Ink Links

**Note: Posting is going to be a little sporadic over the next month as my wife and I get ready to welcome our second child into the world.

-- DIY weekly planner in Field Notes (r.e. wolf @ flickr)

-- The Doane Paper blog is no more - welcome the Doane Paper Feed! (Doane Paper Feed)

-- Doodle with Pilot GFKP (Lars Blog)

-- A writer's debate: Pen and Paper, or Computer and Keyboard? (The Chronicles of Nou)

-- 2007 ISOT Stationery of the Year Award Goes to Akashiya Sai Brushes! (JetPens)

Review: Uni-Ball Signo Erasable 0.5mm

The Uni-Ball Signo Erasable is really close to being a decent pen, but I am always finding something with these erasable pens that bothers me. The ink color and the line are very nice in comparison to the Pilot FriXion and the Pilot e-Gel, but something about the tip of the pen makes me feel like I am writing with sandpaper. Over any length of time it is bothersome. Other than that, I like it. The eraser is similar to a pencil eraser and does a good job in removing the ink from the page. I will work on a side by side comparison of all three erasale pens soon.

Ink Links

-- Slicci Japan Kokuhaku Collection (Slicci.jp)

-- Clean Pen Marks Off Your Hands with a Teabag (Lifehacker)

-- Pelikan M200 Official First Impressions Fountain Pen test (Notebookism)

-- Added to the blogroll: MTBooks

-- The new Zebra Extendable Mini Ballpoint pen looks interesting (JetPens)

Review: Pilot Petit1 Fountain Pen

I know I'm not giving them a fair shot, but fountain pens really aren't for me. The Pilot Petit fountain pen performed about as I expected. I like sharp, defined lines, and the Petit bled and feathered too much in my Moleskine, and was an overall sloppy experience. I haven't tried it on different paper yet, and that may change my opinion some, but I don't have high hopes. The Platinum Preppy fountain pen did a much better job.

I know there are some Petit lovers out there - can you tell me what I am missing?

Awesome Pen Test

You guys think I have it bad, huh?


There are ten more photos like this on MTBooks Flickr page that I just found this morning. Too cool!

Review: Pilot Hi-Tec-C 0.4mm Utzuzumi Grey

Pilot Hi-Tec-C Gel Ink Pen - 0.4 mm - Yawaragi Colors - Utsuzumi Grey. Now that is a mouthful! Since the name is so long, I am going to just let JetPens describe what it means:

Pilot Japan has five Yawaragi (literally translated as being softened color) colors in their extensive Hi-Tec-C line. These beautiful, fine gel pens write in pastel colors with the same smoothness at the rest of the line. Great for works that need a lighter color touch.

Yawaragi colors include: 1 Sakura (Cherry Blossom), 1 Benifuji (Fuji-sunset red), 1 Utsuzumi (light-black calligraphy ink), 1 Bengara, and 1 Kurikawa (Chestnut).

The color translates to paper very nicely, with this grey ink looking similar to pencil lead. The standard Hi-Tec-C excellence applies, so if you are looking for some new colors, give the Yawaragi Colors a try.

Ink Links

-- Ana got more goodies from JetPens. Check them out here, here, and here (Snowangels)

-- More JetPens from Lost in Scotland also (Lost in Scotland @ Flickr)

-- The Tokyo Pen Scene (Who Needs Friends...)

-- A massive notebook evaluation from Rands In Repose (Rands In Repose)

-- Ciak notebook review from Nick at Black Cover (Black Cover)

-- Norm gets in on the JetPens fun (Sketch Marx)

-- Way cool robot sketch from Maura. That white pen looks great. (fragmetned)

-- The Writers Bag on keeping a journal (The Writers Bag via Moleskinerie)

-- Writing Sample of Pilot Iroshizuku ink (Asa-gao) on Moleskine (animalsoup @ Flickr)

-- Came across some great new blogs from links and referrals - check them out:
Big Gay Dragon
Write Now Is Good
The Ugly Green Chair

Review: Pilot Pockel 0.5mm Light Green

The Pilot Pockel is a great little pen. It's compact size makes it highly portable, but it's writing performance is where it really shines. I'm impressed with how clean and consistent it writes. If I have one complaint, it is that the pen barrel is borderline too short for me. So if you have large hands (mine aren't particularly big), you may want to test drive one before buying to see if it is comfortble to write with. Otherwise, this pen is fantastic and I plan on using it a lot.

