The Well-Appointed Desk

I’ve been a huge fan of Mike Rohde‘s Sketchnote project and his Sketchnote Handbook and Sketchnote Workshops. In general, he’s an all-around great guy and when I heard he’d created a Sketchnote Ideabook to meet his exacting standards for sketchnoting, I was all-in.

Partnering with Airship notebooks, the Sketchnote Ideabook is a soft-touch, hardcover A5 notebook with all the features you’d want in a sketchnote notebook. It features an elastic band (in bright turquoise) for closure, a gusset pocket in the back for ephemera, lay-flat design and heavyweight, bright white paper (160gsm/110lb). Oh, and TWO ribbon bookmarks: one orange and one turquoise.

The soft-touch covers are debossed on the front with sketchnote icons, on the spine with the brand logo and on the back with the tagline “Ideas not art” and the Airship logo.

Sketchnote Notebook inside cover

Inside the front cover are tips for sketchnoting. These are reminders from the book or a jumping off point. There’s also a place to write your name and other pertinent info.

Sketchnote Notebook inside back cover

On the inside of the back cover are tips for page layouts.

Sketchnote Notebook sketch

My first test in the Sketchnote Ideabook was to do one of my Inktober drawings. Yes, I know… “ideas not art” but Inktober drawings aren’t ART with a capital A. Besides, it was a great opportunity to test a bunch of markers without doing another simple line-by-line writing test. I used Copic markers, a Kuretake Fudegokochi Brush Pen and pencil.

Sketchnote Notebook reverse of sketch

No bleed through! This is almost unheard of with Copic alcohol markers so just pause here for a moment and revel in the fact that both sides of the paper could be used.

Sketchnote Notebook sketchnote test

I also tested the paper with more traditional sketchnoting techniques. I listened to a new podcast called “Nice Try” and took notes throughout the various episodes through the first season: Utopia. Again, I used my Kuretake Fudegokochi marker for the most part and combined it with my Pilot Hi-Tec-C Slim Knock Gel Pen 04 and my new Pelikan Star Ruby.

reverse of sketch

Again, there was no visible show through or bleedthrough. The paper is a bit toothy. If you prefer the glass smooth surface of Rhodia paper, the paper in the Sketchnote Ideabook will definitely feel rougher to you. It reminds me of bristol board to a certain extent, if you could fold it and bind it.

Sketchnote Notebook back cover

Overall, this is a great notebook for the specific type of task it was created for. When I added the more wet media of markers, the paper got a little wavy so this is definitely not the right book for watercolor or other heavy water applications. It was designed for sketchnoting and that’s really what it is best for.

When I submitted my questionnaire for the Kickstarter, it asked what other options I might like to see in the future for the Sketchnote Ideabook. I have had the advantage of actually having it in hand when the question was asked. While one of the options was different colored covers (purely aesthetic), the other question was for printing the paper with lines, dot grid or a combination of blank and grid, etc. I think dot grid might be advantageous for some folks in keeping boxes, lettering and other elements aligned but I think, for it’s purpose, everything else is superfluous.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by Sketchnote Ideabook for the purpose of review. In fairness, I did back the Kickstarter with my own money as well, I just got a pre-release edition of the notebook for review purposes as well. Some items in this review include affiliate links. The Well-Appointed Desk is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon. Please see the About page for more details.

In Pen Review

Pen Review: Pentel Pointliner Fineliner

AnaOctober 18, 2019October 18, 20197 Comments

I was lucky enough to get a packet of pens to review from our friend and enabler The Poor Penman at the San Francisco Pen Show. Not only is he a pen enthusiast but also an employee at Pentel America.

So, since this is Inktober month I decided this was a good time to try out the new Pentel Pointliner and compare them to some of the more familiar felt tip or fineliner pens currently available.

