I
was happy to see that Barnes & Noble has picked up the Piccadilly
line of notebooks after the closing of Borders. On a whim I picked up an
orange colored medium Primo Journal. The primo journals come in orange,
black, brown, blue, teal and red. Not all of the colors are available
at B&N. They only come lined. The book is 4.5×6.75 inches in size
and ¾ of an inch thick. This size fits perfectly into my jacket pockets. It is smythe sewn so it will open flat and be relatively sturdy.

The
covers are a rubbery textured vinyl imprinted with a grid pattern of
imprinted of squares. The vinyl is glued to a flexible fibery material
that feels substantial and comfortable in hand. The cut of the covers is
not totally square to the imprinted texture. The covers are not well glued either. A small amount of glue stick stuck it back in place. Holding the journal shut
is a round off white elastic that is threaded through two holes in the
spine. The elastic as it came was loose. Getting it tighter was as easy
as pulling the elastic through the spine and tying a knot in the
elastic. The place marker is the same color as the cover. It is not glued in place well and came loose as I opened and closed the journal. It was an easy repair with a little white glue.


The
paper is relatively heavy and smooth. The lines are blue gray and not
obtrusive. The color is a warm cream color. It’s easy on the eyes. gel
ink, roller balls, and micro points do well on the smooth paper.
Fountain pens fair less well. Ink glides on smoothly. I tested a variety
of pens and nibs including a Pilot Prera M with Quink blue ink, a TWSBI
530 M with Diamine Chocolate ink, a Kaweco Sport M with Noodler’s Heart
of Darkness. All inks and nibs feathered in the same weird spidery way
they feather on a Moleskine. The larger nibs had plenty of show through
and some soak through. I tested the inks on both sides of the page. One
side was definitely smoother and showed less soak and show through than
the other side.




The
medium was $6.35 including taxes. Which I don’t see as a bad price for
288 pages of decent paper. With fine nibs the feathering isn’t a deal
breaker, especially given the price. I really like the feel of the
rubberized and flexible cover. This is a budget friendly journal good for scrawling down novel ideas or grocery lists. buying a journal for less than $10 isn't going to get you the kind of great quality spending $20 on a Rhodia webbie will get you but this is not a bad journal for the price.

Over
the last few weeks I’ve been using a unique tool to smooth down my
collage bits. Usually I use a bone folder for this task but I’ve found
something new. A month or so ago I picked up a set of those “as seen on
TV” procaulk tools. The little blue rubber widgets that you use when you
want to smooth out a bead of silicone caulking around your tub or
shower. They are wonderful for that particular task. After it’s dried
caulking peels off with ease.

After
I used the procaulk tools for their intended task I threw them on my
art desk intending to put them in the garage. They now have a permanent
place on my art desk. When I use them to smooth out collage pieces glued
down with anything- wet glue, glue stick, etc… They don’t mar the
surface or change the texture of the piece. My bone folder will often
leave a collage element shiny looking. Procaulk tools don’t.

Glue, modpodge, gel medium and glue stick peel off the tools after the glue has dried. That makes clean up super easy.

They
are also awesome for scraping paint across a page or off a page. I’ve
never applied a thinner amount of paint than I have with these. I can
also scrape through paint to bare paper.

These weird blue as-seen-on-TV doodads are awesome. I picked mine up at home depot for about $7.

I
picked these up ages ago on a whim at Artist and Craftsman. I got a 6
pack of colors- red, yellow, blue, green, violet and black. One ounce of
each color in a squeeze bottle with a flip top. Some of the colors are
labeled with their name, others are not. The 6 pack is not available on
their website, but the 4 ounce bottles are about $3 each. I think I paid
about $7 for the 6 pack. Not a bad deal for wanting to try out the
colors. For those of you who are metallic freaks, they have a line of
these with loads of shimmer and metallic goodness, also inexpensive.

