I was fortunate enough to get my hands on an early edition of the Spoke Pen (starting at $65 — 5 days left), a collaborative project recently launched on Kickstarter between Brian Conti of Spoke Design and Brad Dowdy of The Pen Addict. Y’all have heard of Brad, right? Of course you have. Probably have…
It will probably come as a surprise to discover that, up until recently, I did not own any model of Lamy 2000. While I own many different models of Lamy fountain pens, including the Lamy Scala with a gold nib, I don’t own any of Lamy’s rollerball or ballpoint pens. So, I decided to break…
Review by Tina Koyama I’ve been aware of Maruman sketchbooks for a while, but I hadn’t tried one, mainly because most formats are too large for my sketching lifestyle. The Zuan series, however, includes a postcard size (about 4-by-6 inches) that seems ideal for urban and travel sketching, so I picked up a pad (50…
Review by Laura Cameron When I went on my shopping spree on JetPens last month I also picked up a couple of Apica CD Notebooks ($1.75 each) to try out. I chose the Apica CD11 A5 notebook in Light Blue and Black (which in person appears slightly more grey). These great notebooks have cardstock covers…
How could I possibly pass up a book that would teach me how to make my own ink? Make Ink: A Forager’s Guide to Natural Inkmaking by Jason Logan was an insta-buy for me. The swashes of color on the cover alone were enough to get it in my cart. Then, I was at a…
Review by Tina Koyama My daily-carry is a Rickshaw Bags messenger bag that tidily fits my sketching stuff as well as all my usual “purse” stuff, and I easily take it everywhere. The only time I don’t like to carry it is when I’m taking a 3-mile fitness walk around my neighborhood lake. For that…
Review by Tina Koyama Concentrated watercolor paint stored on paper has intrigued me for a long time: Thin and lightweight, it seems like the ultimate portable paint kit! Several years ago when I first began urban sketching, I bought a booklet of Nicholson’s Peerless Water Colors with that thought in mind. Around the same time,…
