Sakura Ballsign Knock Gel Ink Pen Review

When I think Sakura, I think of only one pen: The Sakura Pigma Micron. This art/drawing/sketch pen is ubiquitous, appearing in creators pen stashes all over the world. Sakura makes other pens too, like the Grosso that I was a fan of back in the day, with the Sakura Ballsign Knock Gel the most recent to land on my desk.

The Ballsign is your basic entry level micro tip gel ink pen. Simple plastic construction, lightweight, knock retractable mechanism, 0.4 mm conical tip - pretty much how you would draw it up. One addition on the Ballsign is the presence of an elastomer grip, which is essentailly a grippy overlay that works surprisingly well. I actually didn't notice it at first. I thought it was just the standard plastic barrel continued through the grip, but I realized soon my fingers weren't slipping at all and the elastomer grip was why.

When writing, the Ballsign feels a lot like its competition. The lines are solid and sharp, although oddly enough I felt the orange lines were cleaner than the blue black. The colors look spot on too, at least on the two of the 15 colors I tried out. Another interesting takeaway is that the Ballsign refills match the shape and design of the Uni-ball RT1, so it could fit in those barrels that use RT, 207, and Jetstream refills if you are so inclined.

The Ballsign is not a world beater, but it is a solid option in the world of micro gel ink pens. For me, they rank lower than the Uni-ball Signo DX, RT1, and 207, as well as the Zebra Sarasa Clip and Pilot Juice. It falls in the Pentel Slicci/Muji Gel range, which is a good spot to be. Give them a shot, especially if you want to try some of the more interesting colors like brown black, red orange, and cherry pink.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

Pentel Aquash Water Brush Review

(This is a guest post by Nick Folz. You can find more of Nick and his work on Twitter, Instagram, and Tumblr.)

As opposed to constantly asking for more brush and art posts I thought I would just crank one out about my new favorite tool: JetPens. Disclaimer - I am not using this pen as the recommended (with water), but I have not modified it in any way. Any who, lets dive in to the dirty details.

This is a product from Pentel. Those of you who are ArtSnacks subscribers should have received one in your April snack box, I bought mine at an art store for a cool $5. It is marketed by Pentel as a water brush to create washes over watercolor pencil work, but I load it up with ink and have found it to be the best brush in my arsenal. It is an empty plastic reservoir body with removable (twist threaded screw top) brush tip, a plastic cap fits snuggly over the plastic bristles. The model I have is the medium, and that size is perfect for my use. It can swing from barely visible fine lines to thick area fills. I guess I should mention that it is empty when purchased. I have mine filled with Liquitex carbon black ink, but have also used a variety of india inks that all behaved comparably.

The Good

-- The action on the brush tip is tight and predictable, with a ton of variance that makes it a joy to use.

-- Filling it is easy (so long as your ink has a dropper in the cap, most do.)

-- The ink reservoir has just the right amount of "give" that the brush doesn't run dry or flood the bristles.

-- If you are inking a large area you can give the barrel a squeeze to get more ink to the tip. -- Reservoir is big enough that you can draw everyday for a month and not run dry. (obviously has some variance to how much of your page gets inked.)

-- It is remarkable that at this price point to have such a high level tool.

The Bad

-- While it is portable, I would avoid tossing it into a bag or pocket unguarded. The cap only snaps on, and while it hasn't popped off on me yet, I still take precaution. (I have an old zippered eyeglass case I keep it and the ink in).

-- If you are a sticker for aesthetics, look elsewhere. It is plastic by function (so you can squeeze the barrel for more ink), so I have no idea how a higher end one would look or function.

I have been down nearly every brush road: Pilot pocket brushes, Faber-Castell art brush pens, Variety brush packs from big box stores and Winsor & Newton Series 7 Kolinsky Sable to name a few. My favorites were the Series 7, but I hated having to get out all the accoutrements (ink well, cup of water, endless paper towels, etc.) every time I laid down some ink. I kept veering down the brush pen roads in an attempt to find a more portable option, but found they all lacked the snap of an actual brush and would run dry after a week of use. I bought the Pentel Aquash Water Brush on a whim and boy and I glad I did! I am very tempted to get four more to fill with different colors to have on hand, and at this price point I could do so without breaking a sweat (or the bank.)

They can be purchased at JetPens or your local art supply store.

Pilot Metropolitan White Tiger Fountain Pen Review

(Jeff Abbott is a regular contributor at The Pen Addict. You can find more from Jeff online at Draft Evolution and Twitter.)

The Pilot Metropolitan is one of those pens that caused quite a stir when they first hit the U.S. market. Why? Well, for me it was the price, the quality, and the feel of the pen that made it seem like such an excellent value. It's a fantastic everyday pen, a vey good choice for a first fountain pen, and a pretty good choice for a gift pen. I guess I've overlooked it in my reviews because it's just so ubiquitous and standard nowadays. But, I recently ordered a new one due to my recent predicament of only having one fountain to use. The Metropolitan seemed like the only right choice when I was trying to pick an affordable pen to use as an everyday writer for the next few weeks.

I went over to JetPens and picked out the white Metro with a fine nib, and also got a pack of Pilot Blue-black cartridges for good measure because their blue-black is one of the best. In a couple days, I was back to using a regular size pen as my everyday writer. The Liliput is a great pen, but a little too small for my taste when it comes to longer writing sessions.

Now, I purchased my first Metropolitan back in 2013 and used it heavily for several months. This review is for a new pen, but one that I've used a lot in other forms.

First off, there's the exterior of the pen, which is very simple and balanced. The original pens only came in three colors (black, silver, and gold) with three pattern options for the band (dot, zig-zag, and plain). Later on, Pilot released other designs that featured fake animal skin textures and more colors. I went with the white body and tiger print band. Personally, I love this design, but I know it's probably polarizing.

The pen has a fantastic weight since the insides of the barrel are supposedly brass. The outside is metal, probably aluminum, and I'm a huge sucker for metal bodied pens in general. In my opinion, Pilot hit a home run with this particular line of fountain pen. It's also very comfortable for me when I write — I've never had any complaints or aches when using the pen.

Apart from that, it's all about the nib. And, like I have come to expect from Pilot, it's smooth and error-free from the beginning.

My first Metropolitan has a medium nib because that's all Pilot offered in the first round. Later, they also introduced the fine nib, which is what I got this time. I've gotten to the point where I love both sizes and I pick them based on my mood. This one is no exception. Thin, crisp lines come out of this nib at a steady rate. The blue-black excels with this size nib, as you get a healthy dose of blue with just enough business feel.

For under $20, I don't think you can do better than the Metropolitan. It's a crowd-pleaser. It's about 4-times more than a Preppy, but it's leaps and bounds ahead of the Preppy in feel and performance. You can toss the Metro in the bag and not worry about it, while the Preppy will soon crack or break with minor wear.

It's also neutral compared to the Safari since it doesn't have a unique grip. And, now that they offer more color and band options, you can get one that offers a little more personality as well.

If you haven't tried out a Metro yet, you owe it to yourself to try out the fountain pen that offers the most value! It's an excellent beginner fountain pen, but it also hangs with the more expensive pens as well. It's a win-win.