The
good, the color is intense and concentrated. It slathers on the page
smoothly and blends well. The colors in my box eloquently named red,
yellow, blue and violet mix to make a variety of other lovely colors.
They also blend when a wet brush is applied over a dried area of paint. They suggest that you can mix them with up to 4 parts water to extend them. I like them as is straight out of the tube. So bright!

These
do not need to be shaken, there is no sediment in the bottom of the
bottles. This tells me that the paint is dye based and not likely to be
lightfast. This is fine for my use in an art journal but I would not use
it on work that I’d be selling. Like spray inks? These could go into a
spray bottle without fear of clogging.

The
great thing about these is that they are so easy to use, a few drops on
a palette and a damp brush later you’ve got loads of bright vibrant
color. They are also very inexpensive so you won’t feel guilty about
buying them and using them.

These
pencils have a very hard lead that wears well but lays down a decent
amount of color for such a hard lead. Once applied they had a lovely
metallic appearance, until I applied water. All metallic shimmery
goodness disappeared when I used water to move the pigment. At that
point they became sort of dull dark colors on the page. I tried blending
them with other watercolors but to no avail. Even when I applied them
to a wet page the shimmer wasn’t there as it was when they were wet.

I
used these for a few accents here and there through my art journal.
They were great for a hint of metal here and there so long as I avoided
working with water over them.

Price
point on these is about $10 for 6 pencils. That’s a lot of money for a
pencil you can only use dry if you want the shimmer than should be there
and is a rather boring color once you hit them with water.

In
finally got my hands on some Inktense. I’ve heard nothing but great
things about them. Maybe because all I’d heard was great, I was left a
little underwhelmed.

First
the colors are not named after typical artist colors, so we’ve got
grass green and apple red instead of sap green or  alizarin crimson.
This causes me to look around more than I want to for a color I want. It
can also lead to some unfortunate color ,mixes. If I were to buy a tin
of these I’d have to do a test to see how each of the colors would mix
with one another, just so I would know what would make mud and what
would not. The colors are also very bright, jewel toned in hue.

The
good thing about these is that once you wet them, the color is set in
place. No matter of water or scrubbing will move them or blend them.
They layer really really well. I found it took way more effort to wet
the dry marks and move the wet color around than with other watercolor
pencils. In the end I tried a nylon bristled brush and was more vigorous
in my effort. Even with that effort I found the marks made as I drew
with the pencils stayed. if I were to use Inktense on a regular basis
I’d make sure to create a texture or pattern.

I
probably won’t buy a tin of these pencils, maybe a few singles  of
specific colors. I can't think of a time when I’d use  them on a regular
basis where regular watercolors won’t do the trick. The price point on these is about $1.75 per pencil. They are also available in blocks form. Which I might like more than the pencils.

Just
as an aside I’ve read on multiple forums and blogs that the inktense
are not lightfast, so something to consider if you are creating art for
the wall.

Jane
and I had an art day. I went over to her place with some of my materials
and she dragged out her materials and we tested them all out. One of
those materials was the AquaTone woodless watercolor pencils.

They
had a nice smooth texture as I used them on dry paper, laying down a
nice even amount of color. When I used a wet brush on them they
completely dissolved with a little scrubbing action. The colors moved
around the page well. Used on wet paper the pencil lay down a generous
amount of pigment and are still moveable with a wet brush.  

The
colors are mostly named after traditional artist colors- burnt umber,
scarlett lake, etc… The colors blend well. Cost is a touch higher than
other watercolor pencils, around $22 for a 12 piece tin. The size of
the pencil is quite generous, they are slightly longer than most colored
pencils and the same diameter without the wood casing. I think the size
and lack of wood makes up for the price.

I really enjoyed using these pencils, the nice texture and size make them a winner in my book.

This
is a compact brightly colored jelly bean shaped sharpener with a
shaving receptacle. There are 2 holes- one for oversized pencils and one
for regular sized pencils. The point delivered by the smaller of the 2
holes is relatively long, while the large hole delivers a short stubby
point. the receptacle for shavings doesn’t hold a lot, but saves you
from having to visit the trash every time you sharpen a pencil. Instead
you’ll empty it every 3 or 4 times.