The Pentel Pointliner come in a set of five pens ranging in tip size: 0.05, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5, and 0.8mm. At the moment, it doesn’t look like the pens are available in open stock but the set is listed on Blick in the US for $10.50 for the set making each pen $2.10. For comparison, the Sakura Micron from Blick are $1.99 each and $2.50 each from JetPens.

With fineliners, I tend to use mostly the 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 so those are usually the ones I need to replace first so I do hope open stock options become available.

The Pointliner pens are black barrels with black pigment ink. The tips are protected by metal encasings. They are water resistant and fade resistant. The pens do not indicate if they are specifically archival but fade- and water-proof is pretty close.

I wanted to compare the Pointliners to most common fineliner brands like the Copic Multiliner SP, Sakura Pigma Micron, Faber-Castell PITT, ZIG Millennium and Sharpie pen to see how it compared. Since the Pointliner is sold in a multi-pack and was promoted to be sold in craft stores, I included the ZIG Millennium which is also sold in a lot of the larger craft store chains. I also included my favorite drawing “fineliner”: the Platinum Carbon Desk Pen with Platinum Carbon Black ink.

All of the other fineliner pens also feature black ink that is water resistant/waterproof and metal encased tips. From left to right: Faber-Castell PITT, Pentel Pointliner, Sakura Pigma Micron, Copic Mutliliner SP, ZIG Millennium, and Sharpie pen. The institutional beige is the Sakura Pigma Micron. It’s the biggest deterrent for this Micron for me. Ugh, it’s ugly. Like technical pencils, I’m okay with fineliners have a “standard” look: black, grey or silver with a metal tube casing for tip and snap cap. Totally fine. Beige is not good.

The Sharpie pen is available everywhere from drugstores to art stores but is really only available in one tip size. It does come in an array of colors now but what I am comparing in the black drawing pen. The density of black on the Sharpie pen is not as rich as the Pentel Pointliners and some of the other brands.

Surprisingly, the Faber-Castell PITT drawing pens were the least black of all the pens I compared after the Sharpie pen. I only had two ZIG Millennium pens left in my collection, an 005 and an 01 and both were pretty well-used so it was hard to judge the overall writing quality fairly. Those super-fine tips wear out and bend very easily but the ink was still good and dark despite the damaged tips. The Sakura Pigma Microns are available in the largest variety of tip widths, colors and even bullet shapes and brush tips. However, I find that they wear out very quickly — well before the ink is used up and the tips are not replaceable. The Copic Multiliner SP is expensive but the ink barrel and tips are replaceable. While not the most cost effective, the replaceable parts make it feel like the least impactful on the environment if you don’t factor in a fountain pen like the Platinum Carbon Desk Pen which has a tip equivalent to an 01-03, is super long lasting and totally refillable. Of course, you are limited to one tip size with a fountain pen so there is an advantage to having a couple wider or thinner fineliners in your drawing case for larger areas and detail work.

This is an Inktober drawing I did with my Platinum Carbon Desk pen and watercolor for the color details. The undersketch was done with a Col-erase in vermillion so you can still see hints of the red even though I erased the pencil.

This close-up can show the evenness of the lines.

This drawing of the same Gretsch guitar was done with the Pentel Pointliners and Copic markers. There are a few places where the black lines didn’t dry before I erased or brushed my hands over it so there are some smudges.

From the reverse, you can see the Copic marker bleedthrough but the Pointliners do not bleed through at all.

With the Pointliners, the detail photo shows the line variation I was able to get by using different tip sizes. And also see the smudges! ARGH!

So, my conclusion is that the Pointliners are as good as Sakura Pigma Microns and not as aesthetically ugly. Microns institutional beige barrels are awful. If Pointliners become available as open stock, that would be a great advantage allowing users to select tip sizes to meet their needs and replace pens as needed. And finally, more pen makers need to take into consideration the ability to replace tips and refill pens where appropriate. I can’t be the only person who is starting to feel guilty about how many plastic pen barrels I’ve thrown in the trash over the years?

