Pen Reviews by Andrea Joseph

I am honored to be able to share with you these great pen reviews by my friend Andrea Joseph. Her ballpoint ink drawings are some of the most amazing pieces of art I have laid my eyes on, and I am very grateful to her for sharing these with the readers of The Pen Addict. Be sure to click on the drawings to read the reviews. Thanks Andrea!

When I approached The Pen Addict about doing a ballpoint pen review I felt there was only way to go about it; draw it! At first, I intended to review blue ballpoints but I couldn’t stop there. So, here are some of the ballpoints that I use for drawing and doodling. They are by no means my favourite pens or the only ones that I use, they are just a random selection. Actually, maybe not that random, they were selected because they worked well in the over all composition of the drawings. I hope!

A little about me; my name is Andrea Joseph and I am a ballpoint addict. It doesn’t just stop at ballpoints; I am a pen addict in general. I have three bulging pencil cases for ballpoints alone (there are, of course, all the other pencil cases with fine liners, fountain pens, colour pencils etc.). These drawings are a selection from each of them.

If you’d like to see more of my ballpoint drawings, you can find them on my Flickr page. For more information on drawing with ballpoints you might be interested in my ballpoint zine or my ballpoint ‘starter pack’. They can be found in my Etsy shop. And, for all other news on my work check out my sketchblog.

Zebra Sarasa Clip 1.0mm Review

It is a well known fact that I am a Zebra Sarasa Clip fan. From placing the 0.3mm at number one on my personal Top 5 Pens list, to ranking the 0.4mm as one of my Top 5 Micro Tip Gel Ink Pens to recommend to new users, it’s pretty clear that I like the pen. The Zebra Sarasa Clip 1.0mm is a little bit out of my range for every day use, but I know many readers are fans of 0.7mm tips and greater, so let’s take a look.

If there is one thing that is consistent across all of Zebras product lines it is how vibrant their ink colors are. All of the colors really pop on the page, and the black is a very deep black. The red ink of the Sarasa is especially nice, and for some reason, I thought the red pen performed better when writing than the blue or black inks. I felt it gave a sharper, cleaner line, but it could just be an illusion.

Another thing that is consistent across all of Zebras products is that their gel ink cartridges run out quickly compared to other gel pens. This has been the case ever since I became a heavy Zebra user over 15 years ago, and still holds true to this day. Based on my experiences with the 0.3mm and 0.4mm models, my initial thought was I am going to blow through the ink on these 1.0mm pens at an epic rate, but Zebra has a little trick up their sleeve. The 1.0mm cartridges have more ink in them than the smaller tip sizes.

I guess this is done so that a 1.0mm cartridge will last approximately as long as an 0.3mm or 0.4mm cartridge, but I sure would like to see this wider ink reservoir in the smaller tip sizes. You can see the differences in the photos - the 0.3mm cartridge has a thicker plastic wall than the 1.0mm. Again, my guess is Zebra doesn’t want the 1.0mm to run out so fast, but I would love to see the 0.3mm last longer.

Ink cartridges be damned, this is still a good pen. And the 1.0mm is refillable in the three colors shown here, so you can always have a backup on hand if needed.

Pilot Acroball 0.5mm Blue Review

For regular readers of The Pen Addict, you know what type of pen I am referring to when I talk about hybrid ballpoints, but for the uninitiated, let me recap real quick.

Traditional ballpoint pens are oil-based inks, which gives them certain properties that aren't so great. They tend to be messy and have a faint smell, but they write very smoothly. They are also very low-cost to manufacture, which is why you see them everywhere you go.

Hybrid ballpoint inks have gained in popularity over the past decade with the Uni-Ball Jetstream line of pens. The Jetstream ink proved to be smoother, darker, and more consistent than traditional ballpoint ink. The cost was greater, but the results were worth it to many people.

In the last two years, all of the major pen manufacturers have jumped into the hybrid ballpoint category. Zebra has the Surari, Pentel has the Vicuna, and Pilot has the Acroball (called the Easy Touch Pro in the US), each with their own ink formulation. All of these rank as some of my favorite pens to use on a daily basis. The Jetstream has topped my personal chart for as long as I can remember, but there is a new sheriff in town.

The Pilot Acroball impressed me from day one with its smooth, dark ink and exceptional grip. You would think the grip wouldn't play into the equation that much, but it can be a very important piece of the puzzle. I use the 0.7mm Acroball in both blue and black ink quite frequently, but the Jetstream 0.5mm was still my favorite hybrid ballpoint. I love the super fine line!

When I saw the 0.5mm Acroball released at JetPens, I couldn't get my hands on one fast enough. The lines I can write with this pen are very fine and tight, and it has the same grip as the original, which I love. The real question is will this pen replace my beloved Jetstream Sport 0.5mm?

Yes.

There is one thing to remember about 0.5mm ballpoint pens before you jump into them blindly - they are scratchier than most pens. This doesn't bother me one bit because the actual output is more important to me, but I have recommended the Jetstream 0.5mm several times only to have readers tell me it was too scratchy for them. Compared to an 0.7mm gel ink pen or 1.0mm ballpoint, sure, they are scratchy. But all things considered, they write very well, and the Acroball 0.5mm may be the best of the bunch.