The Well-Appointed Desk

Colored Pencil Review: Uni EMOTT Color Mechanical Pencils

Review by Tina Koyama

Whenever I see colored leads for mechanical pencils, I have a two-fold reaction: The first is to feel tingly with anticipation as I always do about any colored pencil I haven’t (yet) tried. This feeling is almost immediately followed by skepticism, which is an annoying but realistic buzz-kill. I’ve tried many colored mechanical pencil leads with woefully pale hues; I have concluded that it must be much more difficult to make a good colored pencil lead when it’s not surrounded by wood. Yet hope springs eternal: I couldn’t resist trying Uni EMOTT Color Mechanical Pencils (set of 4/$13.50). The sets are available in three color palettes; I chose Tropical. Each set includes eight 0.9mm refill leads.

I also picked up a pack of refill leads in each of the other two color palettes – Nostalgic and Refresh (8 pieces/$2.95) – because I needed to see all the colors, of course. The refill packs include two leads each of four colors.

First, I must say something about the design. With a white matte plastic barrel in a unique rounded-square shape, the EMOTT pencil is slender and lightweight. Pressing the white-capped colored segment extends the lead. Removing the cap reveals an eraser, which is also square like the barrel. After so many engineer-y or utilitarian mechanical pencils, it is a refreshing delight to see this distinctive design. And – be still, my heart – it’s lefty-oriented!

The EMOTT set comes with a small stand that holds four mechanical pencils and a refill vial. When each is replaced in its slot, the pencil is secured with a satisfying click (though they do wobble a bit after securing).

So tickled was I with the design that I was almost afraid to use the leads for fear my bubble would be burst. With some trepidation, I pulled out a scrap sheet of Strathmore Bristol (a smooth drawing paper) to make some test swatches. To my surprise, the hues are vibrant and distinct – among the best I’ve seen in a non-woodcased colored pencil.

The second surprise came with erasing. I tested the EMOTT’s eraser against my standby favorite, the Tombow Mono Zero retractable eraser. The EMOTT eraser did as well or even slightly better, even where the color was heavily applied. Interestingly, when I tried the EMOTT eraser on other colored pencils, its performance was only average. It seems like the eraser was especially formulated to work well with EMOTT leads.

EMOTT leads smudge a little, especially on slightly toothy paper (swatches below were made on Col-o-Ring “Oversize” paper).

Satisfied that the colors wouldn’t break my heart, I looked out my studio window on a wet, dreary day and made a sketch that was a lot brighter than what I saw (made in Col-o-Ring “Oversize” book). Coloring with mechanical pencils feels different from coloring with woodcased pencils, but the 0.9mm leads are solid under my heavy hand, even with substantial pressure. They are not going to snap as so many thinner leads do, at least in my hand.

Hard yet with decent pigment, EMOTT colored leads are excellent for writing as well as sketching. Even if you don’t have coloring in mind, these would be a fun checking or editing pencil, especially since it erases well.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

In Ink Review

Our Favorite Inks: Platinum Carbon Black

AnaMarch 4, 2022March 2, 20229 Comments

After writing about cartridges last week, I got to thinking about my favorite inks and have decided to start a series “Our Favorite Inks”. And while I would never presume to rank these inks in any sort of order (would you rank your children?) I knew I should start with one of my all-time favorite: Platinum Carbon Black ($25 per 60ml bottle or $3.50 for a pack of 4 cartridges).

Why would I choose this ink for my first favorite ink? Because if I were in a situation where I needed to re-acquire all my inks, PCB (not Panama City Beach but Platinum Carbon Black) would be one of the first, if not THE first, inks I re-bought.

There are two reasons for this. First, everyone needs a black ink. I know we always say we want COLOR but there are occasions when nothing but black will do. Second, sometimes we need a permanent ink. Often times the need for black and permanent go hand-in-hand — like signing important documents. So, done. PCB solves both problems.

I am a devotee of the Platinum Desk Pen (formerly known as the Platinum CARBON Desk Pen). It’s extra fine nib and low price make it the perfect pen to keep a black waterproof ink loaded ALL THE TIME. The extra fine nib also makes writing on some of those lower quality copy papers a bit easier to handle since the fine nib doesn’t spread as badly as a big, broad firehose nib.

