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:

In Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Esterbrook Estie Cobalt Blueberry

Author Laura CameronPosted on 10 Comments
Fountain Pen Review: Esterbrook Estie Cobalt Blueberry

Review by Laura Cameron

Ever since the Esterbook Estie came out, I’ve been wanting to get one. However, the original colors didn’t scream “Buy me!” so I figured I’d wait until I saw one that did. This past summer the Cobalt Blueberry (I’ve also seen it called the Blueberry Ice) screamed loud and clear. And so one came home with me!

The Estie is a made of resin, in this case a blue and white resin, that gives it a marbled look. The Estie comes with an logo printed Jowo steel nib and is available in XF, F, M, B or 1.1 Stub. In my case I opted for a Fine nib. Finally, the Estie comes in two trim options: silver and gold. For the icy blue, I preferred the silver trim.

 

 

One of the things that intrigues me the most about the new Esties is the MV adaptor (sold separately) that allows you to use vintage nibs in your modern Estie. I haven’t tried it yet, but I hope to soon!

So far, I have to say that I’m enjoying the Estie quite a bit. It’s a bit larger than the pens I usually use, but I still find it comfortable to hold and write with. The nib writes smoothly and firmly and the ink flows well through the feed system. I am quite sure I can’t say anything more profound than Jesi on the subject of the Estie.

 

Overall, I’m really glad I added this one to the collection.

There are still a few available, and of course the next big thing is Honeycomb!

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

Ink Review: PenBBS #153 Burning of White House 1874 Ink

Author Laura CameronPosted on 1 Comment

Review by Laura Cameron

I wasn’t able to attend the DC Pen Show, but Ana was lovely and brought me a few goodies. One of these was a bottle of PenBBS #153, Burning of White House (60 mL, $16.00).

Burning of White House is a black ink with gold dust. The name comes from the burning of the White House in the War of 1812.

When I first opened the bottle, I forgot that PenBBS does wonderfully sparkly inks and I just swatched the ink on top of the bottle. The swatches were a nice black, but I couldn’t figure out what the big deal was. Then, as I was examining the bottle, I noticed the layer of gold on the bottom. WHOOPS! I gave the bottle a good shake and swatched a second time and there it was!

If you’re into sparkle and shine, I love the PenBBS because their particles are so fine. I’ve been using my Shark pen for the past few days and it hasn’t gotten clogged at all! I give the pen a good shake before I use it and I’m ready to go.

 

 

 

 

 

I find it a bit difficult to see much of the gold when I’m writing in my “normal” fashion, but what the camera doesn’t pick up is that there is a hint of sparkle here and there. Nothing like the ink blots or swatches, but a little something special.

I hope you’ll enjoy this one!

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 Tools

Brush Review: Tombow Water Brush Pens

Author Laura CameronPosted on 4 Comments

Review by Tina Koyama

One of my sketch kit essentials is and always has been a water brush. If I were a watercolor painter, I probably would have upgraded to a “real” brush a long time ago. With watercolor pencils as my primary color medium, however, I think plastic-bristle water brushes are actually more effective (not to mention more convenient). Dispensing a small amount of water at a time (the bane of painters when they need a juicy wash), a water brush is easy to control when used with water-soluble pencils. Most artists hate ‘em (once in an urban sketching workshop, the instructor forbade me from using mine!), but I like ‘em.

For years my favorite has been the Kuretake (which I reviewed when it was included in the April 2017 ArtSnacks box). I spotted a new one on JetPens the other day – a set of three Tombow Water Brush Pens (3 sizes for $16.95 or $6.95 each). Although Tombow makes a wide variety of popular colored brush pens, I didn’t recall seeing a water brush with the Tombow name before, so I thought these would be worth a try.

The set of three includes a flat wash, a medium round and a small round.

When I unscrewed the reservoirs to fill them, I frowned when I saw that there’s no plug between the reservoir and the connection to the bristles. (Compare that with the Kuretake, which has a black plug.) When I’ve used other water brushes without plugs, they have tended to gush a bit too freely, so I was afraid that would be the case with the Tombows. The absent plug does make the Tombows easy to fill: Just hold the open reservoir under the tap.

 

To my surprise, the water doesn’t flow excessively from the Tombows; in fact, they are just a bit wetter than the Kuretakes I’m used to. In my usual manner, I gave the reservoir a gentle squeeze to wet the bristles and dabbed off any excess water. I ran each brush tip once through a swatch of Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle colored pencil in a Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook. The water flow and control were similar to the Kuretake.

Next I gave each brush a generous squeeze to thoroughly wet the bristles, dipped it into a watercolor cake, and made a single stroke in the Beta sketchbook. Again, I thought the flow was predictable and easy to control.

I think the two rounds are the most functional and versatile sizes for use in small and medium sketchbooks. Many water brush manufacturers seem to offer a flat option, but I’m stumped as to when it’s useful. It’s not nearly wide enough to make a traditional watercolor wash, even on small paper. (If anyone has used a flat water brush effectively, I’m interested in hearing about it.)

The Tombow water brush pens seem as good as the Kuretakes except in one important regard: The caps do not post well. When I took them out for street sketching, they kept falling off as soon as I posted them, and I ended up having to put the caps in a pocket to avoid losing them. On location, this is a deal breaker; I will lose undoubtedly those caps immediately, and a capless water brush is a useless water brush. At my desk, however, they are perfectly fine.

