Artists and their tools 🖌️

An artists tools become an extension of themselves. If you ever picked up a pencil and started using it, you often forget you are holding a pencil. The pencil becomes an extension of your abilities to make marks on a surface of some type. Boy does this cause issues if you drop your pencil on the ground. Or if your point snaps. To me experiences like this are painful.

The longer you make art make art using the tools you do, it can be hard transitioning. Other tools may not just feel right. It takes some time to get in the zone with your new tool. Say from a wooden pencil to a mechanical one. You may not like the feel a wooden pencil makes. The vibrations of the utensil being used and making marks. You can use a different tool, but it may not feel right to the artists. Don't get me started how different paper, surfaces can differences.

Being obsessive myself when it comes to artists tools I can share the experience. I used to hate using fine liners. In my experience, they always dried out too fast. Or I somehow damaged the tip. Many tools feel weird to me. Wooden pencils bring me trauma of having to use them in school. Everything was always abcd, bacd, cabd, acdb. haha Mechanical pencils feel good to me. Perhaps it is part tactile feel part memory. Now when I started using a digital Wacom grip pen, I had some issues.

When I first started using the Wacom grip pen with my 13 inch wacom tablet I had some problems. I lacked muscle memory and glided all over the surface. I felt as if I was learning to draw all over again because I was. Perhaps a newbie problem. The downside was compounded as I was still pretty new to drawing at the time. But perhaps no good answer exists. Every tool has a learning curve to get used to. I am glad I can share this as every time I had to try a new nib on my wacom grip pen, I felt I had to get used to it again. I got over this after about 6-8 months. When I put a new one in, I can adapt instantly. Perhaps this is similar to pencil points... Every artists tool has quirks to internalize until the tool becomes an extension of oneself.

I believe the first time I heard of artists tool obsession was with chalk. Search the internet for Hagoromo Fulltouch Chalk Japanese. It was a chalk that caused quite the stir when the company announced closure. Everyone jumped to get some because they thought they would no longer be able to. Is chalk chalk? I don't believe it is. The tool had meaning and quality to those who used it. So those who did bought a lifetime supply or had to find another favorite chalk. But those who used the chalk appeared to be those in the field of academia. No matter the intelligence of the individual, feeling has some meaning.

I feel as if artist tools gain an reputation for those who use them. The comic artists Stan Sakai used the Kohl-Noor art pen as a process of his work. I never grew up with comic books, but Stan has an cool style unlike anything I had seen before. You can read more about the process of how he used the art pen by clicking here. Stan has an Facebook post you can read here as well It should be noted that Stan had spent many years mastering his craft. A tool doesn't make you a master. But the tool does matter. Perhaps you are trying to reverse engineer an artists style. In that case, the tool does matter. Although everyone is different and everyone should strive to be the best version of themself. My friend ">Jonathan Weinberg also has a video in which he talks about the Kohl-Noor art pen 3050 in a video. That can give you an idea about the feel and how it works. Working in black india ink is great. You also have to keep in mind the ink that is being used. Yes, that matters as well. Matt Groening, the creator of the Simpsons also sought the Kohl-Noor art pen 3050 in an interview you could read by clicking here to read the archival version

If you have ever used B graphite compared to H graphite, you can tell a difference exists. Kohl-Noor doesn't appear to manufacture the same ink that was packaged with the Kohl-Noor which was 3083-F artpen india ink black. This is most likely due to a reported clogging issue with the underfeed. I am under the impression that the tool just needs to be cleaned after each session. The compounds that are used in black india ink are waterproof, therefore they can clog feeds. But hey, if you don't clean wet dirt off a shovel after use it will rust. Water for the win. Take care of your tools. Use it for a day then clean it. I wanted to end this section with why tools may be taken off the market. When tools are being used and tested for long periods of time, you eventually reach end of life. You have to take care of your tools. Sometimes even when you do that, tools break. Possibly the idea of an fountain pen taking india ink needed to be improved. It also didn't help that nibs tend break first. Meaning the 3050 art pen would work, but just needed a new nib. You can read more about black india ink here.

