Pen Vibe

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…]

Brad at The Pen Addict backs the Tactile Turn Gist fountain pen.

Ian at Pens! Paper! Pencils! doodles with Private Reserve Spearmint fountain pen ink.

Ana at The Well-Appointed Desk clicks through the Sharpie Pen Retractable.

Matthias at Bleistift cranks up the M + R 0981 pencil sharpener.

Cody at The Pen Haul fills his Clairefontaine Pocket Notebook.

Brian at OfficeSupplyGeek dresses up the Levenger Steath Circa Foldover.

Suzanne at Twenty Four at Heart lists her favorite pens for various art projects.

Christine at Pentulant swabs some Pilot Iroshizuku Ina-ho fountain pen ink.

George at My Supply Room recommends Pentel Graphgear mechanical pencils.

Mary at From the Pen Cup stops being serious with Uniball Signo DX Hello Kitty gel pens.

This was a bit surprising: A YouTube video in which an engineering professor explains how a retractable pen works became a bit of a viral hit.

The simple 4:43 video from Bill Hammack – “engineerguy” on YouTube – had been viewed more than 370K times when I last checked, about a month after it was posted.

In the video, Hammack uses a Parker Jotter and some 3D modeling graphics to describe the interplay between plunger, cam, and spring that extends and retracts the ink cartridge and produces that distinctive clicking noise. [Read more…]

Pens are one of the most basic tools that writers can use, so when whole worlds of imagination flow out of them, it seems magical.

And maybe it is – the story inside a writer’s head comes to life when the words hit the page.

That’s why, even with all the technology available to writers today, some still prefer to start their work with nothing but a pen and paper to hand.

Novelist Zoe Sumra is one of them. The London-based writer recently some time out to answer some questions from the Tiger Pens Blog.

Tell us a little about yourself.

I decided to become a novelist when I was three – I’d just learnt that the youngest published author was four and a half, and realised I had eighteen months to beat that. I didn’t quite manage it: I actually started writing novels when I was twelve. Since then I have written an epic fantasy trilogy – firmly in the trunk – and quite a lot of space opera in what is now a fully developed story universe. When not writing or reading, whether for pleasure or research, I spend most of my spare time fencing, in the gym as an adjunct to fencing, or rehabilitating ankle injuries. My day job is as a print controller in the advertising industry. [Read more…]

Rob at Rob’s Art Supply reviews learns to control the Pentel Pocket Brush Pen.

Margana at Inkophile glides across the page with the Platinum #3776 Century Yamanaka fountain pen.

Heather at inlovewithjournals swoons over the Franklin-Christoph notebook.

The Weekly Pencil runs into trouble sharpening his Koh-i-Noor Toison D’or 1900 Series 2B pencil.

The Passionate Penman turns his attention to the Sakura Pigma Micron 005.

Lito at Palimpsest takes us back in time for P & J Arnold fountain pen ink.

Tina at Fueled by Clouds & Coffee charts a bumpy course with the Pilot Waverly Nib.

Michael at Inkdependence almost likes Noodler’s Dostoyevsky fountain pen ink.

Brian at OfficeSupplyGeek wishes J. Herbin Bleu Azur fountain pen ink were darker.

Christine at Pentulant dives into the Jinhao 159 fountain pen.

Rhonda at the Blog of Rhonda Eudaly sweeps up with the Midori Eraser Mini Cleaner II.