(Plugging the Firm: I had the honor of illustrating a New Year’s Eve cocktail recipe for the Hallmark creativity blog, Think.Make.Share. The recipe was created by our Creative V.P. and I used my vintage gold rimmed coupe martini glasses as inspiration for his Winter in Manhattan cocktails. I used a Platinum Carbon Pen and Peerless Watercolors in a Strathmore multimedia sketchbook. Artwork was scanned and cleaned up in Adobe Photoshop. Get the full scoop here.)
The Notebooks Hardcover by Jean-Michel Basquiat is a reproduction of pieces from eight of his handwritten notebooks that Jean-Michael Basquiat kept filled with strings of words and phrases and doodles. The book recreates a simple composition notebook and Basquiat’s recognizably 80’s street-style all caps writing style in what looks like a felt tip or Sharpie marker. Are these overheard snippets, words that popped into his head, things he saw or a combination of all of these? It looks like a fascinating glimpse into what a notebook can be. Its not a perfect documentation of his life or his work or his motivation but things that may have inspired or fascinated Basquiat in those moments and leave us to wonder. If you are a fan of Basquiat’s art, there are not a lot of drawings included but if you are curious about notebooks and writing, this might be a fascinating glimpse into the power and potential of notebook-keeping.
(Tip o’ the hat to The Cramped for bringing this to my attention)
I recently read The Red Notebook by Antoine Laurain which is a short novel about a man who finds a woman’s handbag and uses the contents, including an enticingly entertaining red Moleskine journal to find the owner. In the process, a bit of a fascination ensues. I found the book to be part Amelie and part While You Were Sleeping. It felt very cinematic in its writing and was a lovely, enjoyable read. If you want to whisked away on a Parisian getaway filled with quirky characters and a whimsical plot then I recommend spending an evening with The Red Notebook. I devoured it in about two evenings and it was just what I needed in these midst of the hectic, stressful holiday season.
Next on my “to read” pile is a book called The Little Paris Bookshop by Nina George about a floating barge bookshop upon which the proprietor can recommend a book to mend a broken heart. Of course, the proprietor too suffers from a unmended broken heart which is what must be repaired in the course of the story with the help of friends and an adventure. Sounds like a charming and delightful tale.
I’ll probably tip into The Little Paris Bookshop as soon as I finish Letters to the Lost which I mentioned in my last post. I’m well into that already and I’m quite enjoying it. I look forward to the book club discussion next month!
Any suggestions for an address and occasion book that is fountain pen friendly? I don’t want a full blown planner/calendar. A bonus would be refillable pages. Thanks!!!
I keep rolling this over in my mind. There are a lot of possibilities for an address book.
You could actually use a Filofax or other ring bound notebook as just an address book. This would give you the flexibility of choosing exactly the size you want. You could print your own address pages or purchase a printable using paper of your choice thereby satisfying the fountain pen friendly equation. And it would be infinitely refillable. But yes, there’s some legwork and set-up involved in this particular option.
If you don’t already own a ring-bound planner, you’d need to purchase one. New planners usually ship with a full set of inserts unless you buy them secondhand so there may be elements wasted. Then you’d have to find address tabs; buy, print or make contacts pages and assemble the whole thing. Once completed however, you are basically done. Once in awhile, you might need to print some new pages or update existing pages but it would be a self-sustaining system. As someone who owns about a half a dozen planners, I’m thinking I might just turn one of them into an address book because this is a brilliant idea and a way for me to put one of my many planners to use.
Hallmark Cards continues to produce address books including its own 6-hole binders which you can purchase replacement sheets. The paper quality is up for debate. I’ve used a 6-ring binder for several years and some pens bleed a little, others don’t at all. Its a heavier weight paper but it doesn’t seem to have any sizing on it so its hit or miss. And again, I have not been able to test every book in their store to determine if its specific to a range of products. Prices range from $9.95 to $24.95.
There are some lovely bound address books that are available as well.
Paperblanks makes lovely notebooks and their line of address books are no exception. These are bound books but stand up reasonably well to fine and medium nib fountain pens and are elegant to boot. Jenni Bick sells several options with prices ranging $18.95 and $21.95.
While not known to be the most fountain pen friendly, Moleskine does make a tabbed Address Book notebook. Its available in 3.5×5 and 5.5×8 sizes with a hardcover ($13.95-$19.95) as well as the softcover Volant ($8.95-$12) and the tabs are plastic covered to make it more durable. The pages are otherwise unmarked which give the user plenty of room for a variety of contact information from simple phone numbers to lengthy foreign addresses.
