When is an eraser not an eraser? When its a Tombow Mono Pocket Correction Tape ($3.15 each)housed in a case that looks like the brand’s most iconic white plastic eraser. I couldn’t resist the twist. The Mono Pocket Correction Tape is kind of like an eraser for ink, right? Its a small, portable capped correction tape which makes it great for anyone who schleps their office supplies back and forth to school or work (like me).

The only downside of this correction tape is that it is “disposable”.  Tombow does offer a refillable correction tape in their “air” line but in my research, most correction tape dispensers are not refillable.

When the cap is removed, its easy to see the tape and the clear body makes it pretty easy to place it accurately.

As shown above, the Mono Pocket Correction Tape works well in covering any mistakes, cancelled meetings or other changes. The samples above are on Paperblanks slightly creamy paper stock so the bright white of the correction tape is more apparent then it might appear on whiter paper. The tape did cover the text pretty well and was easy to apply.

If I need to carry correction tape, it might as well be fun correction tape, right? It’s small size makes it easy to fit in my pen case too. Do you use correction tape? What is your favorite correction tape?

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Mini-Review: Tombow Mono Correction Tape appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

(There is also a 36-color set ($59.50, $1.65 per pencil) that contains a selection of 28 colors from the original Color Dictionary sets plus eight additional colors. )

The name Irojiten means “Color Dictionary”. Iro means “color” and Jiten means “dictionary”. Pretty clever.

While I love the packaging and aesthetic of the Irotijen sets, I could never rationalize buying another set of colored pencils. Then curiosity got the best of me and I finally caved. The packaging alone is a thing of beauty. I don’t usually like excessive packaging but Tombow did this beautifully. Each set of 10 pencils comes in a paperboard box that opens like a book and is held closed with an elastic band. Then all three boxes slide into a slipcase that keeps everything organized and contained and ready for your bookshelf or desktop. For as lovely as the packaging is, all the boxes are uncoated paperboard so its recyclable (just snip off the elastics) if you are a “store all your pencils in a cup” person like me.

I only purchased the first set which contains volumes 1, 2, and 3 — Pale I,  Vivid I, Deep I. If I end up being madly in love with these pencils, I can purchase the others but I decided to err on the side of frugality.

Pricewise, this set of Irojiten seemed most comparable to a Prismacolor or Polychromos sets with a similar number of pencils. Both Prismacolor ($o.85-0.88 per pencil in set, $1.39 individually) and Polychromos (about $1.24 per pencil in set, $2.65 individually) pencils come is sets of 24 or 36, and work out to be only slightly cheaper than the Irojiten sets per pencil (according to my quick peek at the Blick web site).

The pencils come pre-sharpened but the ends are pretty blunt. The advantage of having pre-sharpened pencils is you can just jump right in and start using them. I did find that after I did my first swatches, I really wanted to sharpen these.

The color swatches above were organized by set: Vol. 1 Pale Tone 1, Vol. 2 Vivid Tone 1 and Vol. 3 Deep Tone 1. My first experience with the pencils felt a bit harder than the colored pencils I usually lean towards. The colors were well-pigmented but felt like they required more effort to get the color onto the paper.

Once I did these color swatches, I realized that my brain doesn’t work like this — organized by saturation level. I tend to sort my colored pencils into warm colors and cool colors and like having all my yellows (or blues or purples) out and available at the same time. So, as much as I appreciate the aesthetics of the packaging, I am not inclined to keep the pencils in the boxes. My pencils ALWAYS end up living in cups and jars because they are quick and easy to access.

I sharpened the Irojtien pencils with my Dahle 133 Pencil Tabletop Manual Sharpener ($19.99) dialed to a medium-sharp point. I also wanted to see if sharpening the pencils might also help with the hardness. Sometimes, c0l0red pencils can feel a bit dry if they’ve been sharpened for a long time (I think the oil or wax dries out a bit) so I thought sharpening them would be worth a try. Also, since the pencils seemed harder, a sharper point would be easier to accomplish.

The Irojiten pencils did sharpen very well but did not feel any softer after being sharpened. This would make these pencils good for detail work and small drawings. I also re-swatched the colors, organized by hue. What I think is most notable about the set is that there is really only one red pencil. The Crimson (D-1) felt more like a warm brown than a red to me. There also seemed to be a surprising number of green colors (6 or 7, depending on whether you think Ice Green P-6 is more green or more blue).

My last round of tests was to verify if the Irojiten pencils were really harder than my beloved Prismacolors. The short answer is yes. It did not require as much pressure to apply a rich layer of the Prismacolor pencils. I know a lot of people have issues with the Prismacolors for being too soft, breaking easily, uncentered cores, etc. they pay dividends in sheer pigment load and range of colors available for the price.

My final impression of the Irojiten colored pencils is that it is a lovely set with pencils that are harder than other pencils. If you have a heavy hand or are looking for a colored pencil set for detail work, the Irojiten is a good option. If you are looking for colored pencils that are creamy and have a dense pigment load, then I recommend trying Prismacolors instead. The packaging is not as cool but if you’re like me, your colored pencils will end up in a cup anyway so the packaging doesn’t really matter.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Pencil Review: Tombow Irotijen Colored Pencil Set appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

Whenever I see colored leads for mechanical pencils, I have a two-fold reaction: The first is to feel tingly with anticipation as I always do about any colored pencil I haven’t (yet) tried. This feeling is almost immediately followed by skepticism, which is an annoying but realistic buzz-kill. I’ve tried many colored mechanical pencil leads with woefully pale hues; I have concluded that it must be much more difficult to make a good colored pencil lead when it’s not surrounded by wood. Yet hope springs eternal: I couldn’t resist trying Uni EMOTT Color Mechanical Pencils (set of 4/$13.50). The sets are available in three color palettes; I chose Tropical. Each set includes eight 0.9mm refill leads.

