pen 109: paper mate expressions

today we'll be taking a look at one of the more stylish pens on the market, the paper mate expressions.
retailing between $3-$4 for a pack of five, these pens come in a variety of black and white designs, some cooler than others, still if you are trying to look, wait for it, awesome while doing whatever it is that you can with a pen, this might be the pen you have been searching for, that special pen that will finally fill that pen shaped hole in your heart... er that sounded kinda a little like you might try and stab yourself in the chest... i am not suggesting that you stab yourself anywhere... don't, repeat, do not do that. and if you do please erase your browser history i don't need any lawsuits.  


the expression is a retractable or capped pen, with a 1 mm. tip and comes in one glorious color, black. 

one of the funnier things about this pen is that although it is called expressions, on the website it's adjective is "panache!" while the pen directly below it, the flair's adjective is expressive... i don't know if that is funny to anyone else but i got a chuckle out of it.

these pens are fairly inexpensive, they look interesting, they write as well as they draw or sketch. the ink flows poorly, it needs to be warmed up and tends to skip and stutter, i found i had to periodically scribble on a scratch piece of paper to get it working again... annoying. it has fair to poor glide/smoothness, and a fair bite. this pen is rather clean, the ink dries quickly, doesn't build up on the tip and thus, does not leave deposits of ink all over whatever you are writing on. this pen is good to fair for detail work, has a good range in value between light and dark, is an effective choice for gesture or contour drawing and has a rubber comfort grip that makes periods of extended use a bit more tolerable.

these pens are a a middle of the ground pen, i doubt i would go out of my way to use one but if it is in my bag, i wouldn't be averse to using it. also, since the pen does look neat, you do run the risk that someone (read: someone like me) will use it and then walk off with it. but that is the price you have to pay for being an awesome person with awesome pens who is dumb enough to let someone (again, read: me) use said pen in the first place. if you are anything like me, i actually keep a few spare (read: cheap as hell) pens to loan out to those who are not prepared. this tactic has served me well over the years.

but enough of my digressions, should you buy these pens? i wouldn't again, there are better choices for the price. they are meh pens, really the only thing that they have going for them is that they look kind of neat.

price: $3.28 (5 pack) (papermate.com)

website:
www.papermate.com

what they say:

Trendy barrel designs that are as fun to look at as they are to write with.  Available in retractable and capped.