Pencil Review: Non-Photo Blue Pencils

Pencil Review: Non-Photo Blue Pencils

Review by Tina Koyama Back in the day, graphic designers and printers used “non-photo blue” pencils. Certain shades of blue that could not be detected by camera film (or copy machines), so rough drawing lines or notations could be left on the art and would not appear in the final form. Modern scanners can see…

Link Love: Cats, Composition Books and Colored Pencils

Link Love: Cats, Composition Books and Colored Pencils

I am loving the alliteration of this week’s title but it could have easily been “Nakaya, Newton and Nolty” or “Unions and Ugly Cats” (but are there really ugly cats?). What other alliterations could I have used? Pens: Zebra Sarasa R Gel Pen Review (via The Pen Addict) The PINEIDER Metropolis (via FOUNTAIN PEN INK…

Sketchbook Review: Hahnemühle The ZigZag Book

Sketchbook Review: Hahnemühle The ZigZag Book

Review by Tina Koyama I have a penchant for teeny-tiny things, especially art materials. Tiny pencils, paint palettes and sketchbooks may be adorable, but unfortunately, most are too small to be practical. As an urban sketcher, I am constantly trying to strike the ideal balance between portability and useability, and my sweet spot for sketchbooks…

Paper Review: Sakae TP Iroful Loose Leaf A5

Paper Review: Sakae TP Iroful Loose Leaf A5

Review by Tina Koyama A friend who writes with both graphite pencils and fountain pens told me about Sakae Iroful paper. He said it’s made for fountain pens, but he enjoys writing on it with pencil, too. I found that intriguing. At first blush, the two types of instruments seem to have opposing needs: Pencils…