Graphics Tablet Review

Recently, I have been looking to purchase an active graphics tablet - the kind where you can actually see what you are drawing on the tablet.  I have a Wacom Bamboo Create Pen & Touch, which has a lot of nice features, but I find it really difficult to draw on the tablet surface while looking up at the monitor.  It works OK for rough sketches but is difficult for more detailed drawings or paintings.  So, I started looking at the Wacom Cintiq ($2,400), but it was much too expensive for me.  Then I looked at the Yiynova Tablet-Monitor ($450), which was much more affordable but got mixed reviews.  I also considered getting an iPad because I saw some impressive You Tube videos of artists using the iPad Retina ($500) for artwork.

But yesterday I was surprised to find this amazing tablet (pictured) at Krogers grocery store of all places, for $2.50!  The pen-stylus didn't come with it and I had to buy that separately, but since the tablet was so affordable, I really didn't mind.  I chose the upgraded Sharpie with fine and ultrafine points built in one.  It doesn't require batteries either!

PROS
+ Absolutely perfect WYSWYG display.
+ saves drawing instantly and flawlessly
+ sizes drawing at 100% every time.
+ wireless
+ zero charge time
+ zero start-up time
+ no batteries, ever!
+ never needs charging.
+ very affordable
+ fully rotational
+ no software to load
+ does not require a computer to operate
+ it can be used anywhere
+ synchronization between the tablet and Sharpie are instant and flawless.

CONS
- No layering
- does not include any software
- limited to 50 drawings
- you must supply your own pen, pencil or marker
- requires a scanner to digitize
- this tablet is not designed for painting

SUMMARY
In spite of the "CONS", I would gladly buy this tablet again.  I highly recommend it!

Black and White

I realized, once again, how stuck I am on black and white, or silver and black pens.  This photo is actually several years old and I have added a number of pens since then, most of which are black and white or black and silver.  Recently, I was about to purchase another pen, which was black carbon fiber and silver.  I paused and wondered why I would buy another pen of the same color combo as most of my others?  The answer was simple, I still like that color (less) combo!  (Although, I did not buy that pen due to marginal reviews.) No surprise, my favorite ink is basic black - though I note that they are not all equal.  For example, Pearl Noire from J. Herbin is the blackest of blacks, I love that ink.  My pens seem to like Pilot black the best:" it doesn't clog or dry out very easily.  While I would never wear a tuxedo that is not basic black, I do have some pens in other colors, which I enjoy and use often.  But in the end my first choice is always basic black.  By the way, one of the best and most affordable basic black fountain pens is the Levenger Truewriter Obsidian.  It is one of my basic work pens, filled with Noodler's Polar Bulletproof black.  The TW Obsidian is always ready to write, even if I've not used it for several days.  No matter how beautiful a pen is, knowing that it will write the moment you touch it to paper is the best feature of any fountain pen.

How to Annoy an Artist

Giant

Here is a recent doodle using a Laban Mento fountain pen (M nib) with Noodler's Kiowa Pecan ink. 

TWSBI Diamond 540 Fountain Pen

My Diamond 540 fine point just arrived today from Goldspot Pens. I haven't even decided which color of ink to fill it with yet, but wanted to post a pre-review: This is a lot of pen for $50!  I missed the 530 at that price and vowed not to let that happen next time.  Next time was two days ago!  Kudos to Goldspot for the Twitter notice of the intro, the great price and quick ship!

PRE-VIEW: Demonstrator piston-fill fountain pen with interchangeable nibs for $50.00!  Even the display box is so cool, you feel like the whole thing should be kept unopened and put on a display shelf along side of the model and diorama that you spent hours building.  It looks like a cross between a Pelikan demo and a Levenger Truewriter, with the best attributes of both pens.  The only thing that I'm not crazy about is the faceted barrel; I'd rather it be a smooth tube, but that's just personal preference.  A piston filler this nice for $50 - who cares about a few facets!

Libelle Siena Fountain Pen - Nero Black

My wife asked me what I wanted for my birthday this year, and I replied with an embarrassed grin that it was already on the way.  I had been eyeing the Libelle Siena fountain pen and when it went on sale, I grabbed it up.  I've read a number of comments by fountain pen collectors about black pens with chrome trim being boring, but they are still my favorite.  It is just a classy masculine combination.  The Libelle Siena combines it with a ribbing that reminds me of designs from the 1930s.  

