Loot Crate had an exclusive set of X-files pencils ($2.80) a few months back that featured quotes from the series. While I am not a subscriber of the pop culture box service, I was informed that it was fairly easy to grab a set on eBay so I scurried over and for less than $10,…
Review by Tina Koyama While woodcased colored pencils are commonplace (a quick search on Amazon resulted in 20,000 products!), colored leads for mechanical pencils or clutches are much harder to come by. They seem like they should be a promising idea – compact, refillable, no need for sharpening – and yet they generally aren’t. I’ve…
Review by Tina Koyama The only grease pencils I knew about were the white and black ones I’d seen in hardware stores. Recently a few of my urban sketcher friends shared sketches they had done with some kind of bright, opaque material on toned paper, and when I asked what they were using, the answer…
Review by Tina Koyama Well-known for its iconic notebook, Moleskine has been coming out with quite a few other analog stationery and art products the past several years. I recently reviewed the graphite drawing pencils and watercolor pencils. When I was choosing contenders for my Great Eraser Rub-Off Challenge, I included the eraser from the…
Review by Tina Koyama Ana warned me. When I said I wanted to review the Kum Lefty Aluminum Can pencil sharpener, she said she had found it difficult to get used to reversing her hand when she used a sharpener made for lefties. I was so tickled to see any sharpener made for lefties that…
My pencil problem has an equal rival: the pencil accessories problem. To accompany my pencils, I have pencil point protectors, erasers, sharpeners, and leads for mechanical pencils. The accessory collection has grown to such proportions that it warranted its own organizational system. I use an old military green metal box with divided compartments that keep…
Review by Tina Koyama Last year Moleskine released two sets of pencils as part of its Art Collection – watercolor pencils and graphite drawing pencils. In my review of the watercolor set, I mentioned features that are common to both, such as the unique square barrel, matte black finish and semi-gloss end caps (please read…
