Lamy Safari vs Pilot Metropolitan for Sketching

Posted on February 22, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Since I posted my review of the Pilot Metropolitan and talked about its use in recent posts, I’ve had several people ask me questions that all relate to the same thing: how does it compare to the Lamy Safari? I make no claims to doing exhaustive reviews of pens but I thought it might help some if I talked a bit about how I see the differences. Obviously I can’t do that objectively; every word of such a discussion is steeped with personal opinion. But maybe I can isolate some concepts and let you evaluate my biased analysis.

Esthetics and Feel

While esthetics and feel are mostly personal parameters, it is safe to say that the Metropolitan is a cleaner, more traditional design. Some people complain about the triangular nature of the grip on the Lamy and while that’s not a problem for me, the Metropolitan grip is smooth and round. Both pens are quite tail heavy when posted and both long enough to write with comfortably without posting.

The Safari offers more color choices, and availability of colors changes regularly. Lamy is about to release a flourescent yellow version which has me saying “WHAT are they thinking?” but some might like it. The Metropolitan comes in black, silver and gold, with some subtle trim choices.

The Lamy can be converted from cartridges using Lamy’s Z26 converter while the Pilot pen uses the CON-50. In my opinion, The Z26 is a bit nicer but as I fill all my pens using a pen syringe it doesn’t really matter to me. Any tube in a storm, to muck up a metaphor.

The Safari is a fatter pen which may make a difference for those with small hands. The Metropolitan is made of brass while the Safari is plastic, though you can by Lamy’s All-Star if you want an aluminum pen.

One thing that might affect sketcher choices is that we like to turn our pens upside down to get a thinner line. Doing this with the Safari completely changes the feel of the pen, but not at all for the Metro.

I own three Lamy pens and only on Metropolitan but the Pilot nib seems smoother on papers I use.

Operation/Internals

Safari can be bought with a variety of nibs and it’s easy to buy and replace nibs so you can have one pen and swap out the nibs if you like. Metropolitans come in only medium, though from what I can see, Pilot also sells a Cocoon pen that seems identical to the Metropolitan but it’s available with a fine nib at more than twice the price of the Metropolitan. I don’t know why.

A quick word about nibs is in order. Lamy is a European manufacturer and uses a European sizing scale for its nibs. Pilot is an Asian company and uses an Asian scale. For any particular nib ‘name’ (eg – F), the Asian system will be finer than the European system. When comparing my XF Safari nibs to the M nib of the Metropolitan, I find that the Metropolitan M lays down a line just a tiny bit THINNER than my Safari XF pens. That said, my Lamys have been used a lot while the Metropolitan is fairly new. The Metropolitan is very near that of a Sakura Micron 02 if you’re familiar with those.

It’s a small thing but I find Lamy pens to be a bit more ‘sloppy’ when filling them by dipping into an ink bottle. They must be plunged deeper than Pilot pens. As I don’t do this at all I simply avoid the problem.

Misc

Lastly, the Pilot Metropolitan ($20) is cheaper than the Lamy Safari ($25). Thos prices are from Goulet Pens. Converters for them are about the same price. Safari has ubiquitous support; it’s every seller’s ‘beginner pen’. While Pilot pens are readily available, the sheer numbers of Lamy users gives ‘support’ to the Lamy pen.

If you have any questions about either of these pens, or any pen for that matter, I’d be happy to discuss it with you. I was a pen junky long before I became a sketcher. You can also see how these pens write (in the nib nook) and even buy them at Goulet Pens.

Conclusion

In the end, choosing a pen comes down to a bunch of personal preferences. For myself, I use a Pilot Prera (F) as my every day sketching pen. I like its fine line, smooth and flawless operation, and I like the fact that I can post the pen and, being short, the balance works out ‘just right.’ This is a bonus to me as a street sketcher as I don’t have to worry about losing the cap.

But lately the Pilot Metropolitan has become my pen of choice for quick-sketching people, something I’m doing a lot of lately because it’s so cold outside. Its slightly thicker line works better for this purpose and the fact that it’s inexpensive makes it a happy replacement for my Lamys, which remain in my arsenal but, by comparison, they’ve lost a bit of their charm for me. Well, except for my lime green Lamy which is the greatest color ever (grin).

