In Link Love

Link Love: On the Road Again!

Author AnaPosted on 2 Comments
Link Love: On the Road Again!

Tomorrow, Laura and I are packing up and driving south to Little Rock for the Arkansas Pen Show. We hope that if you’re within shouting distance, we’ll see you there this weekend. If not, you can follow along with our adventures on Instagram and we’ll post a recap here next week.

Lots of paper-related links this week and recaps from Baltimore and London Pen Shows. Most importantly though, Tools and Toys reviews the best coffeemaker ever built. It’s Desk-tested. Desk-approved.

Late-Breaking News!

Laura discovered yesterday that F+W Media, publisher of dozens of publications including HOW, Print, Interweave Knits, Writer’s Digest and The Artist’s Magazine, filed for bankruptcy. Since many readers here are of a creative pursuit, you may read or have read one of their many publications. Here are a couple links to articles regarding the bankruptcy thus far.

While many publishing companies have continued to tighten their belts, moving to online only or shuttering their business altogether, I believe that niche publications still have a place in the market. I also believe that magazines, in general, are having a resurgence. Publications are curated, collected and, like many of the things we enjoy, offer an analog experience. They provide a chance to read quietly. Even publications full of ads, don’t interrupt your reading experience with a pop-up ad requiring one to click a check box to close it. Ads within a magazine are often curated to the audience of a publication as well. Reading an outdoor magazine? Chance are, the ads are for camping gear, REI and the like.

Magazines also provide time capsules. While we might look back on a publication from five years ago and roll our eyes at the fashion, the font choices or some other aspect of the magazine. When we see a magazine from 50 years ago, there is a fascination with the whole world embodied in the magazine, be it a fishing publication or a knitting one.

Two aspects of a publication (the aesthetic and the individual unit) present the reader with a unique experience in content and context. The design elements like layout, type design, and photography can be experienced in a more comprehensive way, throughout the publication, from masthead to page number. The publication can also be curated editorially from cover to cover in a way that may not be as meaningful when scrolling through a sea of text online.

This complete experience is what continues to make magazines engrossing and artifacts  of our world.

Pens:

Ink:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

Pen Shows:

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Diamine 150th Anniversary, Blue Velvet

Author Laura CameronPosted on 5 Comments

Review by Laura Cameron

I recently went on a bit of an ink buying spree. Rather than grab the newest, hottest colors, I went back and added a few inks I missed along the way. The first of those is Diamine 150th Blue Velvet (40mL for $16.00).

Blue Velvet is a beautifully rich cornflower blue.

It is bright, clear blue and has so many yummy shades. It has the intensity that I’ve come to admire in many of the Robert Oster blues, and yet this one doesn’t lean teal at all. Just rich, cobalt blue.

As you can see the ink shades beautifully, and in super heavy applications had something of a sheen. I can’t even decide exactly what the sheen is – maybe a black with a tinge of yellow or red? In person it’s super, super dark.

Ok they were blue suede shoes, not blue velvet, so I took some license here, but I think it works! (please forgive the lack of artistic skill.)

Honestly, I had a hard time coming up with a comparison to this blue in my stash of swatches. Almost everything I brought out wasn’t the right shade, even if it matched in intensity. Pilot Iroshizuku Ajisai is sort of close to the lighter shades of Blue Velvet, but it’s still a bit too much on the periwinkle side. Robert Oster Soda Pop Blue was too turquoise, and Deep Sea was too teal. Faber Castell makes a Cobalt Blue but it is nowhere near as brilliant as Blue Velvet and even Pelikan Edelstein looks muted in comparison.

Overall I’m thrilled with this one because it’s not a shade I currently have. My only problem is deciding which pen to fill up first!

