Month: August 2023

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Review: Derwent Line Maker, Sepia

Derwent is a renowned company that makes art supplies. It has a pretty long and rich history. The company itself dates back to 1832. Which is pretty impressive. They originated in England, where they have a Pencil museum located in one of their original factories. They still produce their products in England. Which I find to be a cool fun fact.

They have a large line of products and are known to make high-quality pencils, colored pencils, graphite blocks, and accessories.

Personally, I have limited experience with their products. Beyond using their graphite pencils, I don’t have much experience with their extensive product line. I do have a massive interest in fineliners. So, when I discovered their “Line Maker” I had to try it.

There is a limited amount of art supply stores in Oslo. One of them carry the fine liner “Line maker” from Derwent. One of the things that piqued my interest was the shape and look of the fineliner. I like the hexagon shaped end of the cap and the translucent plastic. It makes it very identifiable from other markers.

The pens used in this is the 3-pack of Line maker containing 01, 03 and 05 pens in the color Sepia.

Sepia is the name of the color and is a shade of brown. The shade often vary depending who makes the pens.

I used the pens on my prefered paper for fineliners Hahnemühle´s nostalgie which is a 190 g/m2 paper in natural white. The size of the paper used is A3. The ink of the pens looks really good on this paper. The flow of using the pens were good. Until one of the nibs frayed.

One of the things that are important to me about fineliners is the longevity of the ink. How long the ink in the pens I use the most will last.

I dotted in the background using the 05 pen. I didnt experience much smudging which is great.

The durability of the nibs are also important. For this I ended up using the 01 pen the most. Although I wish I had a 005 pen available.

I experienced fraying of the 01 pen as I was working on the mountains, which over all gives me a negative feel about these pens of the variety: wouldn’t buy again.

Disclaimer: I am not in anyway affiliated with Derwent. I bought this product of my own free will and with my own money. This review is created on my own initiative and reflects my honest opinion based on my experience with the product.

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Review: Tombow Mono Drawing Pens

Tombow is a renowned Japanese company that specializes in manufacturing high-quality writing instruments, art supplies and other related products. With a history that stretches over a hundred years into the past, 1913. With a great reputation. When I saw the pack of “mono drawing pens” at the store I had to check it out.

The pack that is available for purchase in Norwegian stores at the moment is a set of three pens. It contains 01, 03 and 05.

I was very excited to test the pens out. These are typically what I look for when I test pens I’m not familiar with:

  • How do they feel to draw with over time?
  • How durable are the nibs?
  • What is the drawing experience like over all?
  • With pens that contains other pigments to the Ink than black, the shade is important. My experience in general with black ink is that it tends to be fine the way it is.

The overall experience with these pens was a great one. I love the ink flow, the nibs are sturdy and durable. I experienced no fraying or other issues. Some pens have nibs that makes me think I have to be careful when working with them, because the nibs feel frail. These feel like they can last for the duration of the ink.

When working I tend to be heavy on the linework, stippling and so forth. I´m in need of pens that are dependable. These pens are fairly dependable and easy to work with. I was able to get good flow to my work.

The only grievance is that there are only 3 pen sizes in this pack. I made this outline in April 2023. I haven’t finished it, because I’d rather wait until they’ve made more sizes available. Which I really hope they do. I wouldn’t hesitate to buy a larger range of sizes if possible. I´ve seen on their official website that this might not be such a distant dream.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with Tombow or related companies in any way. This is not product placements or an ad. I’ve paid for this product myself. I have not been asked to write a review of this product.