Review by Tina Koyama If I had my druthers, all pens would be retractable. Since I use so many of my pens and other tools while out sketching somewhere, pens with caps are always at risk. (I once dropped a pen cap from the upper level balcony of a mall where I was sketching. The…
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Fountain Pen Review: Monteverde Monza
Review by Jessica Coles Monteverde has recently come out with several new nibs for their Monza line. The Monteverde flex nib ($16.00 at Pen Chalet) is one of these. The Monza flex comes in a light green plastic box — somewhat like a small pencil box where the pen, two cartridges, and the included converter are packed in a…
Pen Review: Three Dry Gel Pens Compared
Review by Tina Koyama After fountain pens, my favorite pen type for writing is gel. I love the wide range of vibrant ink colors they are available in, and they require no maintenance. As a lefty, however, many gel inks remain wet just long enough that they smear under typical writing conditions. I’ve occasionally tried…
Pen and Ink Review: TWSBI Go and Robert Oster Pacific Ocean Teal
Review by Jessica Coles Imagine this: Exhausted from 8 hours of travel and flight delays, plus the pleasure of being jammed in a big metal tube with strangers and offered snacks that consist of exactly three pretzels. Then my wonderful and beautiful friend, Kimberly (aka allthehobbies. NOT Kim) drives up and helps me to load…
Pen Review: Pentel EnerGel Clena Gel Pens
I picked up the Pentel Energel Clena Gel pens ($3 each) awhile back but forgot to post the review until recently. Its probably a good thing as now there are plenty in stock. When I ordered them, the pickings were slim. The options for the black ink varieties were only one point size and the barrel…
Fountain Pen Review: Pilot Metropolitan Calligraphy Nib
Review by Laura Cameron When I was working at the Vanness table at the Chicago Pen Show, I noticed that the Pilot Metropolitans ($18.50) had an additional nib option that I hadn’t seen before, the calligraphy nib. I resolved to order one to try and write up for the desk, since I do love my…
Fountain Pen Review: Platinum PTL 5000A Balance
Review by Jessica Coles The Platinum 5000-A Balance caught my eye a couple weeks ago when I noticed it had a gold nib. That’s not actually a remarkable thing in itself; Platinum makes many excellent gold nibbed pens. However, I was looking at pens sorted by price. There was no way I had scrolled down far enough…