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 Fountain Pen Review

Fountain Pen Review: Esterbrook Phaeton

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments
Fountain Pen Review: Esterbrook Phaeton

The second release from the new, improved relaunch of Esterbrook is the Phaeton 300R (MSRP $85, street price $68). While the Estie was designed to be a modern fountain pen that could also use the original Esterbrook screw-in nib units, the Phaeton is a retro-styled fountain pen with a semi-hooded nib reminiscent of mid-century pen design.

Esterbrook Phaeton in box

The Phaeton 300R ships in the same box as the Estie. It’s a red textural fabric box, like burlap, with white foil stamped logo on the top. It’s neither overly flashy nor overly cheap which is appropriate for a pen at this price point.

The Phaeton 300R is available in several acrylic colors: red, blue, green and black with a silver cap and gold plated clip and nib. It ships with a plunger-style converter.

Esterbrook Phaeton

Esterbrook Phaeton nib

The nib is only available in a medium width presently but its a presently crisp medium.

pen weight comparison chart

The Phaeton weighs 18gms capped or posted and a mere 8gms unposted. It’s a small pen overall measuring just 5.5″ (14cm) capped, 4.875″ (12.5cm) uncapped and 6″ (15.3cm) posted. It takes its dimensions from vintage pens so it might not work for everyone. It does post though.

Esterbrook Phaeton writing sample

In writing, I wasn’t sure I was going to like the Phaeton because I don’t usually write with medium nib pens but the Phaeton has a crisp, almost italic-like grind on the nib making it a pleasant writing experience. I find most medium nib pens to be rather flat and round creating a rather uninspired writing experience — like writing with a ballpoint pen. So, the more crisp, flat medium angle on this nib (and it could just be the nib I received) is a pleasant surprise.

Overall, the pen speaks to me aesthetically. I missed my chance to get one of the Aurora Duo Cart pens last year which fulfilled a similar vintage vibe and the Esterbrook Phaeton is at a much better price point.

I do hope that other nib sizes will be offered at some point but the medium nib is actually quite appealing.

Tools:

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

In Pen Review

Brush Pen Review: Pentel Ultra Fine Artist Brush Sign Pen

Author AnaPosted on 3 Comments

Review by Tina Koyama

I’ve seen a few brush pens in my day, and most with bristles have the same average-size tip. Pentel’s Ultra Fine Artist Brush Sign Pen ($3.65) is a rare exception. (I chose black to test, but it comes in 12 colors.) On the outside, it has a basic plastic body typical of disposable brush pens.

1 - Pentel UF artist brush pen

Remove the cap, however, and the “ultra fine” part becomes obvious. If you were tasked with the proverbial job of painting the eyelashes of angels, this pen would get the job done. It has the finest brush tip of any brush pen I’ve used.

2 - close-up of brush tip

For comparison, the Pentel ultra fine is shown (on the right) next to the Kuretake No. 13 Fountain Brush Pen (left) and the Pentel Kirari Pocket Brush Pen (center) – two of my favorites when I want a brush pen with bristles. 

3 - brush tip comparison - Kuretake, Pentel Pocket brush, UF Pentel

In my sketch and writing samples, I was able to get a wide range of thick and thin lines. I especially like the lovely dry-brush effect that’s possible when held at its broadest angle. (Alas, I’m not a calligrapher, but if I were, I would put that dry brush to work.) The tip springs back nicely and retains its fine point.

4 - page spread of sample sketch and writing

According to JetPens’ specs, the pen contains water-soluble, dye-based ink, so I knew it wouldn’t be waterproof, but I gave it a quick swipe of water anyway. I like the cool gray hue that results when washed. (Samples done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook, which is sized for light washes.)

5 - water-soluble test in S&B Alpha

Final Impressions

I love this brush pen! The wide range of marks it can make from ultra fine to wide makes it fully versatile for writing, sketching and calligraphy. My only wish is that Pentel would come out with an ultra fine artist brush sign pen containing black waterproof ink, too.

