So now it's all about the pencils

 7/28/21

Over the past few months I have spent a lot of time testing the lightfastness of some  colored pencils and even inks I own. I also got a few new pencils. There are so many pencils to choose from but it helps to watch reviews and try to figure out what works for me. Being an oil painter since I was 12 years old made me choose the oil based Derwent Lightfast Pencils. They are expensive but the reviews saved me a lot of money because it helped me to choose just a few (maybe more than a few).

I already trust the lightfastness of these pencils. I just wanted to try different things like blending with other oil based pencils. Swatches I do have are numbered so I can refer to the pencil I mixed. I like my June Gold pencils and a few of them are fugitive. June Gold doesn't come with numbers or colors on them. I have to assign them numbers and label them. I put the fugitive colors away for other things like in a journal. I stick swatches in the window facing the sun because that is where I get the most sun. I leave them there for 3 months. The test I did with Derwent Drawing pencils set of 12 turned out some lovely distressed and landscape colors. 

The next 4 scans are the colors of Derwent Drawing after I tested them for 3 months. These are my kind of colors. 

I really crave getting my hands on some other oil based pencils like the Koh-I-Noor polycolor and Polychromos but I have really spent out on these pencils and it is beyond enough to draw anything. 

 5/6/21

I have been drawing lately and purchased a few sets of colored pencils. I have colored pencils from decades ago but never spent too much time with them. I was looking at youtube and saw how many people love to color with them and relax. So I got out my old pencils and added some new things to the collection. 

I made a drawing from one of my doll photos and printed it on regular copy paper. Then I colored it with Derwent Drawing Pencils and June Gold Pencils. The June Gold Pencils are not professional but I need some colors that aren't featured in the set of 12 Derwent Drawing Pencils. I love the June Gold Pencils a lot. I wish all pencils behaved like these. 

This is the original black and white drawing I made last fall. The doll was a 5star Mia doll that I purchased secondhand when I first found these dolls. I think she was my first ball-jointed doll.

The June Gold Pencils are the skinny ones with the labels on them. The fat pencils are Zebra Zensations. I just love how you click them like a mechanical pencil and get new lead. I never have to sharpen them even though June Gold's come with sharpener in the end of every pencil. I just wish all pencils were that neat and easy to use. The core is 2mm and surprisingly strong. The pencils were very affordable for someone who isn't sure they want to take up coloring (me). I really wasn't sure I wanted to color. When I realized how many pencils I do have I decided to get a new pencil case too. But I really wouldn't carry such a large case on short trips. I need to start choosing my favorites to make a smaller carry case.

I am certainly not affiliated with anyone and don't really do reviews. So anything I write is my honest opinion. I do try to stay positive and if I didn't like them, I wouldn't say anything at all. 

The difference in the low end pencils and the professional grade is one, the price. I am not an expert on pencils but one thing I noticed about professional pencils is they have lightfastness ratings. Lightfastness is not really an issue when you are drawing in a journal. Lightfastness is an issue for professionals to display their art in frames. A few years ago I got some Reader's Digest watercolor pencils. The pencils came with a book about watercolors. I painted a few things and hung them in my room. They did gently fade in the past decade. They are still lovely in my opinion but I can tell that sunlight has reached them over time. That would be an issue if I was selling my work for display. 

One really nice thing about these pencils is they are resistant to water. I tipped over a cup of coffee this morning and some splashed on my swatches. I quickly took a paper towel and cleaned them. The coffee didn't even stain them. Whew! Thank goodness. It took a whole day to swatch all those pencils.

I have been making Frankenpens from old nibs meant for dipping and fountain pen nibs from another era. This is my idea of fun.  I love the Jinhao X750 and X450 because of the ease of changing the #6 sized nibs to modify the pen. Noodler's Ahab is a fun pen for tinkering also. 

The pens from left to right are Jinhao X450 red with lines, 5 in the middle are all Jinhao X750, and the one on the right is Noodler's Ahab Arizona. 

The silver colored Jinhao has a Barion Pen Co. Vintage nib. I did this frankenpen just this week. It flexes well in this pen. I'm sure there are better flexing nibs but I enjoy this one. I was lucky to get 20 of these to replace them like the G nibs. They will surely corrode over time. I applied a magnet to it and it is just steel or an alloy of steel. I like the fine line when no pressure is applied. I did have a few drops of ink come out when I first filled it and will probably need to seat it more deeply in the pen. 

