When shopping for a
chop seal, it's a good idea to look first at samples of the work of the master carver you are considering to hire to make sure the finished product will meet your expectations. When traveling as part of a tour it might be difficult to shop around much, but any chop that can be carved in 3-5 minutes for under 50 Chinese Yuan
Renminbi (just under $7
USD) is most likely just a souvenir with a shallow carving suitable only for gifts.
Since I wanted a seal to sign some of my drawings, I got it made by a patient and skilled
craftsman in the
New Heep Hing Co. store in
Stanley Market, Hong Kong. It was nicely packaged in a silk wrapped storage box with a ceramic container of red chop ink paste (pictured above between the
Pentel Graphgear 1000 0.5 mm mechanical pencil and the
Mitsubishi Uni/F 2 mm
leadholder). It took 30 minutes, but it was certainly a nicer looking
Kanji and with a deeper carving than a cheaper seal dad had made in 3 minutes at the
Silk Street Market in Beijing (which is a suitable venue for clothing and luggage reportedly of "international quality at Chinese prices"). Yet, I would discourage anyone from
shopping for brushes nor paints in
Silk Street, for I found the prices to be rather high, selection limited, and of low quality (a specialized brush store on one end of the
Muslim Street Market in Xian might be a better choice). A white hair brush from Silk Street took an overnight soaking to remove the protective sizing, and then kept on shedding hairs on my watercolor cakes.
At least all of the brushes pointed nicely when drying upside down from my traditional brush stand. While pricier, nicer brush sets and skilled chop carvers can usually be found in the art museum stores visited during many tours. Found this nice set of sable watercolor brushes at the
Shanghai Museum store.
Will test those on larger scale works, but I still prefer the smaller sized
waterbrushes for sketching on the go. The
waterbrush can't really be beat on convenience and portability, and their nylon hairs are quite resilient and can withstand rougher handling.
Just tried the Japanese
Mitsubishi Uni leadholder (second from the bottom with maroon barrel) with 2 mm
B and
F graphite leads. This model feels light and sturdy and seems to be made out of a higher quality plastic than the current
Staedtler models available in office and art supplies stores in the USA which no longer seem to be coming from Germany. The
Uni leads feature a color-coded ring (indicating graphite hardness) on one end that prevent the leads from accidentally falling off the
leadholder if the push-button were activated carelessly
. Their graphite quality is similar to the
Mitsubishi Uni-Star pencils and create fairly smudge-resistant rich dark strokes. The lines drawn with the
B lead look similar to lines made with a black gel-ink pen.
Leadholder grip tip: To avoid sore fingers from prolonged use of leadholders with metal knurled finger grips, it's helpful to wrap the pencil barrels with tennis wrap or to fit them with a plastic pencil grip. I was so eager to use the Mitsubishi Uni leadholder, that I spent the evening sketching with it without covering the very abrasive grip section. The following day, the side of the index finger of my drawing hand felt rather sore from having held that round metal file so tightly. The tennis wrap also widens the grip making them more comfortable to use for longer periods of time. The only drawback is that the bulkier grip might prevent rotary lead pointers from working properly (fortunately there are alternative lead sharpeners like sandpaper pads and a couple of other models of leadpointers). The Caran D'Ache Fixpencil leadholders have smooth tapering tips, but even they can be made more comfortable to grasp by widening their barrels with regular plastic pencil grips or tennis wrap.
One of the last sketches for 2007 doodled with Pentel Color Brush Pens.
First doodle of 2008.
Holbein watercolor sketch of potential mecha pilots.
Colored with Faber Castell Albrecht Durer aquarelle sticks and watercolor pencils.
Trying out the full palete of 0.3 mm Copic Multiliner SP Color sets. 
Left half was sketched with a Copic Multiliner SP BS pen with a frayed brush tip, and the right side was done with a Pentel Pocket brush.
Using 0.25 and 03 mm thick multiliners.
Took a handful of my Copic Sketch and Prismacolor markers, Faber-Castell Artist pens, Pentel brush pen, Copic Multiliners, and TOO A4 PM marker pad and doodled away while keeping mom company in her hospital room.
When shopping for a chop seal, it's a good idea to look first at samples of the work of the master carver you are considering to hire to make sure the finished product will meet your expectations. When traveling as part of a tour it might be difficult to shop around much, but any chop that can be carved in 3-5 minutes for under 50 Chinese Yuan Renminbi (just under $7 USD) is most likely just a souvenir with a shallow carving suitable only for gifts.
Since I wanted a seal to sign some of my drawings, I got it made by a patient and skilled craftsman in the New Heep Hing Co. store in Stanley Market, Hong Kong. It was nicely packaged in a silk wrapped storage box with a ceramic container of red chop ink paste (pictured above between the Pentel Graphgear 1000 0.5 mm mechanical pencil and the Mitsubishi Uni/F 2 mm leadholder). It took 30 minutes, but it was certainly a nicer looking Kanji and with a deeper carving than a cheaper seal dad had made in 3 minutes at the Silk Street Market in Beijing (which is a suitable venue for clothing and luggage reportedly of "international quality at Chinese prices"). Yet, I would discourage anyone from 
shopping for brushes nor paints in Silk Street, for I found the prices to be rather high, selection limited, and of low quality (a specialized brush store on one end of the Muslim Street Market in Xian might be a better choice). A white hair brush from Silk Street took an overnight soaking to remove the protective sizing, and then kept on shedding hairs on my watercolor cakes.
At least all of the brushes pointed nicely when drying upside down from my traditional brush stand. While pricier, nicer brush sets and skilled chop carvers can usually be found in the art museum stores visited during many tours. Found this nice set of sable watercolor brushes at the Shanghai Museum store.
Will test those on larger scale works, but I still prefer the smaller sized waterbrushes for sketching on the go. The waterbrush can't really be beat on convenience and portability, and their nylon hairs are quite resilient and can withstand rougher handling.
Just tried the Japanese Mitsubishi Uni leadholder (second from the bottom with maroon barrel) with 2 mm B and F graphite leads. This model feels light and sturdy and seems to be made out of a higher quality plastic than the current Staedtler models available in office and art supplies stores in the USA which no longer seem to be coming from Germany. The Uni leads feature a color-coded ring (indicating graphite hardness) on one end that prevent the leads from accidentally falling off the leadholder if the push-button were activated carelessly. Their graphite quality is similar to the Mitsubishi Uni-Star pencils and create fairly smudge-resistant rich dark strokes. The lines drawn with the B lead look similar to lines made with a black gel-ink pen.
Leadholder grip tip: To avoid sore fingers from prolonged use of leadholders with metal knurled finger grips, it's helpful to wrap the pencil barrels with tennis wrap or to fit them with a plastic pencil grip. I was so eager to use the Mitsubishi Uni leadholder, that I spent the evening sketching with it without covering the very abrasive grip section. The following day, the side of the index finger of my drawing hand felt rather sore from having held that round metal file so tightly. The tennis wrap also widens the grip making them more comfortable to use for longer periods of time. The only drawback is that the bulkier grip might prevent rotary lead pointers from working properly (fortunately there are alternative lead sharpeners like sandpaper pads and a couple of other models of leadpointers). The Caran D'Ache Fixpencil leadholders have smooth tapering tips, but even they can be made more comfortable to grasp by widening their barrels with regular plastic pencil grips or tennis wrap.
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