Author: writingatlarge

Writer of things

Weekly Update: Pre-Dawn Running, Ducks, Books and Fountain Pens

It’s been a busy time, what with my new job taking a lot of time and effort, my running and training taking up a good bit more, and the rest of my spare time going mostly to reading lately, I found myself creating less. That’s not great. My journalling has suffered, my drawing has suffered, my blogging has suffered. The truth is that creating is like running: I feel good during my runs and great after them, but it doesn’t make lacing up and getting out the door any less of a struggle some days. It takes more effort to sketch and blog (I’ve been utterly unable to write since my cancer diagnosis, so at the moment writing is off the table), than to curl up with a book, so I’ve been consuming more content than I’ve been creating.

That’s something that I hope will change over the next few days and weeks. I have a lot of catching up and different kinds of posts that I’ll publish here (pen reviews, sketch posts, art supply reviews, planners and Moleskines, etc). And as September is lymphoma awareness month, and childhood cancer awareness month, expect some posts related to that in the near future.

Despite the heat and humidity my running has stayed on track. This morning I woke up at 4:30 to get my long run in before the heat made things too unbearable. The weather is starting to get a bit better now, and I managed to run a little over 9 kilometres. That’s the longest run I managed to finish since my breathing issues started, and it’s a big milestone. I have a 10k race in two months and when I enrolled I wasn’t sure that I’ll be able to complete it. Today was a good indicator that I have a just may be able to do it despite having a busted lung.

Running in the dark and boats at sunrise.

I finished reading Dr Jen Gunter’s “The Vagina Bible,” which I recommend that anyone with a vagina read (it’s very informative and empowering), and Andrew Cartmel’s latest Vinyl Detective novel, “Attack and Decay”. It was a fun and fast read, and Cartmel knows how to write compelling plots and off beat characters, but his insistence on using purple language and calling attention to his protagonist’s hetro maleness is annoying at times. We get it, he’s a dude and he finds women attractive.
Next up on the reading list is likely “The Sentence” which is a Tournament of Books book (and I decided not to continue with the tournament reading list this year), but as I’ve already bought it and it seems interesting, I’ve decided to give it a go.

Ducks, geese and the Vinyl Detective.

I’m using four fountain pens at the moment, and none of them are for sketching (although I write my sketch journal’s out with my Platinum 3776 UEF). All of these are new pens, inked for the first time. The Diplomat Aero is an excellent pen at a great price point with a very unique and elegant streamlined design. The Colorverse Golden Record, on the other hand, is a disappointing ink. This is the second time that I’m using it, and it darkens considerably when left in the pen, becoming more brownish than golden orange.
The Platinum Plaisir 03 is a pretty decent pen for anyone first venturing into fountain pens. It’s a cartridge pen, and I’m not a fan of the Platinum blue it came with, but I’m not going to invest in trying to find other ink options for it.
The TWSBI ECO is an excellent pen, particularly for the price point, and J. Herbin Emerald de Chivor is a really fun, utterly impractical ink. This ECO is the jade one, and it doesn’t glow in the dark, despite its looks.
The Platinum 3776 UEF is one of the best pens that I’ve bought in a long time, because of the nib. Yes, it’s scratchy, no I don’t mind. It doesn’t feel different than my beloved, finicky Pilot Hi-Tech-C and I get more personality from its fine lines than I get with something like a fineliner. Sailor Epinard (this is from a bottle of the discontinued ink, which is now no longer discontinued), is a good, dark and muted green that has a good amount of personality.

Pens in rotation.

Have a great week, and take care of yourselves in these hectic times.

Live Travel Sketch Log

I’m off to participate in my first ever LARP this weekend, and I’m going to try and capture as much of it as I can in sketches and post it here.

Long train ride means that I can try to sketch.

My lines and painting came out more wobbly than usual due to a combination of neuropathy and the train ride.

Rough painting on the train.
One and a half pages done.
Close up of morning run sketches.
Close up of train station sketch.

Update: the weekend was excellent but phenomenally busy, and I got only about 4-5 hours of sleep per day. Still recovering, but working on a backlog sketch journal of the trip in the meanwhile.

Here’s the second page completed:

Journal Sketch: New dog, coffee and sunsets.

I’m tired, it’s been a long day, and I drew this late, so not my best work.

Here’s the close up of my work.

And a photo of the lovely dog, as my sketches didn’t do her justice:

Journal Sketch: Cute dogs, treasure hunt, and cold coffee

It’s been a long day, so excuse the wobbly lines and imperfect writing.

