Derwent Pencil Tin Case is the a very simple pencil case, just the way I like it.

The design is simple. The edges and corners are rounded. On top, you have the Derwent logo embossed. It's made of tin with brushed surface.

It's quite a big pencil case, and quite thick. It comes with a removable interior tray that can up to 20 pencils, and below, you can hold another 20.

For pens, the tin holds much less as pens and their caps take up more space. It can hold around 6 pens on each tray, depending on their sizes.

Overall, it's really well built and looks nice.

Availability

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The Derwent Pencil Tin Case is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es

Kremer Pigments is a German company founded by chemist George Kremer in 1977. They pride themselves for their historical pigments and mediums, those that are used by paintings from Old Masters. They offer more than 1000 different pigments, but for this review I shall only be looking at their watercolour pan box sets.

I've been using this set exclusively for more than a month now, with some of the colours almost half full. It's a really interesting watercolour set compared to other sets that I've used such as the Winsor & Newton, Daniel Smith and Schmincke. I just feel that Kremer Pigment has its own characteristics.

The various Kremer Pigments watecolour pan sets

I'll be talking about the Kremer Pigments 14 full pan set that I'm using but there are also other sets that you might be interested in, namely the

• 8 full pan small set
• 14 full pan Earth colour set
• 14 full pan Landscape set
• 14 full pan Pearl luster set
• 14 full pan Illumination set
• 14 full pan Gold retouching set

I was choosing between the small 8 full pan set and the larger 14 full pan set and eventually settle for the latter. The small set box because there are pans for white and black, both of which I do not use. The 14 full pan set is great because there are three yellows, three reds, three blues, three earths and two greens. You have a lot of colour mixing potential with three sets of primaries -- usually 12 pan sets have only 2 sets of primaries plus 2 green and earth colours.

Kremer Pigments has quite a few unorthodox palettes for peculiar tasks. Anyway, to see what specific pigments those sets come with, just visit their respective links.

The standard 14 full pan set

This is a rather long box and weight comes mostly from the full pans of watercolours. There's some space between the rows of pans and you can fit either a Size 8 short handle brush or a waterbrush there.

This colour chart comes with the box.

When my set arrived, there were two colours that were harden to the extent that they cracked, namely Phthalo Green and Burnt Umber. It's not a big deal, as long as they don't fall out of the pan, I'm fine with them.

Below are the colours, and associated pigments, included in the 14 pan set. LF is the lightfastness with 8 being the best.

23310 - Permanent Yellow Medium, PY 154, LF 7 to 8
23370 - Pyramid-Yellow Medium, PY 108, LF 8
43300 - Titanium Orange, PBr 24, LF 8
23180 - Irgazine® Red DPP BO, PR 254, LF 8
23182 - Irgazine® Ruby DPP-TR, PR 264, LF 8
40510 - Venetian Red, PR 102, LF 8
40430 - Dark Burnt Sienna, PR 101, LF 8
45700 - Cobalt Blue Dark, PB 74, LF 8
45720 - Cobalt Blue Light, PB 35, LF 8
45750 - Cobalt Blue Turquoise Light, PB 28, LF 8
23000 - Phthalo Green Dark, PG 7, LF 8
44200 - Chrome Oxide Green, PG 17, LF 8
40400 - Italian Raw Sienna, PY 43, LF 8
40720 - Burnt Umber Dark Brown, PBr 7, LF 8

Below's a closer look at how the various colours mix.

With three yellows and three reds, you can get a nice range of orange and peach colours. For skin tone, I typically go with Titanium Orange with one of the reds.

These are the yellow plus blue and green mixes. If you want to mix your own greens, again three yellows and blues give a nice range. You can get bright cool yellow green to the warm greens.

Sometimes I would mix my greens from the primary colours, and sometimes I would just start from the convenient greens in this case Phthalo Green and Chrome Oxide Green.

These are the purple and mauve colours from mixing the reds and blues. Note that the blues are quite granulating, all three of them.

I usually mix grays from blue and earth colours. There's no Ultramarine in this set so the substitute is Cobalt Blue. For a light warm gray, I would use that with Raw Sienna. For a dark, intense gloomy gray, I would add it with Burnt Umber or Burnt Sienna.

The other way I mix grays is from red and greens. You can almost mix a black from Phthalo Green and Irgazine Ruby. Often, I would add reds to the greens to dull down the greens for foliage.

Phthalo Green and Irgazine Ruby are quite staining colours.

Below are some sketches coloured with this set.

Most of the grays on this piece are mixed from Burnt Sienna and Cobalt Blue. Note the granulating nature of Cobalt Blue for the sky.

The colours used are Pyramid-Yellow Medium, Irgazine® Ruby, Cobalt Blue Dark, Cobalt Blue Light, Phthalo Green Dark, Chrome Oxide Green and Italian Raw Sienna.

Shadow side of the building is a mixture of Cobalt Blue Dark and Raw Sienna to give a neutral gray. The sky is Cobalt Blue Light. Greens are mixed from Phthalo Green Dark, Chrome Oxide Green plus Irgazine® Ruby, with occasional Cobalt Blue Dark.

The colours are Permanent Yellow Medium, Irgazine® Ruby, Cobalt Blue Dark, Phthalo Green Dark and Burnt Umber Dark Brown.

Here's a close up of the temple above using a different set of colours, namely Titanium Orange, Venetian Red, Cobalt Blue Light, Phthalo Green Dark and Burnt Umber Dark Brown. The colour scheme is more muted.

Perm Yellow Medium, Irgazine Ruby Red, Cobalt Blue Deep, Phthalo Green Dark and Raw Sienna.

Titanium Orange, Irgazine® Ruby, Cobalt Blue Light, Phthalo Green Dark and Burnt Umber Dark Brown.

Venetian Red, Cobalt Blue Dark, Chrome Oxide Green and Italian Raw Sienna.

Permanent Yellow medium, Irgazine® Red DPP BO, Cobalt Blue Dark and Raw Sienna.

Pyramid Yellow, Venetian Red, Cobalt Turquoise Light, Chrome Oxide Green and Burnt Umber

With three sets of primary colours, you get more flexibility for mixing colours.

The pigments are also quite transparent. The more opaque colours are the Irgazine Red, Venetian Red, Cobalt Blue Light and Cobalt Blue Turquoise Light. Even so, most of the time, the black ink lines are mostly still visible under the watercolour wash.

The specific characteristics about Kremer Pigments that I find interesting is that the pigments are quite dense. Especially for Cobalt Blue Deep which you can see the pigments actually setting down when you wash your brushes. When water is added to the pigment, I noticed that many become powdery soft and you can pick up plenty of with the brush.

The downside of Kremer Pigments is they are quite hard to find. For the sets, you can order for Amazon. Once you depleted the pans, you would have to order new pans or tubes from Kremer Pigments online store direct. Prices vary depending on the rarity of pigments, of course. And since there's only one place selling, the price is pretty much fixed, but it's still competitive I would say with other brands.

