Review – Pentel Pocket Brush Pen

Posted on December 5, 2012 by Dragon Co (Austin Smith)

So I do a lot of non-drafting type drawing, which I will admit is most of drawing. But in that type of drawing, lines are not the same length, they waver, get thicker and thinner and such. If you need to get a similar effect, Pentel has a pen for you.

The Pentel Pocket Brush Pen is quite a nice instrument with a very uninspired name (which is good for tracking it down). The body of the pen is medium length, slick and black. At the bottom of the cap in silver is an asian character that I don’t know the origin of and the word Pentel. They are both slightly engraved and hinder nothing. They are the only adornments on the pen. There is also a clip on the pen that serves its purpose well.

The brush itself is very nice, it is easy to keep at a point and is very responsive to pressure. The pen requires no squeezing or other methods to keep ink flowing so one always gets a nice full line.

The ink itself is black but thin. It takes multiple coats to create a true black, otherwise one gets streaks, but these are only visible on close inspection and may be what you’re going for. The cartridges are also replaceable and fairly easy to find. The pen comes with two and one can buy packs of four.

In short the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen is just that, a pocket brush pen, and a very nice one at that. It does its job well and painlessly. It is one of the finer and cheaper brush pens I have encountered.

Review – Pigma Brush

Posted on November 3, 2012 by Dragon Co (Austin Smith)

Do you like the flowing lines and moderation of a brush, but want the simplicity of a pen? The makers of Micron have a solution. The Pigma brush.

The ink is the same as the Micron ink. It is a very deep black that applies smoothly to the page and rarely bleeds. It is waterproof and fadeproof archival ink. It marks just as well or better than any pen around.

The body of the brush is the same as the Micron’s, as well. It is slick and glossy, but fortunately easy to hold, and never once felt like it was slipping in my hand. The cap locks in place firmly and snaps haphazardly onto the back. The clip attached to the cap works das designed. The writing on the body is easy to read and rub resistant, and the identification on the cap is easy to read.

But now for what this item is about: the brush. The brush is fairly short, no longer than the nib of the regular Microns or most other pens. The brush at its finest is super thin, and goes up to an above average pen thickness. The line range is roughly equivalent to the Micron 005 to 05 and everywhere in between. The application is buttery smooth and never splutters or splatters. Even when the brush begins running out of ink you will only begin to get a grey line instead of a patchy one. And it takes a long time to get it to run out.

For fine detail work this item is perfect, it is a perfect addition to the Pigma family and suits the audience it was created for perfectly. But it is for a specific audience. Very large or multimedia projects will find the product ill suited to create most desired effects. But that does not diminish the fact that it is a very good pen.

Review – Higgins Fountain Pen India Ink

Posted on October 24, 2012 by Dragon Co (Austin Smith)

Higgins non-waterproof fountain pen India ink. I don’t really have more of an introduction than that. This’ll be pretty short because there isn’t much to say about ink. But there is still enough that it is warranted.

First off this ink is black, I mean really black, even when it is diluted by water it is still a solid grey, it doesn’t turn into a deep green or blue. It is not true India ink because it does wash off with water, but you’ll have to do some scrubbing. It is fairly thin because it is used for fountain pens, making it less suitable for most other uses. Applied over a large area it causes the paper to wrinkle, but not too severely. But because of this it is very smooth, and any line problems will stem from the pen. It shows through most papers and stains a lot of items. So one must be careful while using it.

Over all the ink is nice, it works well for fountain pens and is okay for other tasks. It is water soluble so it can be cleaned up (if not easily) which is a huge bonus. But most importantly it is a true black.

Review – Black Sharpie Fine Point

Posted on September 13, 2012 by Dragon Co (Austin Smith)

Do you ever want to stop drafting and just draw? Did you ever want to be bold with your marks? Did you ever want to be part of a marketing campaign doing those things? Yep, I’m talking about sharpies, black, fine point ones to be exact. Everyone knows what a sharpie or other brand of permanent marker is, so I’ll be brief.

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Sharpies are slick and fat, and unlike some other slick utensils do at times slip out of ones’ hand. They do bulge up the pockets they are stuck in, but most markers do. The body and cap are made out a surprisingly durable plastic, with a nearly useless clip attached. They are all clearly marked and it takes some time to wear off said markings.

But on to the marker itself. “Fine point” is a bit of an exaggeration, while it is fine for a marker the tip of a sharpie is by no means “fine”. It makes a mark, I mean it really makes a mark. These things make a mark that will bleed through any type of paper and some types of cardboard (with the exception of thick water color paper). The writing is smooth and satisfying, but the point is felt and wears easily. They mark on almost anything and once a mark is made it is nearly impossible to remove, it is one of the best permanent markers in existence.

So if you want to be bold and never have that boldness forgotten or destroyed (with the exception of catastrophic flooding) The sharpie is for you.

Review – Paper:Mate Write Bros Medium Ballpoint Pen

Posted on August 8, 2012 by Dragon Co (Austin Smith)

Pens, they’re important. Not a lot of them are very useful for the inking process, but they can be useful for simply starting an image, or many other art-things. This one is the Paper:mate Write Bros. medium ballpoint pen.

Ballpoint pens are one of the aforementioned types: not particularly useful for finished works, especially smaller ones, but good for seeing what things look like in ink, and making sketches or notes that you don’t want to be erased. A fun exercise is always to draw with a cheap pen on scratch paper, preventing erasing, forcing one to improve their ability to create an image on the first try.

Ballpoints make a fairly fine line but they have rough edges, as there is some bleeding. A medium point is good for writing and most other uses, but as mentioned before is not good at detail. The ink is good, it does bleed with water, but is fairly sturdy as far as that goes. It is a deep black that does require a little drying time, but usually no more then a couple seconds. It takes to paper well. I’ve had no problems with the amount of ink in the pen either, I believe it lasts longer then most other ballpoint pens I’ve used, but I haven’t taken detailed records either so take that with a grain of salt.

The pen itself is easy to hold, if a bit slippery and shows all the necessary info (although that does rub off after continued use). It obviously has a cap and clips to a notebook or shirt pocket, which is always handy.

Overall if you are looking for a cheap pen that can be used for a myriad of things around your workspace, this in one I would consider. However I would recommend buying a couple of packages of different types of pens to figure out which one works for you. But it is at least a nice house or office pen, which is what it was designed for.

Review – Pigma Micron 05 Technical Pen

Posted on July 30, 2012 by Dragon Co (Austin Smith)

Ah, another Micron, this one is the 05 (.45mm) black version. Its main difference from other Microns of course being its nib size.

The pen body is slick but doesn’t slip when pressure is applied. Aesthetically it looks old school with its graphic design, but all the necessary info is readable and in intuitive places. The top of the cap is marked with the size, making finding the correct pen for the job from storage much easier. The overall length and weight of the pen is nice and makes it easy to handle.

Of course the main difference between this Micron and other Microns is the nib size. The 05 nib is a medium size, good for main lines and other things that should be noticed but that you don’t want to emphasize as much (assuming you’re using a broad range of pen sizes). The nib also takes considerably longer to wear out then its smaller counterparts, and one will find the ink becoming grey or stopping almost entirely before wear from normal use is noticeable.

The ink is of course the wonderful Pigma ink, which resist fading and running. It does fade after prolonged times, but not entirely and it is hardly noticeable. It also begins to fade as an eraser is rubbed over it, but this is minor and will only happen once or twice.

Overall the pen is nice and a great value. It is more of a writing size pen then the other pens in the Micron range, making it one of the most versatile of the line.

Art Supply Critic

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