The South African Artist – July 2019

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Artists have their own preferences when it comes to materials. Some
artists just use any pen or pencil at hand, while other artists plan to
add watercolours to the sketches, which then have to be done using a
waterproof ink. Sketching with a fountain pen has always had a certain
allure to it, but most fountain pens I have tried were not waterproof.

I was recently approached to test some of “Write GEAR’s” products for
urban sketching. I was provided with three fountain pens, 0,2; 0,3 and
0,5mm. The pens come with red, blue and green ink, but the ink is not
waterproof, so I was also given Carbon Ink. Wow! What a wonderful
experience! I found the pens to be the perfect sketching tools. I started
my drawings with a rough outline using the 0,2mm pen and completed
the sketch with either a 0,3mm for smaller sketches or the 0,5mm for
larger sketches. What I love most about these fountain pens is that shpe
of the nib sometimes creates a broken line when moving too fast over
the paper, and this broken line effect gives more depth to the sketch.

The sketch pad was ideal for sketching purposes, and the texture of
the paper is excellent. But the 80gsm pages may be too transparent for
colour washes over an ink sketch.

I used the Carbon ink in the fountain pens, and overlaid with washes of
watercolour to test the waterproof quality. The ink did not bleed at all!
I love the product and I am pretty sure I have found my new favorites
when it comes to urban sketching in the future. If you are looking for a
satisfactory urban sketching experience, I can highly recommend the
Platinum Preppy Fountain pens and Platinum Carbon Ink.

e-mail: [email protected] | Facebook: Willie Jacobs Artist

in the paintbox

Platinum Preppy Fountain Pens: sizes: 0,2; 0,3 and 0,5mm

Notebook Soft Cover

32 cream pages

Paper Weight: 80gsm

Platinum Carbon Ink Sizes: A0 to A10