Overall, I would say that this is quite an interesting set because of the high pigment load. 100% pure pigments, they said, and it feels like it.

I bought the set at US$80 on Amazon for 14 pans, which makes each full pan about US$5.70 which is much cheaper than getting them alone, plus you get a metal palette box. It's quite value for money considered I paid more money for less paints with Schmincke.

Availability

They are available in USA only. You can get the sets from Amazon, individual pans from Kremer Pigments online store

http://www.amazon.com/KREMER-PIGMENTS-Watercolor-Set-I/dp/B005BE0NRA?tag...

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According to Winsor & Newton, this set was "inspired by deserts around the world, from the Sahara, to the Australian outback and the American southwest". Hence it's called the Desert Collection. Actually, to me, I might call it the Cafe Collection since most of the cafes I've sketched in feature mostly yellow, brown and warm interior colours.

Yellow Titanate (PBr24): Opaque, granulating and staining, permanence AA (Extremely Permanent)
Transparent Orange (PO107): Transparent, non granulating or staining, permanence A (Permanent)
Indian Red Deep (PBr25): Transparent, non granulating or staining, permanence A
Gold Brown (PBk12): Opaque, staining, non granulating, permanence AA
Dark Brown (PY164): Opaque, staining and non granulating, permanence AA
Phthalo Sapphire (PB15:6): Transparent not granulating or staining, permanence A

Here's the colour chart from the six colours:

The resulting colour mixtures and combination results in a rather warm palette. What's lacking in the mixtures are yellow, purple, greens and their nearby hue. So the mixing flexibility of this set is rather limited.

From what I can see, since there's no bright yellow, the mixtures are mainly orange, red, dark browns, and dull greens.

The limited ability to mix green definitely makes this set not suited for painting sort of foliage or flora.

Actually, it is not accurate to call this a set. You would be better served to buy the colours separately. These colours come in small 5ml tubes which makes them rather expensive.

But let's go through the colours one by one.

Yellow Titanate (PBr24)
This is an opaque colour which to me is quite similar to Naples Yellow, but this is warmer.

Transparent Orange (PO107)
This is quite an intense colour and looks more red than orange. It's highly transparent. I've used something similar before and that's the Daniel Smith Pyrrol Orange (PO73). This is a nice strong red that's a good pick for a primary red.

Indian Red Deep (PBr25)
This feels like Venetian Red from other manufacturers but W&N's version is transparent and redder, more maroon. Interesting, it mixes with Pthalo Sapphire to a gray.

Gold Brown (PBk12)
I like this yellow more than the Yellow Titanate. Its shade is almost like Raw Sienna but it's still a yellow. It can dull down Transparent Orange and useful for creating flesh tones.

Dark Brown (PY164)
It's opaque but if you use it for light washes, it's still quite transparent. Since the colour itself is dark, it's going to cover whatever that's beneath anyway. It can mix with Phthalo Sapphire for a darker gray, almost like Payne's Grey but more neutral, less cool, and you lose the transparency. I find that when mixing, this colour will push away other colours until you mix it completely.

Phthalo Sapphire
This is the only blue. Interestingly, it does not mix with the reds to give purple or marvue. Instead, you get brown and greys. And guess what, Winsor Blue (Red Shade) is PB15 also. So does Phthalo Sapphire contain Red Shade as well?

Anyway, why would you want to buy this over Winsor Blue (Red Shade)? Because the name sounds cooler? And you should go for Winsor Blue because it's more economical in bigger tubes.

Below are some lighter washes.

Yellow Titanate (PBr24), Transparent Orange (PO107) and Gold Brown (PBk12) on cold pressed paper.

Dark Brown (PY164), Indian Red Deep (PBr25) and Phthalo Sapphire (PB15:6).

It's a set well suited for sketching cafes.

The palette is a bit too restricted for other scenes, basically scenes that are not dry and warm.

The clouds are mixed with French Ultramarine and Dark Brown. It's quite uninteresting as both those colours are almost similar in value, and they mix together to form a dark mass. The red roofs are coloured with Transparent Orange. Buildings are coloured with a pale wash of Gold Brown. Greens are from Phthalo Green mixed with Transparent Orange.

I used Transparent Orange and Indian Red for the reds, Phthalo Sapphire for the blue. My usual choice of blue is Ultramarine which comes with granulation.

That's the granulation of Ultramarine that I'm talking about. It's mixed with Burnt Sienna. It's more exciting with the extra textures. The building was coloured with Gold Brown which I feel is less opaque than Yellow Titanate.

I still prefer Ultramarine and Burnt Sienna. As you can see, you get two colours that are quite different and they mix playfully together to form grey. The combination is visually more interesting.

Used Transparent Orange mixed with Burnt Sienna for the roofs. The rest of the colours are not from the Desert Collection.

Conclusion

Of the six colours, I'm probably more excited by Transparent Orange.

As for the others colours, you can pretty much mix them yourself with the exception of Phthalo Sapphire which is very bright.

I prefer alternatives like Hansa Yellow, Burnt Sienna, Raw Sienna, Ultramarine. Call me boring or old fashion when it comes to choosing my colours. Or maybe I expected more from these six colours.

Availability

You can find these new colours at Dick Blick Art Materials (USA) and Jackson's Art Supplies (UK).

On Amazon

• Yellow Titanate: US | UK
• Transparent Orange: US | UK
• Indian Red Deep: US | UK
• Gold Brown: US | UK
• Dark Brown: US | UK
• Phthalo Sapphire: US | UK

These are the two wooden brush boxes that I bought recently.

On the left is the brand is Pro Art and the right is Art Advantage.

Design of the two boxes are identical. There are two small differences though. The first difference is the metal plate that's fixed to the side of the boxes that show the brand. The other is the material used. Art Advantage's box uses bamboo. In terms of the finishing, both have smooth surfaces, the edges are trimmed well, the parts where the wood comes together are flushed well.

Art Advantage's bamboo brush box is slightly better though because there's a slight gloss to the finishing, and the edges are rounded off. It's the little details that makes Art Advantage's box better.

Just underneath the covers are magnets. When you slide the cover back, the strong magnet will pull the cover in and close it tight. Very nice.

It's quite a big box. The internal dimensions are 23cm length by 9cm wide and 3.5cm deep. So your brushes have to be shorter than 23cm to fit inside. Be careful not to have the brush hair bent against the wall because you won't be able to see them with the cover on.

Actually I bought these to store my stationery. The large boxes can hold quite a lot of items and they feel durable and well built. I'm very satisfied with the purchase. Both are worth the money.

The two brush boxes are quite affordable. The Art Advantage's bamboo box cost a bit more but I prefer this because of the better finishing.

Highly recommended.