Also, that itty bitty, extra fine nib uses very little ink making a cartridge last for months or even years, even with regular use.

I’ve had it suggested that other blacks were more waterproof but I’ve not seen any proof of this. I SOAKED the page above (Rhodia paper) and the ink didn’t budge. It took hours for the water to dry and the ink looks just as crisp as when I wrote it. I am sure there are some paper stocks with different textures or coatings that may cause your mileage to vary but if the ink has been allowed to dry at least 10 minutes or so under normal atmospheric conditions (not super cold or not super humid) you should have similar waterproof results.

As for cleaning pens, I’ve done several test with allowing PCB to dry inside a pen and had it rinse clean in a short amount of time. If you let a pen sit for years with dried PCB, you may need to get some pen cleaner or an ultrasonic cleaner to help make the process easier but I’ve never had trouble cleaning out the ink or getting a pen restarted after a hard start (usually a result of leaving a pen sit for weeks or months).

So, if you haven’t added a bottle of PCB to your collection, I recommend you remedy that. The cartridges are Platinum proprietary so only purchase those if you plan to use them in a Platinum pen.

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

In feature, Ink Review

Ink Review: Monarca Part 1

Jessica ColesMarch 3, 2022March 3, 20221 Comment

Another new ink manufacturer has entered the arena – Monarca. I was recently sent a collection of these inks to review. Since the ink line is so new, it can be hard to find retailers who carry Monarca but you can currently find this ink at Dromgoole’s.

I’m starting with the first three inks: Cielo Cruel, Rey Jaguar, and Tierra Colorada.

According to their packaging, the colors chosen by Monarca were inspired by Mexico. The first ink today, Cielo Cruel, represents a cloudless day that will bring no rain – a “cruel sky”. Cielo Cruel is a rich, shading medium blue that leans toards the purple end of the color. It is in the same group of colors that include many blue-black inks but a few shades lighter.

The second ink today is Tierra Colorada, referencing the red soil of Northern Mexico. Every time I’ve written this out, I need to force myself not to spell out Colorado instead! Tierra Colorada is a bit lighter than Monteverde Canyon Rust and is a good shading ink. The reddish brown ink is subtly different from most office inks but would still be appropriate in a professional setting.

Monarca Rey Jaguar is the last ink I’ll be covering in this post. This is a special edition ink, named in reference to the King Jaguar, is a a run of only 600 bottles and Monarca states that a significant portion of the profits from Rey Jaguar will go to habitat restoration campaigns.

Rey Jaguar is a lovely shading golden brown ink with gold sparkle. It is a bit more saturated than Callifolio Yalumba and lighter than Diamine Golden Brown. The sparkle in the ink fell out of suspension a bit quicker than I expected, but didn’t need much aggitation to resuspend. The flow was a bit on the wet side – a pleasant change from sparkle inks that tend to run dry. My dip nib was the issue with the blob on my card below!

The sparkle in Rey Jaguar is bright when it catches the light. This swatch is shown on Tomoe River paper:

This swatch is on Cosmo Air Light paper.

Although I’ve only covered three inks today, I’ve included all nine Monarca inks, first on Tomoe River paper:

And again on Cosmo Air Light paper.:

In order to see the difference in color, shading, and texture between the two paper types, here is a photo of Monarca inks on both Cosmo Air Light paper (left) and Tomoe River paper (right).

There is a little surprise Monarca includes with each ink . Each bottle is packaged with it’s own wooden bottle holder/pen rest. A small bit of foam has been attached to the inside of the bottle holder so it keeps the bottle held securely – I was able to lift both the holder and bottle out of the box together. I appreciate this innovative detail that makes the packaging useful!

The cost of Monarca inks varies from $20 to $29 for 30mL (and a pen rest), bringing the ink to $0.67 to $1 per mL. While still not as expensive as some specialty inks, the price is on the higher end. However, the color and quality of the ink will not disappoint!

DISCLAIMER: The ink included in this review was provided free of charge for the purpose of review. Some items were purchased with funds from our amazing Patrons. You can help support this blog by joining our Patreon. Please see the About page for more details.

In Link Love

Link Love: Behind the Scenes

AnaMarch 2, 2022March 2, 20221 Comment

I’ve spent the last two days as a photo assistant/art director/coffee fetcher for my company‘s photographer in preparation for our upcoming summer catalog. The shoot was set up in a nearby house in order to create more realistic environments than we can get in our in-house studio space. The photo above I snagged as our photographer was setting up a shot for some bathroom vanity products in the first floor powder room. I think it captures the fun but busy vibe on the shoot.