Review: Pilot e-Gel Erasable 0.7mm

It seems that erasable gel pens are the new flavor of the month. Like the Pilot FriXion, the Pilot e-Gel is an erasable gel ink pen, and also like the FriXion, I'm just not crazy about it. I think most of the problem lies in the pale shade of ink that is required of these type of pens. The needle tip performs ok, and the pen is lightweight and balanced, but I just know I will lose the small screw off cap where the eraser is. At least the eraser is in the right location, unlike the FriXion, and it is a normal pencil eraser at that, not a friction based rubber knob.

The performance of the eraser is rather poor, and the FriXion is probably better in that regard. Between these two pens and an upcoming review of a Uni-Ball Signo erasable that I ordered, I will do a side by side comparison and eraser test of all three to see which is the best.

Pilot Timeline Gel = Envy

Ever since I first saw this pen on JetPens, I've kind of had a crush on it. I love the sleek design, and checking out bettybl's photos on flickr just makes me want it more. Time to start saving up - or maybe I should just pass this link on to my wife. You know, Father's Day is coming up soon!

Review: Sakura Pigma Micron Orange 05

A favorite of artists, sketchers, doodlers, and writers, the Sakura Pigma Micron delivers a great experience no matter the use. I have been a little late to the party on this one, but being a fan of plastic tip pens already, I knew I would love it. I chose the 05 tip, which is, at .45mm, near the middle of their product offering. You can choose to go much finer or much bolder than this one. It is very sturdy and the line is clean and smooth in my Moleskine.

The only thing I haven't tested out yet is durability, mainly because I haven't had it that long. If anyone has experience with how long these pens last, please post it in the comments section.

Personal Mosaic

Here are the rules:

The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name

Here are my results:

1. brad, you are one of my most favorite people ever, and we gave you a hell of a send-off into the great beyond., 2. Crawfish Season, 3. Pope, 4. Color me lonely...color me blue, 5. scarlett johanssen, 6. Anchor Steam Neon Sign, 7. Flamands Beach, St Barts, 8. ice cream time, 9. Lone Golfer, 10. Family Portrait, 11. Funny Funny, 12. Yay! My JetPens came!

This was a lot of fun! Thanks Snowangels and Property of Kelly for the idea. And special thanks to Laserone for my one and only Flickr username search result. :)

Review: Sakura Grosso Gel

This cool pen showed up in my mailbox this week compliments of my friends at JetPens. They just returned from a trip to Japan, and sent me this Sakura Grosso Gel retractable. I really like the design and performance of this pen. It is lightweight for having a rather large barrel. The tip appears to be 0.5mm, and writes very well, similiar to a Uni-Ball 207 micro. I really like it, but it seems that JetPens will not be carrying it at this time. Oh well!

Pilot FriXion Biz Erasable Gel Ink Pen

One of the commenters mentioned it in the previous post, and sure enough, here it is at JetPens: Pilot FriXion Biz Erasable Gel Ink Pen

Pilot FriXion Commercial

A reader sent this great commercial for the Pilot FriXion from Australia. Enjoy!



You can also visit the Pilot Pen Australia site and play around with the Pilot FriXion online.

Review: Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen

I've never been a fountain pen fan (I leave that to guys like Ryan), but I did want to try a couple disposable models from JetPens, and at just $3.00, the Platinum Preppy with Blue/Black ink fit the bill. The first thing I liked about the pen was its long, sleek design. The barrel is lightweight and comfortable, and the nib is a finer point which transferred to the paper quite nicely. I'm not exactly sure how or how much I will be using this pen, but I am very happy with its performance despite my lack of knowledge about fountain pens.

Ink Links

-- Jezlyn grabbed one of the Lamy Pico's from JetPens - looks cool! (Jezlyn26 @ Flickr)

-- Doane Paper Utility Notebook (Doane's Blog)

-- A new site for me - Pencil Things - thanks for the link! (Pencil Things)

-- More JetPens fans:
Sketchbook Month

Kelly Kilmer

Feet Are Like Hands

-- This photo cracked me up - pen and pencil self-portraits (~inky @ flickr)