Here’s a close up, for those who enjoy close ups:

Tools: Stillman and Birn pocket landscape epsilon, Platinum 3776 UEF nib with Sailor Epinard, Schmincke and Daniel Smith watercolours, Staedtler Pigment Liner 0.1.

BigIDesign Dual Side Click Pen Review

Big I Design is one of those pen manufacturing companies that use Kickstarter as a sort of pre-order system. I’ve backed several of their kickstarters and they always deliver on time, exactly what they promised to deliver. Their campaigns are for products that they already designed and know exactly how to manufacture, and I know that backing their work is a low risk endeavour. They know how to make pens, they know how to make pens that I enjoy using, their pens are solid and super versatile workhorses, and there aren’t too many options to get sidetracked by. It’s usually one new pen body in three different finishes, with maybe an add-on option or two.

So when they came out with a new pen on Kickstarter, the Dual Side Click, of course I backed it.

The Dual Side Click box.

Like all of Big I Design’s pens, the Dual Side Click is designed to accept a large variety of refills – ballpoint, gel ink and rollerball. If there’s a particular pen refill that you like or you’d like to try, it’s likely one that is compatible with the Dual Side Click. Here’s the full list of refills for your delectation.
I will note that likely because of the click mechanism, the Dual Side Click (and the EDC Click) don’t support as many refills as their Ti Arto and Ti Arto EDC counterparts (which support every refill on the market, I think, including the Uni-ball Signo DX UMR-1 refills). They do, however, support more refills than the Ti Pocket Pro, and an impressive amount of refills.

The back of the Dual Side Click box. Says what it does on the tin.

I got the stonewashed titanium Dual Side Click, which is by far my favourite Big I Design pen finish. I like the new packaging that they use, as its functional, well made and impressive enough to work as gift packaging, while not being so fancy that you’ll feel bad tossing it into the recycling.

Functional, well designed box. The little compartment on the right holds spare parts and the ring used with the clip tool, and it magnetically closes.

The box comes with a tool that will allow you to remove or adjust the clip (which is the little ridged rod and the ring you see below), and spare parts – o-rings and springs. That’s a wonderful touch, as is the magnetic closure on the ring and spare parts compartment.

Everything you need, right in the box.

You also get a Big I Design sticker, some info cards and of course, the pen. The stonewashed titanium finish is silky to the touch, and gives the pen an understated look. The grip section is wide, with a few engraved rings to added grip. It’s the same grip section as on the Ti Click pen, and is great for longer writing sections. The Ti logo is, as usual, elegant and understated. It’s not a “I’m an expensive pen!” kind of design, nor is is a “I’m a tactical pen!” kind of design. It’s a functional, pragmatic, solid, and enjoyable to use kind of design.

Info, sticker and pen.

The stonewashed finish will age well with time and use – like an old pair of jeans. You can see the new Dual Side Click next to the Ti Pocket Pro, which I have used since late 2017. The original finish on both pens was the same, but the various nicks and scratches on the Pocket Pro have added to its looks, and it has a little more lustre now.

Dual Click on the left, Pocket Pro on the right.

The star of the Dual Side Click is, of course, the dual side click mechanism. The pen is engaged by clicking on the click mechanism on top, just like any other click pen, and then the refill is retracted by clicking on one of the side clicks. The side clicks look like flat lozenges that protrude a bit on each side.

Side click mechanism.

When the click mechanism is engaged the side click buttons protrude a bit more, but they’re still unobtrusive and aren’t likely to snag on anything.

Other click mechanism.

You can press on either the left or the right side mechanism to retract the pen refill, and both the click mechanism and the side mechanism engage and disengage with satisfying clicks. Unlike the Ti Click pen, this Dual Side Click’s mechanisms aren’t mushy.

A closer look on the click mechanisms.

The Dual Side Click ships with a Schmidt P 900 medium refill, which is one of my least favourite pen refills. That doesn’t matter much as I immediately swapped it for my favourite refill, the Uni-ball Signo UMR-85N.

Refill swap.

As the whole point of the Dual Side Click is the pen body and not the refill (which most users will swap out), I created a video of the click mechanism in action:

This is a very satisfying pen to use. And fidget with during dull meetings.

If your favourite refill is among those that is supported by the Dual Side Click, then I highly recommend it. It’s one of the best pens that Big I Design have ever created, and that’s saying something. The titanium body is solid, weighty without being overly heavy, and comfortable to hold and use. The click mechanism is excellent, and it’s fairly priced, especially when you factor in the refill choice flexibility and the free worldwide shipping (and the lifetime warranty, which I’ve never had to use for any Big I Design pen).