If you want to see the results of our photoshoot, hop over to the web site (link above) and sign up for the catalog. Not only will you see some of the pictures from the photoshoots but also some of the products I design for the company. No pressure but I thought you might like to see what I do when I’m not obsessing over pens and ink.

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In photo

Yarn + Ink Palette: Spring is Coming

Laura CameronMarch 1, 2022March 1, 20222 Comments

This week is unseasonably warm and full of sunshine and it’s doing everything to raise my spirits. I’m also working on a new chicken for The City Girl Farm in an interesting mix of colors.

I thought this post would be easy, until I went to pull inks swatched from my stash and didn’t find exactly what I wanted.

The inks I pulled are:

PenBBS #219 Watermelon Green – this green really is a bit too bright for the yarn, I feel like maybe Sailor Epinard would be the ticket, but alas…
Sailor Jentle Sakura Mori – this ink is definitely too dark for the very pale natural and peachy pink tones of the yarn, but maybe in the lightest portions it works?
Diamine Aurora Borealis – this is the only one I feel is SPOT on color!

What do you think?

In feature

Comparing the Atoma Paper Punch to the Staples Arc Punch

Jaclyn MyersFebruary 28, 2022February 28, 20224 Comments

Over the last year and a half, the William Hannah A6 has become one of my most used stationery items. Inspired by Jesi’s original post about punching papers to make her own notebook, I’ve been punching away ever since. I’ve had two different paper punches in that time and both options are decently pricey (one much more so than than the other!) so I thought a comparison might be helpful to anyone else considering their options.

The first punch I tried was the Staples Arc Punch. This punch retails for just under $50. After I had been using the William Hannah for a while, I splurged on the Atoma Paper Puncher (for research purposes of course), which retails for over $130 at the time of writing this post. That’s a very large investment in a hole punch. Has it been worth it? And is it really more than twice as good as the Arc punch?

Let’s start with the Arc punch. This is a very, very solid punch. It just works. It’s meant to be used with up to 8 pages (of course depending on what kind of page) and creates very crisp, clean cuts on everything from Tomoe River paper to watercolor paper. In terms of the basic functions of this punch, I have virtually no complaints.

When in use, one item of note is that this punch is very large and a little unwieldy, but not at all unusable. When not in use it can be locked so that it is a little more compact (although still larger and less compact than the Atoma). The tray for clippings is hard plastic and slides out from the bottom for emptying. I wouldn’t call it the most aesthetically pleasing thing in the room, but again in terms of function in does exactly what it was designed to do.

For the Atoma punch, the design is a little different, but the function is very similar. The punch is made up is mostly black metal and is slightly more compact and in my opinion maybe a little better looking than the Arc punch.

In terms of punching though, both are equally solid- I really can’t tell any difference in terms of how they punch paper in general terms. For the Atoma, the tray for clippings is rubber and peels off the bottom.

The only real meaningful difference worth any price difference in these two punches comes down to a single photo. The Atoma punch is on the left, and the Arc punch is on the right.

Or that photo in reverse. Again, the Atoma punch is on the left, and the Arc punch is on the right.

When comparing these let’s start with a basic question. Can you buy a Arc punch and use this punch to punch papers to use in a William Hannah notebook system? Yes, absolutely. It works. You can place the paper into the notebook, turn the pages, and remove the paper from notebook. I’ve tried all kinds of paper from Rhodia to Bank Paper to Tomoe River and even Col-o-Ring Cards.

However, I personally do feel that the shape difference above makes a decently big difference for me in daily use. The arc’s shorter punch makes it a little more difficult especially in turning pages and especially if you have a lot of pages packed into the notebook. It’s not a non-starter issue, more of a small annoyance. And whether a small annoyance is worth a $80 price difference really comes down to personal preference and how much you use the product.

This is one of those products that is very difficult to recommend to anyone because the price point is so far out of reach compared to alternatives and compared to what “seems” reasonable to pay for item in this category. At the same time, this is an item I use every single week, and the small improvement it has over its competitor in the market makes a difference in my stationery use on an almost daily basis. There are items twice this cost in my collection I can’t say the same for.

