Inktober 4: The Record Sellers
Category: Drawing
Inktober 3: Dior Dresses
From a photo taken during in the Victoria and Albert Dior special exhibition.
Inktober 2: Disney Ducks
Drawn from a photo taken in Disneyland Paris.
Inktober 1: A tree grows in Tel Aviv
Drawn on location, using a Pentel GFKP sepia brush pen and a 0.5 Uni pin sepia fineliner on a Leuchtturm1917 sketchbook.
Shana Tova!
Shana Tova!
Watercolour on Moleskine watercolour notebook with Cass Art watercolours and no preliminary sketch.
Natural History Museum London
Pen sketch done in situ, watercolour completed later on, from photo studies. An insanely elaborate building, and one of my favourites on Exhibition Road. It almost looks like the fossils it houses.
Luxembourg Gardens
I’m travelling a lot this month (hence no posts), and I’m enjoying my time offline.
Here’s a quick sketch from Luxembourg Gardens, Paris, France.
Have a great week!
Pilot V Sign Pen Review and Colouring Pages
The end of summer is upon us and my services as creator of kids’ colouring pages are now in high demand in the office, as desperate parents bring their kids to work for a few hours in lieu of camp or a sitter. After ruining several brush pens on these drawings I’ve settled on the best pen for this purpose: the Pilot V Sign Pen.
The Pilot V Sign Pen is a liquid ink pen with 2.0 mm bullet tip that creates the consistent kind of lines that kids seem to prefer.
The V Sign has a cheap looking plastic body, complete with ugly barcode printed on the barrel. It’s pretty ergonomic though, with a relatively wide barrel and a light weight body.
I just replaced my old V Sign Pen as it has run out of ink, and as you can see above and below, the tip does get worn down with use, though compared to most plastic tipped pens it’s super durable.
This V Sign works on cheap copier paper with a little bleed through and a lot of show through. It’s non-waterproof, and I’m pretty sure it’s not archival. It is, however, a lot of fun to use. For office doodles of this kind, it’s absolutely perfect; For anything else, I’d recommend something archival and waterproof instead.
To all those parents out there, here are some colouring pages that I’ve drawn. Feel free to print them out for your own personal use, and gain a few minutes of peaceful bliss.
Random Draw: General’s Pacific 365 #2
I have too many pencils which I don’t take the time to use. Inspired by this episode of the Pen Addict podcast I decided to literally do a random draw: I randomly drew a pencil from the pile, and then I randomly drew something with it. Today’s pencil: the General’s Pacific 365 #2.
It’s a classic looking #2 (or HB) pencil, with for some reason three or four fonts on the barrel, depending how you count the numerals. It’s made in the USA, out of California incense cedar, and has a little red thing on the top that looks like an eraser, but trust me, I wouldn’t try to use it as one.
The green foil imprint quality is not great, with the “Pacific” imprint chipping the pencil’s coating. The coating itself is pretty thinly layered, but the core is perfectly centred and sharpens like a charm.
You can see the available shades that the General’s Pacific is capable of producing in the closeup of the sea turtle above. If you’re looking for a #2 writing pencil that could do for a quick sketch in a pinch, the Pacific ought to do the job. It doesn’t smudge and holds a point very well.
I erased a word between the “S” and the “LATIONSHIPS” on the left side of the closeup above. It erased out pretty well, even though the writing was dark and done with some pressure.
The phone above shows you the maximum darkness I was able to produce with the General’s Pacific. It’s not bad, considering that this is clearly not a pencil made for drawing, but one made primarily for writing.
If you’re buying from CW Pencils and are looking to add a workhorse cedar pencil with a fondness for fonts to your order, the General’s Pacific is a pretty good choice.
May we all be more turtle.
Roderick on the Line podcast episodes referenced:
Closing Time (Journal Comic 11-8-19)
Leuchtturm1917 sketchbook, Kuretake Zig Mangaka pens, Deleter Neopiko-Line-3 pens, Caran d’Ache Pablo coloured pencils, Faber Castell Albrecht Dürer coloured pencils.