Of course, there are many other options for address books at your local book shop or office supply store that may or may not be friendly with your pens or your wallet. But these were a few I thought might meet one or more of the criteria set forth: refillable and/or fountain pen friendly. Nice to look at being a bonus.
I spend a good deal of my time thinking about and talking about analog tools, but I also spend a good deal of time using digital tools like computers, an iPad and an iPhone.
One of my go-to tools for work is a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet. Its a large pen-based tablet for image editing that is not necessarily a tool I would recommend to someone who was just dipping their toe into the digital pen world. However, for Christmas, I received a new Wacom Intuos Draw tablet for home use and I think it is a great starter device for someone who might want to try out a pen-based tool for computer work.
Even if you don’t think you’ll be doing a lot of image manipulation, a pen tool is a great way to help change up your hand position while working. I use my Wacom pen all day for tapping, selecting, clicking, highlighting and scrolling because I can hold the pen tool gently compared with how I might grip a mouse or trackball or other input device. I seriously believe I’ve saved myself from years of repetitive stress injuries because I use a Wacom pen on a daily basis because its such a natural, comfortable hand position.
Wacom has recently refreshed their digital pen tablet line. There is now the Intuos consumer-based products under the Intuos umbrella as well as the Intuos Pro. Technically, the consumer line offers four different packages which seem super-complicated but really boil down to two different units: the Draw unit ($69.95) which is just the pen-based tablet. Then there’s the Intuos Art/Comic/Photo units which include touch capabilities on the tablet as well are bundled with different software options depending on your interests.
The Intuos Draw tablet ships with ArtRage Lite software trial. The Intuos Art tablet ships with Corel Painter Essentials 5 ($199.95 for tablet + software), the Intuos Photo tablet ships with Corel PaintShop Pro X8 for Windows and Corel Aftershot Pro 2 for Windows and Mac. Macphun Creative Kit (Tonality Pro, Intensify Pro, Snapheal Pro, Noiseless Pro) is also available for Mac users ($99.95) and the Intuos Comic ships with Clip Studio Paint Pro and Anime Studio Debut 10 ($99.95). Some of the software offered are limited trials and may require upgrade fees for full versions after trial periods.
All the tablets have a working surface of about 6×3.7″ which works with well with most average laptops and doesn’t take up a ton of desk space.
There are four action buttons at the top of the tablet that can be set to specific actions based on application or globally in your preferences. There are also two buttons on the pen itself that can be set to be application-specific or universal controls for things like opt-click, cmd-click or anything else using the Wacom driver preferences.
You can set preferences for left- or right-handed so that it reacts accordingly and adjust the speed of tapping, clicking and pressure in the preferences as well. Overall, you can fine tune the tablet to work best with your way of working.
Many folks who end up choosing one of the Wacom tablets with touch sensitivity end up investing in a glove of some sort to keep their hand from triggering the tablet or turning off the touch capabilities to avoid accidentally triggering the touch capabilities. You can use one the hot keys as a toggle for the touch capabilities if this is a feature you want to use as an option on the Intuos Art/Comic/Photo or Pro models.
I do find that there’s a bit of a learning curve to getting comfortable with input on a pen tablet. When I first started using a Wacom, my co-workers took my mouse away and told me to give it two weeks. They said it would be frustrating initially trying to highlight text or click on an email but to use it to develop those motorskills and, if after two weeks of regular use, I didn’t get adept at using the tablet, I could go back and forth between mouse and tablet. But they felt strongly that with two weeks of daily use, I would be a convert. And they were right. I’ve never had or used a mouse since.
Under the cover on the back of the tablet is three extra pen tips as well which is a nice addition. I thought since these tablets were so budget-priced that Wacom might skip including them but they did not so you’ll have enough to keep you drawing, writing or editing for a good year, even with a heavy hand. There are also specialty tips that can be purchased to simulate different writing and drawing experiences. I usually just use the plain black professional tips and a replacement set of 5 retails for $4.95. A pair of smooth pliers will remove a worn tip easily and then just insert a fresh tip. I only need to change mine about once every 6 months to a year depending on abuse.
