Sketchbook Review: Rhodia Landscape Webnotebook

Review by Tina Koyama For many years now, the Rhodia Rhodiarama hardcover notebook has been one of my favorites. Available in a rainbow of rich cover colors, this notebook is otherwise identical to Rhodia’s standard Webnotebook (which comes in only black or orange). I use the A5 size for my day-to-day journals and the handy…

Brush Pen Review: Tombow Fudenosuke Double-Sided Gray/Black

Review by Tina Koyama One of the simplest sketch tool combinations I use is a black brush pen to make a line drawing shaded with a gray marker. When I’m feeling minimalist, I grab one of each, and I’m good to go. I was excited when the Akashiya Keicho double-sided brush pen first came out:…

Pencil Review: Koh-i-Noor Diamond Lead Holder Drawing Pencils

Pencil Review: Koh-i-Noor Diamond Lead Holder Drawing Pencils

Review by Tina Koyama While woodcased colored pencils are commonplace (a quick search on Amazon resulted in 20,000 products!), colored leads for mechanical pencils or clutches are much harder to come by. They seem like they should be a promising idea – compact, refillable, no need for sharpening – and yet they generally aren’t. I’ve…

Sketchbook Review: Clairefontaine Goldline Multi-Techniques A5

I’ve been testing the Clairefontaine Goldline Multi-technique A5 sketchbook for sometime now. It was something that was brought to my attention specifically after I bemoaned that Exacompta was no longer making a blank refill that contained excellent paper for sketching and drawing. The book contains 140g/65lb smooth white paper and a classic “oil cloth” cover.…

The Great Eraser Rub-Off Challenge, Round 2

Review by Tina Koyama A while back Ana conducted a massive Eraser Rub-Off, in which nine erasers battled for dominance in the obliteration of graphite and colored pencil markings. I decided it was time for Round 2, with a little twist. (Sorry, no video from me!) In addition to the usual eraser needs when I’m…