Review by Tina Koyama “Play your notes, to hear the sounds of pencil on paper.” It’s hard to resist an invitation like that! Under the MD Paper Products name, Midori makes understated pens, notebooks, letter-writing paper, planners and other products. It also makes colored and graphite pencils to match that muted esthetic. Today I’m reviewing…
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Pencil Review: Vintage EF Blackwing 602
This post will hopefully answer the question: Is it worth it to seek out a vintage Blackwing 602? I have wanted a vintage Blackwing 602 just to try it out, since before this blog was even a twinkle in my eye. At the same time, I’ve never really wanted to spend $100 for an unsharpened…

Pencil Review: Uni 3-Color Erasable Mechanical Pencil
In a recent JetPens shipment, I purchased the Uni Color 3 Erasable Multi Mechanical Pencil 0.5 mm in Pure White ($8.25) which is a 3-color multi-pencil. While I suspect you could “build your own” multi-color multi-pencil by purchasing several pencil inserts for a multi-pen, this is a simpler and probably less expensive route for carrying…

Pencil Review: Midori MD Color Pencils
I love pencils but I love books even more. This will become clear when I tell you I had every intention of posting this review this morning but I was so wrapped up in the book that I’ve been reading that I completely lost track of time this morning and had to toss my book…

Colored Pencil Review: Uni EMOTT Color Mechanical Pencils
Review by Tina Koyama Whenever I see colored leads for mechanical pencils, I have a two-fold reaction: The first is to feel tingly with anticipation as I always do about any colored pencil I haven’t (yet) tried. This feeling is almost immediately followed by skepticism, which is an annoying but realistic buzz-kill. I’ve tried many…

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…

Pencil Review: Caran d’Ache Klein Blue 2mm Fixpencil
Review by Tina Koyama Once I grabbed onto the Caran d’Ache Klein Blue Maxi pencil, the slope became slippery. I had already had my eye on the Klein Blue Fixpencil ($52), which I had resisted for a while . . . until I realized that it came with Klein Blue leads! And the leads are…