Availability

Both are available at Amazon

Art Advantage Bamboo Brush Box:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

Pro Art Wooden Brush Box:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

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http://www.parkablogs.com/content/list-of-art-products-reviewed

Derwent Artpack Canvas Pencil Case is nice large size pencil case for those who like to carry lots of stationery out.

The exterior is made of canvas and all the edges are sewn nicely with a dark trimming that goes all around.

The design is simple and functional.

There are two pockets inside the case. At the top is mesh pocket and the bottom is a clear plastic pocket. Each can probably hold around 10 pens or pencils depending on size. The pockets both have zips so there's no worries of things dropped out when their are zipped up.

The case is closed and held by the velcro that runs along the bottom.

The whole case looks and feels durable. Very worthwhile purchase.

Good for those who want a larger than standard size pencil case.

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If you buy from any links on the blog, I get a little commission that helps me get more art books to feature.

Derwent Artpack Canvas Pencil Case is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

This is the Tran Natural Canvas Artist Paint Brush Roll Up, a brush holder, or brush wrap.

When I received it, I was quite surprised by the large size. When opened flat, it's almost twice A3 size.

In the photo above, I've put a small pencil for size comparison. The longest brush I have above is 32cm, and that extends beyond the halfway mark of the brush wrap. It's not an issue because you can just fold anywhere above the brush hair. The other brushes are around 24cm and shorter.

The canvas used is quite thick and certainly very durable. It may be a bit stiff but it's a non-problem. When you fold it up with brushes inside, the overall size can be a bit bulky. The stitching is also well done. Outside, there are two strings for tying to keep everything in place, so there's no way brushes can fall out.

The pockets are quite big. In some pockets you can certainly fit two or three brushes. In the photo above, I've 12 brushes fitted, and there's still space to hold smaller brushes.

I don't think you can go wrong with this brush wrap. It's made to last. Good buy.

This is how it looks with my twelve brushes inside.

Availability

Amazon.com | Amazon.ca

This is suppose to be the Alvin Prestige brush holder and easel. If you look closely, you'll see that the brand on it is actually "Heritage". Weird. Anyway, it looks the same as the Amazon product photo so it's not a big deal.

The brush holder is made of black nylon with a Velcro closure. I can feel some hard cardboard-like thing which I think is to make it stand.

There are six slots on each side. The slots are big enough for some of my thicker brushes. They are elastic, so they can hold thinner brushes tight without them moving. There's also some sort of cushion backing.

In total, there are 13 slots, including one right in the middle. Some slots are larger, so you can fit maybe two brushes in those slots.

This is how it looks when it stands up, functioning as a brush easel. It's quite convenient to have this on the ground, especially if you're sitting and sketching, and have to reach for brushes.

This is the small plastic stopper that you tighten to make the brush holder stand.

With the stopper, you can adjust the string on the spine, thereby allowing the brush holder to stand.

The maximum length of brush I suggest would be 32cm, and longer and you will see the brush hair coming out of the holder.

On Amazon, there's another alternative called Prat Start Brush Holder and Easel which I've also reviewed. These two are essentially the same thing. Some differences though. Prat is more expensive, and they have less cushion backing (which may be an advantage if you like the whole thing thinner).

This is a good and smartly designed brush holder. Highly recommended.

Availability

The Prestige Brush Holder and Easel is available on Amazon.com (cheaper) and Amazon.ca.

This is the Prat Start Brush Holder and Easel. Prat is the company and Start is this particular product.

There are six slots on each side. The slots are big enough for some of my thicker brushes. They are elastic, so they can hold thinner brushes tight without them moving. There's also some sort of cushion backing.

In total, there are 13 slots, including one right in the middle. Some slots are larger, so you can fit maybe two brushes in those slots.

On the back of the holder is a plastic stopper that you can use to shorten the string to make the brush holder stand.

It's quite inconvenient to have it at the back, but you can untie everything and put the stopper in front which is what I did.

This is how it looks brush holder looks standing up, doubling as an easel. It's easy to pick brushes, especially for outdoor sketches who put this on the ground.

The maximum length of brush I suggest would be 32cm, and longer and you will see the brush hair coming out of the holder.

This a good brush holder with a smart design.

On Amazon, there's another alternative called Prestige Brush Holder and Easel which I've also reviewed. These two are essentially the same thing. Some differences though. Prestige is cheaper, but it's thicker because of the thicker cushion backing. Definitely go for the cheaper one since the two are mostly the same with minor differences.

Availability

Prat Start Brush Holder and Easel is available at Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.de

My previous experience with Fabriano was their Studio 200GSM watercolour paper. That's a decent paper but the Fabriano Artistico is much better.

This review covers the Fabriano Artistico Traditional White watercolor paper (300GSM)

Fabriano Artistico watercolour comes in Traditional White and Extra White, only available at 300GSM. They are 100% cotton made, double-sized and acid-free. For surfaces, there are coldpress, hotpress and rough.

I'm very pleased with the whiteness of the Traditional White. It does not dull down the intensity of the watercolours. The traditional warm white shade is created without the use of optical brighteners. I'll definitely be getting the Extra White to try in the future.

The watercolour pads are gummed on four sides so they don't wrap even when you apply heavy washes. Usually, I would tear out a few pieces to bring outdoors instead of bring the whole pad. Even when it's a single sheet clipped at two points to board backing, it does not wrap when a wash is applied.

The quality of the paper is fantastic. I like the even fine grainy texture of the coldpress surface. The quality is good enough to withstand glazing. I usually use pencils for drafts and they erase off well from the surface, even multiple times.

I've read several reviews saying that it's good for coloured pencils as well, and others use it for mixed media. It's quite pricey as coloured pencil paper though.

Below are the watercolour sketches drawn on the paper.

Winsor & Newton (WN)

You can create sharp edges easily on the surface.

WN

The granulation of the Ultramarine is quite even.

The granulation is stronger from the Cobalt Blue Deep of Kremer Pigments (KP).

KP

This is watersoluble graphite from Viarco's ArtGraf. I layered a few washes for the darker shades.

This is watersoluble graphite again. Check out the amazing granulation of the graphite.

KP

KP

KP

KP

WN

Conclusion

I really love using this paper especially because of the even grainy surface. It's quite durable and can withstand layering, erasing. Granulation looks wonderful but a lot actually depends on the watercolour pigment.

Definitely will be buying it again, and also going to try the hotpress and Extra White.

Highly recommended.

Availability

You can find Fabriano Artistico at Dick Blick Art Materials (USA) and Jackson's Art Supplies (UK).

Amazon: US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT

Huion probably make one of the sleekest light boxes in the market today. Gone are the days when light boxes are lit by fluorescent light tubes. LED is the way of the future. The benefits of LED are plenty, many are listed below.

Huion light box or table uses strengthened and durable acrylic panels that are capable of great light transmission. Compared to glass panels, Huion's acrylic panels transmitted 20% more light, and it's also lighter in weight.

The lighting technology behind is LED. Life of the LED is estimated at 50,000, which is about 17 years if you draw 8 hours a day.