That’s a lot of options. But you know what? I got the Intuos Draw. The simplest one because it does exactly what I need it to do. I don’t need a bunch of extra software I may or may not ever use. I just wanted a good tablet to help edit photos in Adobe Photoshop, draw in Adobe Illustrator or experiment with apps purchased in the App Store like AutoDesk Sketchbook, Pixelmator and others. The Intuos Draw tablet provides a pleasing range of pressure sensitivity. While it does not explicitly list on the site, I expect the range of sensitivity is the same as the other tablets at 1024 levels of sensitivity which is honestly more than enough for most folks. My Intuos Pro at work has 2068 levels and its not noticeably more sensitive for most activities.
Some pen tests using the Wacom Intuos Draw tablet and Kyle’s Brush Presets for Adobe Photoshop
The biggest difference between the Intuos Draw pen and the Pro version is the size of the pen. The Intuos Draw pen is shorter than the Pro pens and does not include the “eraser” tip. I don’t think that’s a make-or-break feature since I’ve broken two Pro pens this year and replacing the Pro pens are about $80 each. I’d just assume use an undo step or erase tool in an app than flip the pen over to use the “eraser”. In all my years of using Wacom pens, I never really flipped my pen over anyway. The Intuos consumer line pens also do away with the silicone covering on the grip section which I find an improvement as well because the heat from my hand has caused the silicone to stretch and warp over time. Eventually I just have to tear the rubber off exposing an unsightly ridge anyway. One of my co-workers actually made a little felt cozy wrap to cover her pen for the exact same reason so I actually much prefer a plain plastic casing.
All four tablets can be upgraded to be wireless with an accessory kit for $39.95. This makes it great for working on the go or on the arm of the couch. Then when you are at a desk, just plug in the USB and it will charge while you are working.
Overall, I think the Wacom Intuos Draw tablet is a great investment and will be a solid performer for years to come.
Several months ago, I purchased a set of Mitsubishi No. 850 Colored Pencils from Fresh Stock Japan. It was the 24 color set which is reasonably priced at $22 for the pack. The set includes gold and silver metallic as well as an opaque white plus an array of standard colors. The barrels are smooth round and fit into a standard sharpener. The barrels are beautifully foil stamped and the paint on each pencil is stunning. The set is in a plastic case, slid into a paperboard sleeve. The packaging is perfectly Japanese.
The Mitsubishi pencil leads are soft but not quite as soft as Prismacolor Premier pencils. The Mitsubishi pencils seem to be a standard wax pencil that blends pretty nicely on smooth stock for the price point but are not quite “artist quality”. I’d qualify them as a good starter set — more like a student-grade. Most of the colors are opaque enough to show over dark paper. I tested the colors over black gesso to test this range which is a nice added feature.
The color range is pretty broad for a 24-color set though I would have liked an additional bright pink/fuchsia and a true violet or purple in the set instead of one of the blues which are quite similar or one of the reds which are also quite similar. Overall though, with some blending, I was able to get a good range of color from the set for less than $25.
I tested the pencils in drawing on Strathmore Series 500 Mixed Media sketchbook paper which is quite toothy, 100% cotton and the Mitsubishi pencils did not blend as well as Prismacolor Premier or Derwent Artists. I was able to layer Sharpie Pen and Platinum Carbon Pen over the pencil for mixed media doodles so I think on smoother paper, the pencils really do perform nicely. But they don’t soften into the tooth of paper as easily as softer Prismacolors.
Alternately, in a smooth adult coloring book like my new Posh Coloring Book: Happy Doodles for Fun & Relaxation by Flora Chang, the Mitsubishi Colored Pencils were perfect! The smooth paper let the pencils easily blend and mix and the colors really popped. If you’re looking for pencils to pair with a coloring book, the Mitsubishi are a good set to combine and Flora’s coloring book is full of such fun drawings (and I’m only a little bit biased because she works with me!).
So, for doodling, light sketching and coloring, the Mitsubishi colored pencils are a good starter set. For mixed media art-making where you will be doing a lot of textural blending, I’d hold out for a slightly pricier set like Prismacolor Premier or Derwent Coloursoft.
For today, I decided to pull together my favorite items from 2015. These are products and/or previously mentioned Fashionable Friday items I actually bought, used and kept. So it might look a bit like a hodgepodge but in the spirit of full disclosure, I’m often my biggest enabler. So now you know! And wow, did my faves end up being colorful and more pink than I would have thought! I guess I needed a lot of vibrant color this year.
