Pen Vibe

Femi Martin is a storyteller.

She’s created fiction inspired by Charles Dickens novels, shared her struggles with illness in the Achalasia Diaries on BBC 4, and captivated UK festival audiences with performances of her short stories about love, relationships, and stolen chocolate bars.

Her stories always start at the point of a pen, and Femi was kind enough recently to share with us how writing by hand guides her creative process.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I write fiction but am an avid reader of non-fiction. I am particularly interested in the body, especially the brain. As I am prone to over-thinking I have to carve time out of my day for switching off. I do this by either going to the gym, meditating, or watching reality TV. My favourite reality show is Project Runway but I mostly watch anything to do with love and relationships. Oh, and Judge Judy, of course. [Read more…]

Art comes in all forms.

It can be a pen-and-ink drawing. Or a watercolor painting. Or a delicate pencil sketch.

Or sometimes, it can be a simple chalkboard menu written in a flowing hand.

Meet Amanda Miller, known as the Chalkboard Lady to her clients.

Please tell me a little about you.

I produce chalkboard art and wall-art for businesses and homes across Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire. My clients range from major pub chains to small independent shops and cafes. I trained as a ticket writer in the artroom of a supermarket chain producing all point-of-sale by hand. This eventually lead to me writing chalkboards. I’ve been doing so for 18 years now! Wall-art is very popular at the moment and I do quite a lot of that from family trees to favourite quotes, all written freehand.

[Read more…]

Rachel at Rachel Rites explains the Bullet journaling system.

Lito at Palimpsest delves into the history of Shaw & Sons stationers.

Ian at Pens! Paper! Pencils! finds Field Notes notebooks to be serviceable.

The Unroyal Warrant explores the Namiki Custom Impression fountain pen.

Nifty at Notebook Stories likes the look of Best Made notebooks.

Sarah at A California Yankee… opens up her pen case full of fountain pens.

No Pen Intended finds love with the Pilot Vanishing Point limited edition fountain pen.

Ray at Fountain Pen Quest fills his Sheaffer Balance Oversize with Montblanc Irish Green ink.

Azizah at Gourmet Pens field tests the PocketJot notebook cover.

The Weekly Pencil finally lands a Palomino Blackwing 211 pencil.

A Bic spokeswoman takes to Chicago radio station WBEZ to explain the company is on a “mission to save handwriting” and why that matters.

Astronauts aboard the International Space Station write in their journals (not by hand, though) at least three times a week, and those journals are later analyzed by behaviorists, according to NASA’s Johnson Space Center.

Artist James Charles has a show running in New York, and Beautiful Decay profiles some of his work drawing pop culture figures on US currency.

Malaysia’s The Artsy Craftsy offers up an overview of junk journaling, a mixed media way of keeping track of the memorable moments in your life.

Using pen and paper externalizes internal thoughts, leading to a focus on higher-order thinking skills, according to educational psychology professor Grace Koo, writing in the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Urban Sketchers Chicago lays out 10 reasons to do more drawing, including improved hand-eye coordination, and lists some groups that will help keep you motivated.

A member at the Wet Canvas forum has written a detailed guide to the types of pens artists use, along with some recommendations for the best pens for the job.

A couple of months ago, I wrote about teachers and students using green ink as part of a feedback system that focuses on improving work, instead of just highlighting mistakes.

That made me a little curious about green pens, since I didn’t really have much experience with them. The few I’d used were pretty unimpressive, mostly because the ink was so pallid. So I decided to take a run through a bunch of green pens to find the ones that worked the best.

 

The Pen Warrior sent me a package full of disposables from most of the major brands we carry: Pilot, Pentel, Uniball, Bic, Paper Mate, Staedtler, and Stabilo. There were 18 all together, in a variety of hues. Most were stick pens. [Read more…]