In Tools

Pencil Case Review: Peg & Awl Sendak Mini Artist Roll

AnaFebruary 25, 2022February 25, 20224 Comments

Review by Tina Koyam\

Whenever I see a lovely, handcrafted pencil roll, it evokes fantasies: Seated at a sidewalk table in a Venetian or Parisian café, sipping an espresso, I sketch – my colored pencil roll, charmingly patina-ed with years of travel, casually opened next to my sketchbook.

Despite the fantasies, I didn’t think a roll would work for me. When sketching from the sidewalk, I prefer to stand, so I have no place to spread out a roll. In the cold-weather months, though, I do most of my urban sketching from my car or in coffee shops. Maybe I could fulfill my roll fantasies, at least during the winter. . .?

The roll I had coveted for years is the Peg & Awl Sendak Mini Artist Roll. In December, a Christmas gift card and a post-holiday sale at Peg & Awl came together, and I decided it was time to make a mini Sendak mine!

Peg & Awl’s Sendak rolls (mini and full size) are made of durable waxed canvas in many color options. I chose Moss, which I knew would hide dirt well (mine is already starting to gain a scuffed patina that is definitely charming). Unrolled, a flap protects implements in the upper pockets.

I use the single narrow zipped pocket to hold a sharpener and a blending stump. I could put more in there, but I’m trying to keep the Sendak’s profile svelte. (I don’t want it to turn into a bulging burrito.)

The other pockets and slots are for my limited watercolor pencil palette, one brush pen and a waterbrush – the key essentials in my sketch kit.

One benefit I noticed immediately is that it’s much easier and faster to slip pencils into the Sendak’s slots and pockets compared to the elastic loops in my long-time sketch bag organizer, the Tran Portfolio Pencil Case. As much as the Tran Portfolio has served my needs for years, getting pencils back into the loops has always been frustrating – like randomly stabbing into the black hole of my bag.

Another upside is that thicker items like markers fit easily into the mini Sendak’s pockets; they would not fit into elastic loops designed for pencils. Overall, the mini Sendak’s elegant design is more flexible and versatile for a variety of tools and materials.

Versatility – that brings me to my biggest and most exciting discovery about the mini Sendak: Like my Miata, it’s a convertible! While sketching from my car or at a table, I can unroll it, use it, and roll it back up again.

That’s all find and good, but what about when I’m standing on the sidewalk? What I loved most about the Tran Portfolio is that it kept all my pencils upright and fully accessible just by opening my bag. In the same way, when I’m sketching on location, I simply keep the opened Sendak standing inside my bag. (It fits nicely in the small size Rickshaw Zero Messenger Bag that has been my everyday-carry for a decade. I pulled the Sendak up for the photo below, but it easily tucks in all the way to the bottom of the bag.) During outdoor-sketching season, I’ll leave it that way. Imagine my glee when I realized that it works well both ways – while I’m either sitting or standing! The mini Sendak is my year-round convertible.

I made two hacks to meet my needs better. The Sendak’s diagonally slanted cut of the lower slots is intended to accommodate implements of various lengths. But as some pencils get shorter and shorter, they begin to disappear into even the shortest slots, and then they are difficult to retrieve. I devised an easy solution: When a pencil gets too short, I drop a plastic, flat-bottomed pencil cap (like the Sun-Star Sect) into the slot, which gives the pencil a leg-up.

Field Notes-size books will tuck into the upper pockets easily, but I prefer to use the pockets for more implements. The pockets are the right depth for longer pencils, but even medium-length pencils start to disappear inside them. I put a small piece of foam at the bottom of the pockets to make them a bit shallower. When I use brand-new pencils, I can pull the foam out.

The only mini Sendak detail that I’m not crazy about is the leather belt and buckle that secure it. Fastening the buckle is fussier than I like, but I can live with it. I hope the leather will soften over time and become easier to fasten.

I’m thrilled that the ever-versatile mini Sendak is meeting my needs in ways I had not expected. Whenever I get to travel again, I’ll be ready for that Parisian café. Meanwhile, I’m happily rolling along in Seattle coffee shops and on sidewalks, too.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

DISCLAIMER: Some items included in this review were provided free of charge or with funds from our fabulous Patrons. Please see the About page for more details.

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