Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Making the Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen More Portable

I recently discovered the Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen and absolutely love it!  It has quickly become my new "go to" pen for sketching.  The best thing about this pen and the ink it uses, is how quickly it dries.  You can do a sketch and almost immediately paint over it with watercolors without any smudging.  The bad thing about the pen to me though, is that it is designed as a desk pen and thus has a very long handle.  It is kind of unwieldy to draw with and very limiting in it's portability.  However, this can be fixed in seconds with a saw.

I ordered the pen and some refills from JetPens.com.


The front of the pen package.


The back of the package.


Unleashing the pen from it's wrapper.


As you can see the handle is way too long.


Here you can see how much extra room there is in the handle once the ink cartridge is lined up.


I just took a piece of drafting tape to mark where the cartridge ends in the pen to avoid cutting it too short.




A hack saw and a block of wood to hold the pen against will do the trick.


Be sure to use caution while cutting off the end of the pen.

Here it is done in the correct way.


And here is the incorrect way!


Next just sand smooth the end and the edges of the pen.  Unless of course, you have made the cut in the incorrect way.  If that is the case, immediately go to the emergency room.


Some folks take another step and fill the end of the pen with epoxy, but I can't be bothered with that.


Insert the ink cartridge...


...and then screw the pen together.  You now have a much more portable Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen.


Here is a size comparison next to a Pigma Micron.


Another advantage of cutting down the handle is that the cap will now fit tightly on the end while in use.


Here is a drawing I did a couple of weeks ago using the Platinum Carbon Desk Fountain Pen.  I really like the line from it and the fact that it dries so quickly!  Order yours here from JetPens.com.


Thursday, July 2, 2015

Drawing the Blues

Many of you will remember reading Cartoonist Survey #283 with illustrator extraordinaire, Rich Powell. I absolutely love his artwork and finally had the opportunity to commission him to create an illustration for me.

While looking through his portfolio, I saw a great drawing of an old blues guy and had to have it. Unfortunately that one already belonged to none other than Sam Viviano, art director for MAD magazine. Rich was very accommodating and agreed to do another one for me.


Not only did the illustration come out awesome, but he finished it in no time and was nice enough to create a video of him drawing it. Readers of this blog know how geeky I get over watching people draw, so this was an unexpected bonus!



Rich really made the whole experience wonderful, and I would highly recommend him to anyone looking to get some original artwork.

Take some time today to visit Rich’s website. You can commission him to create a wonderful illustration for you by clicking on the Purchase Art link at the top of his site. You won’t be disappointed!

Thanks again Rich!


Follow Up...

I received a request wondering how similar to the illustration I originally saw in Rich's portfolio was the completed illustration I received.  Below are small images of both drawings, with the one I own on the right.  See much more of Rich's work here!

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

Plymouth Harbor Watercolor Map

Here is a 5" x 7" map of Plymouth Harbor done in ink and watercolor.



Monday, March 9, 2015

Colorful Watercolor Maps

I started making these smaller watercolor maps last week.  They are 5" x 7" and are done with artist grade watercolors and archival paper and ink.  Send me an email if you are interested in having one made for you.






Wednesday, January 14, 2015

Pocket Palette - Watercolor Travel Set

I was lucky enough to receive the Expeditionary Art's Pocket Palette for Christmas. This tiny watercolor palette is perfect for travel watercolor painting or urban sketching. It has refillable metal pans that attach magnetically to the business card holder sized case.


I filled the pans with artist grade Winsor Newton and Daniel Smith tube watercolors.


Combining the Pocket Palette with this collapsible shot glass by Sea to Summit and the Silver Black Velvet Voyage travel brush I have no excuses not to get out and paint.


Get your own Pocket Palette here at Expeditionary Art and be sure to visit Maria Coryell-Martin's website to see the incredible paintings she creates.