Today was a bad news, good news day. It started with a migraine that eventually passed enough to work most of the day (despite the internet going down, fixing that and then a little later the electricity went out long enough to shut down the computer with several projects in progress). The migraine left behind a tummy ache. I couldn’t deal with the supermarket so went to the little health food store and bought some natural Ginger Ale, organic saltines and candied ginger (all supposed to be good for tummy aches).
The good news is that this morning my reliable but grumpy mailman delivered my new Namiki Falcon fine point fountain pen and this evening I felt well enough to fill it with ink and give it a spin. I LOVE IT! The nib floats like a dream over the page with control and flexibility and a really nice fine line. It’s the best pen I’ve ever used. UPDATE June 2011: After using the pen for a few weeks I discovered that I didn’t really like it that much and sold it. I felt I had too little control of the ink flow, which went to fast for me, even with the extra fine nib. I’ve gone back to my Lamy Safari extra fine point which I LOVE!
The other good news is that with these sketches I finally finished filling the Moleskine watercolor sketch book that I’ve so detested using during the interim between binding sketchbooks. Tomorrow I get to start using the one I bound a couple of weeks ago. Yay!
Jana Bouc, Artist 
9 replies on “Ginger for a Tummy Ache: Sketched with Namiki Falcon”
Why is ginger beer SO GOOD? I love it: my mother used to make when I was a kid: though occasionally the ‘ginger plant’ would explode and the redecorate the kitchen.
There’s a great brand in the UK called Fentiman’s. It’s the business!!
On the subject of pens: are these Namiki Falcons really that good? Mattias uses one . . and that can’t be bad!!
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The short answer is YES! The Namiki Falcon is that good. I hadn’t realized what a difference a great pen can make. Jana
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PS why do you dislike the watercolour Moleskine so much? Large or small?
PPS Can we do a reciprocal site link?
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Hi Rowland, I don’t mind the Moleskine watercolor paper too much though it’s a little thin so you get some show-through if you work on two sides and when you wet one side it comes through to the other which I learned the hard way this week. But the real problem for me is the format. It’s bound on the short side of a wide landscape format so it’s really hard to draw on both sides of a spread as I’m used to. If you only used the righthand side (if you’re right handed) it would be ok but trying to draw on the lefthand page is nearly impossible (if you’re sketching without a table and holding the book or have limited space on a table) unless you turn it upside down so you’re always drawing on the right. That’s what I’ve been doing so every other page is drawn upside down. If I were starting over with this book I think I would only work on the right-hand pages which makes it a very expensive book since you lose half the pages. I much prefer a portrait format and the heavier paper in the books I bind myself.
P.S. Thanks for the link offer. I visited your site and enjoyed your sketches (and drooled over the VW conversion!) but I don’t really do reciprocal linking. I just update my blogroll with sites I’ve been visiting and loving after several months. I do try to regularly visit the sites of people who comment and leave a note there when I can, so for now I hope that’s good enough.
Jana
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re Moleskine,
I agree with you about the format: I try to use the right hand side for drawing and the left for writing, quotes, tickets, cuttings etc.
P.S. Love the bottle drawing.
Cheers!!
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That’s a perfect solution and I’ll try that next time, as I’m sure I’ll need an interim sketchbook again. Jana
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These are some of my favorite sketches ever. But I think that almost every time you post some. 🙂 Hope you’re all better now.
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Thanks! My favorite is the egg holder and ginger. And I think I’m finally all better. yay! Jana
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Glad the migraine & tummy ache have gone leaving you free to enjoy your new pen. Great sketches Jana.
My nemesis is the normal moleskin which hates watercolour, but I may have to get another one as I can’t find a replacement A6 for the fallen apart W&N. (Can’t/won’t make my own).
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