Most of my most-used and most-loved goodies ended up being reasonably priced pieces too. I may be an enabler but sometimes I’m a reasonably-priced enabler.
Swiss Army Secretary Pocket Knife $23.50 (from Marvel’s Agent Carter) (sadly, no longer available!)
Pilot Metropolitan Fountain Pen – Retro Pop in all colors (from Dot Your Eyes) starting at about $15 (available from JetPens, Goulet Pens, Pen Chalet and other fine retailers)
Lamy Safari Neonlime fountain pen (2015 Special Edition) (from Spring is Here!) €19,50 (via Fontoplumo)
100 Pens Printed Case in Dragonfly’s Distress Print (from Make More Art) this print is no longer available but other options are, starting at $34.99 (via Kipling)
Filofax Original Organizer in Fluoro Pink Leather, Personal-sized $97 (from What I’m Coveting) (via Filofax)
Agendio Customizable Planner System, starting at $35 (via Agendio)
I didn’t list any inks because I really just played with colors this year and relied most heavily on Platinum Carbon Black fountain pen ink (pack of 4 for $3.30 last me all year and I’m still on the first cartridge) for day-to-day. Who would have thought I’d become a mostly black ink girl? I still enjoy using color inks for letter writing but I didn’t have one true favorite that I reloaded again and again. I tried a new ink, used it up and then tried a new one. Did you find your favorite ink color this year?
The first step into getting prepared for 2016 was to set-up my new Hobonichi Techo A6 with the blue-green cover ($47). The color combo is absolutely PERFECT! Lime green loveliness inside with my second favorite color, turquoise, exterior. I had a decorative plastic protective sleeve I purchased a few years earlier from 1101.com that I added to the book. I quite like the overall look but sadly, this particular cover is no longer available. There is a different printed over available though or a clear cover.
Inside, in the array of card pockets provided, I put lots of tidbits like stickers, washi tape wrapped around old playing cards and a few other tidbits. I’m not hugely inclined to do a lot of decorating in the Hobonichi at this point but the washi tape will give me a way to attach receipts, notes or other ephemera into the book as need and the stickers can be added to the monthly calendar for events and birthdays. Mostly, I plan to use the Hobonichi as a daily journal so the decorative bits are really for those days when I haven’t got a lot to write about and may be inclined to doodle or draw or just put a great big “X” on the day and call it done.
I wanted a pencil board to put between the delicate Tomoe River paper pages so I made one from a piece of index card (read: plain manila file folder), cut to size with a decorative tab at the top. I used the fancy tab punch and some scrapbooking paper to make the tab and the adhesive tab sticker to cover it. It wasn’t necessary to add the tab but it makes it quick to pull the card out and flip it around from page-to-page. It only took a few minutes to make it so I can use it as a blotter card as well if my inks are not completely dry. If it starts to look dodgy after awhile I can make a new one. I used a bit of washi tape to put in the ticket stub from Star Wars: The Force Awakens opposite my pencil board as you can see in the photo below.
In the back of the book, I added a little A6 plastic folder that my friend brought back from Japan for me several years ago. As I was setting up the Hobonichi, I realized it was the absolute perfect size to fit into it and gave me a place to put a few more cards and stickers.
The Hobonichi provides the last two weeks of December as half-page sheets so that I have been able to slowly start moving towards using it as a daily journal. The narrow half columns are a bit limiting so I’m looking forward to having a full page to write or draw the day’s events. I have been using an extra large Moleskine softcover notebook so the Hobonichi was seems incredibly small in comparison. I’m hoping moving to the full page will help alleviate any feeling of being cramped since the Moleskine XL was a bit larger than I needed per day most of the time.
I’m also still a little concerned about ink smudging and adhesion on the Tomoe River paper. The whole left-handed thing can be a bit of a pain and I get caught up in writing and forget to make sure the ink is dried before I run my hand through it. I’ve already run my hand through it a couple times so I will definitely need to make a point of finding a few pens that are the best match with the Hobonichi and keep them with the book to avoid future messes. So far, my favorite pen with the Hobonichi is the Platinum Carbon Pen. The super fine line allows me to write very small on the graph lines and the ink dries pretty quickly. I’ll play more with the gel pens I stash in my office at work in the next couple weeks and see if any others become favorites.
Pens:
I recently read 
Next on my “to read” pile is a book called 
