The Uni-ball Gel Impact rollerball pen (UM-153S) is a nice pen to sketch with for those who prefer broader strokes.

Depending on which country you buy from, the pen may be retractable or is sold with a cap. Mine's bought in Singapore and comes with a cap. Personally, I would prefer the retractable one as it's more convenient.

It has a rollerball head of 1mm and produces a 0.8mm line. The stroke is quite broad hence in order to put details you really need to draw big. Personally, I prefer using this with paper sizes A4 and above.

The rubber grip is quite comfortable to hold for long periods or writing or drawing.

Design of the pen is simple with a transparent portion on the pen's body to check the ink level.

The gel ink is extremely smooth on paper. It just glides along. You can get UMR-10 refills when the ink is used up which is very quickly because it deposits a lot of ink.

Three colours are available: black, red and blue. The black ink is waterproof and fade-proof so it's a great pen to work with for watercolour or mixed media. You can spray fixative on it and the ink will not break apart.

The pen is prone to leaving a blob at the end of the stroke. If you leave the tip on the paper for long, the ink will continue to flow out a bit and then stops, so you also get a blob that way.

The ink does not dry that fast so be careful of smearing, or when you're mixing media.

Using watercolour over the waterproof ink is fine.

Value
For some reason, this pen is more expensive than the popular Uni-ball Eye (or Vision) (in packs of 12) and a few times more than Signo Gelstick Ink Pens, another gel pen that I really like. However, those pens that I mentioned do not produce such thick strokes so it's not a fair comparison.

In terms of value, this pen can be pricey, and is made more so as the ink gets used up pretty quickly. However, the performance is quite good even though there are signs of creating blobs.

Availability

The Uniball Gel Impact is available at
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

I only knew of The Perfect Pencil when I saw my friend using one. It's quite an interesting design by Faber Castell to give the good old pencil a new spin.

Design

The Perfect Pencil isn't actually a pencil. More accurately, it's actually a pencil cap.

It's a smartly designed pencil cap that also hides a sharpener at the top. You can pull the knob above the clip to reveal the sharpener. From what I can see, the blade is not replaceable.

You can use it to fit both round or hexagonal pencils into the cap. The fit is tight enough that the pencil won't fall out, but it's also easy to pull out the pencil.

The cap can also serve as a pencil extender when the pencil gets too short.

It's certainly a very functional pencil cap.

Different editions

There are three editions for The Perfect Pencil.

The cheapest version is the plastic one with metal clip. The plastic only comes in dark dull green. Overall it feels kinda cheap but it's functional.

Next up is the more expensive aluminum version. On hindsight, maybe I should have bought this one which I feel has more class. Construction quality looks better. The cap's top is polished off to a shine.

Then there's the premium version with a cap that's Platinum plated. The body is smooth and it looks exquisite. If you like to indulge yourself in some luxury stationery, this would be it, a pencil that cost more than fountain pens.

Then there's the Desk Set #1 Chrome Plated one featuring pencils made of Californian cedar wood and a wooden case carved out of selected native alder.

And I saved the best for the last...

To mark Faber Castell's 240th anniversary, they came up with the exclusive Limited Edition 1761-2001 Perfect Pencil. Both extender and the end piece are made of 18K white gold. Underneath the count's coat-of-arms at the cap are three diamonds that symbolize the third millennium.

This particular edition is larger than the standard versions and is limited to 99 pieces. The price? 10,000 Euros.

A pencil (cap) that cost more than my computer!?!

Refills (aka the extra pencils)

Alright, back to reality. The pencil that comes with The Perfect Pencil is the Faber Castell 9000, shorter than the standard length pencils and comes with a short eraser behind.

Extra pencils are available separately but they do not come with the short erasers, which are also sold separately.

For some strange, no doubt commercial, reason, Faber Castell has chosen to price their spare pencils and erasers at insane prices. They sell the refills more expensive than their other pencils. For goodness sakes, these are just wooden pencils and they want to sell it as luxury items? *Eyes roll* Anyway, the good thing is you can get any other pencil to fit the cap.

Conclusion

The Perfect Pencil is a smart idea. I remember using spare pen caps to protect some of my pencils in the past. Faber Castell has pushed that idea further by putting a sharpener inside, and have a cap that also doubles as an extender.

The nice thing is you can bring the pencil around without the need of a pencil case to protect the lead.

As for the pricing, I felt that it's a bit overpriced even for the plastic version. The aluminium and platinum ones are even more expensive. If you just want something functional, the cheaper plastic version should suffice. If you want people's jaws to drop, the chrome-plated or Limited Edition 1761-2001 is the one for you.

Availability

The pencils are available separately or as a simple gift set.

Check out more reviews and pricing on Amazon:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

This review is written for artists.

Today, I'm reviewing the Platinum 3776 fountain pen with a music nib. Platinum had named this series 3776 after the height of Mount Fuji in Japan.

Design

The design is simple enough. Resin body with gold trimmings. On the cap are the words "Platinum #3776 Japan".

The body is short but you can put the cap on the back to extend the length. Overall, it's lightweight, just the way I like it.

Mine's the black body and at times, I find it difficult pick out this pen among other brands in my pencil case that also come in similar colours. It's not a pen that calls out for attention however...

The 3776 body also comes in various colours. Among the different colours, the more beautiful ones would be the limited editions such as NICE edition (Nice is a place in France) and SAI edition (Sai is one of the lakes around Mount Fuji). By beautiful, I mean BEAUTIFUL, especially the SAI edition which screams ZEN with its transparent body with Rhodium-plated 14K gold nib. The more I look at those limited edition 3776s, the more I feel like buying them. Those pens deserve separate reviews.

This is the limited edition Platinum 3776 NICE.

And this is the limited edition Platinum 3776 SAI.

Here are the different parts to the Platinum 3776.

It uses a Platinum convertor that does not come with the pen and is sold separately.

The cap is the twist type. So far it's quite effective at preventing the ink from drying out. I've heard that newer models have some rubber ring inside that's even better at sealing.

Music nib

The Platinum 3776 comes with the usual options of fine and medium nibs but there's this special option for a music nib. All nibs are 14K gold. By the way, 14K gold is composed of 58.3% gold and 41.7% of other metals. It's 14K gold because it supposedly more resistant to tarnishing and stronger than 21K or 24K. The nib I have here is very stiff.

A music nib is designed to write musical notes quickly. It's sort of like a calligraphy nib that's capable of writing broad and thin strokes depending on how you hold the pen.

What is special about this particular music nib is that there are two slits instead of one. With two slits, it can supply more ink to the tip and helps to prevent skipping while writing or drawing.

You can read more about the music nib at Richardpens.com and Gourmet Pens

On the paper

There's a very tactile feeling when drawing with the nib on paper. It's a feeling I'll associate with that from using a wooden graphite pencil on paper.

It's smooth on paper but it's not the smoothest I've used (the winner goes to the Sailor 1911 fountain pen).

Because the tip of the nib is actually a rectangle and not rounded off at the corners, if you don't lay the nib flat perfectly, the sharp corners will cut into the paper and will affect the smoothness and the ink flowing out. That's a non-concern as it just takes a bit of getting used to.

Ink flow is overall is smooth.

These are my writing sample. I use this pen more for drawing than writing. For writing, it feels very much like writing with a broad nib calligraphy pen. However, the nib isn't as broad to create very pronounced calligraphy effects.

