The Well-Appointed Desk

For someone known for her love of vintage, my two most formative moments in cinema as a child were seeing Star Wars and then seeing Bladerunner. Bladerunner was set in the near-future 2019 with a slightly-retro, brutalistic architecture and 1940s-inspired fashion. But, as of this week, Bladerunner is now showing us what the past looks like. Austin Kleon provides a link to a wiki list of other stories now set in the past-future.

A list of stories set in a future now past (via Austin Kleon)

What do these stories tell us about what our past selves thought we could accomplish and haven’t? Or what we would destroy but didn’t?

Pen Review: Uni Pin Pens

AnaNovember 5, 2019November 5, 20197 Comments

Just when I thought I’d reviewed every possible brand and variety of felt-tipped or fiber-tipped pen, I find another one. The Uni Pin ($1.65-$2.45) pigment ink fineliner pens are available in a variety of tip sizes and colors. What caught my interest specifically was the availability of two shades of grey and a sepia. The only other fineliner I could find that has a sepia is the Sakura Pigma. And the Uni Pin was the only one that came in greys.

I grabbed a couple point sizes for each color, trying to be consistent in sizing across the colors as best as I could. Unfortunately, some were out of stock so I got close. I ended up with 01 (0.28mm) in all four colors, 05 (0.5mm) in light grey, dark gray and sepia and 02 (0.33mm) and 04 (0.4mm) in black.

The Uni Pin numbering system is similar to that of the Sakura Pigma Microns where the number doesn’t always reference the tip size. A Pigma in 005 is actually 0.2mm, an 01 is 0.25mm, an 04 is 0.4mm, an 05 is is 0.45mm and an 08 is 0.5mm. Confused yet?

The pen bodies are all plastic except for a metal clip and the metal tip. The barrels are a matte finish so they are not slippery to the touch. It’s a nice detail to a plastic pen.

The tips look pretty solid across the various sizes. The metal sheaths protecting the plastics tips seem to be reinforced at the end where they meet with the housing which may keep the points from getting bent.

The black seems on par with most of the other brands I’ve tried. I think the only thing that might set it apart is the longevity of the tips which will only be determined over time and the blackness of the ink. The dark and light grey pens are very interesting and would make nice alternatives or additions in drawing. The sepia was disappointly dark, almost black. I would have preferred a lighter, warmer brown.

I tested the waterproofiness after only about five minutes so I’m not sure how dry the ink was. YMMV. The pens say on the side “waterproof”. The Rhodia paper is very smooth so that might affected how the ink adhered to the fibers and skewed the results here. I tested the ink again later and it did not move so the dry time was a bit longer than I anticipated. It may have been because of the Rhodia paper specifically. If you plan on painting over this pen, give it a good 15 minutes to dry or test it on a scrap piece before adding water to your art.

Overall, the Uni Pin has a lot to recommend it. The price is competitive. The availability of greys in a variety of widths is commendable. If you’ve already settled on a fineliner, however, I’m hardpressed to convince anyone to switch brands on these points alone. The only other factor will be to determine longevity which is something a lot of the other brands don’t have. So, stay tuned.

Tools:

Paper: Rhodia Uni-Blank No. 16 with 6mm guide sheet
Pens: Uni Pin Pens (Pigment Based) in Sepia, Dark Grey, Light Grey and Black

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.

In DIY

Guide Sheet Updates

AnaNovember 4, 2019November 4, 20196 Comments

Thanks to a comment by a reader, I took a look at the guide sheets and made some updates. If you’re not familiar with the guide sheets, these are free downloadable pages that can be slipped behind a blank page to provide guidelines for writing. I’ve provided them on a separate page in an array of sizes and configurations and, occasionally, I add sizes and formats when requested.

First, the initial request was for a version of the guide sheets in A5 with darker lines for heavier weight paper. Done. If anyone needs these in other sizes, let me know.

Then, I also created one great big PDF file with all the standard guide sheets so you only have to download one file and you get everything. In Adobe Acrobat, if you open the bookmarks tab on the lefthand side, it will reveal a series of bookmarks to the page/format you might need. Click on it and the document will jump to that page. Choose print and make sure print “current page” is selected. Then you don’t have to remember page numbers. The screenshot further down will show the box checked accordingly.

Guide Sheet Bookmarks

Also remember to set your print size to actual size or 100%.

Guide Sheet Print Window

Then trim the page to fit into your notebook.

In news

Hey, Art Supply Posse Fans!

AnaNovember 4, 2019November 4, 20191 Comment

Art Supply Posse is trying to mix in episodes that focus entirely on art supplies. Episode 76 with Alan Trautman was the first episode to feature a listener of the show and his art supply toolbox.

As the Queen Mum of ASP, I am reaching out to Desk readers and ASP listeners, old and new, with a call for participants. Art Supply Posse is looking for more people willing to (re)discover their unused art supplies on the podcast. Alternatively, you can gush about some of your favorite art supplies. That’s right, you can be a guest on the podcast!

All you need is a laptop/desktop computer. (Headphones or earbuds with built-in microphone and a quiet room would probably be helpful but not a deal breaker.)

Contact ASP via email (hello (at) artsupplyposse (dot) com) — take out the spaces and put in appropriate characters, Instagram DM, or the ASP forum.

In news

BOOM! Today is ALL the THINGS!

