Author Archives: leslie

Review: B&N Bargan Bin Piccadily Sketchbook

This weekend I picked up a bargain priced sketchbook at B&N for about $5. I thought it was a no name brand that B&N often sell. When I got it home I realized it’s a Piccadilly branded journal.

The list price on this sketchbook is $12.99; I got it for $4.99. Less than half price. I noticed that B&N didn’t have ANY of these on the regular shelf. So I’m thinking these are only ordered for the cheapie racks. Which is fine, at $5 this isn’t a bad deal but for $12.99 not worth the money.

I tested this with a variety of inks in a variety of pens. I did a little sketching to see how the paper would respond and I did my usual of an ink and water wash.

Anything with a larger than a fine tip feathered and bled through the paper. There was a TON of feathering especially in my medium tipped and wet writing Pelikano. My extra fine and fine pointed pens did okay, regardless of the ink. I tested both sides of the paper and there is no right/wrong side, the sides have the same finish throughout the journal. The paper is very smooth. I wouldn’t want to use a pencil on this paper as it’s just too smooth and pencil would smudge all over the place.

As for water on this paper, it could be done but it’s not recommended, a very light wash caused major cockling (wrinkles) that never eased out of the paper. I also noticed that really heavy application of ink caused the same issues. Anywhere I used a heavy layer of ink it not only bled through the paper but also to the page underneath. Anywhere there was heavy ink use the fibers of the paper lifted and were picked up by the nib of the pen.

The Pros:

Good value at $5
Paper is smooth
Bright white paper
Great sturdy hard cover
Sturdy double coil binding

Cons:

Feathering with any ink
Bleedthrough
Fiber lifting
No water due to cockling
EF and F nibs or pencil only

Overall I’d say this is a good sketchbook for someone looking for something cheap that they can do a lot of throwaway sketches in or just to take some notes. This little journal probably wouldn’t stand up to a lot of the abuse that art journalers would toss at it. Even if you gesso’ed the pages the paper is just not sturdy enough. It’s too bad, because this is a really good looking little sketchbook, and comes in a lot of good sizes and with lined paper too which has a lot of different options for covers.

Wordy Wednesday: Sometimes, I Miss Maine

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Many of the friends I grew up with have moved all over the world, few of us remain in DownEast Maine or even the area of the country where we attended college. One is in Germany, another in Phoenix, AZ; still another is in Thailand, and others are scattered through out the US. My friends don’t seem to be as tied to place as I am.

I was reminded of this when a friend posted to FaceBook that she missed developing her own photos and was looking for a place where she could use the dark room. Well, I know a place and a person, not far from where she lives and gave her some contact info.

I lived in Maine and for the most part the same 300 mile radius for 24 years. Sometimes I miss it, intensely, deeply, and with longing. Some of the best moments of my life occurred in those 300 miles; my first kiss, college, painting the rugged coast, friendships that have lasted through years, and miles and miles of hiking.

Occasionally I have moment like tonight where all I want to do is sell my house, quit my job, and move back to that rugged coast, because, damn I miss it. The coast here in Massachusetts is just not the same. There is something to be said about the rugged and craggy coast of Maine and that something causes you to miss it intensely.

All that aside, finding a job is difficult so I stay here.

Technique Tuesday: Faces and Gears

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I've written about how faces and gears show up in my work. I was interviewed over here a while back and one of the images she used was a gouache on board that is, what Eveline refered to as "classic" Less style. And it's true. It is. Bright colors, gears and faces.

This is another riff on that same theme, 2 faces and a page of gears.

In this case I carved a rubber stamp for the gear and used a few dicuts as other gear type things. The faces are drawn in pencil, acrylic used to blend them and the dicuts are colored with ink before being glued to the page. Over all this is a very simple page but very much me.

Wordy Weekender: Loving Kindness Week

Flickr Friday: JournalArtista See Page

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You can watch Paula create this page in the video below!

Flickr Friday: Hearts,love

Thursday Review: Pelikan Pelikano Fountain Pen

Wordy Wednesday: Paring Down

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The recent trolling has given me pause and forced me to think about how I spend my time and what the benefits are from my activities. I wrote previously about how I was burning the candle at both ends and that it was simply not sustainable. It was a great thought, but I never followed through with trimming my activities. It’s become apparent that I simply must trim some activities for my own health and sanity.

I’ve started to make a list of what is important to me and what is less so. Clearly there are things that I can put off until I am able to give them the time that they deserve. My list of important items is short, necessarily so, and to the point. They are as follows:

Family
Art,
AJ Ning
Writing

That’s it. I can live without twitter, facebook, ustream and a host of other things. I’ve been splitting my attention from the top 4 things too much and I feel it shows in the quality of stuff I’ve been producing or rather, haven’t been. My drawing practice that I worked so hard on last year has deteriorated because I’m not giving it the time it needs.