The backlight design is bilateral for light stability (even lighting) and to prevent your eyes from straining.

Typical uses of light boxes are for tracing for animation, photograph transfer, x-ray viewing, and just tracing for whatever purposes. It's more commonly used by artists to trace over their artwork.

Sizes

Huion light boxes come in five different sizes, from big to small, A2, A3, A4, L4S and LB4.

L4S is the A4 version that also comes with an USB cable. So you can power it with your computer as well. L4S is even thinner than the standard A4 model.

LB4 has dual power mode of battery and USB. It comes with a rechargeable 1050 mAH battery. It recharges while in USB mode. This model is even more portable and allows you to work anywhere, even without a power plug in sight.

You have to watch the video below to see how sleek it is. The light box thickness ranges from 4-7mm depending on different models. So it's portable and easy to store away when not in use.

Power consumption is also quite low, ranging from 1W to 6W depending on the size of the lit surface.

Here are some specifications:

A2
Dimension(LxWxH） 600mm x 400mm x 11mm(23.6 X 15.75 X 0.43 Inches)
Active Area 320mm x 520mm (12.6 X 20.5 Inches)
Net Weight 1.92KG
Working Voltage DC 12V
Rated power 6W

A3
Dimension(LxWxH): 479mm x 361mm x 7mm (18.86 x 14.21 x 0.27 Inches)
Active Area 310mm x 430mm (12.20 X 16.92 Inch)
Item Weight 2.3 KG
Working Voltage DC 12V
Rated power 5W

A4
Dimension(LxWxH): 360mmx270mmx7mm(14 x 10 x 0.25 Inches)
Active Area 210mmx310mm (8*12 Inches)
Weight 0.9KG
Working Voltage DC12V
Rated power 3.6W

L4S (with USB)
Dimension(LxWxH） 360mmx270mmx5.1mm(14.17 x 10.63 x 0.27 Inch)
Active Area 210mmx310mm (8.27 X 12.20 Inch)
Item Weight 0.55KG
Working Voltage DC 5V
Rated power 1W

LB4 (with battery and USB)
Dimension(LxWxH）400mm x 270mm x 8mm
Active Area 310mm x 210mm
Net Weight 0.68KG
Working Voltage DC 5V
Rated power 1W

The LB4 has a slightly wider bezel on one side compared to the others.

Note that on Amazon, the dimensions of Huion's light boxes are listed diagonally. E.g. 17 inches would be the diagonal dimensions of the light box include the lighted area which is slightly smaller.

Functionality

Setup is easy. The power switch is the touch type.

Brightness is adjustable and it also has a memory feature that remembers your last setting. The light is bright enough for standard drawing or copier paper. 1100 Lux if you want some numbers.

The lit surface is very even which is a huge plus. The surface is flat so if you want to tilt it, you have to put some support behind.

This is the bottom.

It's slim enough for you to clip your paper.

Conclusion

This is one of the best light boxes in the market, if not the best. It's also quite affordable which makes it a terrific value for money, especially after you take into account how long the LED is going to last (17 years in case you forgot).

Highly recommended.

There are over hundreds of favourable reviews on Amazon as well.

Availability

On Amazon.com:
A2 | A3 | A4 | LS4 | LB4

Escoda released a new range of synthetic brushes in 2014 called the Versatil series. The Versatil series of watercolour brushes are created as an alternative to the Kolinsky sable brushes. I've heard good things about them and so I decided to get them and see how they compared with the real Kolinsky sable watercolour brushes that I have.

In the photo above, you see the two real sable brushes, the Escoda Reserva, below and the three Versatil brushes at the top.

Appearance

Like other Escoda brushes, the Versatil line is beautifully made. There are long and short handle versions. They come with many brush tips, namely bright, filbert, round, fan, flat and rigger. They also have the pocket travel brushes which are the ones that I bought.

I can only speak for the travel brushes for this review. The design is collapsible and you can attach the cap to the back to form the body. The height is that of a standard short handle Escoda brush. They use a silver metal body as compared to the gold colour one for the Escoda Reserva.

I'm not sure what type of synthetic material they use for the hair bristle, but there are variation in shades for the bristle colour which make them look like natural hair.

Quality

The Versatil definitely feels like a true Kolinsky brush from the way it handles. The brush tip is springy and snaps back to shape easily after each stroke.

The bristle is flexible enough so you can still flick the brush hard to get rid of the water — something typical synthetic brushes cannot achieve easily. After the water is gotten rid of, you can use it to collect pools of water on the paper, or mix new pigment.

In this photo above, I've placed three big drops of water. I've flicked dry three size 10 brushes, the synthetic Perla, Versatil and Reserva, in preparation to absorb the droplets.

The Versatil and Reserva pretty much absorbed all the water, while the synthetic Perla brush manages to do by half.

Here's a test of the water carrying capacity.

For the first six columns, the brushes are:

1. Reserva sable size 6
2. Versatil synthetic size 6
3. Barroco synthetic size 8
4. Perla synthetic size 8
5. Reserva sable size 8
6. Versatil synthetic size 8

The paper size you see above is 9 by 12 inches.

A Reserva brush still holds more water than a Versatil brush. When the brush size gets bigger, the difference gets smaller. Hence the water holding capacity of larger Versatil brushes do not differ by much compared to sable brushes.

A Versatil brush that's one size small than synthetic brushes hold the same amount of water. In the photo above, the size 6 Versatil holds as much water as the two size 8 synthetic brushes.

The wash on the last three columns are created by a 1-inch flat Versatil brush. That flat brush holds a lot of water.

I repeated the test and the result is similar.

The feel

When using the brush, I really felt like I was using a sable brush. It's quite amazing. I prefer the feel of a sable to stiffer synthetic brushes, but synthetic brushes have their own uses as well.

Picking up pigment and laying down washes feel wonderful. The Versatil is able to create sharp edges quite well, depending on paper also of course.

It holds enough water to complete a wash without needing to repeatedly reload a brush. I find that quite convenient especially when you're painting big pieces.

Value for money

For this section, I'm comparing about the prices of Escoda Perla, Versatil and Reserva listed on Dick Blick Art Materials (USA) and Jackson's Art Supplies (UK).

The Perla is around 25% of the Reserva. The Versatil is about half of the price of the Reserva. When the brush sizes get bigger, the price gap is also larger. E.g. Size 6 Versatil cost US $15 while Reserva cost $18. Size 16 Versatil cost $30 while the Reserva cost $134.

At larger brush sizes, size 10 and above, the Versatil is a terrific value for money. At brush sizes under 10, I might be tempted to fork out some extra dollars to get the Reserva.

Conclusion

The Versatil watercolour brushes are certainly very impressive, much better than I expected. I can definitely recommend them, especially for larger brushes.

The only thing I'm not sure about would be the durability and life of the hair. I've sable brushes that last for years, but I can't be certain how well these new synthetic ones from Escoda will do.