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, Fountain Pen Review, Pen Review

Pen Review: Faber-Castell Ambition Pearwood

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 5 Comments
Pen Review: Faber-Castell Ambition Pearwood

By Jessica Coles

Recently I was pushed outside of my comfort zone with pen reviews – you know, the comfort zone of the same three or four pen manufacturers that make a style and size of pen that fits, that works, that feels good. Comfortable. This time, I had the chance to review a Faber Castell pen. A pen constructed of metal, and wood, and, well, not acrylic. Something outside of my comfort zone.

But the manufacturer and material weren’t the only things outside of my zone. I also had a pen with… a medium nib.

Medium nibs are not me. I’ll allow a nib to start with a medium width if it is to be ground into an italic or stub, but I don’t do medium nibs. Ever.

The Faber-Castell Ambition pen originally pulled me in due to the combination of materials – several Ambition line wood-based pens were made with exotic woods; pearwood, coconut, walnut to name a few. I am quite familiar with acrylic, plastic, celluloid pens. However, I realized I often shy away from pens made of metal or wood. When I contemplated the reason behind this, I realized that kit pens were to blame.

For those who have not heard of kit pens, here’s a brief introduction. I relate it to my years as a model builder – model airplanes, model ships, model rockets… I’ll stop before I make myself into too much of a nerd.

Model kits are available for all of these items. Kits are made for many different skill levels, but basically kits that are not too different from Legos. Kits are made of plastic, wood, metal or a mix of materials that are intended to be put together following step-by-step instructions so the finished product looks great. But the tough steps such as cutting the wood or plastic from a blank sheet have been completed for you.

Pen kits also come with the preliminary steps completed – the barrel and section already cut out. Because they are more standardized, these kit pens have a recognizable feel. For some reason, I had acquainted wood and metal pens with these kit pens and I had stayed far away.

I couldn’t have been more wrong.

Picking up the Ambition pen, the first thing I though of was luxury. Rich materials, a solid pen, a well made presentation box. The pen looks impressive – a warm brown wood body and beautifully finished metal all around.

All of this absolutely changed as soon as I opened the box to the Faber Castell Ambition pen. Just picking up the pen felt luxurious – beautifully grained wood and heavy but incredibly well-balanced metal section, cap, and finial. The whole pen just felt rich. Rich with luxury, materials, goodness.

But the nib – to me, medium has always meant generic. Too many years of trying out fountain pens from the novelty section of business supply stores I suppose! The medium on the Faber Castell pen was smooth and delicious right out of the box and has yet to skip in my testing.

Let me get this straight, though. This is not a heavy pen. I could write for hours holding it – but the balance throughout the body and section of the pen just feels like it is well-made and expensive.

The Faber Castell Ambittion Pearwood pen comes in at 34g. The size (capped) is similar to a Lamy Al-Star (shown below).

However, uncapped, the Ambition is noticeable shorter and shorter than a Pilot Metro as well.

Posting the pens, the Ambition comes in between the two. I found myself preferring to use the pen unposted (small hands) but when it is posted, the cap snaps on firmly and doesn’t jiggle around.

The Ambition is a cartridge/converter fill pen and doesn’t come with a standard international converter. It did come with a short standard international cartridge – if you prefer to use cartridges, you can fit two short ones in the body for a quick change if you write the first dry.

As I noted earlier, the nib wrote very smoothly right out of the box – no smoothing or adjusting necessary. No skipping. More importantly to me, I loved the medium nib – this was not what I have experienced previously with this size. Usually a medium nib makes my handwriting look like I’m writing with a crayon – mushed together and unreadable. This pen simply felt… right. I felt like I was writing with an expensive, luxurious pen that performed its job perfectly, the first time. Isn’t that what more expensive pens should do?

But the Ambition isn’t a tremendously expensive pen, either. $88 for a high end steel-nibbed pen – compare this to recent releases from other manufacturers coming in around $150 – $200. And still, the Ambition beats all of those in writing experience.

I would not hesitate to recommend this pen to individuals who love writing, love beautiful pens or want something that lives up to the promise of luxury.

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: Here We Go Again!

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments
Link Love: Here We Go Again!

This week is a smorgasbord of posts which is a perfect reflection of my week. While I have been simultaneously working at my jobby-job, I have also been packing for the San Francisco Pen Show for the Well-Appointed Desk/Skylab table and staying in contact with Lisa to get everything ready for the Vanness Pen Shop table AND talking with Brad to be sure everything is ready for the podcast recording on Friday night. Plus, I got a last-minute invite to accompany my good friend Andy Welfle (or Erasable and Woodclinched fame) to the RelayFM 5th Anniversary podcast recording on Thursday night.

Then add in coordinating meeting up with Jesi and many of our favorite fellow pen show regulars (both vendors and attendees) and all the various last-minute travel and packing arrangements and my head is spinning.

So, this week we have a plethora of back-to-school links, cat-related (it must be in the air because I could have put about 10 times as many cat-related link but I didn’t. You can thank me later), pen show related (both upcoming and post-show), more Karas Vertex and more. Welcome to the Link Love brain dump!

And, then there’s this little gem:

Desk Reader and Pen Addict Slack Regular, Turbo Dave posted this yesterday.

After my post yesterday about our new Lunar Lander Coaster Set, TurboDave posted this photo with this caption:
Uncle Charlie standing by a little something he worked on at Boeing. I was inspired to post by Ana posting about their coasters (Well-Appointed Desk & Skylab Letterpress).

Pen Show Related:

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

And it dawned on me that several weeks ago I posted about the David Bowie Barbie… then they announced they are doing a series of Star Wars themed Barbies. I NEED this one, don’t you think?