today's pen is the foray advanced ink retractable ballpoint pen. i believe this pen was a stray, brought home by a family member from their place of work. a cursory google search yielded little information, and i was not able to find an official website. i did discover that these pens seem to be sold exclusively(?) by office depot and that the can be ordered off their website and on amazon.com as well.
one of the things i noticed right away is that this pen is smooth, it has amazing glide, it has good flow and a good range of value, this pen can be used quite well for things like gradient shading, hatching, gesture and contour drawings. the foray's body is plastic, and has little weight which to me, is associated with cheap products and while i't talking about the physical aspects, the clip is spring loaded - i'm not sure if that really matters but since they made the effort to include it i feel like it deserved mention. oh, before i forget, the pen does have a rubber grip that makes for a comfortable pen when used for extended periods of time.
the drawbacks of this pen lay in it's greatest asset, which is a little funny. since this pen is such a smooth writer, having little bite and interaction with the grain of the paper, it tends to lay down a lot of ink with little effort, this leads to a tendency of ink building up on the tip and leaving dark blob deposits if you aren't being careful, and while the ink does dry extremely fast, those blobs don't and that can make for a mess. as long as you keep a napkin or something to periodically clean the tip (or in my case i just wipe the pen off on my forearm) you should be all right.
on the topic of cost, it seem that these pens average to a little over $1 a pen depending on the amount of pens you purchase - they are available in several colors and a two tip sizes (1.2mm and 0.7mm). all in all i had a very positive experience with this pen and i am open to the idea of picking up a few in black and blue ink the next time i am near office depot.
it's a good pen. there are better and there are worse, but i think it is safe to say that they are worth a dollar or two.
www.officedepot.com
what they say:
Writes smoothly like a gel pen, but dries fast like a ballpoint! Retractable tungsten carbide point for no-skip performance. Textured grip enhances comfort and control. Foray Pens part of a large selection of office supplies. FORAY(R) Advanced Ink Retractable Ballpoint Pens, Bold Point, 1.2 mm, Assorted Barrels, Assorted Ink, Pack Of 8 is one of many Retractable Ballpoint Pens available through Office Depot. Made by Foray.
Item # 821572
Manufacturer # 20129
ink color Black; Blue; Green; Light Blue; Orange; Pink; Purple; Red
point type bold
point size 1.2
grip type textured
refillable no
barrel color Black; Blue; Green; Light Blue; Orange; Pink; Purple; Red
pocket clip yes
quantity 8
ink type low viscosity
distributor Swinton Avenue Trading Ltd., Inc.
postconsumer recycled content 0
total recycled content 0
Writes smoothly like a gel pen, but dries fast like a ballpoint! Retractable tungsten carbide point for no-skip performance. Textured grip enhances comfort and control. Foray Pens part of a large selection of office supplies. FORAY(R) Advanced Ink Retractable Ballpoint Pens, Bold Point, 1.2 mm, Assorted Barrels, Assorted Ink, Pack Of 8 is one of many Retractable Ballpoint Pens available through Office Depot. Made by Foray.
specs:
Item # 821572
Manufacturer # 20129
ink color Black; Blue; Green; Light Blue; Orange; Pink; Purple; Red
point type bold
point size 1.2
grip type textured
refillable no
barrel color Black; Blue; Green; Light Blue; Orange; Pink; Purple; Red
pocket clip yes
quantity 8
ink type low viscosity
distributor Swinton Avenue Trading Ltd., Inc.
postconsumer recycled content 0
total recycled content 0
1 comment:
You can clearly see that this pen is indeed good for shading. Your 2nd drawing is fantastic. I wonder, in your opinion, how does it compare to the Inkjoy?
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