In news

SF Pen Show 2019 Recap

Author AnaPosted on 5 Comments

Once again, the SF Pen Show was so busy I forgot to take pictures. Luckily, so many other people did take pictures. If you want to see more photos, check out the hashtag on Instagram #SFPenshow2019. Here are some highlights. Most of them are of the people which are, of course, the best part of the show.

Many of the SF Pen Show attendees first welcoming sights was Kimberly and her PSUber and what a sight it was! For many of us, it was the only time we got 15 minutes to talk with her because after that, we were run off our feet.

Kimberly's pick-up list

This is the only photo that appeared of this power squad. Jesi and I are throwing each other some serious shade… who was threatening to steal a pen or ink? One wonders? Jaclyn (Inkpothesis) smartly keeps out of it. Bob shows off his latest finger painting.

These are two of my favorite people to see at a pen show: Julia Scott and Leigh Reyes. They both radiate passion and creativity.

Miroslav and Ray: The Twins

The adorable pen show twins: Miroslav and Ray who dressed identically everyday of the show and kept Jesi thoroughly entertained.

What a fun photo of Kim and I — photobombed by Bob!

Pen Show Panarama

A panoramic view of the show from Jesi’s corner of the room.

Another Panorama

A view of Stephen’s beard mostly.

Newspaper article

A write-up in the SFChronicle about the pen show that looks like it was taken from the exact same angle as the photo above.

This was a notorious moment in SF. I was asked to show a customer at the Vanness table what color Organics Studio Unicorn Blood was. We didn’t have a swatch so we decided to open a bottle to do a quick little swatch. A little bit got on the lip of the cap and a bit got on my hands. I tried to wipe it off. It is really pigmented and when I used a handy wipe, it just went EVERYWHERE! So, now you know. Unicorn Blood is the same color as my hair.

Another photo of my pink hands

Super hard-working Gena, AKA @customnibstudio, was tuning and modifying nibs all weekend. I wanted to get some nib work done but she was booked solid and when she had time, I was busy setting up or  packing up our tables. I am going to have to just send her my pens.

One of the greatest things that was introduced at SF Pen Show was Alexander’s interactive vendor map. He released it using the information that was available as of Thursday night so there was some discrepancies but it was darn close. If other pen shows could nail down their vendor map a couple weeks before the show and make an interactive map available online, this could help attendees plan their visit and research who other vendors are before attending. Being able to add additional information to a map like this (links to web sites, Instagram, Facebook, etc) would make it easier for people to learn about each vendor while also figuring out where they are located on the show floor.

Oh yeah! I was also honored to participate in yet another live recording of the Pen Addict podcast. We interviewed Hugh and Karol from Kanilea Pen Company.

Myke tries out fatherhood

Myke took a turn holding the baby that made the rounds on Sunday and this photo is now legendary. We think Adina might either be thrilled or concerned with the enthusiastic way Myke took to childcare.

Jesi and Kaoru

Jesi posed with Bungubox owner Kaoru. Jesi sold her an Esterbrook pen and also bought a San Francisco Sailor so the two had a lot to smile about.

Very tired friends

As always, the best thing about pen shows are friends. Jesi and I never seem to get to spend enough time together but we enjoy every minute. We are tired but happy.

Despite working so hard, I did make a whirlwind shopping spree on Sunday and was able to leave with a handful of goodies. There was also a metric ton of ink that left with Bob and Mike in the van since trying to fly with ink if you don’t have to is pointless.

Once I got back to Kansas City, I succumbed to what I call “con crud”. Tuesday and Wednesday, I just thought my voice was scruffy from talking too much but by Thursday it was clear that this was officially “con crud”. Friday, I was down. My much-anticipated 3-day weekend was lost to the “crud”. I am still recovering but hopefully will be 100% myself by the end of this week.

So, don’t forget the key aspect of any good pen show preparation: Emergen-C! And lots of it. I took a ton of it but I still got sick. So, remember to practice good hygiene and get some sleep so you don’t get “con crud”.

Any photo not credited to an Instagram source came from Jesi or Jaclyn. Thanks for sharing your photos, ladies. I promise to make a better effort next year!

In Link Love

Link Love: Planners & Pen Shows

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
Link Love: Planners & Pen Shows

Back from San Francisco and just in time to launch ourselves head first into planner season. Hobonichi did their official 3-day rolling kick-off this weekend which may have been missed by many in America as it coincided with our Labor Weekend festivities. JetPens will get you up to speed with their Planner recommendations.

