The Mayans said that it’s the end of the world, today…
… or not.
Author Archives: Larry Marshall
Pilot Metropolitan from Goulet Pens
Is there a better online company than Goulet Pens? Their service is simply amazing. No, it’s unbelievable. I ordered a $15 pen from them. This is what I got in the mail today.
The Pilot Metropolitan came in the typical (as in nice) Pilot box. They also sent me a business card, a bookmark, and a lollipop. A lollipop… can you believe it? And Alex wrote a nice note, in impeccable handwriting, and he used Noodlers 54th Massachusetts ink, the new bulletproof ink that Nathan Tardiff has brewed up. All this and I only bought a $15 pen. Thanks Goulet Pens. You are the online seller to which all others are compared.
Comparison between Lamy Al-Star (top), Pilot Metropolitan, and Pilot Prera (bottom)
So, with lollipop in mouth, I opened up my Pilot Metropolitan. It came with a Pilot CON-20 “squeeze” converter and a cartridge. I’m not a fan of these rubber converters and didn’t have a CON-50 on hand but I did have some empty cartridges so I filled one with Noodler’s Lexington Gray, my favorite sketching ink, and the pen was ready to go.
Everyone is talking about these pens, saying they’re a lot of bang for the buck. My go to sketching pen is a Pilot Prera (F) because I love its fine line and great features. Sometimes, though, I need a slightly thicker line in some sketches and I thought the Metropolitan might serve that purpose as it is a Pilot medium nib which is similar to a Lamy fine nib. I was right.
Posted it’s just slightly longer than my posted Pilot Prera.
The pen balances well even when posted and it’s comfortable in my hand. Before now, I’ve used Lamy Safaris when I needed a thicker line. They’re fine but they’re sufficiently different from the Prera in balance and size that I don’t like switching between them. The Metropolitan makes this switch much easier.
In my opinion, this pen lives up to all the laudatory things that have been said about it. It looks good and it’s smooth, at least on Rhodia notepad paper and my Stillman & Birn sketchbooks. I don’t know how Pilot can produce such quality for $15 but I’m sure glad they did. I drew this little sketch in a Stillman & Birn Alpha sketchbook (4×6) to let you see how the Metropolitan pen lines look in a simple sketch.
Samourai Sketching in Quebec – Urban Sketching?
The Urban Sketcher’s ‘manifesto’ is quite clear: “We draw on location, indoors or out, capturing what we see from direct observation.” I’m a diehard location sketcher. I do sometimes sketch from photos or just doodle from things my two functional neurons cough up. But I can’t really get into that sort of thing very much.
I like to draw buildings, fire hydrants, telephone poles, trashcans and vehicles, but this time of year, outdoors is inhospitable in Quebec City, at least for an Arizona cowboy like myself. For example, it’s currently 24F (-5C) with 35kmh winds just for good measure. So, the things I have available to sketch for the next few months are going to be indoors.
One of my favorite places is the Musee de la Civilisation here in Quebec. Nice ambiance, lots of things to sketch, and it’s warm. The people are also very friendly towards sketchers, which puts one at ease. So, you’ll see lots of museum sketches from me this winter.
And here are a couple more. I went to the museum last Sunday with three of my sketching buddies and we had a great time. As we were there in the morning I decided to give the Samourai exhibit my attention. Often it’s just too busy to sketch there as it’s the current ‘feature’ display, but on Sunday mornings there aren’t a lot of visitors.
Koshozan sujibachi kabuto (1588) – This is a very rare piece, constructed with 120, riveted plates. It bears the crest of the Inabi family, a very influential family of the 16th Century.
It is a dark room, with most of the Samourai armor in lighted glass cases. Sketching in the dark is an interesting challenge and more than once I had to walk to a light to see if I was doing ok with the sketch. I’ve got to get a little clip-on light I guess. These little excursions became more frequent when I was trying to figure out whether the watercolor pencil was red, orange or brown (grin).
