The Kneadable Eraser
Though I’ve had one or two of these kneadable erasers (aka: putty rubbers) lying around for what seems like forever, it’s only recently that I’ve begun to fall in love with them. Slightly reminiscent of the Silly Putty of our childhood, this slightly sticky, moldable eraser works by absorbing graphite, charcoal, pastel, etc., and does not leave crumbly bits when used.
Have you ever tried one of these?
These erasers are often used in subtractive drawing techniques- a brief tutorial can be found here:
And This Leads to That
“you’re right and I’m wrong Forgive Me ?? Bell-An Tablets.” This being the inscription my friend Hannah discovered inside this early 20th century book written by a Professor George W. Conklin of Hamilton University.
Professor Conklin wrote a number of interesting books around the turn of the century including such titles as:
- Conklin’s Vest-Pocket Argument Settler 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?
Designing a workspace on a dotPad
”Thinking about a workplace transformation” Image courtesy of ac3y on Instagram.
I have a large #38 dotPad that I think I will use to design my new garden beds. Have you used a #38′s or any of our dotPads to lay out a new workspace? Any tips to offer?
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?
Friday Link Share
Handmade Fonts on Behance
Why I Use Fountain Pens on FPGeeks
Embroidery on the Fashion Figure on CopicMarker.com
Music Ink in Music Nibs at Leigh Reyes My Life as a Verb
Safety Flair: Our Favorite Reflective Cycling Gear at Bicycling.com
Is Your Writing Timeless? at GoinsWriter.com
A Young Colorist, Antennas Aquiver at The New York Times
TS Eliot’s fountain pen gets first outing at Royal Society of Literature at The Guardian
This Old Notebook at Patrick Rhone
Write for Palimpsest at Palimpsest
To Do Lists at Onigiri Sama & her 21Kittens
Follow the Leaders: Faber-Castell e-motion Fountain Pen (M nib) at From the Pen Cup
Are You Honest In Your Journal? at Kaizen Journaling
New Rhodiactive Professional Business Collection – Meeting Book Review at Writer’s Bloc
Experimenting Every Time at Urban Sketchers
Talking with Tom Hanks about What Really Matters at Psychology Today
The Battle Between Japan’s Big 3 at Pentorium
Recent Acquisitions, Massive Edition at A Penchant for Paper
Anne Frank, Danville, Ohio & the Letter Writers Alliance at Pentamento
My Fountain Pen Education: The Edison Pearl at The Pen Addict
Budget Fountain Pen Showdown at The Well Appointed Desk
The letter: an abstract gift of time at The Missive Maven: Epistolary Exultation
Papeterie nouvelle: Georges & Co. thinks—& inks—differently at Felt & Wire
The Claustrophobic Notebook at Notebookism
Oh, and then this happened…
Image above of a Rhodiarama Webbie and a Nikon D5000 courtesy of Courtney Oliver, (designwinesunshine on Instagram) who also happens to design for one of our retailers – European Paper Company
Your Input Needed: If We Made a Sketchbook…
We need your input!
Exaclair, (The US distributors of Clairefontaine, Quo Vadis, Rhodia, etc.) is contemplating the creation of an American made sketchbook. A book that would lend itself more towards artistic creation than writing – though I’m certain such a book could be used for either form of expression. The book would contain paper from Clairefontaine’s Schut Mill, (located in the Netherlands) and would be assembled at the Hamburg, NY plant where the Habana notebooks and other Quo Vadis products are currently being made. This sketchbook would be a bound book, (as opposed to a spiral) and we would love your input on how this book should be created.
(See how to submit your feedback at the end of this post.)
In the meantime, Karen sent me a batch of paper samples to test and I chose 4:
If I am going to work in a bound book, it’s got to lay flat. For me, there are no exceptions to that rule. I’d like the book to be about the same size as a large Webbie – 5×8″ish with a firm cover so if I was working with the book propped on my knee, there would still be a good amount of support.
To me, the most important feature of the paper in any sketchbook Continue Readering »
Friday Link Share!
Three Good Things at Little Flower Petals
Journaling Through Your Injuries at Creative Write Now
Where do you get creative? at Lifehacker
List It Tuesday: Been There Done That at Daisy Yellow Blog
Creative Thinking Exercises for the Workplace at Chron
Packing for India at Urban Sketchers
Marker Review…..2nd Edition at Draw Doodle Decorate
Name that Pen at PENS PAPER INKS…WHATEVER!