Hobonichi Techo 2020

If you missed the SF Pen Show or want to relive the highlights, I pulled out some of the links from this week into their own section, including the Pen Addict Podcast recap where Brad, Myke and I relive our favorite moments, as well as some great photos from Kelli at Mountain of Ink and a massive haul from The Poor Penman. Now we know why he’s poor.

SF Pen Show Recaps:

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

In Paper Review

A Review of Two Notebooks from Nero’s Notes

Author AnaPosted on Leave a comment
A Review of Two Notebooks from Nero’s Notes

Stuart at Nero’s Notes (through the help of his lovely assistant Clare) sent over two plain notebooks for me to test out. The Fa Vo Plain in Vanilla and the Poach My Lobster Notebook (Lobster). I specifically requested plain notebooks because I like to be unencumbered by lines, grids or dots. Somedays I write, somedays I draw, somedays I do both and mostly if I do have lines or dots, I ignore them anyway so why bother with them in the first place? I know that I am among a small audience in my preference for plain notebooks but I can speak to the quality of the paper, binding and overall quality of the notebooks, as for the line or dot quality… you are on your own.

Poach My Lobster Notebook wrapped

Poach My Lobster Notebook wrapped back

Poach My Lobster Notebook foil

The Poach my Lobster notebook (£8) features a bright blue cover made from G.F. Smith’s Colorplan 270gsm cover weight stock with a textured emboss. The cover is foil stamped with a big red metallic lobster and dotted lines. The graphic is bright and engaging. Inside, the notebook features 128 blank pages of Italian Fedrigoni Arcoprint Edizioni Avorio 100gsm warm white paper (that’s a mouthful!). The book’s overall dimensions are 202mmx128mm, which is slimmer than a standard A5.

Poach My Lobster Notebook Spine

The Poach My Lobster notebook does have four stitched signatures wrapped with the card stock cover but there is a lot of glue holding the “perfect bound” cover in place making it necessary to force the pages to lay flat. The stitching can handle the abuse but the book is not going to look as pretty once you have worked the glue loose and the book will definitely need a cover or elastic of some sort to keep it closed afterwards. The detail of actual stitched signature is good though, in spite of all the glue.

Poach My Lobster Notebook writing 2

Poach My Lobster Notebook reverse inside

Poach My Lobster Notebook writing 1

Poach My Lobster Notebook reverse

In writing tests, the Poach My Lobster test did well with about 50% of the fountain pen inks I tried. The paper is slightly toothy making it great for slick gel pens, colored pencils and graphite. Some markers did well but others feathered. Despite the feathering, there was not too much trouble with bleed through. If you favor gel pens, fine fountain pens, pencils and the occasional marker, this paper is quite nice. The warm ivory color is pleasant.

Fa Vo Vanilla Notebook

Fa Vo Vanilla Notebook back

The Fa Va Plain (which is also available in a dot grid, £11) features a completely unadorned cover. On the back is a blind debossed “FA VO” centered at the bottom. The cover is heavy cover stock at 350gsm. The cover has a subtle sand speckle to the paper. The interior paper is 100gsm recycled fiber with a natural, unbleached white color to it. There are some flecks in the paper that suggest it’s recycled quality.

Fa Vo texture detail

Fa Vo stitching detail

Fa Vo Notebook spine 2

The Fa Vo notebooks open completely flat to show off the sewn spine binding. The Fa Vo did not require nearly as much effort to get the book to lay flat since the stitched spine was not buried in glue.

Fa Vo Notebook writing 2

Fa Vo Notebook reverse 2

Fa Vo Notebook writing sample 1

(Ink or pink hair at the bottom of this photo? You decide!)

Fa Vo Notebook reverse

When testing recycled papers, there is a much greater likelihood of feathering and bleeding since the paper has been beaten, shredded and reprocessed making the fibers even more porous. This means that the paper is may only be good for pencil and maybe oily ballpoint ink and liquid fountain pen ink might be a challenge. The Fa Vo surprised me by performing above average with drier fountain pen inks. Some inks feathered a bit but the overall results were comparable to the Poach My Lobster notebook. Even though the paper is recycled, its a bit whiter in color than the Poach My Lobster notebook and the notebook is a little larger too.