The cut in the side of the nib is what I believe helps with the flex. 

The nib has #67 on it and a rectangular breather hole. 

My Ahab has a Kurtz Bros. Aluminum Rapid Writer nib. I posted a video of it on youtube here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EN7xEdqLXjA

I don't know if it is because it has some aluminum in it or how it is shaped but this nib really does a good job at flexing. I have had a bit of problems with the piston in it being hard to move. But I just went to the mail and got out my brand new Noodler's 308 cartridges for the Ahab. I am so eager to try them too. I am not a real fan of eyedropper pens because they tend to leak on my artwork. So I was not willing to eyedropper a flex pen. Maybe if it was free? I just don't get eyedroppers holding more ink, because you have to keep them full to keep them from burping.  Also Noodler's cartridges are not to be tossed out. You refill them to protect the environment.  

3 of my Jinhao pens have Zebra Comic G nibs. I really don't have a lot to say about G nibs, since so many people already have reviewed them. I would like to try some of the other brands of G nibs besides Zebra eventually. But I have been able to obtain really nice nibs for under a dollar each. I like the idea that I can do something different and it doesn't cost a lot of money.

Next, I show my copper colored Jinhao X750 with a vintage nib made by the National Aniline and Chemical Company back around 1917. I thought it would flex but no it is stiff as a nail. I used a Dremel to sand the feed till it fits the nib and slips into the section. The cap barely fits after putting this sword in the pen. The length of the nib doesn't really make it flex. It could be altered but I only have one or two of each nib for experiments. I'm on the fence about taking a Dremel to the nib and giving it flex. I like super fine lines and always have. That quest for the finest line but without the hassle of technical pens is what got me into this fountain pen thing. I really don't care to collect pens or the monetary value of pens. I care about how the pen works for me. Plus they look pretty cool. 

I hurriedly swapped converters in my pens and almost ruined a whole page. I had Noodler's Lexington Gray in one and Nikita Red in the other. I learned from this to use a scratch pad when doing art, so I won't accidentally apply the wrong color to my art. I really like the ink mixture and will use it completely. It is black with a hint of red in it.   

That leads me to when I first started acquiring the pens, I intended to match inks to the pens. That don't work for me exactly how I had planned. Some inks like some pens more no matter what I do. I could wrap tape around the pens but that just takes away from the look of the pen. Scratch pad seems to be the best solution. I have a video of this pen on youtube too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1heHsMp4ME

I got the feed in deep enough to put the converter back in the pen. I wasn't sure the feed was supposed to be this far out of the pen but the cap fits and there is no leaking. I decided to photograph it so I could remember how I did it for later. I wish this nib would last forever and was even copper colored to match the pen. I tried to stick a magnet to it and it won't take it. I'm not sure of the alloy. 

The other really fun thing I love to do is find out about the company names I read on these vintage nibs. The history of these nibs is so rich. I just love learning about the people who made and used these items. It makes me feel like I'm in a time machine when I am drawing with these pen nibs. 

I have been working on some of the pages in my Strathmore mixed media Journal. The paper is so thick and really takes all my pens with no feathering at all. I get so excited trying all the pens and inks, I just can't stay focused on one page at a time. So I just use what i have inked and work between pages. 

 This one ran me into a new situation. I didn't have any brown fountain pen ink and started trying to mix my own. That is certainly a lesson in mixing inks for sure. But I really need to do some work on it. The sky has some UV inks in it I made myself. I have a blacklight flashlight I can use to look at it in the dark. It's pretty interesting. 

 This is just an experimental page that I started with the Parallel pens I have. I'm wondering how I would finish it into a single piece. 

Thank you for looking at my blog. 

Fixing a broken pen nib

I got a few really low priced pens from ebay. I love that I can load several different inks all at once. I got an Iraurita pen for about $3.69. It was great for a few weeks and then the soft nib starting getting misaligned more and more. I tried to follow youtube videos for getting rid of baby's bottom on nibs. It just wasn't what I needed and the tines kept getting worse. Then I just whacked them off completely and fixed the pen to my liking. 

 I used nail clippers to get a quick blunt cut across the nib, which did away with the iridium tip. Now it's more of a stub or italic nib. I'm not sure what to call it but it works.