Urban Sketchers Always Have Things To Draw

Posted on February 21, 2013 by Larry Marshall

If your interests lie in drawing naked people, you need a model. If you paint landscapes, you need to go to pretty places. If you’re into aviation art, you need to hang out at airports or aviation museums. But if you’re an urban sketcher, all you have to do is live your life with a sketchbook in your hand. There’s always something to sketch. I’m an urban sketcher.

I went for some blood tests yesterday and, of course, I had my sketching stuff with me. From past experience I knew I’d have 10-15 minutes to wait before Dracula called me to be poked and so I checked in, sat down, and got out my sketchbook. I thought about sketching a wheelchair that was sitting in the corner, or the receptionist’s area. But I noticed a steady flow of people walking up to the receptionist, where you have to shove our paperwork through a slot; they confirm who you are, and then the receptionist provides instructions which mostly amount to ‘go sit down and we’ll call you.’

So I started quick-sketching these people. It was a study in quickly grabbing the outlines of coats, purses and legs because you couldn’t see their heads, which were behind partitions that divided the 3 reception windows. And it was fun. My waiting time went by too quickly.

Here are three examples of those sketches. Simple, good practice, and fun. Done in a Strathmore ‘toned’ paper sketchbook with a Pilot Metropolitan and Waterman Absolute Brown ink. A bit of it was quickly washed into a form of shading using a waterbrush.

Sketching At The Library

Posted on February 20, 2013 by Larry Marshall

One of my many struggles as a sketcher is that I am slow, very slow. I love to get into a subject and spent an hour or two sketching something. But many times, I just don’t have that much time, or the scene I want to sketch is just too transient, or I’m with other people who don’t want to wait around for me to spend an hour sketching.

So, one of the things I vowed to do this winter was to work on my quick sketching abilities. Quick sketching people is a good way to improve (develop?) those skills, of course, and it fits well with our harsh winters because I can be do it inside. I went with Yvan, an amazing quick-sketcher, to our main library and we sat for a couple hours doing quick sketches, or in my case attempting to quick sketch people who were sitting/standing in the library.

Here is one of two spreads of these sketches that I did. You can see some abject failures. You can see evidence of where I started to sketch someone just as they got up and walked away. You may also see a sketch or two that actually looks, kinda-sorta like a person. At least I hope you do (grin).

Of course, being the building guy that I am, I couldn’t resist doing a quick sketch of a piece of the building across the street too. Very quick and about as loose as I’ve ever tried to sketch a building.

All of the sketches were done in a Strathmore Series 400 ‘gray’ sketchbook using a Pilot Metropolitan (M) with Waterman Absolute Brown or a Lamy Safari (XF) with Private Reserve Velvet Black. Both of these are washable inks and I used a waterbrush to create a bit of shading here and there.

It’s interesting to compare the Pilot Metropolitan, with its “medium” nib to my Lamy Safari “extra fine” nib. The Metropolitan is finer, illustrating clearly the differences between Asian and European sizing nomenclature. Between the museums and the library I continue to be a busy location sketcher in spite of the wind and cold outside.

Museum Sketching – A Location Sketcher’s Winter Salvation

Posted on February 17, 2013 by Larry Marshall

Last summer was my first as a location sketcher – actually it was my first summer as any kind of sketcher. I fell in love with the process and excitement of being out on the street, soaking up the sun and ambiance while sketching. Quickly the early fears I had about people talking to me became one of the joys of the sketching experience.

And so I faced winter somewhat depressed as it becomes too cold for man nor beast to be on the streets of Quebec and I thought I’d have to do my sketching at home, in my office. That has never interested me much, but then a couple fellow sketchers said, “We sometimes sketch at the museum – want to come?” and my world changed overnight.

I got a permit to sketch at the art museum. I became a member of our Musee de la Civilisation, which also gave me access three other, smaller museums. And I’ve met new people, had new challenges, experimented with new materials and learned a lot about seeing complex objects while drawing same with minimal equipment. I’m sketching as much this winter as I did during summer. The subjects have changed, but I feed my desire to sketch real things, in real time, without having to resort to drawing my spatula and coffee cup (grin).