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-koyamaTina 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, Ink Review

Ink Review: Sailor Studio 273

Author Jessica ColesPosted on 3 Comments
Ink Review: Sailor Studio 273

By Jessica Coles 

I fell in love with Sailor Studio 273 as soon as I saw a photo of the ink on two different types of paper – the ink looked like an entirely different color when only the paper was changed.

This is another ink that I have placed in my “Inks that have really weird properties” category; a category that houses other inks I find unusual or amazing.  Other inks include Robert Oster Avocado, Sailor 123, and Montblanc Swan Illusion as well.

The Sailor Studio inks use a numbering system to differentiate the inks – a numbering system that also gives clues to the color of the ink.  The first number (here, 2) is used to indicate the shade of the ink, although saturation is indicated to some extent as well. 1 is the lightest and 0 the darkest.

The last two numbers (here 7 and 3) can be used to find the family of the ink – inks that have nearly the same color mixtures.  Ink 373 looks like it may be close to Montblanc Swan Illusion which made me even more excited to try 273 – hopefully, I could find another ink that was slightly different than Swan but also contained the same haunting color mixture.

I wasn’t disappointed.  Sailor Studio 273 is a strange mixture of brown, dusky pink and what looks like an orangish yellow.

I have tried to show inks that look similar here, but as you can see, nothing is quite there.  I didn’t include Swan Illusion since it contains more red undertones.

The photo above shows 273 on Tomoe cream paper.  With the top swab of ink, I smeared it while it was still wet to show how the ink layers upon itself.

One note – there is no sparkle in this ink.  There was a tiny bit of sparkle left in the nib of this pen from a previous fill.

As for other qualities in the ink, it is absolutely not water resistant and the flow is medium.  The price is high, however, coming in at $21.49 for only 20mL from this eBay seller.  So far, no one in the US has started to carry this ink, but I’m hoping someone will!

Disclaimer: All items in this review were purchased by me.  For more information, visit our About page.

In Link Love

Link Love: Spiders & Tortillons

Author AnaPosted on 1 Comment

Several months ago, I was supposed to receive a Montblanc Rouge et Noir Metamorphosis Fountain Pen from Appelboom but FedEx lost the package and has spent the last few months vehemently passing the buck. They told me they sent it back to Europe, they told Appelboom they tried to contact me and when I didn’t respond they “destroyed the package”?!?! Can you believe that?!?! Luckily, Azizah at Gourmet Pens received her package from Appelboom with both models in the package so hop over and watch her review of these two lovelies. I had wanted to review them in time for Halloween so you can see how long I’ve been fighting with FedEx about it.

Ever wondered what those rolled up paper points are called that are sold in art supply shops? They are called tortillons (news to me too!) and Art Supply Critic has a review about some listed in the Art Supplies & Creativity section this week.

Pens:

Ink:

Pencils:

Notebooks & Paper:

Art & Creativity:

Other Interesting Things:

In Ink Review

Ink Review: Monteverde Coral (LA Pen Show 2019)

Author Laura CameronPosted on 1 Comment

Review by Laura Cameron

I wasn’t able to attend this year’s LA Pen Show, but my favorite pen show attendee brought me back a bottle of the special show ink, Monteverde’s Coral.

It turns out that Monteverde’s version of Coral is a very orange ink, leaning slightly red.

When I compared it to other ink swatches I had in my “stash” it looked pretty close to Robert Oster’s Red Orange or Monteverde’s Mandarin Orange. I had the special Papier Plume Heart of Gold ink ready to swatch at the same time and it has a bit of a reddish orange look as well.

When I compared the Monteverde to what I traditionally think of coral (like J. Herbin’s Corail de Tropiques) they don’t look similar at all.

In my other ink tests, I really found Monteverde’s Coral to lean very orange. I got almost no red in the regular writing experience, though I did get some really dark shading especially in the ink dots.

 

Overall, Monteverde Coral seems like a great orange, but I’m not sure it satisfies my need for the one true coral ink!

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.