Availability

The Escoda Versatil brushes are sold at Amazon.com, Dick Blick Art Materials (USA) and Jackson's Art Supplies (UK) (free global shipping for brush orders above £20).

Sizes 6, 8 and 10 would be good for drawing on 12 by 9 inch paper sizes.

This is the Derwent canvas pencil wrap with a 30-pencil capacity.

It's a simple canvas wrap with faux leather trimmings, and there's a strap with click on button to hold everything together.

Overall, it looks and feels durable enough, but the button can have blemishes develop on it with time.

There's a piece of flap at the top that protects the pencil tips.

The wrap holds the pencils with individual rubber slots. Each pencil fits nicely and tight in each slot. There are 27 small slots and 4 big ones. The 4 big one can hold 3 pencils each but the slots aren't tight enough so the pencils are likely to fall out if you're not careful when rolling up the wrap.

So actually, if you consider all the slots, you can hold up to a maximum of 36 pencils.

The last big slot at the edge is not covered by the flap. There's a pocket there that can hold a smaller sharpener but I prefer to carry the sharpener separately.

The height of the pencil wrap just about cover a full length pencil.

This is how it looks all wrapped up. The pencils are tightly held together.

This is a good and affordable pencil wrap, good value for money. I've no major complaints.

If you have more coloured pencils, then you'll either need two of these, or look for larger cases.

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

If you buy from any links on the blog, I get a little commission that helps me get more art books to feature.

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This is the Derwent Carry All Bag, a convenient carrying bag designed for artists who use coloured pencils.

There's a small pocket on the front with velcro closing. There will be openings even after sticking the velcro together so small items are likely to fall out.

It's made of Khaki coloured canvas all around. The main compartment is zipped. A detachable shoulder strap is provided and it comes with a rubber pad.

The handle rest is sewn to one of the straps, and is closed by velcro.

Here's how it looks without the shoulder strap.

The bag uses metal ring bind to hold the three leaves that will be carrying the pencils. On each side there are slots enough to hold 22 coloured pencils. Each slot holds 2 pencils. With six sides, it can hold a total of 132.

Being able to hold 132 pencils mean you can fit in your entire coloured pencil sets from either Prismacolor, Faber Castell and of course Derwent. In particular, the 132-set of Prismacolor pencils will use up all the slots perfectly.

The slots closest to the ring binder will come in contact with pencils and may damage the body and beauty of your coloured pencils.

The leaves are hard enough so they can stand straight up inside the case.

Just behind the front cover is a meshed zipped pocket that's good for holding small items such as pens, erasers, eraser shield, watercolour box, cards and other stuff.

Since each slot can hold 2 pencils, it means they are wide enough to hold pens as well, even fountain pens. In the picture above, on the left is the Derwent canvas pencil case.

It can carry quite a lot of stuff.

This is the ring binder in use. It's no differ from those you see in file binders.

On the back cover, there's a rubber strap that you can use to hold one or two A5 size sketchbooks. It cannot fit in an A4 sized one.

Conclusion

It's a nicely designed and functional carrying case for coloured pencils and even pens. The interior is spacious and can carry a lot of stuff. It's a good case for artists on the go, great for outdoor drawing.

Recommended.

If you need to carry coloured pencils only, and not the other extra stuff, you can also check out the Global leather pencil cases that can fit up to 120.

Availability

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews. It also has many favourable reviews there.

The Derwent Carry All Bag is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

I'm trying to find out which pens I should bring for my upcoming sketching trip to Bali, Indonesia.

I'll be using watercolour so the ink has to be waterproof. Uniball has some great pens that feature their Uni Super Ink, a type of pigment ink that's fadeproof and water resistant. So I bought a few and subjected them to a fixative-on-ink test.

Previously while on a 10-day Spain trip, I brought only two Pilot Hi-Tecpoint V5 and V7 and nearly ran out of ink. One pen for one 60-page A4 Moleskine is not enough especially if you're like 0.7mm lines.

This time, I'll bring the V7 plus a few Uniball pens.

The Uniball pens tested above are, in rough order:
Uniball Gel Impact UM-153s
Uniball Signo Gelstick UM-170
Uniball Signo Micro 207 UMN-207
Uniball Jetstream SXN-157S (not fixative proof)
Uniball Signo DX UM-151
Uniball Power Tank SN-227 (not fixative proof)
Uniball Eye UB-157
Uniball Vision Elite UB-205
Uniball Vision RT

Note that all the pens above are waterproof, but two of them are not fixative proof. Ink that are not fixative proof are typically dye-based ink. I've had bad experience of spraying fixative over a watercolour ink sketch where I forgot about the dye ink underneath and the work was destroyed. Now I'm more conscious about what ink to use.

If you're an artist, you probably work on big files with Photoshop or other graphics software. It's important to backup not just your work, but also your whole system.

I just bought two more external hard drives for storage a few weeks ago. They are really affordable nowadays and there's no reason not to get one.

This review will cover all the four external drives that I have. Actually, this review is not just for artists but also for anyone who uses a computer.

I go with Western Digital because they come with international warranty. I stay in Singapore and still buy the drives from Amazon USA because they are cheaper than buying locally. I see no reason or sense to support local retailers when they want to charge me up to $50 more for each hard drive.

Common thing about all these drives

Let me start with these so I don't repeat in the reviews below.

The Western Digital external hard drives listed below all come with a 3-year international warranty.

They all come the necessary cables provided, and are all powered by that cable with no need for additional power sources.

WD My Passport for Mac — USB 3 External Hard Drive

This is a great little external hard drive. It's small and compact, but comes with a spacious capacity of up to 2TB. The external is made of hard plastic, and for this model it only comes with one colour.

The transfer speed is USB 3.

USB 3 is real fast. To transfer 1GB, it takes about 10 second. So in one minute, you can transfer 6 GB, or 10 minutes for 60GB.

Even though it's said to be "for Mac", you can still reformat it to use it on Windows. This is true for most other hard drives — you can always format it to suit your operating system, Windows or Mac.

I've been using this for more than 3 years as a backup storage and it just works. The price for this is quite competitive with other similar capacity drives, so if you want to save a few dollars, you can still look around.

At a glance
+ Up to 2TB
+ Competitive pricing
+ USB 3
- One design and colour

WD My Passport for Mac is highly recommended and available at
http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-Storage-WDBZYL0020BSL-N...

WD My Passport Studio

This hard drive is actually created for Mac users because it comes with two Firewire 800 ports and one USB 2 port. This came out before USB 3 became mainstream.

Firewire 800 is about half the speed of USB 3, but it's faster than USB 2 by 40%. The drive comes with both the Firewire 800 and USB 2 cables.

I like the external design very much because the exterior is made of metal. It looks and feels durable, the you-can-have-a-car-roll-over-it-and-it-will-still-work kind of durable.

