Tag: tombow

A Handful of Our Favorite Pencils

Posted on by Celia

Ever wonder why standard pencils are yellow? During the 1800s, the best graphite in the world came from China. American pencil makers wanted a way to tell people that their pencils contained high quality Chinese graphite. In China, the color yellow is associated with royalty and respect. American pencil manufacturers began painting their pencils yellow to communicate this “regal” feeling and association with China. Today, a majority of basic hexagonal graphite writing pencils sold in the United States are painted yellow and what was once perceived as “regal” has now become “common”. Here are a few of our favorite pencils, none of which can rightly be called “common”.

PRIMO Euro Blend Charcoal Pencils by General Pencil

The General Pencil Co. have been manufacturing writing instruments in the USA since 1889, and we happily carry some of their pencils. Their PRIMO Euro Blend Charcoal Pencil is a smooth charcoal pencil made of an exclusive, rich, black, euro blend formula. Less dusty than other charcoal pencils, and available in three degrees: 3B, B and HB, as well as in White and the Elite Grande. Did you see the General Pencil Co. factory in Jersey City featured in the New York Times Magazine? It’s a good read.

MONO Drawing Pencils by Tombow

MONO Drawing Pencils by Tombow are drawing pencils that offer superior extra-refined, high density graphite. Smear proof lines help produce crisp, clean drawings with the added value of slow wear for smooth, dense writing.

Grafwood Graphite Drawing Pencils by Caran d’Ache

New to the store, Grafwood Graphite Drawing Pencils by Caran d’Ache! Yeah we’re not wild about the name Grafwood either, but it probably sounds better in the original Swiss. Designed for specialists, these extra-fine, hexagonal graphite pencils include a range of blacks from hardest (lightest) to softest (darkest). These are the pencils with the most complete range of graphite leads, the diameter ranges from 2.1 – 3.6mm depending on the degree. Each pencil is made using Premium FSC® certified cedar wood and is varnished in a color that precisely depicts the hardness and depth of the black. Developed and manufactured in Switzerland. Mis Luftchüssiboot isch volle Aal.

My absolute favorite pencils to write with are the Blackwing Volumes Pencils. Volumes is a quarterly, limited edition program featuring new, never before seen Blackwing pencil designs inspired by cultural icons and events. I usually get a box of the editions featuring extra-hard graphite, so I currently write with Vol. 530, which pays tribute to the California Gold Rush and eureka moments of the creative process with a gold-colored semi-hexagonal barrel, gold ferrule, and black eraser.

The Blackwing Vol. 530 is a tribute to Sutter’s Mill, California Historical Site No. 530, where gold was first discovered. The Blackwing 530 celebrates eureka moments of the creative process.

When I run out of those, I have boxes of Vol. 162 (white barrel/black ferrule; mathematician/writer Ada Lovelace), Vol. 54 (rose barrel/teal imprint/silver ferrule/blue eraser; Surrealist Art), and Vol. 205 (6 white and 6 green jade barrel/gold ferrule/gold imprint/black eraser; The Silk Road). And I use the Blackwing Point Guard to make sure I conserve the point and lead, bc I’m obsessed like that.

The Blackwing 16.2 is a tribute to mathematician, writer and visionary Ada Lovelace.
The Blackwing Volume 54 pays tribute to surrealism. The number 54 is a nod to 54 rue due Chateau in Paris, the birthplace of Exquisite Corpse.
Each Blackwing 205 set contains six green jade pencils and six white jade pencils. The number 205 references the molecular weight of jadeite, the most sought after form of jade. 

Currently, we only have Vol. 33 1/3 in stock, which is a tribute to vinyl records. It features a matte black finish and matte black ferrule to go with its black imprint and black eraser. The gloss black foil banding near the grip was inspired by the grooves on a record.

Blackwing Vol. 33 1/3

What’s your favorite pencil?

How-To: Blending & Shading Techniques for Hand Lettering with Tombow

Posted on by Celia

Today we’re going to show you a modern and pretty style of script and mixed script lettering that adds depth with blending, outlines and shadows using two of our favorite Tombow Dual Brush Pen colors, 873-Coral and 803-Pink Punch.

MATERIALS

STEP 1

Using Dual Brush Pen Coral (873), letter out your name or any word you want! A little side note: I find mixed media paper to be the best for blending. It’s made to handle multiple layers of color, but it’s also smooth enough to protect your precious Tombow pens!

Dual Brush Pen by Tombow in Coral (873)

STEP 2

Using Dual Brush Pen Pink Punch (803), color in the top half of your letters covering the Coral.  It’s best to work on one letter at a time. If you fill in all your letters at once with your second color, it will be dry by the time you get to your last letter, making it harder to blend the ink.

Dual Brush Pen by Tombow in Pink Punch (803)

STEP 3

Using the Colorless Blender Pen (N00), start at the top of your letter (in the Pink Punch area) and use downward strokes to bring the Pink Punch color down to the bottom of the letter.

Dual Brush Pen Colorless Blender by Tombow

STEP 4

Outline the outside of your letters with the Fudenosuke Pen. I use very light pressure when tracing around the letters.  Next, apply some pressure to the pen and add thicker lines to all the down strokes of your letters.  This will give your letters some depth with a thicker shadow.

Fudenosuke Pen by Tombow

STEP 5

Lastly, using Dual Brush Pen Cool Gray 3 (N75), add a somewhat thick line to all the down strokes of your letters to add a gray shadow effect. Here’s a tip: pick either the left or right side of your letters to add the shadow, so they all look consistent.