Branding matters. Something no one ever talks about is how branding has power. How something is marketed to one. The branding of the Kohl-Noor art pen isn't off-putting. The color is yellow which isn't too professional looking. I think that is a lot of the attraction of it. Most fountain pens look as if you are about to write some official boring business document. Too professional and too expensive. The pen was also affordable as well. It came with ink and a case. Cool. Most fountain pens come with a tube of ink. But more expensive fountain pens come with a case.

The second time I heard about tool obsession was the Koh-I-Noor art pen 3050. This tool had been used by famous people. I can feel the allure to the tool. The company Koh-I-Noor Hartmuth has a history of high quality made tools. I myself like their graphite holder of 6B lead. If you search around the internet, you can find the allure of the art pen. It has a beautiful yellow barrel, gold nib, and nifty case. People all over the internet swear by the lines it can produce. I believe the pen didn't come with replacement nibs either. So that was a bit of an issue as well. I believe the unique feature is that it can take black india ink. Which is unique, because most fountain pens can't use india ink. This is because the feeds of the fountain pens clog due to the compounds in the black ink clogging the feed. A flow design problem you could say. I believe it is important to remember that those who use dip pens are advised to clean the ink off of the nibs after each use.

But looking at the Koh-I-Noor art pen 3050 is the color of the pen. That beautiful yellow color barrel. The gold nib and packaging. Koh-I-Noor art pen 3050 has quite an mezmerizing design. Is it the color the pen produces? The large array of line quality? The flex the pen has? The case? The barrel casing? Or is it that we want what we can't have? The nature of something being rare? Would people even want something like that if it was released on the shelves again? Hard to say. Similar pens were made available online being able to use the japanese G nib. But it appears have similar issues to this day. Always clean your nibs and feed after daily use and they will last longer.

Through the years you can see on ebay similar Koh-I-Noor art pen 3050 fetching a couple hundred dollars. It appaers they started around say in the higher 60$ then have skyrocketed to a couple hundreds. Many being in used or opened condition. What is even more hilarious is that some of these art pens have misaligned tines. Many of the sellers do place an sold as is condition. Imagine buying a broken pen for a few hundred dollars. Unless your idea is to fix it or send it to a nibmeister. I guess you always have to becareful what you purchase on ebay. Sadly no tool lasts forever. If you digest every article regarding this on the internet, you will learn that many seek to purchasing vintage fountain pen nibs in substitute for the Koh-I-Noor art pen. Many say only vintage nibs can reach the same level of flex.

In the web article 50 years of animal cruelty and paint brushes by Fine Arts Gurukul the author talks about how the hairs used to make paint brushes were taken from the hairs of animals. Many paint brushes were even named after the animal that was used to make it. Think sable brushes, ox hair brushes, etc. You name it. Although many brushes sold today are synthetic but still retain the same name. Not every country have animal cruetly sales laws.

Many famous fine artists had most likely commited cruelty since in the old days, artists commonly made their own tools. But perhaps something is always lost when we create anything new. Whether a piece of the environment or something living. Or the time that you would otherwise be making the art you want to make.

I think artists tools matter. In addition to paper, easel or surface. I won't use rough sketch paper. I don't like the feel. I also don't like the feel of wooden pencils. I also don't like surfaces that are flat. I need an angled surface to draw on. I am so picky that often I need to sit when drawing so I can do it correct. Oddly enough I find myself in weird positions when drawing that tend to make the blood rush to my head. Dizzy dizzy. I think artists have a point when it comes to tool favoring.

All in all, one day you will most likely use a tool that evaporates from production. What does this do? Causes a scare. Causes a worry that you may loose your favorite tool. If you like a tool that much, maybe buy two just in case. One for an emergency backup. Just in case... Or be ready to try a similar tool that feels right with you.

In this blog post I talked about artists tools. But the hype train has surrounded many different people, places, and things. Do be ready to occasionally find dissapointment. Not everything is as hyped as it seems. Just because something feels good to one artists, it may feel like garbage to another artist. Maybe have a chance to try it in person before you buy something... If that is possible.

About Lars Barnabee 🐝 hey that's me