Hello, fountain pen fans, Adam here again. This week, I got to work with the TWSBI 580ALR and Robert Oster Smokescreen for my Monday Matchup. Read on to hear what I thought of this pen and ink!

I went through a lot of ideas before I finally arrived at drawing a dragon. Ever since I can remember, I have been a huge fan of high fantasy, science fiction, and role-playing games. I grew up on the Final Fantasy series of games, I’ve been playing the Elder Scrolls games since Daggerfall came out in the 90’s, and I absolutely love attending Renaissance Festivals! If I could draw anything, anything at all, and be able to do it perfectly it would be dragons.

I found an image online that I really liked and used that for inspiration. More appropriately, I looked at it and basically copied what I saw. I’m not a skilled enough of an artist to draw free-hand but having the image for inspiration gives me an idea to go from. Once I had the outline, I went in to fill in my shape. I really enjoy the look of cross-hatch work for creating light and dark spots in my work, so I experimented with that quite a bit in this drawing. For the smoke, I actually just put ink on my thumb and smeared it onto the page. Once the dragon was complete, I wrote in a collection of quotes about dragons to fill in the blank spaces.

I have to be honest, I did not care for the TWSBI 580 ALR. The pen writes and fills perfectly but it is not the pen for me. My primary turn off was the texture on the grip section. The feel of aluminum is not appealing to me, and the textured element just added to my displeasure with the tactile experience. If you’re someone who also is sensitive to textures, you might not like this pen. I also didn’t care for the filling mechanism. It works like a dream, don’t get me wrong. It’s a much better experience than using a syringe set to fill your converter. I am someone who fidgets with my pens. I like to twist my cap around. When just holding this pen, I would accidentally turn that mechanism and it would cause ink to spill into the cap. Also, when ink would burp out of the pen, it would get on the aluminum grip section. I did everything I could, within reason, to get the ink off the grip and I could not eliminate it all. I’m sorry about that for whoever receives the pen. The writing experience itself, the nib, was great. No complaints there, it was a very smooth writer.

Robert Oster Smokescreen was an interesting color. I normally don’t go for black inks at all. I just find it boring. What was fun about this black was that it went on with a bit of a purple tinge to it and got darker as it dried. I did enjoy that, and it made it easy for me to track my work as I was doing my shading. As far as black inks, I would recommend it. Seeing as it’s a black ink, I would use it for basically anything. I don’t see a situation where this combo wouldn’t work. As I said, if you’re someone who fidgets with your pen, you might have some issues with the filling mechanism.

If I were to do this piece again, I would have done more honestly. I’ve got two kids now, so drawing time only happens after bedtime. I was really pleased with what I did, and would have carried it much further had I had the time. I would have gone with a different pen as well. As soon as I touched the grip I knew it wasn’t going to be for me. I will say though that I very much enjoy and trust the TWSBI brand and would recommend them.

You can find the TWSBI 580ALR at GouletPens.com for $60 ($65 for the 1.1mm Stub option). Robert Oster Smokescreen is available in a 50ml bottle for $17 or a 2ml sample for $1.50.

You could win this pen and ink! In an effort to make entering Monday Matchup a little easier, we’ve done away with the Rafflecopter widget and will be randomly selecting a winner from a randomly chosen platform each week. The entries methods will still be the same: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and a blog comment, but you’ll no longer have to complete your entry through Rafflecopter.

How to enter Monday Matchup Giveaway:

• Match a pen and ink together. They don’t have to match in color, any fountain pen, and ink works.
• You can choose to enter only one way or submit up to 4 different entries if you’d like. Feel free to use the same picture for all 4 entries.
• Here’s how to enter:

The contest is open Monday, August 20, 2018, at 12 pm EDT until Tuesday, August 21, 2018, at 12 pm EDT. One winner will be randomly selected and announced tomorrow once the contest closes. The winner must live in a country that Goulet Pens currently ships to. Click here to see the Official Contest Rules.

Write On,
Adam

**WINNER: Congrats to Diya T. (Entered on Instagram). Check back next week for another awesome Monday Matchup Giveaway**

Hi there, fountain pen fans! Jenn here, bringing you my latest matchup. This week, I got to use the Karas Kustoms Fountain K in Orange Aluminum and the new Jacques Herbin 1798 Cornaline d’Egypte ink. Read on to hear about my inspiration for this purr-fectly comfy kitty and what I thought of the pen and ink!

The orange ink kept bringing to mind an orange tabby cat. I love kitties (I have 3 at home), but I wasn’t sure how I wanted to draw my imaginary tabby. Playing with yarn? Stalking a butterfly? Then I came across a picture I’d taken awhile back of my cat Zazzles asleep with his chin on the top of the tank of my betta fish, Threat Level Midnight (yes, I’m a fan of both Big Bang Theory and The Office!). It was adorable; it really did seem like Zazzles was trying to make friends with TLM and got so comfy he just fell asleep. I immediately knew I wanted to base my drawing off of that picture.