 When I whacked off the tip I used a wet dry sanding sponge with a fine grit to smooth the edges. I tried to keep my hand in the position I normally draw or write with so the stub would be fit to my style. In other words I didn't want to end up with a left-handed nib. That's a simple way to say it. Plus I am sure It wouldn't be perfect precision straight across. At least in my mind makes it fit my hand movements.

 I just plain like the total look of the pen. The pen matches the hardware on my phone case because it is an antique brass. The pen is small and pocket sized and easy to carry around. It is so inexpensive I wouldn't go nuts if something happened to it or it was lost. It would  just cause me to experiment more with my pens.

A video of the pen being utilized after I clipped it is here
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jj8helYhiNE&t=70s

And next the not so relevant part of my post.
Today I went outside to take out the trash, check mail and all the things we must do. I saw a huge looking praying mantis on a fence post. I want to post the pictures here.

Just for fun this is a link to the video of the bug.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QrqCNHg05A

New Fountain Pens

This week I ordered from Fountain Pen Revolution. I got 3 new pens and a free pen. I have only inked up one so far. It was the beautiful red Himalayan with the FPR Ultra Flex nib. 

 The Himalayan has chatoyancy. It is the only pen I have that has chatoyancy like a real stone.

 I got an Airmail pen with the red swirls on top and the clear body. The free pen is clear demonstrator pen. The red and clear pen in the middle is discontinued Serwex 362. The Serwex pens were under 5 dollars this past week and probably won't last, because the company making these pens is gone out of business. 

 This is the steel Ultra Flex nib on the Himalayan. 

I recently became interested in flex pens. I now have some G nibs in X750 and X450 Jinhao fountain pens. I have a Noodler's Ahab and the FPR added to my drawing pen collection. 

 The Ahab is the orange and yellow pen. The red/gold flecks is X750 Jinhao. The red with black lines in it is X450 Jinhao. The X450 nibs and feeds can fit in a X750 I recently found when I accidently washed one down a sink drain. I got a pack of 5 nibs and feeds with free converters for under 10 dollars. That's enough to repair or even make 5 pens. 

 The G nib is very pointy and long. It flexes a lot. It will make the finest line with no pressure applied. One thing about it is a little feeder hole at the point where the pen nib is coming out of the section. This area gets gummed up with ink after using it a while or on really hot days in front of the AC. I keep a small cup or vial of water nearby to rinse the nib. I can tell when it is gummed up with ink because it makes a bubble when I turn the converter to squeeze out some ink. These nibs were actually made for dip pens so they are supposed to be rinsed, dried and put away. They will rust over time. I have had mine for months and no rust yet. It is easy to get a pack of the nibs online for future repairs. The pens are easy to take apart and clean and repair. Also these pens can be bought with this nib for around 5 bucks. 

 The orange and yellow pen has the Noodler's Flex nib. I had to look on youtube for instructions to get started with this pen. I learned how to heat set the ebonite feed. I also learned I could do the same thing with plastic feeds. I put my water cup in the microwave until the water gets boiling hot. I take the nib and hold it onto the feed where it should actually fit as it would inside the pen. I use needle nose pliers to keep it held tightly and not burn my fingers. Then dip the pliers, nib, and feed into the super hot water. Hold for a minimum of 20 seconds. I put it back in the pen and test. I have had to repeat it more than once. So it is pretty messy, but I use food coloring or something that will wash away easily.

To see me draw a little flowers with the flex nibs, check out my youtube video link below

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qvw3ZPBc0Bs

When I first got into fountain pens I didn't know some inks were easily washed out with water. Several years ago I even got a note from the mailman about an envelope getting hit with rain and washed out. I bought a ballpoint tool pen for everyday use. This pen is amazing. The capacitive touch tip on one end screws off and has to little electronic sized screw driver bits inside. I also bought some waterproof ink to use in everyday fountain pens too.  

 Customized a Middie Blythe yesterday. I have had her a while and she was cute enough without having a new face up. But I just had to.

 I pierced her ears and later realized the mechanism in her head that moves her eyes is leaving very little room for earrings. I usually bend the earrings slightly to keep them from falling out. So this works pretty good for my doll to wear her some fashion jewelry.

 I really can't see it in the photos but I customized her eye chips a little. 

 I carved her a little bit to make her look "younger". What I did was attempt to make her cheeks look fuller or chubby. 

 I added her some pink eyelashes.

 This is a factory Middie Blythe or what is known as the fake Blythe. She has the little mechanism in her head that makes her eyes move back and forth when you turn the wheel.