Product Reviews // Color Pens

Hey friends,

Over the past year I've gotten a lot of questions about recommended art supplies - so I thought I'd put them all together and do a little review.

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BRUSH + FINE TIP PENS
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copic refillable pen

• Copic - refillable brush pens // price: $$$ / quality: A / grade: B

Copic markers are notoriously expensive - about $40 for a set of only 12 color markers. The selection of Copics is fantastic - it's like multiple exploding spectrums! These markers are usually dual-tipped, fat on one side, thin on the other.

These markers are typically part of a traditional manga artists stable. They are delicate enough not to ruin thin ink lines and sturdy enough to cover large areas. I like the refillable aspect to it, but the refill costs really stack up.

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prismacolor brush pen

• Prismacolor // price: $ / quality: B+ / grade: A-

Prismacolor brush pens are pretty good for the money. They are cheap, have a slim feel in my hand, and have a crisp tip. The ink gets only about %80 black, however, so to be economical, you should fill in large black areas with a Sharpie. Tip doesn't fray too quickly.

Also available in some muted colors and gray tones.

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micron brush pens

• Micron // price: $$ / quality: B+ / grade: C

Microns aren't my first choice anymore for brush pens. I find with these, the tip frays faster than most and the ink resists on many surfaces.

Even the felt tips are so delicate, just a little bit of pressure can fold or break them. Available in a good selection of fun, bright colors, though.

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le pens by marvy

• Le Pens by Marvy // price: $ / quality: A+ / grade: A+

These are fantastic - highly recommended. The colors are extremely saturated, the tip is sturdy with a delicate line and the slim body allows you to fit twice as many in a standard pencil case. The colors lay over each other very well.

Relatively inexpensive (about $1.35 ea) and last quite a long time. You guys get a STAR ★

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signo by mitsubishi

• Signo // price: $ / quality: D / grade: C-

These pens are fun only since whatever goo is inside basically glows like the sun. The ink quality is poor and the line is inconsistent. Not for artistic purposes.

And YES, Signo is made by the car company, Mitsubishi

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prismacolor

• Prismacolor // price: $$ / quality: A / grade: A-

Prismacolor fine-tipped pens are very heavy - the ink goes right through the paper for me. If you are working on Bristol board though, or another thick card stock, these are great. Dark, rich ink tone. My set comes with purple, burnt sienna, orange, and black.

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And finally... thinking of the beach

Belle Journée Cape Cod

sketches from the trip

apparently, I have a habit of sketching my feet on trips

❶ Incognito // So about 20 minutes into our much anticipated trip and I leave my bag at a Dunkin' Donuts. My cell phone, camera, and wallet were inside... and you know what? I left it there! It was fantastic to be invisible

❷ Morning ocean mist // ... actually brought me to tears. We got to Cahoon Hollow in Wellfleet, MA early enough to watch the Atlantic mist bellow and waft over the high sand dunes as families began pitching colorful umbrellas. One of my favorite places on Earth.

❸ Thai food houses // Cape Cod has a myriad of tiny, unassuming houses that are actually phenomenal Thai restaurants. We recommend Krua Thai in Buzzard's Bay + get the curry puffs

❹ New England shore life // We took relaxing, scenic drives through Dennis, Falmouth and Yarmouth Port, taking in the weather-beaten siding and white-washed, colonial windows. Oh - and Cape Cod has enough violent shark imagery to make any attack survivor have horrible nightmares.

❺ Learning Things // I. Love. Educational TV. Before going to sleep at the hotel, Andy and I watched episodes of Planet Earth and Out of Egypt with Kara Cooney. (exotic locales + ancient death rituals = terrifically fascinating)

❻ Chlorine + free bagels // The hotel was great - we got a sweet deal at $50 per night for 4 nights from PriceLine.com (thank you, William Shatner) If I don't swim at least every day, it doesn't feel like summer.

❼ Sweet Tomatoes // Pizza Sarah : bacon, caramelized onions, goat cheese + fresh basil tomatoes on Neopolitain dough. Highly recommended.

❽ Inglourious Basterds // Friend's of ours know how Andy and I are huge film buffs, and whether you enjoy Tarantino's homage-style or not, you can't deny how much fun his movies are. We liked it essentially, though some of the story telling is unfocused.

Some people said it wasn't historically accurate - of course it is!
The baseball-bat-wielding homicidal maniac is a Red Sox fan (har har)

❾ Our trip happened to coincide with two things // President Obama's vacation to Martha's Vineyard (across the water) and Sen. Ted Kennedy's death (across the street). We were able to avoid being questioned by any news stations; either as a silly commercial to recommend places for Sasha Obama to get some soft serve, or what we thought of Teddy's passing.