Dual Brush Pen by Tombow in Cool Grey 3 (N75)

Here’s what the end result will look like!

Stick To Your 2019 Goals

Posted on by Celia

The New Year brought us fresh starts and new beginnings, it was the perfect opportunity to plan out the year and think about the goals you want to achieve. But now we’re almost a month into the new year so we have to ask – Do you keep a task journal? Did you write down your goals? Since “a goal not written down is merely a wish,” we put some stuff on sale that can help.

FriXion Colors Erasable Marker Pens by Pilot

Unleash your creativity with the FriXion Colors Erasable Marker Pens by Pilot. You can write smoothly, draw flawlessly, erase cleanly and revise repeatedly without damaging your planner all thanks to the unique thermo-sensitive, erasable ink available in a variety of fun and fresh colors. The extra durable, bold point tip produces rich, vibrant lines. Whether writing, drawing, coloring or organizing, add a touch of creativity and style to your everyday tasks with the new FriXion Colors Erasable Marker Pens.

56-week Planner by Field Notes

56-week Planner by Field Notes

The 56-week Planner by Field Notes s a durable planner that looks great, feels just right, and will hold up to years’ worth of your busy life without batteries, brand-sponsored Wi-Fi, or a monthly service charge loaded up with hidden fees.

4¾” x 7½”, with a durable 60pt. chipboard cover and lay-flat “Double-O” wire binding. 112 Pages of Finch 70# text paper are marked with one blank week per spread, ready to fill with your next 56 weeks of appointments, meetings, notes, or even brief journal entries.

TwinTone Marker Sets by Tombow

TwinTone Markers by Tombow

The TwinTone double-sided marker creates thick or thin lines with two tip choices – broad bullet tip for bold lines or extra-fine tip for detailed, precise lines. Perfect for color-coding and decorating planners, journals and notebooks. Create fun doodling and lettering styles with a choice of 24 colors. Water-based ink doesn’t bleed through most papers. Durable fiber point tips are long lasting and maintain shape after use. Bullet tip 0.8mm; extra-fine tip 0.3mm.

EcoQua Notebooks by Fabriano

EcoQua Notebooks by Fabriano

These EcoQua Notebooks have wonderfully colorful covers and are ideal for writing and drafting in pen, pencil and marker. They are made in Italy and contain environmentally-friendly FSC certified 57 lb. (85g/m2) paper that is chlorine-free, acid-free and completely recyclable. Available with lined, blank or standard grid sheets.

Profolio Oasis Notebooks by Itoya

ProFolio Oasis Notebooks by Itoya

The ProFolio Oasis Notebook is designed to simplify your search for the perfect notebook: well-designed, affordable and practical. The proprietary paper pattern is a combination of grid, line and dots, an optimal pattern for handwriting, drawing perfect straight lines, developing charts and rapid journaling. The Oasis Notebook is made with high-quality materials; the spine is machine stitched and the paper is soft and smooth to the touch. The notebooks are available in three colors and three different sizes – A6 (small, 4.13″ × 5.83″), A5 (medium, 8.83″ × 8.27″) and B5 (large, 6.93″ × 9.84″).

Slicci Gel Pens by Pentel

Slicci Gel Pen Set by Pentel

Journal and draw in fine detail with ease, thanks to the smooth-flowing gel ink and precise metal tip of the Slicci Gel Pen. These pens are perfect for personalizing paper, cardstock, labels, tags, chipboards and die-cuts. The 8-color extra-fine set features pens with an extra-fine .25mm point (the smallest point size available in a gel ink pen), includes black, red, blue, green, orange, pink, baby blue and violet. The Slicci Metallic Gel Pen Sets have .8mm needle tip ideal for medium lines and details. These metallic colors pop on dark paper, and are perfect for embellishing note cards, creating designs, pictures and journaling. The 3-color metallic set includes silver, gold and bronze. The 8-color metallic set includes red, blue, green, bronze, pink, violet, gold and silver.

Still not sure what you want to do and how you want to do it? Stop by Raw Materials and our staff can help you pick out the best products for you to get your life organized and optimize the time it takes to plan. Let’s make 2019 the best year ever!

Tombow Announces Create Your Best Work Art Scholarship

Posted on by Celia

Tombow is proud to announce the Create Your Best Work Art Scholarship to aid three promising art students with tuition costs.

Tombow’s Create Your Best Work Art Scholarship is available to high school seniors graduating by May 2019 and college freshmen and sophomores in the United States. To qualify, students must be currently enrolled or accepted and seeking a visual arts degree at a U.S. university, college or art school.

“At Tombow, we know that it takes the best product to create your best work,” said Director of Marketing Cathy Daniel. “And we want to help equip young artists with the tools to flourish in their industry.”

The top three applicants will be awarded non-renewable scholarships to be used toward tuition, fees, books, supplies and equipment required by the educational institution for the upcoming school year starting in Fall 2019.

The grand prize winner will receive a $5,000 scholarship, and two runners-up will each receive a $2,500 scholarship. Tombow will notify scholarship recipients, and distribution of the scholarship will be made directly to each recipient.

Scholarship recipients will also receive a package of Tombow products for use in their works, with an approximate retail value of $500. In addition, the high school that the student graduated from will receive a package of Tombow products, with an approximate retail value of $500.

Product-only awards in the amount of $100 will be made to five additional runners-up. Awards will be distributed in July 2019.

Application deadline for the scholarship is March 31, 2019 – applications should be submitted digitally and include a portfolio, artist’s statement, letter(s) of recommendation and transcripts. Students can download applications and find more information about applying at TombowUSA.com.