Leigh Reyes. My Life As a Verb.

You know how people band together to petition companies to bring back products?

I’m sure we won’t get enough to bring back the Osmiroid Drawing Pen Set, but for the sake of entry-level fountain pen obsessionistas, we should try. Where else can you get a nib with an overfeed, a medium stub and a copperplate nib in one package, together with a lever-filling pen body?

Seven assorted nibs. This was a great find on eBay, what I like to call a blurry photo win.

These are compatible with Esterbrook Renew-Points, according to Richard’s Pens (scroll down), but I haven’t tried that. There are more than enough nibs here for hours of playtime: Rola Extra Fine, Rola Hard Fine, Rola Soft Fine, Rola Hard Medium, Rola Soft Medium, Copperplate and Sketch.

I do have another Sketch nib in another Osmiroid. This one has most of the iridium intact, but it feels like it was the most-used one in the group.

The “hardness” or stiffness of the nib is achieved by changing the shape. The soft medium has sloping shoulders to allow the nib to feel “soft” while in use, whereas the hard nib has broad shoulders that taper to a stub-like shape. Even the feeds are different.

Is there enough difference in the way the nibs write to make each one valuable for someone who loves to draw?

Like most nib choices, it comes down to 1) feel in the hand during writing and 2) line on paper. The Sketch nib is slightly oblique, slightly stubby, and semi-flex.

I’ve enlarged all these samples for a better appreciation of the quality of the lines.

The Copperplate nib has very long tines, which allow it to become semi-flex, even if the metal itself feels like thick steel.

The medium hard and medium soft stubs don’t look that different on paper, as you can see. The difference is in how they feel while being used. The medium hard feels like a steel calligraphy nib; the medium soft feels closer to a standard gold nib.

I got mine for less than USD 50 on eBay. Good luck hunting down your set – it’s worth it.

I couldn’t buy everything. Damn.

I tried to describe what I wanted in a brush – as if I knew – to the helpful lady in Man Luen Choon. I said, “Bouncy.” And “I’m just starting.” She said, “Wolf.” So I got wolf. In small, medium and large. I also decided to get an auspicious dragon wolf (because it was auspicious) and a large mixed-hair brush whose other end was pointed bamboo, to mark outlines on paper before painting.

Here’s the pointy end. It even has a breathing hole! I don’t know why.

This is a suspension of some sort. It makes special effects when mixed with sumi ink.

It can be applied directly onto paper, or mixed with ink before application.

I also bought a notebook.

It has rectangles inside. I assume they’re for quatrains. I can’t use them properly, so I intend to play with them in my own way.

These are very thin, delicate sheets.

When held up to the light, it is clearly watermarked.

I tried to use the watermark as a guide, but I need x-ray vision to make it work.

So far, the bigger brushes seem to make the finer lines. Go figure.

I’m not good at this! Gah. The chop is a gift from my friend and ex-accomplice in advertising, Trisha.

I pretended to make a dragon. Here’s a much better one (video).

There’s so much to learn. Dear universe, please lighten my hand, steady my shoulder, and unfog my glasses.

I went to Hong Kong for work. I came back with too many notebooks, too many Uni Style + Fit refills, too many linen tops from Muji, and not enough booty from Man Luen Choon, Chinese Cultural and Artist Supplies.

Man Luen Choon is online, and has an English sitemap, which is not comprehensive but is still helpful. I and my poor sense of direction got on the MTR at Causeway Bay, and got off at Sheung Wan. I knew I was on the right track when I saw the Unicorn Trade Centre. Of course there were unicorns where I was going. How could there not be?

I crossed the street and almost missed the right turn into Wing Kut street. Note to those who wish to go: turn right into Wing Kut before Mannings. And after you take two steps, look up. Otherwise you’ll miss the only sign.

Take the elevator to the second floor. Avoid all surly people exiting. And as soon as the elevator door opens, you will be greeted with a very happy sight.