There's not much reason to get this nowadays even though it's still being sold. The reason is because you can get faster USB 3 drives at cheaper prices.

At a glance
+ Up to 2TB
+ More expensive than USB 3 drives nowadays
+ Firewire 800 + USB 2: Good for Mac users still using Firewire 800
+ Durable metal casing
- Firewire 800 + USB 2: Slow compared to USB 3 drives which are easily available

WD My Passport Studio is more suitable for Mac users who still use Firewire 800 and have no intention of upgrading their computers in the near future. If you want it, this hard drive is available at http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-External-FireWire-WDBU4M0020BBK-...

I would recommend getting a USB 3 drive instead.

WD My Passport Ultra

This is the updated edition of My Passport. The only thing they updated is the additional bundled software included.

Oh the case looks sleek with the glossy dot patterns. Case is made of plastic and it comes with one USB 3 port.

Here are the bundled software included:

1. WD Drive Utilities - Provides some utilities services to check status, test functionality and reformatting.
2. WD Security - Enables you to set password to the drive
3. WD SmartWare Pro - This handles the auto-backup. It's for Windows only but Mac users can just use Time machine. You can choose to backup to Dropbox online for additional duplication. The thing about Dropbox is, you need to have your own account (obviously). WD is not providing any additional storage on Dropbox so the default starts at 2GB. Currently, the paid Dropbox plan starts with 100GB for 99 dollars per year. Personally, I would just buy another WD My Passport for duplication backup. For the same mount of money, I can also buy two different brands of 500GB hard drives for two peace of mind.

If you're into cloud drive, also check out Amazon Cloud Drive and the Google Drive. Both offer syncing services to your desktop drives.

At a glance
+ Up to 2TB
+ Competitive pricing
+ USB 3
+ Several colours to the case

WD My Passport Ultra is highly recommended, and is top on my list. It's available at
http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Ultra-Portable-External-Backup/dp/B00E055...

WD My Passport Slim

My Passport Slim is quite similar to My Passport Ultra. Even though it says it's slim, the size difference is really negligible — they are both small.

My Passport Slim does not have the four rubber feet underneath the case, and it comes with a slim non-padded carrying pouch. Those are the difference between Ultra and Slim.

There's only one design for one colour. For me, I like the matt silver surface so that I can use a pencil to write what this drive is storing.

It's a USB 3 drive too so it's fast.

At a glance:
+ Up to 2TB
+ Competitive pricing
+ USB 3
+ Carrying pouch for the case
+ One design and colour
- No rubber feet underneath

I would highly recommend this also because it's a fast drive that's competitively priced.

Anyway, that pouch offers no protection since it's not padding, so you would do better to get carrying case instead if you transport the drive often.

My Passport Slim is available at http://www.amazon.com/Passport-Portable-Metal-External-Backup/dp/B00EO30...

Conclusion

In terms of functionality, My Passport for Mac, Ultra Slim are identical. I would go for the cheapest just to save a few dollars.

Having said that, my preference is still for My Passport Ultra.

As for my preference for Western Digital brand, it comes down to that international warranty.

The pricing for external hard drives have come down drastically over the years and it's a real bargain to buy them nowadays. With up to 2TB each, that's a lot of files you can store. Over the years, I have not even filled up any of my external hard drives. The reason I have so many of them is because half of them are backups for backups — yes, I'm that paranoid but they are not expensive and really worth the money. Money can be replaced, the time and work stored in those drives can't.

Picture above by Liz Steel, from left the Document Ink, Archive Ink and Lamy Ink

This review is written by Vincent Pang (blog | Facebook)

Fellow urban sketcher Liz Steel gave me this de Atramentis ink (Archive Ink #1081, retailing locally at SGD22, RSP) to try through another fellow sketcher, Paul.

I had mixed emotions when I got the ink: excited, keen but most importantly, hopeful. As a sketcher, I am always on the lookout for inks that are truly, genuinely and faithfully waterproof – I sometimes sketch with my fountain pens and then complete the sketch with a (watercolour) wash. Unfortunately, my run-ins with brands that claim to be so with an assortment of fanciful terms, such as “permanent”, “bulletproof”, “archival”, etc has turn into a temperamental and disappointing nought. Those run-ins have left all those inks I’ve tried thus far running and ruined.

For this trial, I filled my usual test pen, which is a modified Platinum Preppy fountain and began with a series of exercises with it using the following choices (you may refer to the pictorial reference attached below:

Muji Paper

The reason why I’ve chosen this paper to work with is that when I used it with the Noodler’s inks, the inks ran when I gave my sketch a wash, even after letting the ink dry.

Writing

The black ink is dark, bold and uniform. Writing with my .3 and .5 Platinum Preppy is both smooth and satisfying, even with my cursive handwriting. I enjoy the uniformity of the intense black. However, if you are one who enjoys the calligraphic gradient and transparency of say Namiki inks, then you may not be able to appreciate this ink as much.

Sketching

As with writing, drawing is also as fulfilling an experience as writing with it. The flow is as smooth and lines are unbroken, without feathering. In simple words: a thoroughly enjoyable experience.

Watercolour wash

Finally, to put the ink to the test that got me excited about it to begin with: how waterproof is it? If you are as excited as I expected you to be, you may have skipped to the bottom to check out the pictorial reference already. If that is the case, you would’ve realised that there is nary a trace of the ink’s pigment out of place. Well, that’s because it is. The ink is truly waterproof.

However, it must be said that I had read on a website somewhere to wait about a minute to ensure that the ink has gotten a chance to fully dry out before giving your drawings or sketches a wash. There has also been speculation that this is a Nano-pigment ink, which gives it its waterproof quality. Up to the point of this review, this has not been confirmed nor denied by the manufacturer yet. Also, time hasn’t lapse long enough to decide if this ink will clog fountain pens after prolong storage. However, as an update, the ink in my Platinum Preppy is still flowing and fluid after two months.

Conclusion

The ink is a joy to use: for writing and drawing. The fact that it is truly a waterproof ink, living up to its claim of being ‘archival’, makes it a truly fairy-tale ink for ink-users.

A local Singapore importer told me that de Atramentis, is a small, family-run business. The chemist owner’s passion fuels the enterprise. This would explain the awesome physical and chemical qualities of the brand’s inks, as well as fully customisable ink choices for bulk orders. On the other hand, it would also justify the occasional and slight delays in order, especially for larger quantities.

I am impressed and would absolutely recommend this ink for people looking for an affordable ink that is waterproof, smooth and uniformly and boldly dark. Those who prefer the gradient, transparent medium may have to look elsewhere.

This is the Uni-ball Signo Gelstick that I brought for sketching in Bali. The model number is UM-170.

It's a simple non-eye catching design. It's made of plastic throughout. I like the lightweight feel because it makes me feel like I'm using a pencil. The grip has a triangular groove which makes it a bit nicer to grip but for long using sessions a rubber grip might be better, but it's a non-issue really.

