Sailor fude de mannen pen review

I learnt about the sailor fude de mannen pen while searching through amazon webstore and was intrigued by its angled nib feature. It was new to me and I decided to give it a try. Price(I bought it at 900 INR) is way above a decent quality fountain pen in Indian market, however that didn't stop me from ordering the pen. When the pen arrived, I was bit disappointed to see that the look of the pen is not so attractive but then that was not what I bought the pen for. 

One important thing is that the pen does not come with converter but with two ink cartridges that hopefully will go for two months with regular casual drawings. Converter is sold separately and costs almost as much as the pen itself!

Coming to the feature, Sailor fude de mannen comes with angled tip nib that allows for variation of line weight by varying the angle at which pen is being held. it almost gives as wide line as a pen brush(drawing straight) and thin line similar or thinner to that of a regular fountain pen. That's great features of two different instruments mixed into one pen.   




                                                                                                                                                             

Sailor Fude de Mannen angled nib

The pen that I have, comes with a 55 degree angled nib. There is another variant that comes with a 40 degree angled tip. The 55 degree one feels just normal in hand which may be because pen is held at hand at an angle which is nearer to 55 degree. So, I am not in hurry to get the 40 degree one.

The pen comes with a cap without a clip. That means unlike a regular writing pen, it cannot be carried around in shirt's pocket . But I feel that is not necessary feature.   The cap however is fixed to pen body by twisting which is little boring and time taken to open the cap may turn you off a little when you  really want to draw the moment you picked up the pen.


The pen comes with comparatively longer barrel which may not feel very good to look at but it feels comfortable in hand and pretty balanced.                                                          

The pen comes with two cartridge refill(it surprised me) but no converter. Its okay to use the cartridge refill to draw initially but converter for a fountain pen is a must and I feel fountain pens should come with it. The inks in the cartridges are not waterproof and good for washing. But with converter, any fountain pen ink can be used.

The pen can be used to draw beautiful lines with great line variations. It took some time to get adjusted to it and it may take some more time to master it to get lines as wanted. But sure it is a fun pen and a must have for P&I sketch lovers. Here's a sketch i did with the pen.

Daytone dye based ink - 60 ml bottle pack review

The brand is not well known among the artists. There may be a dozen reasons for that. Availability of well known ink brands in the market and narrow publicity of this brand in Indian market may be a few of them. But the ink is an unexplored jewel for regular creative work.

The ink bottles come in 500 ml and 60ml plastic bottles but the 60 ml ones are much handy and suits users for personal creative works. The 500 ml is just too much if the work area is not huge. The company generally sells the 60 ml bottles in pack of fifteen and there are single colour pack and pack with all available colours. While the single colour pack seems to be aimed at art shops for resale, the pack with all colours is a lovely addition to any ink lovers collection. Individual plastic bottles are not eye catchy and the packaging is also poor. Pricing for individual bottles of 60 ml comes at a meagre Rs. 40. The box of 15 bottles is priced at Rs. 450 at 30 per bottle. In comparison to other options available in the market this is way too cheaper.

The colours they offer are Dark Brown, Havana Brown, Olive Brown, Yellow Ochre, Mauve, Dark Grey, Royal Blue, Blue Black, Deep Black, Rose Red, Brilliant Red, Emerald Green, Bright Violet, Crimson & Turquoise Blue.

 

The choice of colours is great and fifteen colours can be really useful in creating an art piece. Colours are quite bright but the inks tend to fade a little after application. The bright violet, emerald green turquoise blue and olive brown are some colours that can be well used in writing which are not readily available as writing ink. One negative though is that the ink tends to bleed slightly in comparison to other quality inks for writing.

The manufacturer nowhere claims the ink to be waterproof neither there's any claim regarding light fastness. So it is safe to say the inkwork would not stand the test of time. But considering the price of the ink it is too much to expect and is prudent to use it in temporary drawing and sketching works. Here is one such drawing.

Rotring black drawing ink(23 ml) review

Rotring black drawing ink(23 ml) comes in  a plastic rectangular bottle. The look and feel of the bottle makes it and technical stuff instantly. But the ink can be used in artwork very well. The design of the container is sleek and sexy and is an instant hit. But that’s only the outer side.

The German ink is good when applied on a paper that takes ink without spread. There is no spread through the tissues of paper and looks solid when used undiluted. The ink can also be diluted with water added to the ink. This gives a warm but somewhat transparent black and works like watercolour when applied with brush. This is quite a good idea when ink is used for adding a tonal variation. Here is a sketch made with the ink.

Whether visible in the image or not, the ink leaves a sheen when applied without any water. This is not a negative on every occasion, but there may be situation when the effect is unwelcome.

As the ink and the bottle design is aimed at using in conjunction with the rotring technical pens for technical drawings, using dip pen is not possible and are not intended either. So for drawing fine lines rotring technical pens can be a good partner. The ink is pigment based ink and as a general rule not to be used with fountain pen as the ink can clog the nib and damage the pen.

The ink as claimed in the official site is lightfast and waterproof which is largely true. Washes of water would not do any harm to the ink layer as long as too much water does not destroy the paper itself. The ink dries quite fast if not made a pool on paper surface.

Price in Indian market is Rs. 100 which is quite reasonable considering its quality and prices of comparable products.

Sakura Koi water colour - pocket field sketch box review

Today’s blog is product review of Sakura Koi water colors pocket field sketch box  with 12 half pan water colour. The watercolour set comes in a compact field box with twelve half pan colours especially built in the compact design for easy of carry and use n field. The product is made as much as conveniently for field use. Package comprises of twelve half pan colours cake and one water brush and one sponge. The box measures around 3.5 “ by 4” when closed.

Colours: the colours included in the box are –

1.       Chinese white
2.       Lemon yellow
3.       Permanent yellow deep
4.       Vermillion
5.       Crimson lake
6.       Prussian blue
7.       Cobalt blue
8.       Viridian green
9.       Permanent green pale
10.   Yellow ochre
11.   Light red
12.   Ivory Black

The ultramarine blue is surprisingly missing in the box. Otherwise the colour set more or less completes the basic watercolour painting requirement.

As already said the pans are half meaning they are quite small. For a landing price of 780 INR this seems to be costly. But the colour quality looks good at first use. The look bright and the colours appear as they should.

The box: The box is designed to be used as a mini palate when opened. This is pretty helpful while painting on the go as it do not require an extra palate to be carried. However the space is limited which is quite obvious considering the package size.

The box quality is quite good and material and closure all are neat.

Brush: The box comes with a 4 ml refillable water brush. Minimum assembly is required to get the brush into action. When assembled, the brush size is around 4-5 inch in length and around 1/3^rd inch dia at maximum. Unlike the normal brush for water colour this holds its own water in the refill. The water comes to the brush for painting a wash or so when a light pressure is applied to its water barrel. The flexibility of a set of water colour brush is lost but it is to be kept in mind that the set is made for field use with minimum accessories to be carried and the set fulfills the purpose.

Sponge: A sponge is also included in the box for dabbing if and when required thus avoiding any need to carry any other material along with the box to carry out a painting on the go or in the field.

In conclusion the box is very compact to serve the purpose it is made for and though not as much convenient as a studio set up, it meets the basic purpose of water colouring on the go without need to carry any extra material.