Category: featured

Pelikan Stola III Fountain Pen Review

11 July 2016 By ian

Pelikan are best known for their luxury pens but the Stola is firmly at the opposite end of the price spectrum. It’s a chance to own a Pelikan pen without breaking the bank. Thank you to Pen Chalet for sending me this pen to review. These are my own honest opinions. It’s currently making the […]

Platinum Double Action R3 Multipen Review

6 July 2016 By ian

Platinum make a few different multipens and I reviewed one of them way back in October 2014. This pen is a step up from that plastic version but costs only a couple of pounds more. I was able to get this pen at a discount thanks to Cult Pens’ support of the site. These are […]

Lamy Linea Fountain Pen Review

4 July 2016 By ian

The Lamy Linea is an aluminium-bodied fountain pen with an interesting herringbone pattern. It takes standard Lamy converters and cartridges and standard Lamy nibs. This pen has many similarities with the pur, the st and the Logo, so let’s start there before going on to the differences. All but the highest end of the Lamy […]

Blue Boat in Weymouth Harbour (picture)

1 July 2016 By ian

I bought some Derwent Inktense watercolour pencils a little while ago and tried them out properly for the first time with this picture. They really pop. I used my Platinum Carbon Pen (with Carbon Ink) for the lines and Winsor and Newton Black Indian ink watered down for the wash.

Parker 45 Harlequin Quick Look

29 June 2016 By ian

In an article asking why vintage pens aren’t more popular, Jonathon Deans suggested the Parker 45 might be a good starter pen. I agree: they’re good value and easily found on eBay, they’re simply made and therefore reliable, and they use Parker’s cartridges and converters, still available to buy new. I have three and wrote […]