The Fa Vo notebook is closer to traditional A5 dimensions at 205x145mm. Actual A5 size is 210x148mm. I accept a little undersizing for trim but 20mm is quite a bit of compromise on the Poach My Lobster notebook when I put it in my A5 leather notebook covers. There was an excessive amount of wiggle room.

Since both of these notebooks feature card stock covers and more than a Field Notes’ worth of paper, I do think it is nice to be able to keep them in a cover of some sort. The Fa Vo is much more in keeping with standard A5 sizing while the Poach My Lobster notebook is the same width as Moleskine large notebook (210x130mm) just a few millimeters shorter in overall height. So, if you already have a cover that accommodates a Moleskine notebook you won’t have any problem working with the Poach My Lobster book. Based on price, the Fa Vo is a little more expensive but it is larger and uses recycled paper and a more complex binding which all warrant a higher price. The Poach My Lobster notebook has a blingy cover and a warm ivory stock. Both will be excellent with pencils and standard pens and will provide mixed results with fountain pens but if you’re willing to experiment, may provide interesting creative results for drawing or lettering.

Nero’s Notes is offering a special affiliate code for anyone who purchases products from The Well-Appointed Desk. This offer puts a few pennies in our coffers which helps us continue to support Art Supply Posse and it’s endeavors for the creative community.

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Krishna Overcast Deep Lilac

Author Laura CameronPosted on Leave a comment

Review by Laura Cameron

Ana has been keeping me stocked in purples to review. Recently, she brought me a bottle of Krishna Overcast Deep Lilac (20mL, $6.00) all the way from the DC Supershow. This was actually my first experience with Krishna inks, and I wasn’t quite sure what to expect!

Overcast Deep Lilac is a somewhat muted dark blue purple. In certain lights it reminds me of more cobalt or indigo than purple.

Overcast Deep Lilac is part of the Super Rich series, which is designed to provide vibrant but consistent color throughout. So if you’re looking for color-changing or super sheening, you’ll have to look outside this series. I do note that there’s some nice shading in heavier applications, though you probably won’t see too much of it if you’re using a finer nib.

Like I said, I was surprised how blue this ink really is. I really don’t have too many good inks to compare to it in my stash. The lighter parts are fairly comparable to J. Herbin Violet Pensees, which is somewhat blue as well. I also pulled out Robert Oster Summer Storm. Summer Storm is considerably grayer, but has that somewhat muted/matte tone to it.

I think in general, I prefer the redder purples (and you can tell if you take a look at my Col-o-dex!) but this is a nice purple if you’re looking for something that leans blue. It was smooth writing and dried quickly and did give a consistent color that’s easy to read. And Krishna inks are affordable and fun!

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 Paper Review

Notebook Review: Leuchtturm 1917 Academy Pad

Author Laura CameronPosted on 2 Comments

Review by Tina Koyama

An unusual notebook came my way in the Urban Sketchers Symposium swag bag: a Leuchtturm 1917 Academy Pad. From the outside, the A5-size notebook looks identical to other Leuchtturm notebooks (the traditional notebook is one of my favorites; I’ve used many as my journals and DIY planners), with a standard elastic band and hardcover. (Ana has reviewed the Bullet Journal version and the sketchbook.) And even when you open it and touch the paper, you might think it’s the same as usual (in fact, the paper weight and surface texture are the same as the traditional notebook).

The difference is that the 60 sheets are glue-bound and easily removeable without perforations. It’s not a notebook – it’s a pad disguised as one. I received a blank-page one for sketching, and it’s also available ruled.

Inside, the gusseted pocket is not in back as you’d expect. It’s in front, containing the usual Leuchtturm accessories: indexing labels and a writing guide sheet.

In back, I was surprised to see that the whole pad can be removed. Yes, it’s apparently refillable (though I didn’t find refills on Leuchtturm’s site). Since the pages are meant to tear out, it makes a lot of sense to offer refills so that the sturdy cover can be reused.

The glue binding allows all pages to open completely flat.

Although I’m familiar with Leuchtturm’s paper and usually use fine fountain pens and gel pens with it, I threw a bunch of other media onto it to test, including a few water-soluble ones. As expected, the sizing is not appropriate for water-soluble media (the first three tested), so washes looked pale, and the paper buckled permanently. The paper also started pilling quickly where I swiped it with water. But most other writing media and brush pens felt smooth, and nothing feathered.

