Less plastic, more drawing (or writing)

I have not been doing any serious art supplies shopping for some time now. Most of the tools I use on the day to day basis last me a long time - I use fountain pens for writing and drawing and lead holders for sketching. I can paint many watercolor illustrations for a whole book… Continue reading Less plastic, more drawing (or writing)

Retro Writing 14 – Traveler at last.

Finally, the time came to test and review one of the devices that made me interested in dedicated writing solutions in the first place - the Freewrite Traveler! A few years ago, the original device made by Astrohaus - the Hemmingwrite (later renamed to Freewrite, Smart Typewriter) piqued my interest. It launched as a Kickstarter project in 2014 and then was developed further into one of the few distraction-free writing modern products you can currently buy. That device looks and feels more like a bulky typewriter that you would like to place on your desk and never move, so I was more interested in their second design - the portable Traveler.

A bit more ISO 12757-1

This is all very nice, but what if someone would like to try making art with all these fancy ballpoint pen refills without buying an expensive Italian-made pen or spending hours in an office supplies store trying to look for the least-rattly one? There is one more interesting hack-like solution to this - using a clutch pencil (or a lead holder as these are called in Japan).

Retro Writing 13 – the Pomera DM30

In one of the first articles of this series - exploring various weird and retro writing devices - I mentioned the Pomera DM30 as may go to distraction-free mobile word processor. Even though this device is not exactly retro - it was made as recently as 2018 - it is unique and worth further delving… Continue reading Retro Writing 13 – the Pomera DM30

I’m obsessed with ISO 12757-1

A few years ago, when we still lived in the center of Tokyo, I made a few cool art supplies stores the goals of my walks. Once or twice a week, I would stroll to Ginza or Nihonbashi and visit stores there or along the Sumida river to the Kakimori. I would just browse, test… Continue reading I’m obsessed with ISO 12757-1

Double sketchbook life

Recently I started leading a double life — a double-sketchbook life. In one book, I'm a neat, detail, and reference-obsessed architecture illustrator, but when the evening comes and my family sleeps, I open my leather-bound book on which pages all kinds of monstrous and wonderful art can happen. For the past few years, I have… Continue reading Double sketchbook life

Retro Writing 12 – The Panaword

In my wanderings through machines that can be used as dedicated, retro-distraction-free writing devices, I had already gone into a few quite forgotten places. I'm fascinated by machines that I was not able to try because, in their hay day, I was just a kid with for whom his AMIGA 500 was everything. This time,… Continue reading Retro Writing 12 – The Panaword

Ghibli animations you haven’t seen (probably)

I love animated movies – I think that this form of art, when done right, can be one of the most imaginative ways of showing stories and worlds fantastic. But, I somehow never really got into short-form animation. I have seen some great ones, yes (like our favorite Magnetic Rose or some of the Animatrix collection, for example),… Continue reading Ghibli animations you haven’t seen (probably)