The picture above shows my used up pen.

The stainless steel tip is roller ball and it's 0.7 so it produces a 0.5mm line.

Ink is fade-proof and water-proof. I can only speak for the black colour, but the pen also comes with 7 other colours. The black is dark, not pure black but very close which is good enough for me. There's no bleeding, feathering as that is the advantage of gel ink.

I've also sprayed fixative over it and the ink doesn't break down.

It writes and draws very smoothly. Ink flow is great until the point when it's almost empty and that's where it starts to skip a bit. So it's good to have an extra pen while out drawing.

It dries fairly quick so you can use watercolour or other medium over it.

The best part about using this pen for drawing is it does not create a blob at the end of the line unlike other roller ball point pens. That's even after drawing a very long line. It's a major plus because each line you draw will come out in the way you want it.

You can click the above picture for a larger view to see just how consistent the line width is.

Another big plus is how economic this pen is, and you can get it in a 12-pack box for even more savings.

Conclusion

Most highly recommended. Really value for money.

Availability
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.fr | Amazon.de

Most brushes I have are the portable collapsible travel brushes. When I saw the Da Vinci 5240 watercolour brush set, I thought the brush selection included is quite good in the sense that it has two different type of wash brushes for big areas, size 8 and 12 general brushes and the small size 2 for details. So I bought it to compliment the collapsible brushes that can only go up to a certain size.

The box set comes with these five brushes:

• Series 5530 Cosmotop Mix B Watercolor Round Paintbrush, Size 18
• Series 991 Size 18 Flat Russian Blue Squirrel Mix Watercolor Brush
• Kolinsky Watercolor Series 36 Red Sable Paint Brush, Round, Size 12
• Series 5550 Cosmotop Sable Mix F Brush Size 8
• Kolinsky Watercolor Series 36 Red Sable Paint Brush, Round, Size 2

It's a mix of sable and Cosmotop brushes. Cosmotop is the Da Vinci's brand for mixed hair brushes.

If you add up the brush prices as if you were to buy them individually, the total price is quite similar to the box set, but with the set you get some extra goodies and of course the beautiful wooden box. The extra goodies are the brush soap, painting cloth and a piece of red plastic block for two brushes to rest on.

The wooden box is nicely polished with a low gloss on top and matte on the sides. It's kept shut with two side metal latches. There are six holes on the box for ventilation. However, I would still dry my brushes outside of the box because the big brushes will need more time to dry. The box measures 36 by 9 by 3.5cm.

When I bring my brushes out, I put them in the Tran Brush Canvas Roll Up. The box is good for storage at home as it's heavier compared to brush wraps.

Inside the box, brushes are laid on foam cushion. With the box closed, the four big brushes are held in place by the cushion.

As there are three big brushes, this set is more suited for use on bigger pieces of paper, I say at least 12 by 9 inches and above. Anything smaller, you're going to feel constrained by the paper size and the brush. These brushes need the space to work with.

Let's talk about the individual brushes now.

Series 5530 Cosmotop Mix B Watercolor Round Paintbrush, Size 18
The Cosmotop Mix B is a round wash brush. The hair is a mix of Kolinsky Red Sable, Russian Blue Squirrel, and Russian Fitch (Black Sable), along with small amounts of synthetic hair.

The different hair lends their attribute to this brush. Sable provides the sharp point, the squirrel hair improves the water-holding capacity, and the Fitch gives the brush the firm stiffness and durability.

This brush is capable of holding a good amount of water, and it releases water well enough to create nice even wash. The sharp point will give you access to areas that are not easy to do so with a flat wash brush.

Series 991 Size 18 Flat Russian Blue Squirrel Mix Watercolor Brush
I love the design of this brush with its triangular grooves around the gripping area.

The blue squirrel mixed hair can holds lots of water and create flat washes effortlessly without consistently needing to reload. It's great for covering large areas with colour.

Kolinsky Watercolor Series 36 Red Sable Paint Brush, Round, Size 12
This is the prized brush among the five brushes. It's the most expensive as the hair is from Harbin Kolinsky Red Sable winter tail hair. This round brush is the workhorse for watercolour painting. It holds its point well, is springy, will return and hold its shape well. Sable is known for their water carrying capacity also.

The black lacquered handles are classy.

Series 5550 Cosmotop Sable Mix F Brush Size 8
The Cosmotop is the economical alternative to sable brushes. The hair for this brush is a mix of Kolinsky Red Sable, Ox Hair (sometimes called Sabeline), Russian Fitch (Black Sable) and some synthetic hair.

It has a nice sharp point and holds water well. It's not quite as springy and does not return to shape as easily as the Series 36 pure sable brush above.

Kolinsky Watercolor Series 36 Red Sable Paint Brush, Round, Size 2
This small size 2 brush is for adding details, filling small spaces with colours where the bigger brushes are incapable of doing. This brush completes the set, so you have the big brushes to cover large areas and washes, the medium size 8 and 12 brushes for general work, and this brush for covering the details.

The plastic block, brush soap and painting cloth (mostly use for cleaning, or soaking up water).

The hair tend to fray outwards when dry.

This is how they look when they are wet.

The big brushes definitely work better with big palettes, tubes and full pans than with those half pan watercolour boxes.

The size 12 sable brush is good for general work and larger areas.

The size 8 brush is good for smaller areas.

Here, I used the size 2 brush to colour the small area, to keep the paint within the lines.

This is the size 18 round wash brush at work. It's just wonderful to see the way it releases water and pigment.

These two watercolour sketches above are painted with the brushes. They are just A5 in size and I did not really unleash the full potential of the big brushes.

Conclusion
Overall quality of the brushes is satisfactory. I'm less impressed by the Series 5550 Cosmotop because the hair doesn't get back to shape easily and when putting down a wash, the hair does not feel as firm, flexible or springy as the sable.

This isn't really a set I would recommend to sketchers on the go because of the size of the brushes, which implies that you need to work larger than 12 by 9 inches (just my personal gauge).

Overall, it's a watercolour brush set that's good value for money. It's for painters who like to paint big. I really like the wooden box which I feel makes a wonderful gift to artists.

Availability

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

The Da Vinci 5240 Watercolor Deluxe Wood Box 5 Brush Set is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.fr

The Pilot Parallel Pens are calligraphy pens that are real fun to use. They are great for beginners also because the price is quite affordable.

The Parallel Pens come in four nib sizes: 1.5, 2.4, 3.8 and 6mm. Each size comes with a cap of its own colour. There's no clip on the cap.

The cap is the screw on type and it does effectively prevent the ink from drying out. When you uncap, the nib is always wet and ready to be used.

The pen design is simple with body comes with a tapered end, and at the end is just the name of the pen.

Other than the metal nib, everything else is plastic. The seemingly cheap construction material is probably what makes the pen affordable.

The nib and feed is housed inside a transparent grip and you get to see whether or not the ink has been used up.