Tools:

Paper: Stillman & Birn Epsilon Softcover 5.5×8.5
Pens: Pentel Pointliners

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

In feature, Ink Review

Ink Review: Sailor Studio 442

Jessica ColesOctober 17, 2019October 17, 2019Leave a comment

By Jessica Coles

The Colorado Pen Show took place only a few days ago and I was very happy to see the Dromgoole’s table at the show. In fact, I was often seen browsing through the large ink shelves they had set up. One ink that was sadly missing from the shelves was Sailor Studio since they are restricted from bringing the ink to shows, but they did bring beautiful swatch cards of each ink.

So even though the Sailor Studio inks were not present, the colors did make an appearance. And the appearance was enough for me to order more!

Sailor Studio 442 appears from the label to be a light to medium blue that leans towards purple. Nothing on the front indicates a special color.

The small glass bottle is the same as every Sailor Studio ink – a beautiful glass bottle, but one that is quite utilitarian. The packaging also includes several stickers with the ink number and suggestions to place the stickers on a converter so you remember which ink is inside.

My first glimpse of Sailor Studio 442 revealed a much brighter blue ink than I was expecting. A rich blue that contains less purple than the label would indicate.

That rich blue does show well during writing, although fades a bit as the ink dries. However, the ink also shows some of its complex components as it dries – purple and a faint teal halo. This separation helps the ink from fading into the pack of blue inks available.

Color classification was tough with Sailor Studio 442, since the separate colors aren’t present in other inks. The lightest color in 442 is close to Diamine Prussian Blue. In-person, 442’s darker sections are close to Montblanc Petrol. While wet, 442 looks much closer to Penbbs #85. Like I said, a complex ink.

In writing, Sailor Studio actually shows as close to a blue-black ink which makes it a possible work-safe ink. Dry time is good (about 20 seconds) and it doesn’t smear after it dries. However, it is not water-resistant, so keep that in mind at work!

Studio 442 shades well, from a blue-ish lavender to a midnight blue. Below I was writing with an extra-fine SIG nib from Franklin-Christoph – even in this narrow stub width, the ink had no problem shading.

To see the beautiful shading in this ink, I got up close to a larger swatch. Incredible.

One characteristic of Sailor Studio 442 that wasn’t present in other swatches was a very faint sheen. It’s actually more of a halo than sheen, though. Very dark with just a hint of green. Since receiving this ink, it has been in constant use.

If you have ever tried to purchase Sailor Studio inks, you know how tough it can be to find a store selling it, pay for the shipping and wait for the slow boat to make its way overseas (unless you are lucky enough to live in Japan). Good news! Sailor has recently started allowing sales of these small bottles of sunshine by select retailers in the US. However, Sailor did put a restriction on these sales – orders for Sailor Studio inks can only be taken over the phone. Dromgoole’s was kind enough to provide this bottle of 442 for review and you can find ordering instructions here. The entire staff is great to talk to when ordering and if you are able to stop by their store, the inks can be purchased in person! Here’s a glimpse of that book full of Sailor Studio swatches:

Tools:

Paper: Musubi Tomoe River Refill ($30-35 USD)
Pen: Franklin-Christoph 66 Prototype with an extra-fine SIG steel nib ($175)
Ink: Sailor Studio 442 ($18 for 20ml bottle)

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

In Link Love

Link Love: The Original Comfort Food

AnaOctober 16, 2019October 16, 20198 Comments

When our own personal worlds spin out of control, sometimes its nice to have the consistency and comfort of our familiar routines — the things that bring us joy. This week, that’s what Link Love is for me. There has been a slew of emotional upheavals this week among myself and my friends. Between my home and my closest friends, we’ve lost a combined three dogs and a cat in less than 10 days. At least we know that our pets have friends wherever the pet afterlife might be. There have also been a series of lay-offs that have left some of my closest friends unemployed and many at my company concerned that there may be more lay-offs to come. To say we all need comfort food, comfort tv and comfort links would be an understatement. I hope that however your week has gone that these links bring you a little joy. If you have pets, give them a good snuggle for me too.