The shop is packed with books and art supplies, all of which made me wish that I knew Chinese. Every surface has something on it. I had to pause to make sure I wasn’t drooling on the parquet floor. That tower to the left is liquid ink, from super cheap to super expensive; brushes; palettes in plastic and porcelain. To the right is paper, and books, books, books.

There is another tower of brushes, and more brushes to the left and right of the tower. You want horse, rabbit, goat, wolf, chicken, mixed?  You want vegetables? Tea? (Okay, no vegetables, unless bamboo handles count.) (No tea either.)

There is a brush for everyone. Everyone.

I was lucky there was a lady who could explain to me what the different brushes were for, and who gave me advice on which ones to get. She believes in experimentation, though, and says that’s why they stock so many different kinds of brushes, because everyone has their own way of using the brush which they must discover.

She told me not to get a large brush if I was only going to use the tip for fine lines, as it would be a waste.

There is a bewildering assortment of paper, bound or loose, big rolls, small rolls, colored, handmade, gilt, plain.  There are even fans ready to be painted.

Color abounds, in cakes, ready-to-use palettes, Japanese, Chinese, pigments in tubes waiting to be crushed and mixed with your choice of binder.

You can learn to carve your own chop. There are sets for beginners, and blank chops and carving tools for the more learned.

There are many cinnabar pastes to choose from. Ink sticks, ink in bottles, ink in tubes – I suspect if you asked for charcoal, binder, and a mortar and pestle, they’d have those in stock too.

I left the shop with paper, brushes, ink, and an additive which is supposed to produce cloud-like effects. I do wish I’d gotten pigment to experiment with, and the beginners’ chop carving set. Then again, I now have more to look forward to when I return.

That’s what I call it. I wonder if it has an official name.

The original owner’s initials are engraved on the cap band. I’ve taken to calling this the “Why Not” pen as a result.

The imprint on the barrel is fairly strong. I don’t think W.N. used this pen much. Why not? I have no idea. “Safety screw cap” means – I believe – that unlike unthreaded caps, screw caps allow for gradual release of pressure, so no nasty ink surprises when a cap is pulled off.

There’s also an imprint on the cap.

And another on the feed. Mabie Todd was apparently huge on brand building, and stamped “Swan” onto every part of the pen that could be mistaken for a part from another pen. (So what about those quotation marks? Were they for emphasis? In today’s usage, quotes behave like an aura of irony around a word. To wit: They’re “dating.” She’s “interesting.” He’s “enthusiastic.”)

On to the nib. (Which is also branded Mabie Todd Swan). The beautiful metal overfeed makes sure the nib never runs dry. Here, you can see the ink pooled under the overfeed, ready to be commanded by gravity and capillary action.

Here’s what the overfeed looks like from the top.

Caloy asked me if the overfeed restricted how the tines behaved during a downstroke. It doesn’t seem to.

I dropped Pilot yama-guri ink into the barrel and the pen just wrote by itself.

Early Swan nibs are almost always generously flexy, and this is no exception. It’s already in regular use.

There, I’ve said it. It’s a very flexible nib, the closest to vintage flex of all modern nibs, but being in a cartridge/converter filler and having such a stingy feed just cripples it. Pilot, do us all a favor. Change the feed and make an eyedropper for this poorly-served nib. You should have an eyedropper in your archives!

When I first got my Pilot 742 FA, I was very impressed. After several fills, I couldn’t ignore how often it would stutter in the middle of a stroke – the ink flow simply couldn’t keep up. I think for a normal (read: non-flex addict) user, this would not even emerge as a problem. I cracked the feed when I tried to remedy the flow problem.

I pulled out the FA nib, and after several failed tries, found a Vacumatic feed that seemed to fit, and installed both in a Waterman 12.

I have taken to calling it the Frankenpen Xtreme.

The FA nib tended to stand away from a flat feed, so there was no flow. The Vac’s rounded feed worked a lot better.

And here’s how it behaves now.