Libelle Siena Fountain Pen

This pen is large but not heavy: 5 3/8" capped.  5/8" in diameter. 6 3/8" posted. 4 7/8" with the cap off.

The clip is solid (not folded metal) and due to the up-turned end, it slides easily over a shirt pocket.  The tell-tale Libelle dragonfly logo is well-presented in the cap button. The etching in the cap band is very shallow, which always looks cheap to me.  But the rest of the pen looks and feels well made.

Cap button with dragonfly logo.

The cap posts by screwing onto the end of the pen.  So, there's no bother with the cap falling off while writing.  However, with mine posted, the clip does not line up with the nib - it is about 90 degrees off which annoys me.  The Siena is amazingly long at nearly 6 1/2" with the cap posted, which I like. It is a bit top-heavy but not uncomfortable.

Pen with cap posted

The Siena comes with a long Libelle converter, with an agitator.  I have seen these little balls in converters before but didn't know why they were there.  And recently ran across a comment elsewhere about how agitators in converters help to break up surface tension and so aid the ink flow.  Of course there are many factors that effect ink flow, but I can say that my Siena does not have ink flow problems after my second ink fill.  (The first time I filled the pen it would skip on the first stroke.)  It is filled with Waterman black and writes very well.

Large steel medium point nib

The nib is a large steel iridium point (Schmidt?)  medium nib that writes with an easy wet line.  I'd describe this nib as medium-plus.  It gives a fuller line than say a Japanese medium nib. The large nib provides a nice balance to the large pen.

Blue-Black Inks for the Color-blind.

The scan above shows three of my favorite blue-black inks: Diamine's Twilight, Private Reserve's Midnight Blues (Fast Dry) and Blue Suede.  The scan accentuates the colors as it would if we were to look at the paper in the sunlight.  In average indoor light the difference in the colors is not so distinct, especially between Twilight and Midnight Blues.  Blue Suede is obviously more muted in any light. It comes across more grey-green.  Or, so suggests the color-blind guy.  Yes, sad but true.  You cannot trust my evaluation of colors, because I have some red-green colorblindness.  There are two types of partial color-blindness: red-green, or blue-yellow. Red-green colorblindness makes it difficult to see the difference between white and pink, or tan and pink, or olive green and brown, or blue and purple.  But I have no difficulty recognizing primary colors. This type of colorblindness is a genetic disability that is passed from father through daughter to grandson.  My mother's father had the same type of colorblindness.  It wasn't a big deal for him because he was a farmer.  However, for me it was a constant obstacle.  At age nine - before I even knew that I was partially color blind - I decided to be an artist.  That decision at age nine framed every other decision that I made for the next 20 plus years.  As if that wan't difficult enough, I wanted to be a portrait painter. Being a successful portrait painter with normal color vision is difficult enough, but to be one with impaired color vision is nearly impossible.  So, I finally settled on drawing highly detailed pencil portraits.

So, why do I keep buying so many different colors of ink?  Maybe it is just wishful thinking.  However, I do in fact see colors.  Obviously, I don't see them with the same variety of color range that most people do, but I do see them. And, I love bright colors. I also enjoy seeing the different nuances in colors, even if it is a strain.  That means that I have to look at large samples in bright sunlight to be able to see them better. Fortunately, I have studied color theory and have a solid understanding of what colors must be mixed together to produce a complex color, even if I can't see it.  And, I know from reading other ink reviews that some blues may tend toward a green tint or red tint, so that even colors that we call "blue" are tending toward an aqua or violet, both of which are too subtle for me to see.

I first discovered - or I should say my mother first discovered - that I was color-blind one Sunday morning in church when I was about eight or nine years old.  We were just entering the church building when she and my father stopped to talk with someone; my mother motioned me on to go sit behind Mrs Whosits in the pink sweater.  I saw two women in white sweaters and replied that I didn't see anyone wearing a pink sweater.  Because of my grandfather's colorblindness, my mother instantly recognized what this signified.  Maybe I should have recognized what it signified as well, because I failed miserably as an artist and am now an Anglican priest, where colorblindness is a great gift!