Rhodia in Oprah Magazine!
In this month’s edition of Oprah magazine, swimwear designer Malia Mills lists small sketch pads as an essential tool to the trade and specifically mentions the Rhodia pad she picked up while in Paris. Dear Malia: Rhodia is available at shops like Art Brown and Fountain Pen Hospital not far from your NYC studio.
Crok Book Winners!
These are our 20 winners from our Clairefontaine Crok Book giveaway – did you win? Stay tuned for more Summer Giveaways – including my SPECIAL Anniversary Contest here on Rhodia Drive!
range
Caitlin Livingston
Jennie S. from Sunderland
Michele S. from Ridgefield Park
StanF from Toronto
Johnny Gamber
Sarah LG.
C Tyler From Beaverton
Sarah from Chicago
Elliot M. from Herndon
Karan A. from Buffalo Grove
KAH
Fehim
Gordon Huang
JoniB from Phoenix
Rhonda Pena
xtica
Melissa K. from Tulsa
Seth Barber
Bodah
Art Making is Accessible to Everyone
If I may, if like to share a little something with you about art that might make it more accessible to you. Children are able to create art without fear. Put any variety of art supplies in front of the average child and they will have a blast. Put those same supplies in front of the average adult and your likely to hear something like, “No thank you, I don’t draw because I’m not an artist.”
Here’s a few things that might help you warm up to the idea of making art. Continue Readering »
Pushing Pencils
As a long time doodler, I’ve mostly preferred the use of pens and markers but more recently, I’ve started to enjoy working with pencils for both writing and drawing. I like smooth, dark leads and working with grades B, 2B and 4B. I haven’t chosen a favorite brand, so my pencil case includes Rhodia, Staedtler, California Palomino, and the Palomino Blackwing. I also have mechanical pencils filled with .07 2B leads and recently purchased a drafting pencil from our friends at JetPens. Some day I’d like to try the Tombow Mono 100 and the Blackwing 602 but I can’t find anyone who sells them individually.
What are your favorite pencils? Do you use them for writing, drawing, or both?
May Giveaway: Clairefontaine Crok’ Book Sketchbooks Enter now for your chance to win 1 of 20
Handy sizes and ultra-flexible, colorful covers make the Clairefontaine’s Crok’ Books a unique tool for personal sketches, notes and drawings.
- Stapled sketch notebooks (on the side or on top for larger formats)
- 24 sheets (48 pages) of 90g white acid-free paper sketch paper
- 270g cover with embossed logo (assorted colors)
- 4 available sizes: 6 3⁄4 x 8 3⁄4″, 8 x 12,” 12 x 17,” and the landscape sketch notebook 6 3⁄4 x 4 1⁄4″
Would you like to try one? We are giving away 20 of the 6 3⁄4 x 8 3⁄4″ Crok’ Books!
The contest will be remain open until midnight EST on Sunday June 9th. The winners will be chosen at random and announced on the blog on Thursday June 11th. One entry per household please. If you are viewing this post via e-mail or on a mobile device, you may need to visit Rhodia Drive directly to see the entry form.
Help us to get the word out? Please feel free to Tweet, blog or share this post via Facebook.
Keeping Your Pens Under Wrap
How do you protect your precious pens when traveling? Some people prefer a wrap style case like the one above while others (like me) tend to clumsily jam them into a pencil case. I once tried using a five sectioned leather cigar case which held my pens quite nicely, but I can’t remember why I abandoned its use. Perhaps a case that could only hold five writing instruments was too limiting for me.
PS: Keep your eyes on the blog – another big giveaway this week!
Image courtesy of jensdecember on Instagram
Have you tried a Rhodia Pad Holder Yet?
