i just love sketching with the water soluble pens!
i went to GOULET PENS to get my first ever Lamy Safari with a broad black nib. i got about 10 samples of different colors of ink, a DIY hypodermic refill contraption, and a cartridge converter. I highly recommend the hypodermic needle if you've ever fantasized about telling someone to drop their drawers and bend over to get their medicine. extracting the ink from the little tubes and inserting it into the cartridges is an extremely excellent way to spend time on a sunday morning.
in venice i picked up the pelikan pen and some extra cartridges for super cheap. today i popped out the cartridge and easily refilled it with terra di sienna ink. the ink samples are very generous and will easily fill up 2 cartridges. a great inexpensive way to try out lots of ink before paying the big bucks for a bottle. i have plenty of luscious jewel-toned inks i can't wait to sketch with!
the varsity pens are disposable but when they run out of ink i plan to figure out how to refill them too.
hope you are putting a fine polish on your sunday in your part of the world. i'll just be here. playing doctor with my pens.
Oooh, I have pen envy.
We have a nice pen store in town, but it doesn’t have everything and I discovered Goulet on line for my more esoteric needs. Oddly, I never DREAMED that they would have a BRICKS and MORTAR store! Lucky you! And maybe lucky for me I must deal in internet only….I can see huge temptation lurking inside their doors. 🙂
PS. I second the Brenda Swenson recommendation. Haven’t taken classes, but follow her blog religiously.
Oh, what fun…………..but I am keeping my drawers on!
I can tell you are having a grand time Dr. Moss. Thanks for all the great pen/ink info, totally journal saving information that no one should be without, especially while tramping through the world with journal in hand.
I love visiting Moss-land. I’ve found that yours is probably the only blog where I laugh right out loud when I read it, not to mention all the neat stuff I’m learning 🙂 Thanks for the info on the pens.
Jane S.
Some tricks I’ve found for sketching in public: Wear earbuds not hooked up to anything. Place yourself against a wall if possible. People tend not to bother you if they think your listening to something…and it’s impossible to look over your shoulder if you’re against a wall. If you’re in a place like a coffee shop wear sunglasses so that people can’t see where you’re looking…some get very uncomfortable they know you’re looking at them. Just a thought.
Goulet Pens is one of my favorite pen sites…Brian’s tutorials are superb, can also be found on You Tube.
If you’re so inclined: Check out Brenda Swenson’s workshops…she has workshops in your neck of the woods…lives in Pasadena. She also takes sketching tours to Italy. WooHoo
I don’t think about using my fountain pens to sketch with-why not? I don’t know! I do love the varsity disposable fountains & have the Lamy Safari I just refill with a cartridge, I guess I a could use a converter for other ink colors ( isn’t that what it is called?) may I suggest the fountain pen by Pilot called Petit 1 and its brother the Petit 2 sign pen. The latter comes with a cartridge you put in & that new white felt tip then slowly fills with the color of the ink as gravity pulls it to the end of the tip. When I put it in, I didn’t know to expect that, it made me giddy!
http://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Petit1-Mini-Fountain-Pen-Fine-Nib-Black/pd/9226
http://www.jetpens.com/Pilot-Petit2-Mini-Sign-Pen-Medium-Apple-Green/pd/9853
What fun! Kind of reminds me of trying to refill my ink jet printer cartridges with that needle and syringe contraption and getting the 3 colors right without overflowing. It isn’t for the faint of heart I tell you! (glad I am not such a neatnik because it apparently also isn’t for the extremely tidy!)
It is nice to see all your trials and record keeping so we can learn what works or not as you try them out! Thanks!