The pen comes with a box with all the items inside neatly laid out. Included are the pen, the cap, two disposable ink cartridges (red and black), an ink convertor and a piece of thin plastic for cleaning the nib. There's also a small instruction manual on how to use the pen, and a brief guide to writing calligraphy.

The Parallel Pens use a lot of ink. The 6mm nib is an ink guzzler where you can use up the ink in probably under half an hour if you write a lot.

The ink convertor is the pinch and press type. Unfortunately, it's not transparent so you won't be able to tell whether the ink has run out.

For me, I actually refill the disposable plastic cartridge with Rotring ink using the small bottle. I noticed that the Rotring ink does not flow as smooth as the Pilot ink, but it's not that big an issue as I just have to write a bit slower. I've friends who do away with the cartridge and just fill the whole body with ink.

The disposable ink cartridges are also sold separately, either in packs on six for single colours, or packs of twelve for assorted colours.

With the Pilot Parallel ink, you can mix ink just by holding the nibs in contact with each other, letting the ink flow from one pen to the other. After which when you write, you'll get a nice gradation from one colour to another.

The pen can be disassembled easily by just pulling out the feed from the grip. This makes cleaning and maintenance easy.

The size of the nib is stamped to the side of the plastic part that holds the nibs together. The nib is actually two pieces of flat metal held together.

There are very tiny grooves cut onto the horizontal edge of the nib. This enables the ink to flow evenly and reach all parts on the edge. You can also use the thin side of the nib for a 0.5mm stroke.

I don't know any calligraphy so pardon my penmanship. Just like a calligraphy pen, depending on how you hold it, you can easily vary the strokes that come out.

On the top is the 1.5mm Parallel Pen vs the Platinum 3776 that has a broad music nib. The ink that comes with Pilot is deep black. I used the Noodler's ink below for the Platinum pen which you might be able to notice is slightly lighter. Pilot ink is not waterproof.

If you write too fast, especially for the larger nibs, the ink might not flow fast enough and you'll get the dry strokes. There are some interesting effects to create depending on how fast you drag the nib across the paper. The large nibs are good for filling in black areas fast.

If you write with the pen vertically, you can force the nib against the paper so that it sort of gets caught and when the nib gets moving again, there will be ink splatter. Quite a cool effect. One downside is paper fibre may can caught between the nibs.

The calligraphy pen is quite a peculiar pen to use for drawing because of the strokes it creates. One has to be aware of how the pen is held so that you know when get a thick or thin stroke when you want it. I like the textural look you can get when drawing fast not allowing the ink to keep up.

Conclusion

The Pilot Parallel Pens are a good way to get into learning and writing calligraphy. They are real fun to use and very affordable.

Highly recommended.

Availability

The Pilot Parallel Pen is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

Here are the two Pilot Pocket Brush Pens that this review will cover today.

Design

A disclaimer must be made first. These Pilot brush pens aren't technically brush pens in the sense the tips have no bristles. However, they are capable of creating thick and thin strokes just like bristle brush pens.

The Pilot Pocket Brush Pens come in two tip sizes, soft and hard. The black body has the soft tip while the dark blue body has the hard tip. Part of the pen's body is transparent so you get to see the ink level inside.

The soft tip is actually a brush-shaped sponge-like tip that's soaked with ink. The tip is about 7mm long and can produce a maximum 2mm stroke. Since it's not an actual brush, the stroke is not able to spread as wide compared to say, the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen (1.2cm tip creates a 4.5mm stroke).

The hard tip is actually more like a felt tip marker. It can produce a 1mm stroke.

Both brush pens are capable of producing very thin strokes and when you apply pressure you will get thicker lines.

In the above comparison, from top to bottom, there's the hard and soft tip followed by the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen. Note the thickness of the strokes and how dark the inks are.

Ink

The liquid ink is dark black but it's not waterproof. It also takes quite a while to dry. Be careful not to smudge your drawings with your hand, something that happens to me often.

How it handles

The sponge type brush tip is definitely less flexible than a bristle brush. However, it's still sensitive enough to pressure to produce varying stroke thickness.

The soft tip has greater variation because it can go thicker than the hard tip. If I can only buy one pen, I'll get the soft tip.

Ink flow is fantastic. Not matter how fast you draw, there's no skipping. The pens are not capable of any dry brush effect.

If you draw fast with the soft tip, it produces a sound that's similar to that you get when you run a wet sponge over glass. Not a sound I like, but I don't draw that fast often to hear that.

Below are some sketches I drew with the pens.

These are quick sketches drawn with the soft tip. The thicker tip is good at blocking in the black areas. For larger black areas, I prefer using a dip brush (at home) to conserve the ink inside the brush pens.

Refills

Ink gets used up quite quickly with the soft tip because the stroke uses more ink. Unfortunately, the brush pen is not refillable so I'll recommend getting a few in case the ink runs out.

The feed system looks like the Pilot V7 Tecpoints that I have, so I tried to pull out the front part with pliers. Well, the small black plastic part behind the tip came off instead of the getting the whole feed out. It reveals a thin felt stick that supplies the ink to the sponge. So I guess there's no easy way to refill this pen which is such a shame because the sponge tip looks durable.

This was drawn with the soft tip and the blacks are filled with a dip brush. You might be able to see two shades of black. The darker shade is from the brush pen, and the other shade from the dip brush.

This was drawn with the hard tip. I tend to draw with more pressure so the strokes above are uniformly thick. To get a thin stroke with the hard tip brush pen, just hold the pen but let the tip fall onto the paper instead of pressing it against the paper.

This was drawn with both the hard and soft tips. I used the hard tip or the lines and the soft one for filling in the blacks.

Compared to the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

Here are the list of pros and cons for the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen:

• More economical in the long term because there are refillable cartridges.
• Longer tip means the strokes can be thicker
• Ink flow is not as good, meaning if you draw fast you will get the dry brush effect
• Ink is waterproof

There are quite a few major differences, but it's good to have choices.

If you're just drawing black and white, the lack of waterproof ink in the Pilot Brush Pen will not matter much.

Another thing to note is when you're using the brush pen or brush on their sides. The tip of the soft sponge tip will not touch the paper. This will affect how you fill your black areas as the tip is not reaching the place where you expect it to be. As for the bristle brush, the tip will be in contact with the paper and great for filling in black areas.

(In all the examples above, I dipped my Pentel Brush Pen in ink because the ink cartridge is running low.)

Conclusion

While not technically a true brush pen, the Pilot Pocket Brush Pen is still a very capable pen that can give you varying thickness to your lines. The soft tip is more versatile than the hard tip so I would recommend skipping the latter.

One of the key advantage of the Pilot brush pen is the fantastic ink flow. Often, I would get the dry brush effect with the Pentel brush pen because for some reason, I think the ink is too thick to flow fast enough. The Pilot brush pen is great for quick sketches and doodles.

Availability

The Pilot Pocket Brush Pen is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es