Did you know that Rhodia makes pad holders for a variety of our top stapled notepads? Available in orange and black lightly grained imitation leather with an embossed Rhodia logo, the covers are flexible and smooth. They include an inner pocket for notes, business cards, or receipts. Each holder comes with a pad. Rhodia pad holders are available in the following sizes:
- N° 08 – 3 x 8 ¼” (Long Skinny)
- N° 11 – 3 x 4″
- N° 12 – 3 ⅜ x 4 ¾”
- N° 13 – 4 x 6″
- N° 14 – 4 ⅜ x 6 ⅜”
- N° 16 (w/ Pen holder) 6 x 8 ¼”
- N° 18 – 8 ¼ x 11 ¾”
- N° 21 (Le Carre) – 8 ¼ x 8 ¼”
Rhodia also offers a special “R” Premium Pad Gift Set which includes a No. 16 (6 x 8 ¼”) R pad and a Rhodia pencil.
Keeping Things Sharp
I finally bit the bullet and bought myself an electric pencil sharpener. I didn’t really “need” one, but when you have piles of colored pencils to sharpen, it can sure come in handy. I’d been working with a battery operated unit that even when loaded with fresh batteries always sounded like it was about to up and die.
I like that this one can sharpen pencils of varying thicknesses as I’ve always struggled to get a good point on my favorite Albrecht Durer watercolor pencils which are slightly thicker than a regular pencil.
This beast will live in my studio, while the 5 miscellaneous pocket sharpeners I know I own will remain at large.
How do you keep your pencils sharp? Do you have a preferred sharpener?
Rhodia, Pencil Drawings, and Zombies
What’s up with all the zombies? I mean, they’re everywhere. On tv’s The Walking Dead, in the Resident Evil movie series, in books like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and games such as Left 4 Dead. I first took real notice of them in George Romero’s 1978 classic Continue Readering »
2013 Los Angeles Pen Show – Were you there?
The 25th annual Los Angeles Pen show was last week – were you there? I was there in spirit, watching Pendemonium’s status updates on Facebook. (Image above via Pendimonium on Twitter.) I’ve yet to go to a pen show and I’m somewhat afraid to do so that my head might explode (Scanners style) at all the available inky goodness. Continue Readering »
A Kindergartener’s #dailyarsenal: Rhodia Reverse and a Red Crayon
What young child doesn’t like to draw? Especially with a red crayon in a special notebook like a Rhodia Reverse. When is the last time you picked up a crayon? The smell alone reminds me of childhood. If you have access to a few crayons, I think you should take the time to pull them out and let your inner child have some fun.
Image courtesy of Fr. Matthew Thurman. Follow gmatthewthurman on Instagram.
Found Notes
I’m sure each of us has at one time or another has found a lost note. My usual finds are either grocery lists or to-do lists but the folks at Found magazine seem to find all of the good stuff. The notes they publish on their blog and in their magazine are amusing, sad, and sometimes deeply disturbing. They publish found love letters, birthday cards, kids’ homework, to-do lists, ticket stubs, poetry on napkins, doodles– anything that offers a glimpse into someone else’s life.
Have you ever found any interesting notes?
The Original Think Pad
To me, there’s really nothing that gets my brain juices flowing like doodling. At my last office job, my manager would glare at me for my frantic doodling during conference calls. Once I left that job, I was sure to send her a copy of the Time magazine article about how doodling helps you pay attention. Continue Readering »
Bike doodle in a Rhodia pad
Bike doodle in a Rhodia pad, what do you suppose is the story behind it? I can imagine stopping for an early morning danish and coffee at an outdoor eatery while taking a ride through the countryside. Or maybe sitting in the office and letting the mind wander towards taking a ride after work. Maybe thinking about getting a new bike for the holidays? It could be anything…
How does it inspire you?
Image courtesy of Engela Gildenhuys. Follow engie_la on Instagram.
The Worry List
To worry is a complete waste of time- yet we (I) do it anyway. To worry about something that we (I) cannot change and/or have control over? Why, that’s just silly. Oh yes. But we (I) still do it anyway.
Is there a way to conquer the worrywart? I’ve heard about creating a “worry list” as a way to release it and order if anyone has tried it and might tell me their experiences with it. I suppose it works on the premise that by writing it down, you take it’s power away.
Googling “Worry List” I found this great article from 2005 that talks about this very subject- it even goes on to recommend several books on the subject.
Who knew?