I
enjoy it’s cheerful bright color and the fact that I can find it’s
bright orange jelly bean shape on my messy art desk, or in the pocket of
my bag. The holes have a convenient little cover that slides in and
out. The cover prevents dust and spills from occurring in transport. A
nifty idea and one that works remarkably well.

Should
the blades on the sharpener get dull you can buy new blades, pull the
sharpener out and replace them. The 2 hole oval sharpener body will
accept a replacement sharpener.

I’m
pretty happy with this little sharpener. I purchased it specifically
for sharpening my colored pencils but I like the point it leaves on
other pencils. The cost for this sharpener was $3.58. HIgh when compared
to other less well made sharpeners. I’m a firm believer that you get
what you pay for in sharpeners. The blades on my KUM sharpeners last for
hundreds of pencils where I’ve had cheap sharpeners die after one or 2
pencils. I also like the fact that I can replace the blades as they
dull.

I expect this sharpener to last a good long time.

I’m
working on the Journal Fodder 365 challenge over on my ning site. Feel
free to go and join the group here. Good stuff. One of the things the
JFJ suggest that I hardly ever use and didn’t have in my arsenal are
colored pencils. I have some, but not many and a few select colors. I
haven’t used CP in years. So at a recent trip to A&C I picked up a
few singles of a variety of colors form a range of brands. I’ve used a
few different brands of CP extensively- Prismacolor, Prang large core
and Palomino. All are good, feature a large creamy core of intense
color. I prefer CP that lay down a large quantity of color with ease. I
despise Col-erase CP by Prismacolor.

I
picked up the following: Koh-i-nor tricolor, Koh-i-nor progresso
woodless, and Faber-Castell polychrome. The progresso woodless were the
least expensive and are available at a variety of locations, so you can
buy them with a coupon. The tricolor were in the middle in terms of
price and are slightly less available but I have seen them at AC Moore.
The Polychrome were the most expensive  and least accessible in that I
don’t think I’ve ever seen them anywhere but A&C and Blick.

The
progresso pencil was the most surprising of all. It’s lower price point
led me to believe it would be the worst of the group. It was far from
it. The lead was well pigmented and I was able to put down a  nice swath
of color with ease and even pressure. The point wore well. It sharped
with ease in a standard sharpener. The only problem I found with the
progresso pencil was that if you drop them the colored core fractures
and pressure will snap the pencil into pieces. I found this to be
annoying but at the same time not a huge deal.


The
Tri-color were the sturdiest pencils of the lot, I never broke the
lead, even with heavy handed pressure. The thick wooden triangular
barrel keeps the lead safe. The color was slightly weaker than the other
2 pencils. It also needed to be sharpened with a knife. I know it has a
specialized sharpener but I didn’t purchase one. These would be a great
pencil to use with kids, as they are super tough.
The
polychrome was the best performer. Laying down a swath of color was no
problem, it practically leapt to the page. And the color once applied
was intense and smooth. The core on these pencils is the thinnest of the
3 purchased, so in addition to being the most expensive option it’s the
lowest value. However the intensity of color is superb and the best of
the lot. These are clearly artist grade and perform close to what I
remember to be Prismacolor performance, a gold standard in my book.

I
was surprised by all these pencils. I expected at least one of them to
suck- be too hard, pale or a waste of money. Any of these pencils would
be a good value. With the 12 pack of the progresso woodless being about
$7 without coupon they take the crown of best bang for your buck. They
also have the most amount of lead- in that the pencil has no wood, so
its all color. The tricolor was slightly less soft and creamy, taking a
little more effort to get pigment on the page, but still not a bad
value. The polychrome was the best performer but the most expensive,

Per pencil price at A&C:
Progresso: $.57
Triocolor: $1.85
Polychrome: $2.43