Nagaeboshinari kabuto (Edo 17th Century) – This appears to be hammered bronze. It features the Big Dipper constellation inset into the metalwork.
These helmets were done in a Stillman & Birn Epsilon series sketchbook (5.5×8.5) using a Pilot Prera and Noodler’s Lex Gray ink. I have a handful of Faber-Castell watercolor pencils that I used to color them. I’m guessing but I think I only have 30 or so more helmets to sketch. Then I can move on to the rest of the armor, the weapons, the guys on horses. It’s going to be a fun, long winter. Where do you find your sketching inspiration during winter?
Kum Long-Point Pencil Sharpener
This is my new toy and it is quickly becoming a favorite. The Kum “long-point” sharpener is just plain KEWL! It solves so many problems for those of us who like to use pencils and need a portable solution to sharpening them.
While there are many portable sharpeners on the market, most of them produce a really stubby point that I don’t find satisfactory for sketching. I like nice, long points, like I get from my old ‘school’ sharpener that’s attached to the wall of my office.
The Kum sharpener provides a long point by using a two-step process. There is one ‘sharpener’ that removes only the wood, exposing a length of lead (graphite/clay). Then, you stuff the pencil into a second sharpener that sharpens the lead to a nice, long point. It’s almost magical.
Isn’t that great? If that’s all it did it would be the best $5.60 I’ve ever spent, but this is like the TV commercials….there’s more.
This sharpener will sharpen 2mm and 3.2mm leads. I’d nearly abandoned my collection of 2mm pencils simply because I couldn’t find a solid, portable sharpening solution for them. They used to make really tiny versions of the standard sharpener that would sharpen them but I haven’t found anyone selling those anymore, probably because all draftsmen have long ago moved on to using AutoCAD or SolidWorks. But the Kum sharpener does a great job on my 2mm pencils. I don’t have any 3.2mm pencils but I assume they’d work as well as there are nearly identical sharpeners on opposite sides of the device.
If you need to sharpen pencils on location, take a serious look at the Kum sharpener. It may be the best $5.60 you ever spent too. If you don’t need to sharpen 2mm or 3.2mm leads, you can even get one without those features for $4.10. Both of these prices are from Jet Pens, which is where I got my sharpener. BTW, the pencils in the photos are Blackwing 602s, my favorite wooden pencil.
Sketching on 12/12/12
Yesterday I had a lunch appointment and as I walked home from it I passed a bright yellow pizza place. Have you ever done anything goofy for a goofy reason? Maybe I’m alone in that combination. It occurred to me that it was 12/12/12, a rather unique date and that I should sketch something. But, this was one of the odd times when I didn’t have my sketching stuff with me. Besides it was cold. Still, as I continued walking I couldn’t get the pizza parlor out of my mind.
By the time I got home, all sense of rationality had left me. “It’s only 10 minutes back to that place,” I said to myself. “I’ll work fast and it’s not really that cold.” I grabbed my sketching bag, threw half a dozen Tombow markers that I thought would I’d need into the bag along with a waterbrush. Off I went.
It was nuts and I’ve never sketched a building so fast. It’s certainly not my best sketch and somewhat wonky. I used the Tombow pens to color it at lightning speed. and then got out the waterbrush to add some sky color by wicking color from a Tombow pen onto the waterbrush. I made a mistake and swiped some red from the sign into my sky. I liked this little “happy mistake” so I did it some more. This adds to the wonkiness of my 12/12/12 sketch but I liked it.
I liked it better, though, when I got home and got a cup of hot tea in my hands. It’s definitely too cold for me to sketch outdoors anymore this year. Have you done anything this crazy in the name of sketching?
The sketch was done in a Stillman & Birn Alpha (10×7) sketchbooks, using a Kaweco Classic Sport (fine) and Noodler’s Lexington Gray ink. As mentioned, Tombow pens were used for color.
