I recently spied a package of multi-colored fountain pens at my local bookstore. I’ve looked at them several times, and finally decided to purchase them on Monday.
They are called "Color Write Fountain Pens" , made by Ooly. This company makes a variety of fun art supplies suitable for the hobbiest.
There are eight pens in the set, and they retail for $14.99. That’s about as cheap as it gets for a fountain pen, under $2 each. At that price, I wasn’t expecting anything super fabulous. I figured I could use the ink cartridges in a better pen, if they totally didn’t work.
I mentioned, in a post last week , that I would do a review of the Arteza 0.4 fineliner pens. Here it is!
Note: this is not a paid review. This product was purchased from Amazon and not provided by Arteza for review.
I purchased this set of pens from Amazon along with a couple of other things. They arrived in a large box, with another box containing the pens inside. The pens, themselves, come packed in a very nice, hinged tin, as you can see in the image above.
I wear glasses all the time. I put them on when I get up in the morning and I take them off at night, when I go to bed. Recently, however, I’ve realized that my eyes are getting “older” and aren’t working quite as well as I would like. Because of this, I decided to get some specialized eyewear for specific tasks.
The first new pair I got was special glasses for working on my computer. The are set up so that the exact focusing length is right where my monitor is. I also had them coated to block out the blue light from electronic screens. What a huge difference they have made! I can see my screen very clearly without having to jink my head and neck around to look out of the middle section of my bifocals! No more sore neck and shoulders, no more red, tired eyes. I LOVE them!
In this final installment of Marker Madness, I want to talk about storing all those markers I talked about.
If you remember from the previous articles, almost all pens and markers should be stored horizontally. This is particularly important for double-ended markers to insure a good flow of ink to both nibs.
The first option that is sometimes available is to store the markers in the container they came in. I store my Crayola Super Tips that way. The box they came in is very sturdy. I keep it on it‘s side on a shelf (to keep the markers horizontal) when I‘m not using them.
Many artists and crafters have not heard of the Too company. It began in 1919 as the Izumiya Art Supply Store in Shibuya, Tokyo. In 1950, they incorporated as the Izumiya Limited Company and in 1965 began exporting art supplies to Europe and the U.S. The Magic Marker Corporation of Japan was established in 1968 as a joint venture with Magic Marker Corporation in the U.S. The COPIC design marker was developed in 1987. In 1992 the Izumiya Corporation was renamed to Too Corporation . 1993 saw the Development of the COPIC Sketch marker . Today, COPIC markers are distributed in the United States by Imagination International .
I already told you some of the history of the Kuretake company in the post about the ZIG Real Color Brush markers . Today I want to talk about another of their products, this time in the Memory System product line. This line of products was designed to preserve memories and archival materials.
The ZIG Memory Writer pens have been around for years. The available colors change from time to time, but the twin-tipped, Memory System Writers are a staple in almost every scrapbooker‘s toolset since 1977.
The very first Sharpie marker was a black, indelible ink pen introduced by the Sanford company in 1964. Since that time, the brand has grown to include almost 40 different colors and more than 100 products. While you‘re most familiar with the ubiquitous black marker, today we‘ll take a look at a different critter in the Sharpie lineup.
I‘ve been using the Sharpie Water-Based Paint markers for art journaling for some time now. I like the ones with the Extra Fine point because they make the thinnest lines.
The Faber-Castell company was originally established in 1761 by a cabinet maker named Kaspar Faber. While the company produces many different products, their primary focus is on wood-cased pencils, producing over 2,000 million per year. They are the world‘s largest pencil manufacturer! The company is still family run by the eighth generation member, Count Anton-Wolfgang von Faber-Castell, who took over as head of the company in 1978.
Today we‘re going to take a look at the Faber-Castell Pitt® Big Brush Pens . I purchased a 48-pen set from Amazon a few years ago. My thinking was that I would use these to “ink” rubber/acrylic stamps. I liked the idea that the ink would be waterproof when it dried, something I was looking for at the time.
The Winsor and Newton company began with the partnership of a scientist, William Winsor and an artist, Henry Newton, in 1832. They developed the first glycerine based, moist watercolor cakes which they started selling to other artists in 1835. Prior to this, artists either had to buy their paints from a “colourman” or had to grind their own pigments and mix them with various mediums, such as gum arabic.
The Kuretake company was established in 1902, so it‘s a company with a long history of making art products. The original name was Kuretake Sumi and began with the production of “sumi” brushes. The Kuretake ZIG Corporation was established in the United states in 2014. Now days, they make a wide variety of pens, brushes, watercolors, inks and markers.
A line of products that may be of particular interest to tanglers (people who like to create Zentangles) is Kaleidolines . These products include pens, books, templates and coloring pages.
The Tombow brand has been around since it was founded in 1927. The parent company celebrated it‘s 100th Anniversary in 2013.
They began with the production of pencils and sharpeners and manufactured those for over 20 years. The production of felt-tip and ball-point pens began in 1958, and the solvent-free Tombow marker in 1974. The ABT Dual Brush Pen, originally in 72 colors was launched in 1984.
I‘ve been using Tombow Dual Brush Pens for as long as the company has been making them. I have some markers that are over 20 years old, and they still work. Because some of my original markers were lost or damaged, I finally purchased a new 96-color set early last year (2016) from Amazon .
Today‘s marker review is all about Ranger‘s Tim Holtz® Distress Markers 61 Color Canister Set . This is a set of 61 differently colored, double-ended markers. I purchased these on line from Amazon because they weren‘t available in any local store that I knew of. They arrived in a couple of days.
The markers arrived in a cylindrical plastic container with a removable black plastic top.
There were two stickers on the sides of the container reminding the owner to store the markers horizontally.
For the first set of markers, let‘s take a look at a very affordable option: Crayola Washable Super Tips Markers, 100 count . This is a set of 100 differently colored markers.
I purchased these markers at a local Walmart store. They were not prominently displayed. They were on a bottom shelf, below the hanging and flat display for other Crayola products. Unfortunately, I don‘t remember the exact price, but it was under $20, which is very reasonable for this many markers.
Welcome to March Marker Madness!
Throughout this month, I‘ll be taking a look at all kinds of markers and sharing what I find with you.
What is a marker? Well, there is some variation in definition. Google will tell you that it is “a felt-tipped pen with a broad tip.” Wikipedia goes a bit further and says it is “a felt-tipped pen used for drawing and/or coloring.” Dictionary.com has the longest, most thorough definition, “Also called marker pen, marking pen. A pen designed for making bold, colorful, or indelible marks, as in making signs or identifying objects.