I'm on the hunt for the perfect sketching pen for these sketches and the Zebra Z- grip smooth was the first pen I decided to try. I was looking for a pen that was easy to get my hands on, affordable and felt good to use for a long time. This pen came in a pack of 5 for 30p per pen, they are widely available and comfortable to hold but I wouldn't buy it again for the purpose of sketching. though you can definitely work with it if it's all you have to hand. My biggest problem with it was the way the ink is deposited, sometimes a blob will come out all of a sudden and you feel like your drawing is ruined and other times, not enough ink comes out making it do you have to go over a line more than once, leading to a mess. I was sketching with it today and found that if I kept wiping the nib with a tissue, that would prevent some of the blobbing, you just have to keep checking.
The Z-grip is light and comfy in your hand and works well for writing; it is smooth and the ink flows reliably, but when drawing the ink flow is all wrong, sometimes too dry and sometimes too wet creating smudging.
Lesson learned, I'll stick to supplies designed specifically for art purposes from now on.
New Years Resolutions for 2023
Most of my New Years Resolutions revolve around being a better and more productive artist and business person. As with everyone else, being more organised and working harder and smarter is a goal post that is constantly moving so to make sure I am always working towards my aims, I want to create more daily habits as I found that is the best way to hit targets that seem really far away, to take small steps every day until I get there.
Create a daily sketching habit
Make more artwork that is personal to me and has a story to it
Produce a small range of products for my shop
Get better at composition
Put more effort into managing my accounts
If you would like to hear a full first impressions review of the Zebra Z-grip smooth then I filmed a video showing me trying it and gave you my honest opinion.
Products mentioned in this post
See you next week!
I'll be trawling through Amazon in the meantime looking for more pens!
Camile
xoxo
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