I started off by tracing a picture of a fish bowl, so I could ensure it would be symmetrical. I lightly drew in some outlines of the cat, then traced over my outlines until they were the thickness that I wanted. I gave emphasis to his ears, eyes, and nose, while keeping the outer facial lines very thin. After that, I moved on to outlining his paws, body, and tail. Again, I kept the lines thin and wavering to give the suggestion of fur without drawing individual hairs.

Once my kitty was outlined, I drew in the betta fish. I retraced the outer fins a couple of times to darken the lines, then filled them in, varying from extremely light pressure to firm pressure to get some variance in thickness and shade. I moved on to the scales. I tried to draw them in as realistically as possible but my medium nib was too thick for such tiny details. I ended up just making small, filled-in diamonds and randomly re-tracing some to make them darker. I finished up by shading in some areas of the fins, to give depth to the overall look. After the ink on my betta was dry, I went back to my cat and finished him up by adding his tabby stripes and whiskers. My drawing still seemed incomplete at this point. I realized I needed to add décor to the fish bowl. To keep it simple, I chose to go with your everyday aquarium rocks. I retraced the outline of the rocks several times, and then used a clean, wet brush pen to fill each one with a touch of color. My final step was to add the quote. I knew I wanted one that was simple, short, and spoke to comfort and companionship.  I chose the quote by N. R. Hart because I loved how adding it to my drawing lends viewers to the conclusion that these two creatures are the best of friends, unlikely as that may be.

I own an Karas Kustoms Ink and I really like it, so I was excited to try the Fountain K. I found it comfortable to hold, and while it’s definitely a solid weight, I didn’t find it to be heavy at all.  The grip is metal (the entire pen is metal) but not slippery. The nib was smooth and overall I really had a good writing experience. The orange color is bright but not obnoxiously so; I’m not a huge fan of orange but I like the look of this pen a lot.

The Cornaline d’Égypte is the newest Jacques Herbin 1798 shimmering ink. If you’ve read any of my previous Monday Matchups, you know I’m a huge fan of shimmer inks, and this one is no exception. It has a surprising range of color, from the light orange brought out by the brush pen to the almost brown that appears when put down in layers. The silver shimmer came through quite well, despite using a medium nib (as opposed to a broad or stub). When used in writing, the orange is a pleasing shade that is easily readable while remaining unique. So many people worry about clogs when using a shimmer pen, but the ink never once stopped flowing. I drew this picture over the course of four days, and I never had a problem just picking up the pen and getting straight to work. I did have difficulties with the finer details – the whiskers, the fins, the little wisps of hair inside the kitty’s ears – and getting them to actually show up on the paper. I think I was basically trying to get a medium nib to put down a fine or even extra-fine line, and that’s just not what medium nibs are made to do, so it’s not surprising that I had a hard time. Using a variety of nibs for the piece probably would have solved this struggle.

I feel like the Fountain K and the Jacques Herbin Cornaline d’Égypte would be great for just about anything –personal journaling, letter writing, work notes if you’re allowed non standard colors, and drawing. Yes it’s a shimmer ink, and yes it’s orange, but it’s also quite readable, flows well, and makes you happy when you look at it. The pen itself is tough – no worries if you’re taking it from place to place – and with the screw-on cap you can just toss it in your purse or stick it in your pocket and you’re good to go (although a pen slip never hurt anyone, either!).

You can find the Karas Kustoms Fountain K in Orange Aluminum at GouletPens.com for $80. Jacques Herbin Cornaline d’Egypte is availabe in a 50ml bottle for $28 or a 2ml sample for $2.

You could win this pen and ink! In an effort to make entering Monday Matchup a little easier, we’ve done away with the Rafflecopter widget and will be randomly selecting a winner from a randomly chosen platform each week. The entries methods will still be the same: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and a blog comment, but you’ll no longer have to complete your entry through Rafflecopter.

How to enter Monday Matchup Giveaway:

• Match a pen and ink together. They don’t have to match in color, any fountain pen, and ink works.
• You can choose to enter only one way or submit up to 4 different entries if you’d like. Feel free to use the same picture for all 4 entries.
• Here’s how to enter:

The contest is open Monday, August 13, 2018, at 12 pm EDT until Tuesday, August 14, 2018, at 12 pm EDT. One winner will be randomly selected and announced tomorrow once the contest closes. The winner must live in a country that Goulet Pens currently ships to. Click here to see the Official Contest Rules.

Write On,
Jenn