I also picked up a pack of refill leads in each of the other two color palettes – Nostalgic and Refresh (8 pieces/$2.95) – because I needed to see all the colors, of course. The refill packs include two leads each of four colors.

First, I must say something about the design. With a white matte plastic barrel in a unique rounded-square shape, the EMOTT pencil is slender and lightweight. Pressing the white-capped colored segment extends the lead. Removing the cap reveals an eraser, which is also square like the barrel. After so many engineer-y or utilitarian mechanical pencils, it is a refreshing delight to see this distinctive design. And – be still, my heart – it’s lefty-oriented!

The EMOTT set comes with a small stand that holds four mechanical pencils and a refill vial. When each is replaced in its slot, the pencil is secured with a satisfying click (though they do wobble a bit after securing). 

So tickled was I with the design that I was almost afraid to use the leads for fear my bubble would be burst. With some trepidation, I pulled out a scrap sheet of Strathmore Bristol (a smooth drawing paper) to make some test swatches. To my surprise, the hues are vibrant and distinct – among the best I’ve seen in a non-woodcased colored pencil.

The second surprise came with erasing. I tested the EMOTT’s eraser against my standby favorite, the Tombow Mono Zero retractable eraser. The EMOTT eraser did as well or even slightly better, even where the color was heavily applied. Interestingly, when I tried the EMOTT eraser on other colored pencils, its performance was only average. It seems like the eraser was especially formulated to work well with EMOTT leads.

EMOTT leads smudge a little, especially on slightly toothy paper (swatches below were made on Col-o-Ring “Oversize” paper). 

Satisfied that the colors wouldn’t break my heart, I looked out my studio window on a wet, dreary day and made a sketch that was a lot brighter than what I saw (made in Col-o-Ring “Oversize” book). Coloring with mechanical pencils feels different from coloring with woodcased pencils, but the 0.9mm leads are solid under my heavy hand, even with substantial pressure. They are not going to snap as so many thinner leads do, at least in my hand.

Hard yet with decent pigment, EMOTT colored leads are excellent for writing as well as sketching. Even if you don’t have coloring in mind, these would be a fun checking or editing pencil, especially since it erases well. 

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

DISCLAIMER: The items included in this review were provided free of charge by JetPens for the purpose of review. Please see the About page for more details.

The post Colored Pencil Review: Uni EMOTT Color Mechanical Pencils appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.

One of my sketch kit essentials is and always has been a water brush. If I were a watercolor painter, I probably would have upgraded to a “real” brush a long time ago. With watercolor pencils as my primary color medium, however, I think plastic-bristle water brushes are actually more effective (not to mention more convenient). Dispensing a small amount of water at a time (the bane of painters when they need a juicy wash), a water brush is easy to control when used with water-soluble pencils. Most artists hate ‘em (once in an urban sketching workshop, the instructor forbade me from using mine!), but I like ‘em.

For years my favorite has been the Kuretake (which I reviewed when it was included in the April 2017 ArtSnacks box). I spotted a new one on JetPens the other day – a set of three Tombow Water Brush Pens (3 sizes for $16.95 or $6.95 each). Although Tombow makes a wide variety of popular colored brush pens, I didn’t recall seeing a water brush with the Tombow name before, so I thought these would be worth a try.

The set of three includes a flat wash, a medium round and a small round.

When I unscrewed the reservoirs to fill them, I frowned when I saw that there’s no plug between the reservoir and the connection to the bristles. (Compare that with the Kuretake, which has a black plug.) When I’ve used other water brushes without plugs, they have tended to gush a bit too freely, so I was afraid that would be the case with the Tombows. The absent plug does make the Tombows easy to fill: Just hold the open reservoir under the tap.

To my surprise, the water doesn’t flow excessively from the Tombows; in fact, they are just a bit wetter than the Kuretakes I’m used to. In my usual manner, I gave the reservoir a gentle squeeze to wet the bristles and dabbed off any excess water. I ran each brush tip once through a swatch of Caran d’Ache Museum Aquarelle colored pencil in a Stillman & Birn Beta sketchbook. The water flow and control were similar to the Kuretake.

Next I gave each brush a generous squeeze to thoroughly wet the bristles, dipped it into a watercolor cake, and made a single stroke in the Beta sketchbook. Again, I thought the flow was predictable and easy to control.

I think the two rounds are the most functional and versatile sizes for use in small and medium sketchbooks. Many water brush manufacturers seem to offer a flat option, but I’m stumped as to when it’s useful. It’s not nearly wide enough to make a traditional watercolor wash, even on small paper. (If anyone has used a flat water brush effectively, I’m interested in hearing about it.)

The Tombow water brush pens seem as good as the Kuretakes except in one important regard: The caps do not post well. When I took them out for street sketching, they kept falling off as soon as I posted them, and I ended up having to put the caps in a pocket to avoid losing them. On location, this is a deal breaker; I will lose undoubtedly those caps immediately, and a capless water brush is a useless water brush. At my desk, however, they are perfectly fine.

Tina Koyama is an urban sketcher in Seattle. Her blog is Fueled by Clouds & Coffee, and you can follow her on Instagram as Miatagrrl.

The post Brush Review: Tombow Water Brush Pens appeared first on The Well-Appointed Desk.