One of the things I’m giving up is UStream. I had scaled back and taken a break and I was hoping that when I came back to it I would find that same excitement I had when I first streamed. I didn’t. I totally fell out of love with UStream. Add to that the malicious troll attacks and well… Yeah. Giving it up. What I DO plan on doing is some special event UStreams. I’ll advertise them well here. You can think of what I plan on doing as a free or low cost mini class. I’ll put up the items you’ll need with perhaps an instructional PDF and the demo it during the show. I don’t know how many of these I’ll do, but it will be on a whim sort of thing.

I gave up TV to make more time for art but I’ve replaced that void with watching UStream. I plan on watching SOME shows but just not the amount I’ve been watching lately. I love the interactive shows but I get sucked in. I used to watch while I arted along, I’ve stopped arting along. I need to focus on art while watching the shows. I’m going to focus on those shows that I really enjoy. (Not telling which) Obviously I am not able to make many due to my work schedule that won’t change.

I’ll be cutting back on twitter and facebook. I’ve been using them as distractions to feed my procrastination. I’ve got 10,000 words of my book written and I’ve hit a rut and I’m doing everything I can to avoid thinking about the rut, how to get out of the rut , and worst of all not doing anything about but avoiding the topic.

I’m strongly considering downloading one of those internet timers that will lock me out of the internet for periods of time. Alternatively I could show some willpower… Right.

I’m looking at some of the other things I’m involved in and seeing how I can free up more of my time to devote to the top 4. You can expect more posts on this topic.

Review: Noodler’s Flex Pen December 25th Edition

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The pen I’m reviewing today is something I bought on a lark used off the Fountain Pen Network’s for sale page. I have to say that the Noodler’s Flexible Nib pens have been well marketed and sought after by many pen enthusiasts. Especially those like me, who are interested in pens on the lower end of the spectrum of price. This pen fits that bill. Its suggested retail price is $14. Noodler’s has come out with several special edition pens; the flex nib that I purchased is the December 25^th red and green edition. I purchased mine used for $10, shipping included. It’s a piston filled pen that hold 1ml of bottled ink.

It’s a nice cheery red color with marbling throughout. The marbling is supposed to be green but I notice little if any green in the marbling. The nib is steel and an unusual design. It does not have a vent hole, instead it’s got a very deep channel cut into the feed that allows a lot of ink to flow. It’s labeled as a flexible but most users report that it’s a semi-flex given the amount of pressure needed to flex the tines. The nib reminds me of a crow quill dip nib. It starts as an extreme hairline point that I’d label as a double extra fine. Flexed fully I’d call it a double broad. With normal writing or sketching pressure I’d say it writes a fine line.

While I was writing I found that my traditional cursive, learned way back in 3^rd and 4^th grade adapted itself well to the flexed down stroke with this pen. It made it look old fashioned and could be useful for meditative and mindful journaling. There are a lot of tutorials out there for scripts that use a flexible nib. Writing with this nib is NOT the easiest thing ever. In fact I’d say my forearm got quite a workout. I’ve decided that to better learn how to use this pen I’m going to start filling out all the forms at work with the pen, in script. I figure that using it across the day will make life more interesting, give my forearm a break and exercise throughout the day. I’ll also get a lot of practice in USING the pen.

For the artist the place where this pen really starts to sing is in sketching. Flexed it’s not going to keep up with a rapid pace, but the hairline is great for putting down a few delicate lines and then regular pressure gives you a nice fine line. When flexed it gives a nice solid line that is great for shading. I tested it out on a variety of papers. This pen lays down a HEAVY line of ink, especially when flexed frankly you’ll need to find a sketch paper that can handle the flow. Papers that worked well: watercolor paper, better quality drawing paper, Bristol, and heavier sketchbook paper. Using this nib on gesso’ed paper is going to cause issues. Gesso is gritty and gritty surfaces grind down nibs. Writing on gesso will ruin this nib (and most) fast.

Some images of the various papers:

Here’s my verdict for a $14 pen it’s a lot of fun and worth the money. I have pretty strong forearms and hands and I found using this pen tiring for writing. If you have a light hand this pen will be very difficult for writing use. For drawing this pen really shines in its flexible line width. It does take some practice to use but it’s enjoyable and creates a really dynamic look. It’s comparable to a crow quill dip pen in line variety and it less likely to shatter with heavy handed pressure. It does take a heavy hand for writing to get the full flex out of it. It’s a very adaptable little pen as you can adjust the ink flow pretty easily. (Goulet pens is planning on doing a how to video on this and I’ll link it up when it hit.)

I found the slower pace forced by this pen great for meditative thoughtful writing. It took some practice to get something decent, well that’s something we can argue, but passable.

The major con of this pen is how slim it is. I might try fitting the nib into a pelikan body and see if it’s more comfortable. The flex forces a less relaxed grip and less comfortable writing style that I’m accustomed to, but then again, you aren’t really meant to write for 3 hours with this thing. The second con of this pen is that it holds only 1ml of ink, which is the same amount as a cartridge, and yes I did measure it. I’ve gone through 2 fills of Private Reserve Sonic Blue ink.

Image: Live and Let Live