Below are some drawings with the pen.

For the windows, I've used thick strokes for the window frames (the outline) and then thinner strokes for the horizontal slits.

Drawing with the pen requires a bit of getting used to because it's no different from drawing with a calligraphy pen.

While this pen is capable of producing either thin or thick strokes, the key to producing them is how you hold the pen. Let's say you want to draw a vertical line that varies from thick to thin to thick, then you'll have to change your holding position quite drastically to change the stroke's width. This is unlike some other fountain pens, e.g. those with flex nibs, where you can maintain the same holding position but increase the stroke thickness by increasing the pressure on the nib.

Usually, I'll just pick an angle and make a drawing just from that hand position. I don't usually change how I hold the pen after I start. Constant changing of holding position is quite tiring.

Since the music nib is broader, sometimes it can be helpful and faster to fill small areas with black. Of course for larger areas, a brush is much faster and the application more evenly distributed. I used a brush for the car's shadow.

Drawing by Drewscape with the pen

Drawing by Drewscape

Overall, I'm quite pleased with using the music nib for drawing. The nice thing about the nib is thin and thick strokes it can produce, and the varying thickness helps create visual interest in the drawing.

Since the nib is quite broad, I have the tendency to draw bigger and keep my drawings simple.

If you're just going to get the fine or medium nib, then the lines you get won't be different from those you'll get from standard fountain pens such as the affordable Lamy Safari or the expensive Ecridor Retro.

Drawing with such a broad nib is certainly not to everyone's liking. I suggest getting a cheaper version of a calligraphy nib, such as the Pilot Parallel Pen to test out first before putting down the money for a Platinum 3776 with music nib.

Price and value

The standard Platinum 3776 fountain pen cost under US $100.

The 14K music nib doubles the price, and for other coloured bodies the price is almost three times.

Is it worth it? Pricing is really subjective to individual. But all I can say is, I really like drawing with it. I prefer thicker strokes and I find the lines from the music nib to be bold and there's the varying thickness that creates visual interest.

Availability

The Platinum 3776 fountain pen with music nib is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

The Platinum 3776 with other nibs are available at
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

This is the Rotring set of Tikky technical pens and mechanical pencil that I bought recently. This set comes with three fineliners at 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7 plus a 0.5 mechanical pencil and an eraser. Besides the tip sizes in the box, Rotring also makes them available separately at sizes from 0.2 to 0.8mm.

Design

The colours of the pen bodies similar Isographs, so they look like they are from the same family of pens.

The pen uses non-fading water-proof liquid pigment ink. Near the red ring is a transparent portion for you to see the ink remaining inside.

The tip is fibre or felt. It certainly is smoother on the paper compared to the metal tips from the Isographs or older Rapidographs. This is one good reason to choose this over the refillable technical pens.

One disadvantage is the fibre tip is not going to last as long as metal, but the Tikky fineliners are meant to be disposable so the ink will be used up before the tip gets worn out. It will be wise to have several as backup since they are not refillable. However, you'll know when they are going to be used up because you can see how much ink is left.

Handling
The pen feels great to hold. It's light and nimble.

Technical pens are good for precise, fine sketching and accurate drawings. Ink comes out uniformly and dries quickly making it suitable for use with other media, such as watercolour or markers.

Mechanical Pencil

The mechanical pencil works well too. It's has a firm spring and sharp tip. The grip uses rubber and the design motif is similar to that on the grip of the Tikky fineliner. The mechanical pencils are also available with different tip sizes at 0.35, 0.5 and 0.7mm.

The set comes with 0.5mm 12 HB leads.

Conclusion
For disposable fineliners, I prefer using these over the Copic Multiliners. I like the design more, the idea of liquid ink and you can also check the ink level.

It's much cheaper to buy the set than to get the pens separately. I'll probably replace my fineliners when they are used by buying the set, it's more economical but also means I'll end up with extra pencils.

Availability

The Rotring Tikky fineliners and mechnical pencils are available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

This is the Kita-boshi 2mm lead holder. A friend asked me to buy this because he wanted to find out that this is.

Kita-boshi Pencil is manufacturer of pencils and drawing equipment located in Tokyo. They are noted for their unique development of recycled sawdust products. This lead holder doesn't look like it's made from sawdust though.

Inside the packaging are the lead holder and a lead sharpener case.

The Kita-boshi lead holder uses 2mm pencil leads. It comes with one already inside the holder.

The leads are sold separately in packs of 5 enclosed in a nice cylindrical cardboard holder. You can use any standard 2mm pencil leads with this lead holder.

The lead holder uses a beautiful wood-cased design. The wood is shaped like those traditional wooden pencils with hexagonal bodies. Holding it is just like holding the old school wooden pencils. For those who like wood products, this is a nice one.

The product is made in Japan and the finishing is top quality.

Within the shiny nose piece are the jaws that clutch the lead. It's a mechanical lead holder.

It's well balanced, lightweight, just slightly heavier than a traditional wooden pencil, and slightly shorter.

The spring is quite strong, and protrudes the lead about 3-4mm with each press. The jaws are strong so the lead does not rotate when being held. My friend says there are brands with weak jaws and the lead actually rotates when you draw. Personally, I've not seen such weak mechanical pencils or lead holders before.

The end cap is also shiny and you can easy pull it out to refill the leads.

This is the extremely portable lead sharpener. Near the opening is the blade. There are actually four cutting edges and you can turn the lead in any direction to get it sharpened. I would turn it clockwise then anti-clockwise and repeat to get it quickly sharpened. This is better than typical sharpeners that can only sharpen in one direction.

The lead dust falls to the bottom, and you then just cap it up and throw in back into your pencil case without having to worry it's going to make a mess.

Compared to the Staedtler Mars lead sharpener, the Kita-boshi sharpener gives a much shorter tapered edge to the lead.

Kita-boshi sharpener can be used with the Staedtler lead holder, but you cannot use the Staedtler sharpener with the Kita-boshi lead holder. Note that the Staedtler sharpener's top part comes off easier so it's not a portable solution, and you need to block the opening to prevent dust from coming out.

Below's a video I made of the lead holder.

Conclusion

The Kita-boshi lead holder does well in trying to imitate the traditional pencil in design with its hexagonal wood-cased body. It looks good and feels elegant.

Some manufacturers like to sell their sharpeners separately. Because of that, the Kita-boshi is cheaper than the popular Staedtler Mars 780 lead holder because it comes with the sharpener bundled.

If you're in need of a classic looking lead holder, the Kita-Boshi lead holder is a good one to consider.

Availability

The Kita-boshi Lead Holder is available at
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.jp

As someone who sketches outdoor frequently, I always appreciate a good portable stool, preferable a lightweight one.

These are the stools I have in my collection, but today I'm just going to talk about the Walkstool. I bought this locally in Singapore and after doing some research, I found out it's cheaper online.

Design

The Walkstool is a three-legged stool created by Swedish company Scandinavian Touch AB.

Three-legged stools are commonplace when you look around on Amazon or eBay. What makes the Walkstool special is its use of telescopic legs, basically, legs that can extend and retract just like a telescope.

When you extend the legs, there's a small red knob that locks into place to hold the legs in position.

If you press and depress the red knob, you can pull out the legs so that you can clean them individually in water easily.

Try not to pull out the legs too fast or the red knob might not lock in place in time and you'll pull out the legs when you don't want to.

This piece of metal that holds the three legs together, and makes the legs movable so that the stool can be deployed.