❿ Weathermen // Don't believe them. Consistently contraty to their predictions the entire week, the weather was gorgeous.

♥ two ¢50 birdie clips from Red Fish Blue Fish, Hyannis MA
♥ kitch tray gift from the lovely Alison from her trip to Paris

Caution

CAUTION // acrylic on canvas // SOLD

I've been asked
Q: Is this was a kind of nonchalant, space-age Eve, passive about her imminent breaking of God's pact in the Garden of Eden?
A: Sure.

Thanks a bunch to Orange Alert for interviewing me this week, and NotCot.org for picking it up!

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Andy and I went to a great market in a warehouse last week. We found lots of a

mazing stuff including Pee Wee's bike, vintage robots, a HUGE Elvis light up marquee, a giant Converse shoe, and literally a horse-drawn carriage without the horse. It was weird.

We're finally off on our vacation tomorrow morning! ☼We'll actually still be working on a few client projects while at the beach, but that's fine with us - hello Cape Cod!

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Yeah! Overturn Prop 8!

Heart Assasin Print + le moustache

'Heart Assasin' // 11" x 14" // $20

• archival print on heavy stock paper
• free shipping in the Continental US
• AK, HI + international // shipping $5

Hey friends! Just added a new image to the gaggle of available prints.

The last of my summer classes at the museum wrapped up last week. While I love teaching teen painting classes, it's really nice to have more time to devote to studio work.

★ I'm currently working on a book cover and 41 black & white illustrations for the interior, as well as wrapping up some pages for an educational set of comics for Q2A Media in India. (India outsourced to US! Ironic, eh?)

I got together with some friends from the Museum for some Sunday night bowling. We bought stick-on moustaches from the gachapon machine. I was hoping for the giant blond handle-bar one, something Hulk Hogan-ish, but wound up with a skinny black one, more Rico Suave-ish
(Michelle has the best photo of us wearing them... will have to track that one down and blog it)

Le moustache as a uni-brow. It's multi-functional...

Brought the Michael Jackson doll for some photo-ops

Fabulously underdressed

my art space

before the opening

photo shoots make me self conscious

Gwen looking lovely as usual

Last weekend was the Paint Pens + Purses "Pet Monsters" show in Boston. I was happy to be asked, especially for such a guerilla-style event with so many interesting people. The Fourth Wall Project is an old gas station bought by the Bodega - an underground Bape-like retailer in Boston famous for their anti-marketing campaigns and custom sneakers.

I was fabulously under dressed for the party, which turned out to be strobe lights, LCD Soundsystem and lots of beautiful people. I'm also not used to photo shoots (see above) so I'll spare you the group photos - which I'm certain I screwed up.

- Lately life has been terrifically hectic - in a good way. After teaching classes all day, Andy and I go back to the studio to work for 8 hours, then go out to a diner for coffee, work, and go to bed, usually repeating the process into the weekend. -

There was one point when we left the party to set up at a Starbucks' and WORK! Yes, WORK on more client illustrations!

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WEIRD FACT // I've NEVER had Starbuck's coffee - I've only had one drink there in my entire life: an iced chai with soy milk.

Prints for sale

I recently had many prints made of these pieces. The new printing place I started using has excellent ink quality - hopefully the photos do it justice. The paper stock is thick with some nice tooth to it.

These prints will be offered over at RoboPicto.com but I wanted to throw this out to my blog friends before hand!

special promotion : FREE SHIPPING parcel post
click for larger image

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Sweet Boots

PRINTS

Black Daisy - 9x12 $20.00Idle - 9x12 $20.00Hitomi - 9x12 $20.00Yellow Riding Hood - 9x12 $20.00El Macho Arco - 12x12 $25.00Dr. Grood - 12x12 $25.00Lucha Nino - 12x12 $25.00Space Converging - 12x12 $25.00Sweet Boots - 12x9 $25.00

paper stock sample

Working on lots of new projects at night, after teaching all morning - I love being busy, but I also can't wait for our Cape Cod vacation at the end of the month!

Idle

Fashion Illo Friday

IDLE

You should definitely check out the super cool ROBOPICTO art market! The site features lots of great paintings, prints, toys and other fun stuff - and daily specials! Not to mention the free shipping in the continental US

NEXT POST //

I'll be putting up more of my art for purchase through the RoboPicto.com site,
but I'll be posting some prints for sale here this week. ♥

feeling good - working with a few new clients and excited to start on some new paintings - not enough hours in the day!


AT THE MUSEUM //

I've been teaching a teen painting class for the past two weeks that wrapped up today. We had lots of fun experimenting with controlled vs. spontaneous drip techniques and splatter. We did it Jackson Pollock-style from the balcony of the sculpture studio