in my ink collection that came close, though I tried on Iroshizuku Ku-jaku and Sailor Jentle Yama-dori for size. Both are much darker and subdued; TWSBI Sky Blue is a happy summer sky.

Since Sky Blue is a bit pale with my fine dip nib, I went in the opposite direction for a better look: my fattest (6.0mm) Pilot Parallel with a nib I hacked myself (with helpful assistance from blogs and YouTubes). Now we’re talking!

I’ve lately been using the book People of the Twenty-First Century (Hans Eijkelboom) for drawing practice, and Sky Blue’s subtle shading came through with the Parallel’s crazy nib.

I took both the Orange-filled waterbrush and the Sky Blue-filled Parallel to Gage Academy’s Drawing Jam, where costumed models were a lot of fun to sketch with these inks. On this 10-minute pose, I used the waterbrush to broadly paint the initial gesture. Then with the hacked Parallel, I emphasized shadows and drew in a few details. I also used a water-filled waterbrush to smear the inks a bit. No signs of being waterproof here – the TWSBI inks wash richly. A fun combo for life drawing!

TOOLS

Papers: Canson XL Mixed Media pad, 98 lb., 10” x 7” (60 sheets/$6.90) and Stillman & Birn Zeta softcover sketchbook ($17.99)
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
Pens: Zebra Comic Pen G Model Nib (10/$13.50) with Koh-i-Noor holder and Pilot Parallel with 6.0mm nib (hacked) ($8)
Brush: Winsor & Newton pointed round 4 ($12.28) and Kuretake water brush – large ($7)
Inks: TWSBI 1791 Orange and TWSBI 1791 Sky Blue (18ml/$7.50)

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

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

Update: 12/18/19 to add link to Gage Academy Drawing Jam.

In Ink Review

12 Days of Inkmas: Day 2 – Robert Oster Astorquiza Rot

AnaDecember 15, 2019December 15, 20191 Comment

Inkmas 2019

Review by Laura Cameron

On the second day of Inkmas, my true love gave to me…

This Christmas I was looking for a rich red to use when addressing my Christmas cards. Spoiler alert: this isn’t it. (It’s still lovely! Keep reading!)

I ordered a sample of Robert Oster Astorquiza Rot (4mL, $2.50) to audition the ink. While this isn’t my perfect Christmas ink, this is a beautiful brick or blood red. The ink goes down quite red in larger quantities, as you can see on the Col-O-Dex card below.

But coming out of the nib, or in writing, as it dries the ink takes on a decidedly browner tone. When I took a quick sprint through my samples, I found it most closely echoes Birmingham Studio Duquesne Incline Station Red and Mont Blanc William Shakespeare which are both appear as browner reds to me.

Despite not being exactly what I was looking for, I kinda dig this shade so I’ll happily add it to the collection!

Papers: Crossfield Journal ($24.00)
Pen: Delike Glass Signature Pen ($37.80)
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10) and Col-o-Dex Rotary Cards ($15)
Inks: Robert Oster Astorquiza Rot (4mL, $2.50)

DISCLAIMER: Some of the items included in this review were provided to us free of charge for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Ink Review

12 Days of Inkmas: Day 1 – TWSBI 1791 Part 1: Pink and Prairie Green

AnaDecember 14, 2019December 18, 20195 Comments

Welcome to the first day of Inkmas! We are celebrating the impending holiday with 12 Days of ink reviews — a somewhat annual tradition here at the Desk. We are going to start off with Tina’s reviews of the new TWSBI inks so really, you’re going to get way more in the next 12 Days than just 12 ink reviews.

Enjoy, stay warm (or cool depending on your hemisphere) and happy Inkmas to all and to all a good ink!

TWSBI, the Taiwanese company known for its affordable, stylish fountain pens, will soon be known for inks with the debut of a limited-edition, six-color set in time for the holidays (six 18 ml bottles for $36; individual bottles also available for $7.50 each). The 1791 series is “inspired by the vivid scenes described in Cao Xueqin’s Dream of the Red Chamber. First printed in 1791, the novel is widely lauded as one of the greatest works in the history of Chinese literature.”