Another thing I find unique about the Walkstool is incredible weight capacity that it has. Watch this video below to see how several of them are used to hold the weight of a car.

Even the so called weakest model can handle up to 150kg of weight. And the strongest one can hold 250kg.

Of all the non-branded three-legged stools I've used before, none felt like they can hold over 100kg. In the photo above, I was standing on two stools. As I went up, I could hear the fabric of that three-legged stool tearing. Not kidding. If I have two Walkstools then, I would have no hesitation going up because I know for sure they will hold my weight.

The legs are made of aluminum and each has a big rubber feet at the end. The rubber feet do get worn off with usage, but they are also sold separately so you can replace them easily. After months of usage, I noticed that the rubber feet of my stool getting worn, but it I think they should be able to get through one year with frequent usage.

The thick mesh material of the seat is comfortable enough for long sitting periods. I like that the surface area for sitting is relatively larger than most other portable stools that I have. The mesh looks durable but I noticed mine has slight tearing from the stretch at the part where the mesh is attached to the legs. In terms of durability, the Walkstools feels like it can last for a long time.

Walkstool offers two sitting positions. By not extending the legs, you can get a lower sitting position but it's rather unsteady and you need to make more effort to balance yourself. With the legs extended, the base is larger and hence more steady.

Compared to smaller stools, it's slightly heavier but overall it's still considered lightweight. To keep the stool compact, you just retract the legs and use the Velcro provided to go around the legs to hold them together. The Walkstool comes with a carrying mesh bag.

Different models

There are two main product lines for Walkstool, namely the Comfort and Basic.

Walkstool Comfort models are made in Sweden and Walkstool Basic models are made in China.

Walkstool Comfort

Comfort models have the Sweden flag sewn to the seat.

They come in four sizes at sitting heights of 45, 55, 65 and 75 cm (18, 22, 26 and 30 in).

The one that I'm using is the smallest 45cm tall Comfort model. That height is the typical height of kitchen chairs.

The top section of Comfort is black and the lower legs are white.

Below's a chart comparing the different Comfort models.

Walkstook Basic

The Basic models come in only two sitting heights, 50 and 60 cm (20 in and 24 in).

The top section of Basic is black and the lower legs are dark grey.

Basic models have smaller seat sizes and smaller rubber feet compared to the Comfort models. Basic models are cheaper to reflect the quality and durability as compared to the Comfort models.

Another difference is the use of plastic feet for Basic. These plastic feet wear out much faster than the thick rubber feet.

Below's the chart comparing the two Basic models.

And this chart below compares all the six different models, 4 for Comfort and 2 for Basic. Click for a larger view. Take note of the weight.

Accessories

The stool does sink into softer ground as the legs are pointed. There's an accessory called the Walkstool Steady that increases the surface area in contact with the ground, and hence make it more difficult for the stool to sink into soft ground.

The Walkstool Steady is useful for usage in rural settings or at places where the surface may be slippery. It can also be used by heavier people who want the stool to better hold their weight, and to reduce the chance of tearing at the seat mesh. Walkstool Steady prevents the legs from spreading out even when heavy weight is on top.

Conclusion

I swap between my different stools often and the Walkstool gets used quite often. It's useful for many outdoor activities, such as photography trips, fishing, camping, etc.

I use mine when sketching outdoors. As the seat is 45cm high, I find it difficult to reach things I put on the ground, such as my watercolour palette. That's the only inconvenience I face with using the Walkstool for sketching.

Another downside is that it's slightly heavier compared to other stools because it's larger. More materials used to make the stool means it's going to be heavier.

Compared to other portable stools, the Walkstool is significantly more expensive, but it's a quality product and I consider it money quite well spent. A few friends of mine who use this are all very satisfied. I've used many stools and the Walkstool feels the most durable and sturdy.

My recommendation before you buy it is to measure the height of the chair you commonly sit on and get the same height.

Walkstool Comfort availability on Amazon
45cm, 18 inch: US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT
55cm, 22 inch: US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES
65cm, 26 inch: US | CA | UK | DE | FR | IT | ES

Walkstool Basic availability on Amazon
50cm, 20 inch: US | UK | DE | FR | FR | IT
60cm, 24 inch: US | CA | UK | DE | FR | FR | IT | ES

Walkstool Steady
US | UK | DE | FR | IT | IT | ES

These are the Smart Fit series of stationery cases and bags. Smart Fit is the product line of Japanese company LIHIT LAB.

Anyway, these are given to me by my girlfriend and I really love them. She bought them from the NBC stationery store at Bugis Junction.

Let's start with the smallest first.

This is the pencil or pen case. The exterior has a button strap to hold the case together and inside is another set of buttons to secure the pouch.

There are two long pockets inside for holding the pens. Above the pockets are flaps that you can use to prevent the pens from falling out even when you're carrying the case upside down.

One nice design feature that this case has is the ability to stand. You can fold the flap backwards and clip the buttons together. This will form sort of a base and allow the case stand upright.

I like to keep the base large for stability, but you can also clip the lower set of buttons as well.

Going up in size is the A6 Carrying Pouch.

The pouch comes with a front flap that has velcro. Behind the flap are 4 pockets of different sizes. There one sized just right for pens, and one for mobile phones. The two at the bag are slightly larger. I can fit an A6 sketchbook in the biggest pocket.

On the back are these buttons and flaps for attaching the pouch to your belt.

If you prefer slinging, you can get the shoulder belt which is sold separately.

One size up is the A5 Carrying Pouch. The design is similar to the A6 one but this one's wider.

There's a box of 12 coloured pencils in the middle pocket.

It's a very smart looking pouch. The fabric for all of them are Cordura which is really lasting. I had another bag, Manhattan Portage Urban Bag, which uses Cordura and it's extremely durable after years of usage.

This is how it looks with the shoulder strap attached. Really nice.

Conclusion

I really like these stationery cases and pouches. They also come in other colours such as red, black, navy blue, black and khaki.

The price is quite reasonable which is great.

Availability
If you're in Singapore, you can get them from NBC Stationery.

Since this is a Japanese product, it's also available on Amazon Japan along with other LIHIT LABS products. But Amazon Japan doesn't ship them overseas so you've to use some forwarding service like Tenso.

You can try searching for them via their product codes online:
Pen case: A7585
A6 Carrying Pouch: A7574
A5 Carrying Pouch: A7575

The Pilot H-327 is the main mechanical pencil that I've been using for years. I remember writing a review for it before but for some reason I couldn't find it again.

The Pilot mechanical pencil is actually available in 4 different sizes, 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9mm. Their product codes are H-323, H-325, H-327 and H-329, and body colours are yellow, black, blue and orange respectively. I've three of them, the 0.3, 0.5 and 0.7mm

I like the pointed tip of the pencil. Unfortunately, it doesn't have a rubber grip so it's not as comfortable to hold as compared to mechanical pencils that do have them, such as the Staedtler Mars Micro 775 which I also have.

The back is very typical with a cap that hides the small piece of eraser which I think is not replaceable.

It's a very hardy mechanical pencil. Lightweight and seemingly very durable. Compared to other brands, I like that you can differentiate easily the different lead sizes by the striking body colours of the pencils.

Availability

You can find these mechanical pencils on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

My search for a mechanical pencil that can hold the blue Pilot Color ENO leads without breaking has led me to the Staedtler Mars Micro 775.

My main mechanical pencil is the Pilot H-327 which is great but for some reason, the blue pencil leads just keep breaking inside, even though the lead is quite thick at 0.7mm.

Why blue pencil leads? Well, that's the colour that doesn't get picked easily by scanners. And you can turn off the blue channel in Photoshop. So if you ink or pencil over the blue lines, you can just do very minimal post editing to enhanced your line art.

The Staedtler Mars Micro 775 is available in four different sizes: 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 and 0.9mm.

You differentiate each size by the colour just below the cap. In the case of 0.7mm, it's blue. For 0.3, it's yellow, 0.5 is red and 0.9 is orange.

This is how it looks like when the front is exposed. Nothing too surprising. There's a nice rubber grip for that additional slight comfort.

For some reason, this mechanical pencil is able to use the blue pencil leads without breaking. I'm sure there are other mechanical pencils that can do that as well, but I'm lucky to find one now instead of having to try out all others.

Conclusion

There really isn't much to say about the Mars Micro 775 except that it's a good mechanical pencil. It's light, the build quality feels great. Every click pushes the lead out by the nice amount, and the spring is not too stiff.

Availability

Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

I'm quite surprised I managed to score a free sketchpad to try out despite the negative review I wrote about the Etcetra Sketchbook.

The Monologue Sketch Pad series from Grandluxe sure is beautiful. They come in sizes A6 to A4 and with three colours, namely black, red and orange. I love the design. There's this almost velvety matte surface treatment on the cover that feels really nice to hold. Visually, the cover has some subtle coral reef-like pattern on it, and then there are some crisscrossing lines on the cover. On the back cover are the words monologue cut into the cover.

As the front cover is not glued to the first page, it can flip all the way back to expose the spine of the glued pages. This sketch pad isn't really meant for archival purposes because of the binding. It's one of those sketch-tear-and-throw sketchbooks.

The paper is 140GSM, white. There are 72 acid-free pages treated with vegetable gel, whatever that is. There's a slight texture but not as much compared to cartridge paper.

The marketing text claims that it's suitable for drawing with charcoal, chalk, graphite, pencil, pastel, oil pastel, wax crayon, red chalk, acrylic, collage, oil, marker, spray and tempera. That's almost everything. -_-

For my review, I've tried, ink, watercolour, markers and coloured pencils. It handles ink very well with no feathering. I only drew on one side of the paper and for ink and markers, you can see faint impressions from the previous page. If you want to scan stuff, definitely do not draw on double pages.

Using watercolour warps the paper. Mine's the small A6 sketch pad so warping is not that serious. Colours from the watercolours come out well. The paper can absorb water but it's not as good compared to watercolour paper.

I like the exterior design of the Monologue Sketch Pad. I've to mention the glue binding again, so expect some pages to fall out like mine. Hopefully they will release a version with stitch binding in the future. If you want to buy, I recommend the orange and red ones even though the cover will become dirty with usage.

Overall, the paper is quite versatile but it's definitely more suitable for dry medium. I prefer using ink and coloured pencils with it.

Ink and marker

Ink

Ink from brush pen

Pencil

Coloured pencils

Coloured pencils

Ink

Ink

Availability

You can find the Grandluxe Sketch Pads on Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_2?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-ke...

Most items reviewed are available at Dick Blick Art Materials (USA) and Jackson's Art Supplies (UK)

View this page in blog-style | Subscribe RSS feed for art product reviews

Acrylic

• Shinhan’s Artist Acrylic Paints (12 Colors Set)

Bags, pencil cases

• Accurasee Art Pencil Case, Bag, Pouch for Artist Sketchbooks
• Derwent Carry All Bag
• Derwent Pencil Tin Case
• Derwent Artpack Canvas Pencil Case
• Derwent Canvas Pencil Wrap
• Derwent Traveller Pencil Pouch
• Smart Fit Pencil Cases and Bags

Brushes

• Connoisseur Kolinsky Sable Pocket Watercolour Brush
• da Vinci Series 1573 Cosmotop Spin Round Travel Watercolor Brush
• Da Vinci Series 1523 Russian Red Sable Travel Watercolor Brush
• Da Vinci Series 910 Maestro Voyage Pocket Watercolour Brush
• Da Vinci Series 1503 Maestro Travel Pocket Watercolour Brush
• Da Vinci 5240 Watercolor Brush Set in Deluxe Wood Box
• Da Vinci Series 5330 Watercolor Brush Travel Set in Protective Case
• Escoda Versatil Watercolour Brush
• Escoda Reserva vs Da Vinci Travel Watercolour Brush
• Escoda Reserva Kolinsky-Tajmyr Sable Travel Brushes
• Isabey Siberian Blue Squirrel Quill Mop
• Rosemary Reversible Travel Watercolour Brushes
• Piston Filler Waterbrush with Metal Cap
• Pro Arte Retractable Travel Brush Set

Brush holder

• Art Advantage Bamboo and Pro Art Wood Brush Boxes
• Escoda Leather Brush Case
• Prat Start Brush Holder and Easel
• Prestige Brush Holder and Easel
• Tran Natural Canvas Artist Paint Brush Roll Up

Crayons, Pastels, Graphite, Carbon

• Viarco's ARTGRAF watercolour graphite set

Electronics and gadgets

• Wacom Intuos5 Touch tablet
• Canon Scanner LiDE 210

Ink

• Daler Rowney Calli Ink
• Diamine Registrar's Ink 30ml bottle
• Dr Martin's Black Star Waterproof India Ink
• Pelikan Fount India
• Rotring Drawing Black Ink

Paper

• Fabriano Artistico Watercolor Paper (300 GSM) - Traditional White
• Fabriano Studio Watercolor Paper (200 GSM)
• Saunders Waterford Watercolour Paper (300GSM Coldpress)
• Strathmore Visual Journal - Watercolor 300GSM

Pencils

• Derwent Coloursoft Colour Pencils
• Derwent Drawing Pencils
• Faber Castell Perfect Pencil
• Kita-boshi 2mm Lead Holder
• Pilot Mechanical Pencil H-323, H-325, H-327 & H-329
• Rotring Tikky Fineliner and Mechanical Pencil
• Staedtler Mars Micro 775 Mechanical Pencil

Pens

• Copic F01 Drawing Pen
• Kuretake Brush Pen
• Pilot Hi-Tecpoint pens
• Pilot Parallel Pen
• Pilot Pocket Brush Pen
• Sharpie Extra Fine markers
• Uni-ball Eye Rollerball Pen
• Uni-ball Gel Impact Rollerball Pen
• Uni-ball Signo Gelstick Pen

Fountain Pens

• Ackerman Pump Pens
• Caran d'Ache Palladium-coated Ecridor Retro
• Duke Confucius Compound Art Fountain Pen
• Platinum Carbon Desk Pen
• Esterbrook J
• Faber Castell Pearwood Ambition
• FPR DIlli and Noodler's Konrad
• Hero fountain pen 501-1
• Lamy Safari Fountain Pen
• Pilot Namiki Falcon
• Pilot Kakuno
• Platinum 3776 with music nib
• Platinum KDP-3000AN/DP-1000AN DESK PEN
• Rotring ArtPen
• Sailor 1911 with Music Nib
• Sailor Special Script Calligraphy Pen
• Sailor 1911 Pro Gear fountain pen
• TWSBI Diamond 580
• TWSBI Vac 700

Nibs

• Speedball Steel Brushes

Watercolour paints and sets

• Blockx Watercolour Pan Set
• Kremer Pigments 14 Full Pan Watercolour Box Set
• Pebeo Colorex Atelier Ink Box Set | Review #2
• Watercolour boxes
• Daler Rowney Aquafine Watercolor Pocket Set
• M. Graham Watercolor Paint Basic 5-Color Set
• Schmincke 12 half-pan watercolour box set
• Winsor & Newton Artists' Watercolour Heavyweight Enamelled Box
• Winsor & Newton Watercolour Bijou Box
• Winsor & Newton Desert Collection
• Winsor & Newton Watercolor Set: The Chelsea Box
• Winsor & Newton Watercolors Sketchers' Box

Sketchbooks

• Hand-book watercolour sketchbook from Global Art Materials
• Gamma sketchbook from Stillman & Birn
• Grandluxe Etcetra Sketchbook
• Grandluxe Monologue Sketch Pad
• Moleskine Watercolor sketchbook
• Winsor & Newton Hardback Sketchbook 170gsm
• Zeta sketchbook from Stillman & Birn

Video

• Colour In Your Life

Others

• Artograph Lightpad Light Box
• Dell U2711 LCD Monitor
• Huion Light Box
• Pocket Color Wheel
• Walkstool

I was at Basheer Graphics Bookstore when I saw a pamphlet listing the Huion products and what caught my attention was the price of their products. I had a moment of disbelief because they cost a few hundred dollars less than Wacom Cintiq alternatives. I thought it was some typo error. So I went online to double check and indeed the pricing is that attractive. Whether it's worth the money is another question. So I contacted Huion to borrow a tablet for a review. I asked for a simple tablet but they surprised me by sending me their latest GT-220, a 21.5 inch IPS pen display tablet. Wow!

Before I start, there are some important notes.

Important notes

You have to install the drivers first before you plug in the display tablets. On Windows computers, if you have the tablet plugged in, unknown Windows drivers will be installed for you which is what you do not want because it will conflict with the Huion drivers. Alright, back to the review...

Specifications

You can read the specifications from Huion's GT-220 product page so I will not duplicate it here.

There are several highlights for me. First, this is an IPS monitor so the image quality and viewing angles are fantastic. Second, the resolution is HD at 1920 by 1080. And thirdly, the tablet has 2048 levels of sensitivity.

What's in the box

The box came with the following items:

• Huion GT-220 Tablet Monitor
• Graphic Stylus
• Pen Holder (4 Spare Pen Nibs and 1 Removal Ring Included)
• USB Cable for the Rechargeable Stylus
• VGA Cable
• HDMI Cable
• Power Adapter
• USB Cable

I left out the driver disc in the photo above.

These are the connection ports behind. From the left to right: USB, power, HDMI, DVI and VGA.

The important thing to note here are the display cables included. The VGA cable is not going to give you as good image quality because it's using an analog connection. However, the only digital cable they included is the HDMI. I find it weird Huion chose to include a HDMI cable instead of a DVI cable where the latter is more widely supported by LCD/LED monitors nowadays -- although I noticed a trend that HDMI support in monitors is increasing.

I've two computers at home, a Mac Pro 2013 (that cyclindrical one) and the Mac Mini 2012. Both support HDMI so that's great. If you're using just monitor that supports DVI, you'll need a HDMI-DVI adapter.

There are two USB cables. One's for recharging the stylus. The other is for the tablet-computer connection.

There's a piece of plastic sticked to the screen initially. I'm still trying to figure out what those instructions mean.

This is the packaging for the stylus with a warning asking you not to unscrew the bottom part of the pen.

The pen holder is the type that lets the stylus lay down horizontally. I actually prefer the standing type like the Wacom. Not a big issue. You can unscrew the bottom anticlockwise to reveal multiple space nibs and a nib clipper for removing worn nibs. Huion included 10 replacement nibs. Very nice.

Design of the tablet

The IPS display tablet is 21.5 inch which I feel is a comfortable size to work with. The font sizes, palettes are not too small and can be seen clearly.

The whole display is quite thin, and lightweight (5.42kg), relatively speaking, which is great because you'll find yourself adjusting the tilt angle often to get into work mode or viewing mode.

The drawing surface is glass. Glass isn't really the best surface to draw on compared to a matte surface of course. I read that you can buy some sort of matte surface screen protector from Huion to apply over the screen which will give you a nicer textural surface to draw on.

For some reason, the LCD under the glass doesn't seem to be sealed. The set I have came with several dust spots inside on day 1. Several other customers also reported similar problems. I'm not too fussy but I imagine there are people who expect better given that they are not spending a small sum buying this. At least there are no dead pixels. See if you can spot the dust particles in the two photos below.

Somewhere in the middle slightly to the right. By the way, the colour cast is from my camera.

Just above the letter E at the Transparency palette

On the back of the tablet is the stand that props the monitor up. There's a latch you have to lift before you can adjust the tilt angles. When the tablet is upright, it's supported by the bottom edge of the tablet and the stand.

The power and menu buttons are on the bottom of the edge so when the monitor is upright, it's difficult if not impossible to press the buttons. It's inconvenient to use the power button which I use often. However, if you don't use the power button, e.g. shutting down the computer and letting the display go to sleep, then it's not an issue.

When the tablet is tilted down, it's supported by only the stand. The stand is not too big so if you draw forcefully on the screen, the tablet can wobble. Under normal drawing conditions, it's stable.

One major design flaw is the cable ports' inconvenient location just beneath the stand. When you tilt the tablet down, the stand will rest on the cables, and the whole unit will wobble, and I feel it will damage the cables in the future. So every time I tilt the tablet down, I would move the cables to the side to avoid the stand. Another potential downside is the durability of the cables because they are twisted even more when the table is brought down.

For Wacom tablet users, you'll probably notice the lack of express hot keys by the side. Personally, I've always preferred using keyboards because they are more versatile. So the lack of hot keys don't really bother me.

IPS screen

The screen is fantastic. The IPS panel has a good contrast levels of 1000:1. The colours on my display looks pretty good out of the box, and there's further option to tweak them via the menu buttons. I suggest tweaking it to get the best colours.

Viewing angle is 178 horizontal and vertical. This is very useful because with constant adjusting of the display tablet, viewing angles change, and if you're not using an IPS panel, colours will be different each time.

As for heat, the warm part of the display tablet is limited to the bottom half of the screen. It's not too warm so it's a non-issue.

Stylus

The drawing stylus is made of plastic and feels quite hollow, but I like the lightweight.

There are two buttons on the side. For the buttons to work, the stylus tip has to be near the screen.

At the back is a port for charging via USB, so unlike the Wacom stylus, there's no "eraser" tip at the back.

You can use the stylus while it's plugged in and charging, and of course in wireless mode.

I don't like the feeling of drawing on the glass surface with the tip, but then I don't like drawing on glass with anything. Under certain rare situations, I find that the tip would produce a squeaky sound, but I don't exactly know why or how.

The stylus does not support tilt sensitivity.

Strange cursor movements will happen when the stylus goes past the edge of the screen. When you go upwards past the edge of the screen, the cursor will actually move downwards as it loses connection.

Drivers

I've mentioned it upfront earlier but I'll repeat again. Install the drivers before plugging in the display tablet. If you do not have the drivers disc, you can download the drivers from Huion's website.

The system I'm using is Mac OS 10.9.5.

The Huion drivers options are very limited. There are settings for pressure sensitivity, side buttons and multi-screen options. For the side buttons, you can only set them to left, right and double clicks. That's all for the settings.

You can't calibrate the stylus to adjust the displacement, or distance against the screen. Is that a problem to me? Not really because there is going to be parallax error anyway, so I'll rather key the tip match directly on top of the cursor.

The keyboard is your best friend for extra functionality.

Functionality

There's no lag when drawing. Strokes appear as fast as you put them out. But lag also depends on how powerful your computer is.

I only use Photoshop and Illustrator for drawing, and I draw mostly cartoons and hence deal more with line work.

These are drawn in Photoshop.

In Photoshop, I noticed that there's slight jitter in the strokes. When the strokes are viewed up close, the edges have the slight jitter. It can be very irritating because they are quite random. The consolation is the jitterness may or may not be obvious depending on whether you're looking out for them.

Also in Photoshop, sometime when you do quick light sketches, the one single line you draw may in fact actually be made up of multiple lines that combine together to form the line. You know when then you have to undo several times just to remove the line. I think this is because the tablet isn't very good at detecting really light pressure strokes.

For Photoshop usage, personally I think the issue with jitterness is not a big problem for artists mainly digital painting. But for cartoonists or those who create line art, who need the predictability, this is an issue to take note of. I hope this issue can be resolve with driver updates.

Most of my line work are drawn in Adobe Illustrator using their Brush tool. Illustrator makes some adjustments to the strokes to render them out smooth so there's none of the jitter you get with Photoshop. However because of those adjustments, those strokes will not be 100% representative of the pressure you use. I like some element of randomness and so prefer using Illustrator for line art.

I find that on occasions, I can start a stroke with a blob, so the solution is to start the stroke properly. It took a while to get used to feel of the pressure created by the stylus, and after that it's fine. No such problems in Photoshop.

To get pressure sensitivity for brushes in Illustrator, you actually have to install Wacom drivers to make the options available for the the brush pressure settings.

The left one's drawn with Illustrator and the right one with Photoshop.

If you use really light pressure, you can get the grainy type of lines that you can't get with illustrator. I was using the round brush in Photoshop.

Other reviews

Below are video reviews from other artists. The comments they made are similar to the ones I have made.

Concept artist Daarken reviews it using Photoshop. He uses it for digital painting.

Illustrator Ray Frenden uses Painter. He uses the GT-220 for line art.

DeviantRahll reviews it with some comparison to the Cintiq.

Conclusion

I feel that the Huion GT-220 display tablet is a worthy competitor to the Wacom Cintiq.

It's not without flaws. The main downsides are the cable port locations on the back, dust problems inside the screen, jitter issues with brushes in Photoshop and the lack of driver setting options.

The major plus is the attractive pricing. It's a few hundred dollars cheaper than the Wacom CINTIQ 22HD which is in the same product category. It's a HUGE saving. The other plus is the wonderful image quality of the IPS screen.

Overall, the GT-220 does perform well enough for the kind of work I do and I feel that it's quite worth the money.

There's definitely room for improvement. I hope future Huion tablets will improve and give Wacom a run for their money. It's great to have competition to spur better products.

I would give this a 3.5 out of 5 stars.

Availability

Visit Amazon to check out more reviews.

The Huion GT-220 is available at:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk

I only knew of The Perfect Pencil when I saw my friend using one. It's quite an interesting design by Faber Castell to give the good old pencil a new spin.

Design

The Perfect Pencil isn't actually a pencil. More accurately, it's actually a pencil cap.

It's a smartly designed pencil cap that also hides a sharpener at the top. You can pull the knob above the clip to reveal the sharpener. From what I can see, the blade is not replaceable.

You can use it to fit both round or hexagonal pencils into the cap. The fit is tight enough that the pencil won't fall out, but it's also easy to pull out the pencil.

The cap can also serve as a pencil extender when the pencil gets too short.

It's certainly a very functional pencil cap.

Different editions

There are three editions for The Perfect Pencil.

The cheapest version is the plastic one with metal clip. The plastic only comes in dark dull green. Overall it feels kinda cheap but it's functional.

Next up is the more expensive aluminum version. On hindsight, maybe I should have bought this one which I feel has more class. Construction quality looks better. The cap's top is polished off to a shine.

Then there's the premium version with a cap that's Platinum plated. The body is smooth and it looks exquisite. If you like to indulge yourself in some luxury stationery, this would be it, a pencil that cost more than fountain pens.

Then there's the Desk Set #1 Chrome Plated one featuring pencils made of Californian cedar wood and a wooden case carved out of selected native alder.

And I saved the best for the last...

To mark Faber Castell's 240th anniversary, they came up with the exclusive Limited Edition 1761-2001 Perfect Pencil. Both extender and the end piece are made of 18K white gold. Underneath the count's coat-of-arms at the cap are three diamonds that symbolize the third millennium.

This particular edition is larger than the standard versions and is limited to 99 pieces. The price? 10,000 Euros.

A pencil (cap) that cost more than my computer!?!

Refills (aka the extra pencils)

Alright, back to reality. The pencil that comes with The Perfect Pencil is the Faber Castell 9000, shorter than the standard length pencils and comes with a short eraser behind.

Extra pencils are available separately but they do not come with the short erasers, which are also sold separately.

For some strange, no doubt commercial, reason, Faber Castell has chosen to price their spare pencils and erasers at insane prices. They sell the refills more expensive than their other pencils. For goodness sakes, these are just wooden pencils and they want to sell it as luxury items? *Eyes roll* Anyway, the good thing is you can get any other pencil to fit the cap.

Conclusion

The Perfect Pencil is a smart idea. I remember using spare pen caps to protect some of my pencils in the past. Faber Castell has pushed that idea further by putting a sharpener inside, and have a cap that also doubles as an extender.

The nice thing is you can bring the pencil around without the need of a pencil case to protect the lead.

As for the pricing, I felt that it's a bit overpriced even for the plastic version. The aluminium and platinum ones are even more expensive. If you just want something functional, the cheaper plastic version should suffice. If you want people's jaws to drop, the chrome-plated or Limited Edition 1761-2001 is the one for you.

Availability

The pencils are available separately or as a simple gift set.

Check out more reviews and pricing on Amazon:
Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.it | Amazon.es | Amazon.co.jp

The Duke 209 is an extremely affordable fountain pen that comes with a fude nib.

Most sellers on eBay (from China) are selling this pen around US $10 with shipping included. That is a very good deal. The pens are more expensive on Amazon.

The fude nib is basically a nib bent near the tip. It's a specialty nib designed for Asian calligraphy, and is capable of thick and thin strokes depending on how you hold the pen instead of relying on pressure.

Previous pens that were reviewed on the blog that have the fude nib are the Duke Confucius Compound Art Fountain Pen, Hero 501-1 fountain pen, Sailor Special Script Calligraphy Pen, other Hero and Sailor pens.

The fountain pen is made of stainless steel with a nicely polished smooth surface. The metal grain texture goes around the barrel and cap. The spring-loaded clip is chrome finished.

There's actually a black version body also.

At the tail end of the cap, the words 'Duke' and '209' are stamped onto the chrome finished band that goes around.

It's quite a lightweight for a metal pen. It feels well balanced on its own and when posted. Construction quality is decent enough.

Cap is the click-on type. When uncapped, it reveals the chrome finished grip. Notice the fingerprint on the chrome surface or the reflection of me taking the photo?

Design of the nib is nothing too striking. There's just the logo which looks like a crown, beneath it writes DUKE 22KGP, which I think it means 22K Gold Plated. It doesn't look gold plated to me though with the silver colour.

The fude nib of the 209 has a smooth bent curvature. The nib glides smoothly on the paper. Ink flow seems good enough to keep up with the bold ink strokes that it delivers. One thing about cheap pens is you don't really know when the feed is going to fail you. But for around US $10, it's a good risk to take.

The pen comes with a converter and two disposable ink cartridges in a simple paper box. I've read reviews commenting that the converter can be loose but not so for my case.

Here are the different type of strokes that the nib is able to produce.

In the top left box, note the thick and thin strokes from my quick sketching. In the bottom right box, the tapered ends are created with short strokes as I lift the nib from the paper. The nib can be quite broad at certain sections of the bent so it's also great for extra thick strokes, or for blocking in small areas with black.

The quality of the lines aren't too different from Hero pens with fude nibs.

The fude nib writes like a medium or broad nib. To get the thinnest stroke, you have to write with the pen vertical so that the smallest portion of the nib touches the paper. It's not among my favourite pens for writing but it is for sketching.

Conclusion

The Duke 209 fountain pen should appeal more to artists than writers. Although if you're adventurous enough, you can buy one to try for fun since it's so affordable.

It's a rather value for money pen. I just hope that it's durable.

Availability

I recommend getting from eBay where it is cheaper. You can also find it on Amazon.com.

I only got to know of the Pilot Namiki Falcon through a Youtube video.

The penmanship showed in the video mesmerised me into getting the fountain pen. The Namiki Falcon showed above actually has a Spencerian modification, meaning the nib was grounded to extra fine with added flex to make it more suitable for writing Spencerian script.

The Namiki Falcon I bought two years ago was the unmodified standard off-the-shelf model, but recently I've bought another with the Spencerian modification. So now I have two Namiki Falcons. I like them both.

This review will cover both the standard and modified Namiki Falcons.

The pen comes with a twist-type converter in the box.

Design

The black resin body is standard size with gold trimmings at the usual places.

For the customised pen that I bought from Nibs.com, I noticed the clip was polished to a much smoother surface when compared to the unmodified one which still has some angular form. The clip on the cap is pretty prone to scratches. Both of my pen clips have some scratches and tiny dents from my carelessness, for which I feel a tinge of sadness.

This is the design at the tail end of the cap.

The pen feels very well balanced when held alone or posted with cap behind. It weighs just 18.3 grams. Rather lightweight, the way I like it.

The distinctive shape of the nib is bent to a smooth curve, somewhat like a bird's beak but not to the full extent. There's no design carved onto the 14K gold nib surface except for some numbers and the word "Namiki" and "Japan".

On the right is the Spencerian modification, and left is the unmodified.

Performance

You have a choice of extra fine, fine, medium and broad nib. The standard one I bought has the fine nib. If you're getting the Spencerian modification, it doesn't matter what nib you get because it will eventually be grounded down to extra fine.

The standard nib already comes with some degree of flex. Apply slight pressure and you can get a thicker stroke. Writing is smooth and ink flow is great.

The Spencerian modified nib comes with additional flex. It requires even lesser pressure to flex. Writing feels slightly scratchy which is not surprising since it's such a sharp nib. Depending on the grain and texture of the paper, sometimes it has tendency to dig into the paper. The strokes it can deliver is both thinner and wider compared to the unmodified version. The additional flex is the main selling point.

With the Spencerian modification, you can almost get brush-like strokes going to super thin to much thicker, I would say about 0.2 to 1 in terms of technical pen nib sizes. The unmodified one goes from 0.3 to 0.8 probably based on visual unmeasured inspection.

When sketching, drawing broad strokes with the Spencerian model, there's a chance of railroading when you go too fast. Railroading means the nibs flex apart and ink flow can't catch up resulting in two lines rather than one. For normal writing speed, ink flow is good enough and there won't be such railroading problems.

The variance of stroke thickness from the standard vs Spencerian is quite significant that I feel like they are different pens. Even though I've two Namiki Falcons, there are enough characteristics to set them apart.

For drawing

Below are some sketches I drew with the pens. In typical use, I don't really flex the nibs that much.

One nifty feature of the nib is you can use the back of it to fill in large areas with ink. Remember the beak shaped nib? When you turn the pen upside down, the curved part is actually convex and comes out a bit and you can use the flat side of the nib to create a thick 0.9cm stroke.

It's not easy to control the ultra-thick stroke that way as you don't know where the bottom of the strokes ends because the nib is upside down so you can't see. With the Spencerian model, as the nib is so sharp, there's tendency for it to create an ultra thin line at the top of the ultra-thick stroke.

The shaded areas are filled in with the back of the nib. Since the Iroshizuku sepia ink I used wasn't not totally dark, you can see the different layers of ink overlaying on top of each other.

For the three watercolour sketches above of train passengers, I did not flex the nib.

These are strokes from the non-modified Namiki Falcon. Notice at the top right box, there are several strokes with railroading symptoms. That happens when the strokes go fast and the ink flow cannot catch up.

These are the strokes from the Namiki Falcon with Spencerian modification. The greater variance in stroke thickness is quite obvious here.

It can be a good alternative to dip pens typically used for inking comics. By the way, Mattias Adolfsson uses a Namiki Falcon for his drawings.

To prevent railroading is as simple as slowing down the strokes.

As the nib is quite sharp for both the pens, the moving the nibs in upward motion may sometimes get into the grain of the paper. As such, upward strokes are always thin. Thick lines are always created with the nib pulled downwards.

This is the video I talked about earlier that demonstrates the ability of the Spencerian modified nib. I would advise not to watch it if you have impulse purchase tendency. LOL.

Conclusion

The Pilot Namiki Falcon is a nice pen for sketching, both the standard and Spencerian modified ones. It's a pen more suited for those who like thinner strokes. I can't speak for the medium and broad nib in terms of how much flex they have, so if you have those the M and B nib please leave a comment below. And if you like thin lines, also check out the Carbon desk pen and Platinum KDP-3000AN/DP-1000AN desk pen.

The Namiki Falcon is not the only pen that can be modified with Spencerian modification. You can see the other pen models at Nibs.com. And if you want the Spencerian modification, you can get your pen from Nibs.com, which is where I bought mine from.

Once again, I want to mention that the Spencerian modification is too scratchy for normal writing purposes. The modification is more for those who like scripts and cursive handwriting, or use it for drawing.

Whether you get the unmodified or Spencerian will depend on your drawing style so I can't really recommend one over the other. As I've said, I like both.

As for the standard Namiki Falcon, you can find them easily (and cheaper) on Amazon (US | CA | UK | DE | FR | JP).

I didn't know that Pilot makes pen cases also, but I guess that's not too surprising.

This is the Pilot Pensemble roll pen case designed to hold fountain pens. There are two colour options available, black and brown.

The pen case comes in just a simple cardboard box. Smell of the leather permeates the air when I take it out.

It's made of soft cowhide leather which makes it really easier to roll up. You secure the case with the leather string that can go around.

The inside is laid with soft interior to protect the pens. There are two flaps covering 5 pockets. In the photo above, I've put in the Platinum 3776, Namiki Falcons, Sailor 1911 and Lamy Safari Vista. The Lamy Safari Vista is the largest among those pens and there's still space about 1.5cm to the top.

Two of the pockets are larger than the other three. You can fit two smaller fountain pens into one big pocket if you want, like I did in the photo above. But if you want full protection, it should be one pen in each pocket of course.

The pockets are high enough to cover half of the pen cap. Each pen sits smugly in the pocket.

The stitching and overall quality is top notch. The Pensemble roll pen case offers excellent protection for fountain pens.

This is definitely a luxurious item as it's quite pricy compared to typical canvas roll pen cases. The good thing is this is a quality product and looks durable so in the long term, it's still good value for money.

If you want to over indulge yourself, this is a fantastic pen case to get.

Availability

You can find the Pilot Pensemble on Amazon.com | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.co.jp

This is the Delfonics roll pen case that I bought from Tokyu Hands at Westgate Shopping Mall the other day. It's quite pricey but I guess if you're going to use it for a long time, it's still quite worth it. It's definitely much cheaper than the Pilot Pensemble roll case that I reviewed recently.

It's a simple roll pen case made of tough canvas on the outside. Mine's the bright orange version but there are also other colours.

This is the strap that goes around to secure the case. Depending on how bulky the pens are inside, you can use either one of the click-on buttons.

It uses the clothed rubber band with slots for the pens. There are eight slots. The last two slots are the biggest. The six other slots are smaller and the sizes are not very consistent. A thick fountain pen like the TWSBI Vac 700 will have a difficult time going into a small slot.

There's a flap on top to protect the pens when the case is rolled up. On the left is the large TWSBI Vac 700. Usually, I keep only five pens in the case.

There are actually two sizes for the case, small and large. Mine's the small one which is good enough for typical size fountain pens. If your fountain pen is more than 14.5cm, then go for the larger one.

Availability

You can find them on Amazon.com (Orange, Blue, Black) | Amazon.ca | Amazon.co.uk | Amazon.de | Amazon.fr | Amazon.co.jp

A few months ago, manufacturer Grandluxe sent me a few sketchbooks to review. I've since reviewed the Monologue Sketch Pad which is pretty decent.

A few months later, now, I've finally filled up the sketchbook to be able to write this review.

This is part of the Monologue series of sketchbook. The Basics series seem to only have black covers as compared to the colourful Sketch Pad series. The hardcover is covered with some soft leatherette, and apparently thin because mine has some areas chipped off from putting inside my bag.

And it seems there are also notebooks (80gsm) in the Basics series, so be careful not to buy the wrong type.

The sketchbook comes in A6, A5 and A4. I'm not sure if you can have a choice of hardcover or softcover. The A5 is in hardcover while the other two are softcover.

That's the softcover A4 sketchbook by the right.

Rounded edges of the softcover sketchbook.

This is the binding for the A4 softcover which allows the sketchbook to be laid flat. Note that the pages are perforated.

There are 128 pages is 140gsm acid free paper. The quality is like cartridge paper, and as I've tested it for the Sketch Pad series, it works well for ink, markers, coloured pencils and watercolour. The best medium to use would be ink.

The binding is sewn binding so the sketchbook can be opened flat. However, the pages are perforated so your drawing will be affected visually by them.

I don't usually draw across the gutter but when I do and scan them back home, there are three lines instead of just the gutter line. The scans are below.

It would be great if there weren't any perforated pages. But maybe that's how Grandluxe differentiate themselves from all the other non-perforated sketchbooks out there, or even its own Sketch Pads.

The paper is great for working with pen and ink. However there will be impression of lines from the previous page if when the pages are scanned. For that reason, I leave blank pages behind my sketches.

This sketch drawn with with Noodler's ink and Pentel Brush Pen.

Watercolour works well enough but the paper will warp slightly.

The Monologue Basics sketchbook is quite decent for casual sketching. Paper quality is good enough for light drawing mediums. The only thing I did not care for is the perforation for the pages, and for that reason, I would recommend the Monologue Sketch Pad instead.

I bought two black Copic markers to test out the difference between the 100 Black vs the 110 Special Black.

On the left is 100 Black, probably the more common markers people would buy for black. On the right is the 110 Special Black. I drew the strokes on ruled paper.

Here's a closer look at the 100 Black.

And a close up of the 110 Special Black.

The strokes here are drawn on 135gsm cartridge paper.

Differences? From what I observed, the 100 Black is slightly darker. And the 110 Special Black seems to have a slight warm undertone from the close up picture.

The differences are minimal at best. Having said that, it might be worth a consideration which marker to get to pair with your warm and cool gray Copic markers.

Availability

Here are direct links to the two Copic markers on Amazon: 100 Black | 110 Special Black

I bought this Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook in December 2012, started drawing in it only one year later, and now after another year, I've almost finished the sketchbook.

Sketchbook reviews usually take a long time for me because I like to really use the book properly before I write anything.

The Epsilon series of sketchbook from Stillman & Birn features 124 pages of heavyweight 150gsm natural white paper. The surface texture is quite smooth, similar to copier paper.

The sketchbooks are available in hardcover and wire-bound at different sizes as follows:

Hardbound:

• 5.5 by 8.5 in
• 8.5 by 11 in.
• A4 - 8.25 by 11.75 in.

Wire-bound:

• 6 by 8 in.
• 7 by 10 in.
• 9 by 12 in.

Individual large sheets are also available at 22 by 30 inches.

The Epsilon sketchbook has a faux leather texture for the hardcover.

It uses stitch binding in such a way that it allows for the sketchbook to open flat. This is good for drawing across pages.

This is how good the binding is. To make your pages easier to open flat, you can open the book as you normally do, then pull the pages and cover all the way to the back until they touch each other. Don't worry, the sketchbook will not be damaged because the stitch binding is durable and is that good. I typically do this for the 124-page sketchbooks from Stillman & Birn. Their 52-page sketchbooks are thicker and easier to open wide.

This sketchbook has been in and out of my bag for a year and there is very minimal wear and tear on the cover. The build quality is top notch.

Stillman & Birn claims that this paper is good for pen & Ink, coloured pencils & water-based-markers. I actually tried all that and also watercolour.

The sketches above and pen and ink with watercolour. The Epsilon paper is not suitable for watercolour. The paper does not absorb water, so the water tend to stay on the surface, wander around, then pools and dries with back runs. One way to prevent back runs is to use less water. The paper does not handle water well so I do recommend using watercolour on the Epsilon.

This is a pencil sketch at a cafe. There are some purple bits near the coffee cup which are the result of me spraying fixative on dye-based ink on the page that follows. Argh.

The paper works well with pencil.

Markers look good on the paper also. But 150gsm is unable to prevent the marker bleeding to the page behind. I usually leave two blank pages after every marker drawing. If you don't want markers to bleed through, check out the Zeta series sketchbooks.

Pen and ink is the best medium to use on the Epsilon sketchbook. Pens just glides smoothly on the surface. Ink washes are also well handled. There's no back run for ink because of the higher viscosity.

I enjoy using this sketchbook for line drawings with pen.

Stillman & Birn currently has six series of sketchbook, each one's dedicated to certain type of medium and work. You can read more about them from my first impression article.

Availability

Visit the following direct links to find the Epsilon sketchbooks on Amazon.com | Amazon.co.uk

Try searching on Dick Blick Art Materials (USA) and Jackson's Art Supplies (UK).