I kept going back to Present + Correct to admire this vintage advertising art of A.W. Faber pencils and chalks that I decided I needed to share it. The image is circa 1897. I love that the pencils were tied to cardstock to display them. Good way to display my vintage pencils?
(via Present + Correct)
I was snooping around JetPens I stumbled across this unique item: the Sensu Artist Brush and Stylus for touch-sensitive devices. Using the brush end, it’s supposed to better simulate brush strokes in drawing and painting apps and then the other end is a rubberized stylus for drawing and tapping. I know a lot of artists are integrating the iPad and other touch devices into their creative process and I think this might be a cool way to expand the types of marks that can be created. $39.99.
Holler if you’ve used one and let me know how well it works!
The Pentel Pocket Brush pen is one of the best, if not The Best, brush pens on the market. First, the understated look of the pen is a pleasure to behold with nothing printed on the pen but one elegant character. The pen has a simple silver clip and a solid black plastic body. The cap clicks solidly onto the pen. The pen comes with two permanent black ink cartridges.
The tip is what makes this pen so notable. Unlike other brush pens that use a porous sponge tip shaped like a brush, the Pentel brush pen is an actual filament brush so that it gives and flexes like a real brush. It allows for delicate fine lines and bold strokes, quickly and easily.
While actually drawing and writing with a brush is not my forté, I did want you to see what a variety of line weights were possible with this pen. Clearly, I could use some practice writing with it!
Pen and refills available from JetPens. I purchased my pen from Utrecht.
I have had this pen floating around in my collection for awhile. I’m always attracted to the Faber-Castell pens because they often have such wonderful colors available. On this trip, I decided to grab this deep blue gray color called Indianthrene Blue in the brush tip version. The brush tip is a shaped felt tip which looks a brush which gives a nice variety of line variation. Unfortunately, because of the material used to make the “brush” it frays and wears over time making it less precise. The PITT pens are water resistant which would make them good for labeling, kitchen use or addressing or decorating envelopes.
There are dozens of other colors available for the brush pen and PITT pens are also available in a nylon tip style in Extra Superfine (0.1mm), Superfine (0.4mm), Fine (0.6mm) & Medium (0.8mm) nibs and a variety of colors.
Brush pen is available online for $1.60
I had the good fortune of getting to attend the first-ever Spectrum Live art expo. While I was dazzled by the art and starstruck by the artists, I couldn’t help but peek at whatever tools each artist was using to doodle or autograph. Some made me shiver (really, a Bic ballpoint?!?! Your art deserves a better tool!), some made me boggle (What mechanical pencil is that??).
I met two lovely artists who were willing to share a peek inside their tool kits. Archer Dougherty and Chris Ryniak were kind enough to show me their favorite tools so without further ado…
Archer’s kit was a large zip pouch whose previous life may have been as a document case or iPad sleeve. She said she loved just throwing her tools into the bag with a book or sketchbook and not treating them as particularly precious. She was sitting quietly drawing with a simple lightweight Zebra mechanical pencil which she admitted to preferring when she was out and about because it did not require sharpening and always kept a sharp point.
In stark contrast Chris Ryniak carried his tools in a very organized pen roll. His favorite tool was a newly acquired matte Zebra Sharbo X LT3 in orange flame.
He praised his Pentel Twist-Erase 0.5 mechanical pencil for the large and wholly usable eraser, to which I can agree.
He also showed me his Zebra Hi-McKee markers which he liberated on his last trip to Japan and which he loves. It seems to be a marker comparable to a Sharpie though I have not found much additional information about it. Anyone have personal experience with these?
As both artists were busy fielding questions and comments from actual art-buying customers, I didn’t get to ask them all the questions I might have wanted but I am grateful for their time and generosity. Hope you enjoyed the peek into their kits as well!
Faber Castell Pitt Drawing Chalks on Flickr.
Box of vintage A.W. Faber Castell black drawing chalks “Pitt” in round medium.
(on loan from the Ben Jones collection)
This is the most useful product box I’ve seen in awhile. I’m floored at the amount of thought and ingenuity that went into making the packaging useable and functional for these old pencil sets. The snap closure with leatherette band keeps the pencils from escaping inside a bag or desk drawer.
Not to mention that I was tickled to find an old set of watercolor pencils in such good shape.
The box also folds open to act as a stand to see the pencils and keep them within reach.
I’d be willing to pay an extra couple of dollars for manufacturers to improve product packaging to this level of usability and functionality. Tin boxes that can be reused, paperboard that can double as a stand like this, anything but cheap vacuform or cellophane!
Every morning during baseball season around 6:15 a.m., after driving to Midtown from Manalapan, N.J., Petruccio takes a cup of coffee and sketches a one-page illustration summarizing the previous night’s game. The drawings are topped with tabloid-like headlines and accompanied with short summaries scribbled in ballpoint pen. Sometimes, they’re standard portraits. (read more…)
(via WSJ.com)
Sometimes, the most inspiring thing in the world is the endless possibilities held within a brand new box of crayons.
Illustration by Jenny Bowers