And now for a knitting interlude.

Laura CameronOctober 15, 2019October 14, 2019Leave a comment

When we’re not here, or at pen shows, we’re knitting. That’s actually how Ana and I met, at our knit group here in Kansas City almost 12 years ago! She was kind enough to join my on my knitting podcast this past week to talk about NaKniSweMo, the knitter’s companion to NaNoWriMo. Instead of writing a 50,000 word novel in November, we’re knitting 50,000 stitch sweaters instead!

You can find full show notes over at The Corner of Knit & Tea.

My pen reviews will resume next week with that gorgeous Pelikan!

In Pen Review

Pen Review: White Pen Comparison: Gelly Roll, Posca 0.7 and Pitt 1.5 Bullet Nib

Laura CameronOctober 14, 2019October 14, 20192 Comments

Review by Tina Koyama

I’m always on the lookout for opaque white pens. They come in handy for many urban sketching tasks, such as signage, fountains and small highlights. Of course, I use them most often on toned paper, especially in my favorite red Field Notes Brand Sweet Tooth notebook (no longer available at Field Notes, but possibly still available at some retail stores).

Years ago, I compared the Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen (2.5mm bullet point), Sakura Pen-Touch Paint Marker and Uniball Signo gel pen. More recently I looked at the Uni Posca Paint Marker (extra fine bullet point) and the Sailor Mini Correction Pen here at the Desk.

Although my general white go-to the past few years has been the Sakura Gelly Roll (0.8mm), I’m not always happy with it. It’s fine tipped and opaque enough to draw or make highlights on dark paper, and I use it that way satisfactorily most of the time. But since gel ink is water-soluble, it tends to activate watercolor pencil pigment rather than write over it, making the line inconsistent or invisible.

I decided it was time to try a couple of new white pens that recently crossed my ever-watchful radar: One is a Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pen with a 1.5mm bullet nib (much smaller than the 2.5mm I had tried previously). The other is a Uni Posca Paint Marker with a 0.7mm “pin type” nib (which came in my October SketchBox, but I don’t see it sold individually there yet).

Although the Gelly Roll has a 0.8mm nib, it looks slightly finer than the Posca’s 0.7mm point, though it could just look that way because the Gelly Roll is less opaque. The Faber-Castell Pitt is the least opaque of the three, and strangely, its 1.5mm tip looks about the same size as the Posca’s 0.7. I have no idea how pen points are measured. In any case, in my scribble tests below (made in a black Stillman & Birn Nova sketchbook), I applied water on the right side, and none of the inks showed appreciable smudging, even though I know the Gelly Roll has been known to dissolve a bit when washed. The other two are described as waterproof.

Next I ran each white pen over various water-soluble and waterproof media. All wet media were left to dry completely before I scribbled over them. No wonder I’ve been less than happy with the Gelly Roll when used with my favorite watercolor pencils – it performed the worst over Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelles, both dry and activated. None of the three white pens wrote well over the Marvy LePlume II watercolor markers, but all three showed up much better over the two waterproof brush pens – the Pentel Pocket Brush and the Sakura Pigma. Clearly, the Posca is the winner on watercolor as well as my favorite watercolor pencils (both activated and dry).

The big inconvenience with the Posca is its “pin type” nib, which means it must be primed each time before use. By priming, I mean that you must jab the spring-loaded nib repeatedly on scrap paper for a while until the ink flows. Moreover, the ink is actually paint that must be shaken each time (you can hear an agitator inside rattling around to aid with mixing). Skip either of these steps, and the pen dispenses a colorless liquid. The priming and shaking tasks are annoying when all you want to do is make a quick highlight (sketch victims get away quickly!).

Still, the Posca’s general opacity and especially with watercolor pencils has won me over.

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.