The back of the sheet reveals that the Sharpie bled through (as expected), and the Derwent Paint Pen showed a few spots, too. The rest fared well, though the paper’s opacity allows most inks to ghost.

Since the pages pull out easily, I can now discard the test sheet if I want to, and the book looks new!

The Leuchtturm product information indicates that this pad would be a good choice for notetakers who want to later rearrange their pages (in a binder or folder, perhaps) or pass along the notes to someone else. I probably wouldn’t use it as a sketchbook, since I prefer to keep my sketches bound permanently, but it would be ideal for use during a portrait party. (What – you’ve never attended one? Each participant is paired up with another for a limited time until everyone has drawn everyone else. Then the portraits are all arranged on the floor in a grid – great fun! The first time I did it was during the symposium in Brazil; it was a great activity for people from many countries who didn’t always share the same language but understood sketching and laughter.)

(Leuchtturm 1917 is a long-time sponsor of the International Urban Sketchers Symposium.)

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 feature, Pen Review

Pen Review: Yookers Felt-tipped pens

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 5 Comments
Pen Review: Yookers Felt-tipped pens

By Jessica Coles

Just before I left for the San Fransisco Pen Show, I was browsing through new pen products on various retailer sites (yes, I know I was about to go to a pen show, but I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t miss anything new). I came across Yookers pens on Pen Chalet’s site.

Besides having a name that forces you to smile each time you say it, the pens were fascinating. Felt-tipped pens that used fountain pen ink. Obviously I needed to find this pen at the show and I did at Yafa’s large table.

I loved gel pens and felt-tipped pens all through my childhood and I was constantly searching for more colors. There were never colors enough to satisfy me. But this pen can do all of the colors!

The Yookers felt-tipped pens are available in a surprisingly large number of choices and combinations: plastic or metal, various colors, patterns, and four different tip sizes. Here are the two that I picked up. On the right is the plastic Yookers Yooth pen (MSRP $12, $9.60 at Pen Chalet) which is also available in blue and white. The left pen is a Yookers Metis (MSRP $53, $42.40 at Pen Chalet) also available in Grey Brushed Lacquer and Black Grid on silver.

Each pen style is offered with any of the four tip widths: 0.8mm, 1.0mm, 1.2mm, or 1.4mm. Replacement tips are available – $8 for plastic pens and $17 for metal pens (MSRP). They are expensive relative to the pen because the replacement tips consist of the entire section. You can’t just pull out the tip and replace.

The plastic pen is approximately the size and dimensions of a Lamy Safari while the metal pen is smaller. Both versions post nicely and feel good posted or unposted. Metal pens have screw caps while the plastic pens’ caps pull to open. Metal pens include a converter while plastic bodied pens include a cartridge.

So how do these pens write?

Very well! I filled a converter with ink for each, installed the converter in the pen, and before I finished closing the ink bottle, the tips were saturated and ready to go. Neither pen ever skipped or ran dry although occasionally the ink would start to look slightly lighter. If I gave the pen a slight shake, the color returned to normal – I’m not sure if this was because I was writing quickly or if I had started writing as soon as I inked them.

So what happens if you want to change colors? If you ink up with black ink, does that lock you in for the life of the pen (or at least that tip)? I had inked the larger 1.4mm tip size with Aurora Black, thinking that would be a fair ink to test the ease of cleaning. Above is the inked tip. Below is the tip after rinsing under running water for 1 minute.

Rinsing brought the pen back to completely clean! Writing with it after the cleaning process showed that no ink was left in the tip – only water. I would recommend letting the tip dry after rinsing before using the next ink – otherwise, you will have a watered-down version for a while.

Disclaimer: Some of the items in this review were provided for free for the purpose of this review. Other items in this review were purchased by me.  For more information, visit our About page.

In Link Love

Link Love: Midwestern Tornado

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Link Love: Midwestern Tornado

I’m running a little late today because I got to participate in recording a follow-up episode of The Pen Addict this morning which recorded later than usual. I had to work it in to my regular schedule which is still a little janky since returning from the San Francisco Pen Show. All the details are in the episode. Things will settle down for a few weeks though until the Pelikan Hub which is just a few days before the Dallas Pen Show in September when I’ll spin up again like a midwestern tornado. Then I should settle in for the winter. Until then, enjoy a late summer dollop of links from around the globe.

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Paper & Notebooks:

Art & Creativity:

Photo by: Walter Chandoha

Other Interesting Things: