Got a new Ikea Messenger Bag

I have been over stuffing my old Ikea bag (left) lately with my regular sketching gear and extra materials for my summer classes to the point that I could not properly close it. Rather than seeing it explode one of these days, I decided to get a new vertical one (left) to balance the load more evenly. For the price, the Ikea bags provide excellent value and functionality as a lightweight sketching bag. I had hoped to get a few Ikea Gestalta reference manikins for my classes, but sadly they were out-of-stock. A nice dish of Swedish meatballs with steamed vegetables helped ease the disappointment, and fyi the other cafeteria offerings are pretty good too.

Mega Brands The Write Dudes 0.7 mm Mechanical Pencils Quick Note

The second batch of samples from Mega Brands included this carded set of 0.7 mm mechanical pencils with aluminum barrels and rubberized grips. While also relying on 2-plastic jaws for their clutching mechanism, they felt sturdier than their fully plastic counterparts reviewed last week. Their slender barrels and color choices suggest the target market would still be primarily female. Their retractable conical sleeves made them pocket safe and revealed them as writing tools. Yet they also proved to be suitable sketching tools as seen in sample below drawn on white card stock.

The Write Dudes USA Gold No. 2 Premium HB pencils Review

Let's take a look at The Write Dudes USA Gold No. 2 Premium HB pencils from the second batch of Mega Brands stationery samples. They were the only item made in the USA among them which is sadly a bit of a rarity these days. Spotted a blister card of 10 of USA Gold No. 2 HB pencils at a Walmart Supercenter and noticed that the back of the card showed a picture of their pencil factory in Tennessee.
The USA Gold No.2 HB pencil barrels are thinner than my favored Japanese premium pencils, and regular plastic pencil grips would slide back and forth their entire length. While adults with larger hands might find them uncomfortable for long term use, school children would probably have no issue with their slightly smaller diameter. Their graphite leads felt scratchier than the waxy leads of their Japanese counterparts.
The German metal sharpeners (Alvin brass bullet and KUM wedge) yielded much smoother pencil points than the included no-name plastic sharpener. The latter left the wooden tips with a rather rough surface and fragmented shavings.
A tad surprised that the quality control department allowed this flawed pencil to make it into a retail package.
The pink eraser on the end cap worked well enough for making writing corrections.
Sample doodles drawn on Maruman Croquis sketchbook. Sample doodles drawn on smooth white card stock. The darkness of these pencils reminded me more of an average H grade. It took quite a bit of extra drawing pressure to lay down the darkest swatches. While the USA Gold pencils proved to be adequate writing and sketching tools, I found them too "rough" and too narrow for my taste to add them to my regular sketching kit. I prefer waxier leads in my drawing leads, so that I may speed sketch freely without feeling any drag on the pencil point. Yet students would likely find their writing performance and ease of sharpening better than the average generic yellow school pencil.

The Staedtler Mars Matic 700 Technical 3-Pen Set Spotlight

Found this new set of 3 Staedtler Mars Matic 700 Technical Pens on E-bay. Couldn't resist picking it up since I always enjoyed the performance and reliability of my original Staedtler college set. This set included 0.35 mm, 0.7 mm, and 1.0 mm ISO pen nibs.
Soon discovered that the included bottle of Staedtler Mars Matic R drawing ink was too old, for it yielded pale gray lines instead of the dark black marks.
Lines were clearly darker once the pens were flushed and filled with fresher Koh-I-Noor Rapidograph drawing ink. Additional related pictures can be viewed in my Flickr photostream: photo 1 through photo 14.
For the final doodle test, I laid down the ship's outline with the thicker 1.0 mm pen and then added some further detail with the thinner 0.7 mm technical pen on a Flexi-Sketch book. The Mars Matic 700 technical pen nibs glided smoothly on the paper laying down lines of uniform thickness. With a regular cleaning routine and proper care, they should provide good service for years so long as you can find a fresh supply of bottled ink or ink cartridges. Worth adding to a collection of drawing and drafting tools.

Mega Brands The Write Dudes Batch 2 of Stationery Samples Sneak Peek

Just received a second box of stationery samples from Jamie Wahl from Mega Brands, so you can expect a few more product reviews and spotlights in the days to come. I recall seeing many of them on the pegs of Target stores, but I do not know what other retailers might be carrying this product line. Almost all of them have been made in China, so I am actually quite eager to test the USA Gold No. 2 Pencils that are the only ones Made in the USA from this batch. of samples.

Mega Brands The Write Dudes 0.7 mm Mechanical Pencils Review

I received these samples from Jamie Wahl from Mega Brands, so that I could try and review some of their stationery products. Figured we'll take a look at their mechanical pencils in this sketching blog and review the gel pens and metallic markers that would probably be more suited for paper crafts in my Cartoon Sketching blog in a separate post.
I have often spotted these carded sets of mechanical pencils in the stationery aisles of Target stores, but I did not get around to picking any of them up since they seemed designed mostly for girls given their patterns and color choices. Though I was a bit curious as to how these Chinese pencils would actually perform as sketching tools, so I decided to start reviewing The Write Dudes Gripz, Edge, and Mini 0.7 mm mechanical pencils first from this batch of Mega Brands samples.
Sample doodles drawn on Maruman Croquis sketchbook. The Edge pencils feature plastic barrels with a metallic finish and a textured grip which I found a tad slippery when sketching at higher speeds.
The Write Dudes Edge Mechanical pencil disassembled into its component parts.
The Write Dudes Mini Mechanical pencil disassembled into its component parts. All the Mega Brands 0.7 mm mechanical pencils featured plastic parts, metal springs, and thin chuck ring with 2 plastic jaws for their clutching mechanism. Judging from their construction and the conical retractable sleeves of the Edge and Mini fun pencils and the fixed plastic sleeve of the Gripz pencils, it is clear that they were designed and built as economy writing tools. The Gripz mechanical pencils felt very similar to the ubiquitous Paper Mate Write Bros 0.7 mm pencils. The pocket clip prevents it from rolling off inclined desks, and its wider grip should allow for longer comfortable writing sessions. I would advise against taking a Gripz pencils apart, for it is far too easy to lose its working spring in the process (I was unable to find the spring in the floor when it happened to me with the yellow one). Yet when a drawing lead breaks and jams the lead sleeve, you might be forced to do precisely that. A thin 0.5-0.7 mm metal rod would be quite helpful in cleaning a blocked sleeve.
While their white erasers (in all three models) performed well enough, they should probably only be used in emergencies since they also function as plugs to keep the spare leads contained within the pencil barrels. In the case of the Mini, the eraser also acts as the only push button. Unless I have spare erasers on hand, I seldom rely on the small eraser plugs of any of my mechanical pencils. Each pencil arrived loaded with 2 to 3 HB leads that were fairly smooth and as dark as your usual No. 2 pencil. Though I found that I liked them better loaded with stronger 0.7 mm Mitsubishi Uni HB lead which yielded a smoother feel with less breakage.
Sample doodles drawn on 110 lb white card stock. All three models of mechanical pencils performed adequately as sketching tools, but do not expect the precision of a drafting pencil with a metal 3-jaws clutching mechanism. Still these brightly colored mechanical pencils should make a few kids happy as prizes in my upcoming summer art camps.
Ninja doodle page drawn with all three different mechanical pencil models. Personally I liked the feel of the Edge pencil best, and I found the Mini pencils a bit uncomfortable for my big hands. Recommended as value priced introductory sketching tools for kids and as classroom prizes.

Koh-I-Noor Drawing Board spotlight

Found this Koh-I-Noor drawing board in the clearance rack of a Michael's store in Ft. Lauderdale. Part of an incomplete Landscape Design drafting kit that consisted of the drawing board itself, a landscaping template, and a few wrinkled sheets of paper. Made of lightweight plastic and large enough to hold 11" X 17" comic art boards with its built-in paper clamp, it still was a nice addition to my portable sketching kit. Made in Germany. I expect it will come in handy for caricature drawing events and class drawing demonstrations.

Sketching Tool Spotlight: Home Depot Carpenter Pencils and Sharpener

Yup grasshoppers, you can find sketching tools even at the hardware store. Can't really go wrong with a sketching kit for under $4 that consists of 10 Home Depot carpenter pencils and a matching sharpener. The pencils were made in the USA and the sharpener was made in China. While the sharpener yielded a regular pencil point, a utility knife was needed to carve a nice chisel point on the rectangular lead of the carpenter pencils. The broad flat tip laid down wide graphite strokes and shading marks quickly and easily. Its darkness suggest an HB grade lead. Their unusual shape might take some practice to get used to them and to produce the desired marks, but they can be easily found almost anywhere. Carpenter pencils would make an inexpensive addition to your sketching kit that might provide a nice change of pace to your drawing routine.

Vintage A.W. Faber Castell 9000 Professional Drawing Pencil boxes spotlight

Just got this lot of 63 vintage A.W. Faber Castell 9000 Professional Drawing Pencils that I found on E-bay. Their silver boxes with bright green graphics are quite striking, and their barrel markings indicated they were manufactured in Germany in the 1960's judging from the white band visible on the dipped end of each pencil.
The graphite grade was also marked on the side of these silver boxes: three 2B (2 full boxes, and one with 10 pencils), one HB with 11 pencils, one 4H with 8 pencils (matchbox-style box with slide out tray), and one 6H with 10 pencils. Which worked out roughly to a little over a quarter per professional drawing pencil, a pretty good deal considering that current prices can range from 80 cents to $1.07 per pencil depending on bulk discounts. Interestingly from the writing on the boxes, looks like they were marked down to 50 cents for a dozen box at some point.
Probably over 40 years old, these vintage Castell 9000 Drawing pencils still sharpened easily and worked nicely on this Canson manga trading card. Recommended.

Prismacolor Turquoise 02022 (10C) 2 mm leadholder spotlight

So I picked up yet another 2 mm leadholder for my collection on my last trip to the Utrecht store in Miami: the Prismacolor Turquoise 02022 (10C). It s barrel markings proclaimed that it was made in Japan. With its thin hexagonal plastic barrel and rather loose-fitting plastic push-button, my first impression was that this leadholder was flimsier than the reliable Staedtler 780 and my favored Mitsubishi Uni leadholders.Just like the Mitsubishi Uni, it is also consists of a plastic barrel and inner holding plastic tube with a metal grip, pocket clip, and clutch. Though the Turquoise was a lot easier to take apart completely, for its knurled metal grip readily unscrewed from its plastic barrel. This was the first time that I have come across a Rotring branded HB 2 mm lead. It laid down nice and dark marks on white card stock and Maruman Croquis sketchbook paper. A lightweight and comfortable sketching tool, it would make a nice addition to any sketching kit.

Ohto Comforcil-2.0 leadholder Review

Just got the full set of Ohto Comforcil-2.0 leadholders from Jet Pens. Colorful, lightweight, value priced, comfortable barrel, and with a built-in lead pointer in its push button. It looks more like a regular mechanical pencil since its clutch mechanism is concealed behind a plastic conical cap. Its built-in lead pointer yielded uneven points, so a reliable lead pointer would be a recommended accessory for this set.
Its 2-jaws plastic clutch performed adequately but felt less secure than a metal clutch mechanism. The Comforcil-2.0 did perform more smoothly once I switched its original scratchy lead for a Faber Castell 9030 drawing lead. Quick tip: if you have vintage drawing leads covered with heavy white oxidized residue, you can remove most of that residue by running the lead through the Comforcil-2.0 a couple of times. Additional photos in Flickr photostream: photo 1 through photo 12.
Nice inexpensive choice suitable for a lightweight compact sketching kit. The 4 differently colored pencils could easily be used with different graphite grades to avoid wasting time switching leads. Since country of origin is not clearly marked anywhere on the pencil's body and its unmarked lead felt rather coarse, I would bet they were probably manufactured in Taiwan or China. Worth trying.
UPDATE: After having used them for a couple of days and gotten compliments from my fourth grade students on their brightly colored looks, I am pretty confident that the kids will enjoy using these pencils in the summer art camp program. Just ordered 10 more of these Ohto Comforcil-2.0 leadholders for my ARTSCool class materials. Btw, its pocket clip is super strong and effectively prevents them from rolling off inclined drawing tables.

Finally completed my set of Mitsubishi Uni 2 mm leadholders

The Mitsubishi Uni 2 mm leadholder has been a long time favorite sketching tool. Particularly my F leadholder has seen some heavy usage as proven by its partially worn gold lettering on the side of its barrel, but oddly I had neglected to get the H & B leadholders from Jet Pens until now.
The graphite grade is clearly marked on the color coded push buttons.
Recommended without reservations. I just love these leadholders and drawing leads in all 4 available grades. Quite happy to finally have a complete set. Of course I seldom come across a leadholder I do not like.

Vintage Faber Castell 9030 F & B drawing leads gross boxes

Recently found a couple of boxes of vintage Faber Castell 9030 drawing leads with a gross each of F & B drawing leads. Each tube holds 12 leads while the version currently in the market just holds 10 leads each. Made in Germany. Additional photos in Flickr photostream: photo 1 through photo 5.
The B leads had developed a heavy build up of white residue. Possibly the waxy lubricating component on the outer layer of the graphite core oxidized during extended storage just like some colored pencils are prone to developing a "wax bloom".
Love the F grade leads for general sketching. They keep their sharp points longer while still gliding smoothly and producing nice dark marks on the paper. Unlike the softer graphite grades, they do not seem to develop the white residue build up as quickly during prolonged storage. Highly recommended.