My Gear For The New Year

Ink, pen and paper:

Sketching Kit:

Watercolor Supplies:

Accessories:

Want to purchase any of these items? Here ya go!

Ink, pen and paper: Pilot BBk,  Noodler’s Black, Diamine Mediterranean Blue, J. Herbin Cafe des Iles, Sailor Tokiwa-matsu, Stipula Calamo Sapphron, Stillman & Birn  Zeta Sketchbook, Tomoe River Paper from Paper for Fountainpens, Quo Vadis Plan & Note journal, Pilot Metropolitan, Platinum #3776 Century M, TWSBI Diamond 580 1.1, Staples Arc, Traveler’s Notebook 013

Sketching Kit: Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencils, Pentel Hi-Polymer Eraser, Prismacolor Kneaded Eraser, Lowe-Cornell tortillions, Stillman & Birn Epsilon Sketchbook, Faber-Castell Sharpener

Watercolor Kit: Martin Mijello Airtight Watercolor 18-Well Blue Palette, travel box, Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook, Arches 300 gsm watercolor paper, Schut Aquarelbloc 300gsm watercolor paper, Monaco Travel Case, Traveler’s Notebook 012

Brushes: Silver Brush Black Velvet Script #4, Round #8, 3/4″ Flat, Escoda Versatil Rigger #10, Isabey Petit Gris #0, SAA Gold Round #10

Tube paints for a watercolor mixing triad: Daniel Smith Cobalt Blue, Winsor & Newton Aureolin, Winsor & Newton Permanent Rose.

Watercolor Metal Travel Box with colors especially good for mixing: American Journey Aureolin, American Journey Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Winsor & Newton Winsor Red, Winsor & Newton Permanent Rose, Daniel Smith Cobalt Blue, American Journey Phthalo Blue, Daniel Smith Phthalo Green (BS)

Accessories: Coccoina glue stick, American Crafts washi tape, Bigelow Earl Grey Green Tea, Numi Chocolate Pu-erh Tea, Sadaf Special Blend Tea with Earl Grey.

 

First Take On A Few Products

Busy, busy, busy here, but still moving forward on a few reviews. First take on several products:

• Stillman & Birn Sketchbooks with soft covers are as good as it gets especially for those with arthritis and other hand issues.
• Pilot MR Metropolitan 1.0 Calligraphy nib is an italic that proved to be a dry writer with Noodler’s Dostoyevsky. Will try either Pilot Blue-Black or an Iroshizuku next to see if either improves performance.
• Lamy Studio Fine arrived with two very visible body flaws. Then I removed the cap to discover the edge of the barrel that meets the cap is ridiculously sharp and jagged. So much for quality control.
• Coccoina adhesive smells like marzipan and is delightful to use.
• Silver Brush Monaco Travel Case is somewhat large, but will hold eight brushes plus lots of additional tools. Looks durable, too.

There are at least a dozen inks to review along with several brands of paper plus two Fountain Pen Revolution flex models. The next few months are going to be very busy indeed.

Weekend Watercolor Winners Meet Stillman & Birn

This past week incoming goodies included four brushes and a tube of red watercolor providing the perfect opportunity to test the new softcover Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook. This wasn’t planned, but it could have been. What a wonderful way to spend a bit of the weekend.

Now where to fit in that J. Herbin Caroube de Chypre ink that has patiently waited for its measure of attention? Perhaps during the week if things get slow. Heh. As if.

Where to buy:

Stillman & Birn Zeta Softcover Sketchbook

Silver Brush Black Velvet #8 Round

Silver Brush Black Velvet #8 Script

Silver Brush Black Velvet 3/4″ Oval

Loew-Cornell 7400 1″ Angle Shader

Daniel Smith Watercolor in Quinacridone Red