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

In Paper Review

Notebook Review: Pebble Stationery Co. Glacier Edition

AnaOctober 11, 2019October 20, 20194 Comments

Review by Tina Koyama

Before Pebble Stationery offered to send me a pack of its new notebooks, I admit I had never heard of the Australian company. A Kickstarter campaign last year helped bring a new pocket-size notebook with Tomoe River paper to market, and in August the limited Glacier Edition was launched (two notebooks for $12.99USD). A standard edition is also available for $9.99USD for a two-pack.

“Inspired by the blue glaciers of Antarctica,” the very pale blue cover is lighter than the photos on the company’s website and maybe even a little lighter than my own photos that were taken in the blazing sun. It’s hard to capture that delicate icy blue. Two 3½ -by-5½-inch books come per pack. Simple branding is embossed at the bottom of the front cover in silver foil.

Each notebook contains 80 pages of micro-thin 52 gsm Tomoe River paper. That’s nearly twice as many pages as a Field Notes Brand (or similar) notebook, yet the Glacier notebook is the same thickness. The difference, however, shows in the noticeable weight: It’s about 30 percent heavier than a Field Notes.

The books are stitch-bound with silver thread (according to product information, though the thread looks white to me). The most distinctive feature in its appearance is the silver foil on the notebook’s page edges (also difficult to photograph). I think the last time I saw a softcover pocket-size notebook with gilt edges was Field Notes Ambition in 2014. In general, I’m not a huge fan of gilding, but the Glacier’s silver gilding is a very nice touch because it’s not too shiny or garish. I like the way sunlight picks up a subtle glint. Overall, the appearance is elegant and understated.

The inside front cover has spaces for name, contact info, etc. The Tomoe River pages are dot-grid ruled with the tiniest dots and the palest ink – very subtle.

Now, onto scribble tests: Fountain pen fans already know and love Tomoe River paper for being extremely resistant to feathering or bleeding even though it is remarkably thin. In addition to my juiciest fountain pens – a Platinum 3776 with a music nib and a Sailor 1911 with a Naginata Fude de Mannen nib – I scribbled with the usual random assortment on my desk. Because Tomoe River paper takes a bit longer to absorb inks, a few pens smudged under my left hand, but I didn’t make too big of a mess. Strangely, the ink that took the longest to dry was the Ohto Fude Ball 1.5 rollerball (it smudged onto the opposite cover when I flipped the page). The reverse side of both pages shows ghosting, as expected for such thin, translucent paper, but no bleed-through at all, even where I deliberately paused. The Derwent Paint Pen (which I received in my Urban Sketchers Symposium swag bag this year), which has bled through nearly every paper I’ve tested it on, does not show a trace.

Finally, I made a sketch with the Sailor fude fountain pen and Platinum Carbon Black ink, which tends to be thicker and wetter than most inks. I spotted one tiny dot of bleed-through near one of the bunny’s feet where I must have paused the nib.

Since this wasn’t my first use of Tomoe River, I already knew that the amazingly smooth paper would be a joy to use with any pen – fountain, rollerball, ballpoint or paint. But I don’t recall trying it with graphite before, and even a Blackwing or a Uni Mitsubishi Hi-Uni 9B floats soundlessly and nearly frictionlessly on that glassy surface. It seems counter-intuitive – I expect graphite to need some tooth to cling to – yet apparently it doesn’t. (It reminds me of drawing on polypropylene Yupo with soft graphite, which I also love.) If you are one of those pencil users who prefers “feedback” from the paper, you won’t get it from Tomoe River, which makes no commentary as you write or draw.

Final Impressions

Pebble Stationery is certainly not the first to come out with a pocket-size notebook containing Tomoe River paper; JetPens has its exclusive Kanso Sasshi series, and Goulet has its own with slightly heavier stock (to name just a couple). But I think the Glacier edition is certainly the prettiest. “Limited edition” implies that more new designs will be coming. I look forward to seeing what Pebble comes up with.

(Edit: Updated 10/20/19 to correct prices for AUS to USD.)

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

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