Giveaway: Sailor and Pilot Pocket Brush Pens

I need to take care of my art friends a little better here on The Pen Addict, so let's give away a cool little kit of pocket brush pens! One lucky winner will take home all three of the pens shown above, which are (from L to R):

Sailor Pocket Brush Pen - Super Fine

Pilot Pocket Brush Pen - Hard

Pilot Double Sided Brush Pen Black and Grey - Hard

I thought I might get some use out of these myself, but try as I might, my art skills aren't up to snuff. Better to get them in the hands of someone who knows what they are doing. Here is how to enter:

1. Leave one comment on this post anytime between now, and Thursday night at 11:59 PM Eastern Time. You are limited to one entry. This contest is limited to US residents only.

2. Please follow @jetpens on Twitter and "Like" JetPens on Facebook. This is not mandatory, but I sure would appreciate your support! Feel free to follow me @dowdyism as well.

3. For this contest, I will pick one winner at random from the comments section of this post. The comments will be numbered in the order they are received, i.e. the first comment is #1, the second #2, and so on. The Random Integer Generator at random.org will be used to pick the number of the winner.

4. The contest winner will be posted on Friday, June 10th. The winner will have one week to email me at the address posted in the right sidebar.

Thanks and good luck!

Behance Dot Grid Cahier Review

Aside from the plethora of pens I have laying around to review, I have so many notebooks that I am running behind on. Bryan got that ball rolling for me last week, and I am picking it up this week with the Behance Dot Grid Cahier.

This is one of those notebooks that grabbed me the first time I saw it online and I knew I would have to pick some up. My wife bought me a two pack this past Christmas from Barnes & Noble (I'm not sure they even stock them anymore), and I have been very happy with it so far.

One of my favorite things about the Dot Grid Cahier is the size. Most notebooks in this category (Moleskine Cahier, Field Notes, Doane Paper Utility Notebook) are 3 1/2" x 5 1/2". The Behance model checks in at 4"x6" and for regular every day use I like that size better. I still use the Doane as my back pocket notebook because of its size, but the Behance gives just a bit more writing room overall.

Behance chose to use 60lb New Leaf 100% recycled paper, which I had never used before, but it does a nice job. It is not as smooth as Rhodia paper, but it handled every ink I threw at it nicely. Gel and ballpoint inks were the best, while the liquid ink pens had a slight bit of soak into the page, but didn't bleed or show thru too badly.

What I haven't been able to figure out yet is how to approach the dot grid layout. Being the huge fan of regular grid paper that I am, the dot grid is visually appealing to me, but doesn't feel as functional. When I write, I get the feeling that I am lost on the page. I can see a ton of uses for this though, but I couldn't personally use it for straight journaling. To do lists, brainstorming, or what it is intended for - the Behance Action Method - would be nice fits though. It is a notebook definitely worth giving a shot.

Ink Links

-- A new pencil blog, and an amazing offer (Woodclinched)

-- The Competition (Field Notes)

-- A.G. Spalding & Bros Bullet Roller (Penfan.ru)

-- Zebra Eco Sarasa Clip Gel Ink Pen (Pocket Blonde)

-- Howard Andrew Jones’ Writing Tools (Notebook Stories)

-- I Draw Cars Sketchbook & Reference Guide (idsketching)

-- Ohto Comforcil-2.0 leadholder Review (Lung Sketching Scrolls)

-- Kaweco Sport Classic (Economy Pens)

-- Desert Island Pens: Which 10 Pens Would You Take? (Does This Pen Write?)

-- JetPens Review: White Pens (QuinnCreative)

-- Blog Review: An Inkophile’s Blog (Tiger Pens Blog)

-- Guest post: Dora's work diaries! (Plannerisms)

-- Sketchbook (Drawing with a Squirrel)

-- Dixon No. 2 Pencil (Stationery Traffic)

-- Noodler's Manjiro Nakahama (Whaleman's Sepia) First Impressions Review (Derek's Pens & Pencils)

-- Ink Review: J. Herbin Diabolo Menthe (Rants of The Archer)

-- Mini Review: Leuchtturm Pocket Notebook, Dots, 3.5 x 6 Inch (No Pen Intended)

-- Chatelaine and Vintage Mechanical Pencils (Dave's Mechanical Pencils)

-- Oh, the colors! (The Crazy Life of J)

-- Penpedia - Shaped Paper Clips at JetPens (JetPens Blog)