AnaNovember 1, 2019November 1, 20191 Comment

First, congrats to everyone who attempted and or completed Inktober. I didn’t get nearly as far along on my Inktober as I had wanted. I got about 24 or so of the 31 drawings done. Some I did twice because I didn’t like how they turned out the first time. I didn’t stick to my plans at all. In the past, I’ve been good about using very specific themes (pre-selected) before October 1 and predetermined tools which are also pre-selected. This year, I didn’t have all my topics for each chosen and I waffled about my materials. I used a Stillman & Birn Zeta sketchbook which has heavyweight smooth paper. I found it in a sale bin somewhere. I hadn’t used the Zeta before. While I liked the extra heavyweight paper, the smooth finish was not my favorite. I prefer the finish on the Alpha sketchbooks. As for materials, I started with just Copic markers but I got a little bored with my color palette and broke out my watercolor set. So, I guess the theme this year was “rule breaker.” I’ll post some of the images later this weekend.

NaNoWriMo

Next up, today is the start of NaNoWriMo. If drawing is not your thing but writing is, November is your month. You can finally write that novel you’ve been promising yourself you’ll write “someday.” Just write 50, 000 words between November 1 and November 30. No problem, right?

If you’re more of a knitter/crocheter, than maybe you’d rather NaKniSweMo? Where writers write 50,000 words, knitters knit 50,000 stitches and attempt to complete a sweater in a month. It’s probably not quite as epic a challenge as writing the Great American (or Canadian or Armenian or Egyptian or wherever you are from) Novel, but in the knitting world, a sweater can often be our own Everest. So, while you write, we can sit beside you in companionable silence (or grumbling). NaKniSweMo is something Laura and I have been doing it so long, we are the moderators for the official Ravelry forum. I make “ravatars” and Laura does the hard work of actually moderating the forum and organizing prizes and whatnot.

But wait, that’s not all. Today is also Fountain Pen Day! This a chance to celebrate and share the love of fountain pens with fans and the uninitiated alike. Many brick and mortar and online shops are having special sales. There is even a special FPD pen and ink. Check out the Fountain Pen Day site for links to participating shops and help spread the love of fountain pens.

Happy November!

In feature, Ink Review

Ink Review: Montblanc Year of the Rat (Charm Yellow)

Jessica ColesOctober 31, 2019October 31, 20193 Comments

By Jessica Coles

Recently I decided to try to track down all Montblanc limited edition inks. This was a bad idea. Montblanc LE inks seem to be one of the most coveted in the fountain pen world, especially those that are no longer available. Even current Montblanc inks are among the highest-priced inks available. These pieces of reality seem to have no bearing in my desire, however. I love these inks!

One current theme of Montblanc’s ink lineup is the Legend of the Zodiacs – each year a new ink is released and is named after the Chinese Zodiac calendar animal. This calendar has a different animal that represents the year in a 12-year cycle.

2019 is the Year of the Rat, the third ink in the Legend of the Zodiacs.

As with all recent Montblanc inks, the Year of the Rat ink is presented in a heavy cardboard box with a pull-out drawer and matching ribbon pull.

Montblanc’s ink bottles never disappoint – Year of the Rat comes in a beautifully faceted glass bottle with the heavy Montblanc-logoed lid.

At first glance, the ink reminded me of Montblanc’s Golden Yellow special edition ink with perhaps a touch more orange.

On a Col-o-Ring card, however, the ink seemed to be closer to peach than orange. Not difficult to read at all.

Limited edition inks from Montblanc have lately included a few yellows. Here’s a comparison of the three most recent yellow MB inks – again, Year of the Rat seems to be closer to peach than orange or yellow.

The swatch of YotR is very close to Diamine Marigold, but in writing it is closer to Bungubox Sweet Potato Yellow.

Montblanc calls this color Charm Yellow. Although Rats and Charm are not two things I usually associate with one another, I do like the color name. Shading in YotR is definitely present but subtle. I had no problem reading the color on paper although when I used the ink in a room that was not well lit, I had to keep checking to make sure my previous line was dark enough. In normal lighting, this wasn’t an issue.

While writing with YotR, I didn’t feel like I was writing with an orange-ish ink. It is truly a yellow ink experience. In large swatches, however, orange rules.

I am very happy with my purchase of Year of the Rat – it joins only a small handful of yellow inks in my collection. I have had no desire to flush out the pen I used in this review – instead it has become a part of my daily use pen lineup (around 4-7 pens) and it brings a bright cheerfulness to my writing!

Tools:

Paper: Musubi Tomoe River Refill ($30-35 USD)
Pen: Franklin-Christoph Model 20 Vintage Green, Broad Cursive Italic nib ($190)
Ink: Montblanc Year of the Rat Charm Yellow ($43 for 50ml bottle)

DISCLAIMER: The ink included in this review was provided at a discount by Dromgoole’s for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature, Link Love

Link Love: Paper Phone? Isn’t that a notebook?

AnaOctober 30, 2019October 30, 20194 Comments

First, this week, we are shamelessly plugging Jesi’s sister and her nieces Kickstarter project. Because we all need a chance to scare away bad dreams and make our dreams of entrepreneurship a reality. Nobody tell Emma and her little sister what a drag order fulfillment and logistics can be, okay? Of course, she’s going to be the only kid in school who can actually use logistics in a sentence.

Zero the Dream Hero Doll and Book (via Kickstarter)

And then there’s this:

google launches tools for digital wellbeing including a ‘paper phone’ (via Design Boom)
Paper paper everywhere (via Bleistift)

While I appreciate that even Google recognizes that we all spend too much time checking our phones for input and scrolling endlessly through updates on Instagram, Reddit, Facebook or Twitter… a paper phone? Isn’t that just a notebook? C’mon!