If that weren’t enough, Yvan Breton has become a good friend who is an architect and long-time artist. He’s become both a companion when I sketch and my mentor. His style and mine are quite different but he’s taught me more in the past couple months than I learned in my entire first year of sketching. I confess that all the information he’s provided has my poor old brain scattered and flailing to keep up with all the ‘gotta try that…’ feelings I’m having right now but hey, that’s part of the fun.

Nigerian mask, done in Stillman & Birn Alpha (5.5x8.5) sketchbooks, Pilot Prera/Noodler's Lex Gray.

Nigerian mask, done in Stillman & Birn Alpha (5.5×8.5) sketchbooks, Pilot Prera/Noodler’s Lex Gray. Partially sketched while Yvan was sketching me.

The sketch above is of me, by Yvan. He did this “quick sketch” while I was sketching in the Nigeria exhibit at the museum last Tuesday. It’s one of my prized possessions.

I’ll complete this post by showing you several of the sketches I’ve had opportunity to do in the last week. I think you’ll agree that the variety is far greater than my summer sketches, which are mostly buildings – my first love.

Another mask, S&B sketchbook, Pilot Prera/Lex Gray

While we’ve sketched some of the Nigerian exhibit already, we’re starting to spend more time there because the Samurai exhibit is leaving on Sunday. The funny thing about the Nigerian exhibit is that it’s full of great items to sketch but, it seems, they don’t become ‘great’ until you actually start looking at them as a sketching subject. One is deceived by a walk-around in the exhibit and you conclude the items are a bunch of very similar, primitive sculptures. Primitive yes, similar, not so much. So many shapes, so many surfaces. Wow!

We spent last Sunday at the Musee de Amerique Francais, where I sketched Genghis Khan, or at least a mannequin wearing the Genghis Khan suit used in the movie Night at the Museum. This was done in a Strathmore 400 “gray” sketchbook using Noodler’s Brown in a Pilot Prera. Lots of fun, though all those squares drove me nuts.

When I was done, I turned my attention to some large paper mache heads used by the Cirque de Soleil in their show. These were ‘I gotta draw those’ subjects but I approached them with some trepidation. In the end they were lots of fun. Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook, Pilot Prera/Lexington Gray and Faber-Castell watercolor pencils for this one.

I’ll conclude by sharing my full Samurai suit sketch. I’d promised myself that I’d do one before the exhibit left… just as soon as my skills began to match the amazing subjects. I didn’t quite make it on the skills end but, before the exhibit leaves on Sunday, I did sketch this one. I apologize for the absolutely weird positioning of the mannequin. That’s not me distorting it; that’s how they had it positioned. All of them were somewhat unnatural in their orientations in my opinion. This one done in my Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook, Pilot Prera, Faber-Castell watercolor pencils.

If you scroll back through the blog you’ll find lots of Samurai helmets, sketches of Joe Fafard sculptures, other Nigerian masks, and other stuff. Museum sketching is really fun. If you haven’t already, give it a try. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me.

Back To The Museum – More Samurai Helmets

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Larry Marshall

I was back at the museum this morning and met up with sketching buddies Yvan and Claudette. In spite of the museum being over-run by several bus loads of kids, we had a good time. It was just a bit more noisy.

We decided we should take advantage of the Samurai exhibit as it’s going to be leaving in two weeks. I love sketching the many amazing helmets in this display and so that’s what I did. Here are two more.

The first sketch is a bit of a bit different from the other dozen helmet sketches that I’ve done in that I did this one very quickly. Typically I’ll take an hour or so to do one. I did this one in 15-20 minutes. I just wanted to see how my quick-sketching skills had improved. Done with a Pilot Prera and Lexington Gray ink in my Stillman & Birn Epsilon sketchbook. I was happy with the experiment.

This one did take me about an hour but this helmet deserved the time. Representing two bamboo/metal pipes, one on each side, the metalwork here is really outstanding. Much about these helmets is demonstrate status but it was also about identity, as on a Samurai battlefield there were no cell phones; only “There he is. See his helmet?” recognition of your fellow soldiers.

For me these helmets are incredible pieces of art and an opportunity to develop my drawing skills, which need all the help they can get (grin). Same tools, same sketchbook for this one.

I’m getting a lot of bang for the buck from my museum membership. Another three+ months of winter will ensure that it’s the best bang for the buck I’ve ever received.