This Old Notebook at Patrick Rhone
You Can Have my Notebook When You Pry it From My Cold, Dead Fingers at The Digital Reader
The Post Office at Collage Journeys
12 Most Inspired Online Resources for Creative Juice at 12Most
Pen Shows: The 2013 Philadelphia Pen Show Review at Anderson Pens.net
Robin Quivers gives Howard Stern a $1700 pen at Examiner.com
Writing works wonders: Personal growth, creativity among benefits of journaling for children at The Joplin Globe
F. Scott Fitzgerald on the Secret of Great Writing at The Passive Voice
51 Examples Of Matching Ink To Pen To Paper at Inkophile
Lisa Cargile’s Pencil Photography. at Pencil Revolution
Waterman Early Crusader at Fountain Pen Restoration
The Power of Handwritten Notes and Reminders at Journal in a Box
Myths About Our Right and Left Brains at Psychology Today
Pen and Pencil Cases
I own several pencil cases but struggle to use any of them because I hate having to choose what to put in it. It’s like having to pick which child gets to go to Disneyworld and which has to stay home.
If you carry a pencil/pen case, do you pretty much always keep the same things in it, or do you like to change things up now and again? Oh, and have you seen the Rhodia pencil cases?
• Flat pencil case
• Made of genuine soft black leather
• Embossed logo
• Metallic Rhodia zipper
• Fits 8 to 10 pens
Cataloging My Paints
Today in my studio I decided to create 5 x 7″ samples of all of my artist grade acrylic paints. Artist grade paints contain more pigment then student paints and are typically more expensive. When people ask me about what art supplies they should start with, I always tell them to buy the most expensive they can afford – even if it means buying a few tubes of paint at a time rather then a full set of lower quality paints. In my opinion, the artist grade paints are easier to work with and the colors much more vibrant. This could mean less frustration to a newbie painter.
I made these samples for reference purposes but they could also end up as an art project.
While I don’t consider myself an expert when it comes to acrylic paint, if you have any questions I’ll do my best to answer according to my experience.
Blogroll Housekeeping and Looking for New Links
Here on Rhodia Drive, we maintain a blogroll consisting of sites dedicated to paper, pens, pencils, ink, art, art journaling, and writing. It’s about that time of year when I check to make sure all of the current links are still functional and also when I start looking for cool new links.
If you have or know of an awesome blog you think we should consider adding to our blogroll, leave the link down in the comment section and I will be happy to take a look. I can’t guarantee we will be able to use each and every submission, but please know that we are always looking for relevant sites with quality content. Reciprocal linkage is always appreciated.
Oh, and please let me know if you regularly peruse our existing blogroll links.
More Every Day Carry
I just love looking at other people’s tools because it helps me to discover better ones for my own personal use. It was via Flickr’s “What’s in your bag” photo group that I initially discovered the Lamy Safari. The rest as they say, is history. The images in this post are courtesy of Tony Thomas.
07/12 Here is some of what I carry everyday. My usual carry platform is a Maxpedition Jumbo LEO Tactical sling bag. Continue Readering »
Simon Carr Does This
I know how much you all love the “In Your Bag” and “Every Day Carry” type images with their descriptions. (Me too!) This image is courtesy of Simon Carr via Flickr. You can view the full image here.
Left to right
- Mighty Wallet Airmail
- Leatherman Wave
- Metropass!
- 8GB Eye-Fi Pro
- 2GB USB stick
- Ricoh GR Digital III, best compact for my shooting style, ever
- Rhodia 5×5 squared pad
- Papermate PhD pencil
- Pilot V5 pen (fave)
- Samsung Galaxy II S X
- Gen 1 iPad
- Prismacolor pens for diagrams
What’s in your bag?
New Product Giveaway! Enter Now to win 1 of 20 Reporter Style Webbie Pads!
Oh yeah! More new Rhodia stuff to give away today! Continue Readering »
Testing different writing supplies.
This might sound silly but I think one of the things that helped me to become a better writer was by testing all different kinds of pens, inks, and papers. At the very least, it helped me to become more comfortable with the tools of writing and to never fear the blank page. Continue Readering »