It’s just that they call it a “medicine/receipt organizer, large.”

Inside, it has zippered plastic pockets. Each one can hold around a dozen pencils. The pockets are stitched to the spine of the case.

There’s no “give” on the sides, so the pencils naturally lie flat and don’t roll around much. These are Cretacolor Aqua Monolith pencils and they are on the fragile side, so I’m glad to report that no pencil has been broken in the course of this experiment. I’ve been lugging them around for months.

Every case has 6 pockets. More organized artist doodlers will most likely use this feature to arrange their pencils by color family. I really should do that sometime. Other pockets can be used for erasers, waterbrushes, even these Peerless watercolors I’ve been thinking of getting.

Another Beabi case holds my Derwent Inktense and Graphitint pencils.

This is what they look like from the side.

Beabi has an inactive Facebook page. Come on guys, you bring such joy to the obsessive-compulsive in all of us – surely you can’t begrudge your fans at least an online catalog?

In the meantime, I’m switching over to this neutral look. Try not to let it bother you too much.

I keep hearing “don’t mess with the zogan” in my brain. I hope it goes away soon.

The standard Platinum 3776 body is executed in ABS resin, with a brushed matte surface reminiscent of the Nakaya hairline finish. Higo-zogan, gold inlay on steel, is applied to the cap band. I chose the ginkgo pattern over the sakura. This pen is a reissue; Phthalo of FPN has the original, which came out in the 1970s.

You can see the texture of the gold inlay up close. Higo-zogan is used on sword fittings and even fashion accessories.

I quite like this shot of the nib with the ink pooled around the breathing hole in the shape of a smile. The ink is Private Reserve Cosmic Cobalt. Platinum kept the section shiny, but I wish they had given it a matte finish just like the rest of the pen. Still, the contrast in textures can also be pleasing.

Here’s a tighter shot of the nib. I did have the option to choose a music nib for this pen, but chose a fine nib to make it more of a daily writer.

As usual, the Platinum fine is smooth and silky. I’ll post doodle and writing samples in a follow-up entry.

I assume that’s the name because it’s the only one in the Koh-i-noor catalog. I ordered one out of curiosity. Koh-i-noor has always been an art brand to me, and I never thought they would have a fountain pen in their lineup.

The brushed silver-colored body with incised rings and the black accents conspire to give the pen a huge “junior executive who aspires to own a MacBook Pro one day” vibe. This pen is in the same league (and price range) as metal-body Inoxcrom pens. It flares out slightly at either end, a design touch that I like.

I had hoped the knob on the end with the clip would be a click button, but no. It’s where you post the cap.

Posting could make the pen uncomfortably long for smaller hands, but it makes sure the cap doesn’t roll about on your desk. The cap pops off. The section unscrews from the rest of the barrel so you can replace the cartridge or attach an international converter.

The nib is very smooth, and firm. If you’re looking for a starter pen, or a gift for someone whom you want to lead into fountain pen addiction, this is a good choice.

(Edited – my bad, it’s the 7240 according to this eBay listing.)

Raymay is a line of school products from Japan. Amongst wonders such as triple-pencil caps and what Google tells me is a “free babysitting service” but which seems more like a laser-etched nameplate, there is the Raymay Studymate. This is a plastic pencil extender with a built-in sharpener.

Instructions on the back make it very clear how to use the Studymate even if you can’t read Japanese.

The portion that threads onto the barrel secures the pencil so it doesn’t slip out during use. I tried it with a pathetic excuse for a pencil scrap.

It held!

Then I tried to sharpen the pencil and it crumbled. So on to the next victim.

The built-in sharpener makes an effective – though unexpected – counterweight.

The ribbed portion of the extender also felt good in the hand. I find myself reaching for the Studymate now when I need a pencil. I’m sure the Kuru Toga and the Lamy Scribble are pouting in their case.

I found the Raymay Studymate in the stationery section of Kinokuniya. For an impulse buy, it’s earned its keep.