As part of this year’s 12 Days of Inkmas, I’m going to review them two at a time. This post will serve as an introduction to the boxed set and review of Pink and Prairie Green.

Packed in a sturdy carton with nicely rounded corners, the set would make a lovely gift for an ink-collecting friend or someone new to fountain pens. A diecut on the bellyband shows the TWSBI logo, which also appears on each faceted bottle lid. My favorite part of the design is the frosted glass – a distinctive touch among fountain pen inks.

On to the review of Pink and Prairie Green.

TWSBI Pink is a pure, lovely rose that is neither too orange nor too blue. I see no sheening, and it’s a little too pale to show shading. This pink evokes peonies and the centers of cherry blossoms. I forgot to test for water-solubility until after I photographed the swatches, but none of the TWSBI inks is in any way waterproof. All washed richly with a swipe of water.

Sampled with the fine Zebra G nib, the pink looked a bit pale for writing, so I tried it in my medium-nib Lamy Nexx. I like it better here, and it would probably be best with an even broader nib.

Closest in my collection to TWSBI’s Pink is Iroshizuku Kosumosu, though the latter leans more toward the coral side. Iroshizuku Momiji is more saturated and bluer.

Prairie Green might be my favorite in the set – a vibrant yellow-green of young leaves. Like Pink, Prairie Green sits squarely in the leaf green range without being too yellow nor too blue. Again, I don’t see signs of sheening.

It turns out l like this green because I found several others in my collection that come close. Caran d’Ache Chromatics Delicate Green is the most similar. Others are close but tend slightly toward either olive or yellow.

TWSBI Prairie Green struck me as a beautiful color to paint/draw with, so I filled a waterbrush with it.

At Gage Academy’s annual Drawing Jam event in Seattle, both nude and costumed models pose for short and long durations all day. For this five-minute pose, I used the Prairie Green-filled brush to make the initial gesture strokes. Then I used a hacked Pilot Parallel filled with TWSBI Sky Blue (coming up in Part 2) to emphasize the shading. They’re beautiful inks to draw with!

TOOLS

Paper: Canson XL Mixed Media pad, 98 lb., 10” x 7” (60 sheets/$6.90)
Swatches: Col-o-Ring Ink Testing Book ($10)
Pens: Zebra Comic Pen G Model Nib (10/$13.50) with Koh-i-Noor holder and Lamy Nexx, M nib ($25.60)
Brushes: Winsor & Newton pointed round 4 ($12.28) and Kuretake waterbrush – large ($7)
Inks: TWSBI 1791 Pink and TWSBI 1791 Prairie Green (18ml/$7.50)

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

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

Updated: 12/18/19 to add link to the Gage Drawing Jam.

In Paper Review

Notebook Preview: Baron Fig New York City Softcover Notebooks

AnaDecember 13, 2019December 9, 2019Leave a comment

The latest limited edition from Baron Fig are the New York City Softcover Notebooks ($16) which feature three distinctly illustrated covers by illustrator Josh Cochran of city life. As someone who dwells in a considerably less urban environment than New York these days, I wasn’t sure if the latest edition would resonate with me or just make me homesick for city life.

One cover illustrates people on the daily commute on the train, another folks on the beach and the third out walking in the park. As a former Chicagoan, these scenes could easily be the L, the North Ave Beach and along Lakeshore Drive. I’m sure folks in other cities can substitute their own rail system (if you are lucky enough to have one), your favorite spot to lie in the sun and the best place to take a walk (be it park or parkway). So, the books give me a little bit of nostalgia for my hometown but also for warmer days as we all bundle up like sherpas for the blustery winter ahead.

Inside, the “Flagship” medium size softcover notebooks provide the same features we love about Baron Fig’s products already: 72pages of sewn bound 90gsm paper with 5mm dot grid and lovely rounded corners.

The Baron Fig medium still features their own unique dimensions at 5.4″x7.7″ (137mmx195mm). To compare, a standard A5 size is 148x210mm. A Baron Fig medium notebook will fit into a notebook cover designed for A5 sized notebooks but there will be excess space.

The NYC edition is an aesthetic treat and I love that Baron Fig is doing different things with their special edition notebooks than what Field Notes does. The original illustrations are a refreshing change and let Baron Fig shine on their own.