And the salsa girls sing...
I was in a Chipotle today - pause here to allow for mockery from immlass - OK, done? So, I was in this Chipotle, and they’re playing music on the sound system, and I hear that familiar “doo da-doo da-doo doo-da-doo” and I realize that they’re playing “Walk on the Wild Side”. Actually, a Spanish-language cover of “Walk on the Wild Side”. But here’s the thing: If you were to travel back in time fifty years and tell Ray Kroc that one day that restaurants owned by the corporation he was founding would one day be entertaining their customers with a song about a transvestite who gives blow jobs to support a drug habit, what do you think his reaction would be?
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about art supplies, hasn’t it? I stopped in at the Dick Blick art store on Bond St to see if they had the new Copic Multiliners in stock, the ones with the aluminum bodies (they didn’t, only the old ones with the hideous speckled plastic casing), and I noticed some new sketchbooks.
Designed by Artist Hardware, Inc; manufactured distributed by Global Art Materials, Inc, and labeled as the hand•book journal co line, it’s as if they’re intended to be hard to google for, but here: a page on the Artist Hardware site, and another on the Dick Blick catalog site. These are obviously designed to compete with Moleskine sketchbooks, and they do that very well. They have almost the same form factors (just thicker), plus a square book. They’ve got the bookmark (orange instead of gray), and the elastic band to keep the cover closed (but slightly tighter), and a pocket in the back (clear plastic instead of manilla cardstock - less stylish, but probably more durable). The paper’s a slightly brighter white, and they’re 128 pages, rather than the 80 of a Moleskine sketchbook or the 60 of Moleskine’s watercolor books, but most important - the paper takes watercolor well. Moleskine’s sketch paper has a slick surface that resists ink and wash, and I’ve read that the watercolor paper isn’t much better.
Here, a color test:
I dabbed both books with a bit of Winsor Newton Winsor Red watercolor (artist’s quality) on a water brush. My first dab was a bit thin, since I didn’t pick up much color from the pan; that’s the thin wash on the hand•book. The second dab has more color on it. See how the paint breaks up on the Moleskine paper?
Furthermore, the hand•book journals list for the same price or less than Moleskines, despite having more pages.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted about art supplies, hasn’t it? I stopped in at the Dick Blick art store on Bond St to see if they had the new Copic Multiliners in stock, the ones with the aluminum bodies (they didn’t, only the old ones with the hideous speckled plastic casing), and I noticed some new sketchbooks.
Designed by Artist Hardware, Inc; manufactured distributed by Global Art Materials, Inc, and labeled as the hand•book journal co line, it’s as if they’re intended to be hard to google for, but here: a page on the Artist Hardware site, and another on the Dick Blick catalog site. These are obviously designed to compete with Moleskine sketchbooks, and they do that very well. They have almost the same form factors (just thicker), plus a square book. They’ve got the bookmark (orange instead of gray), and the elastic band to keep the cover closed (but slightly tighter), and a pocket in the back (clear plastic instead of manilla cardstock - less stylish, but probably more durable). The paper’s a slightly brighter white, and they’re 128 pages, rather than the 80 of a Moleskine sketchbook or the 60 of Moleskine’s watercolor books, but most important - the paper takes watercolor well. Moleskine’s sketch paper has a slick surface that resists ink and wash, and I’ve read that the watercolor paper isn’t much better.
Here, a color test:
I dabbed both books with a bit of Winsor Newton Winsor Red watercolor (artist’s quality) on a water brush. My first dab was a bit thin, since I didn’t pick up much color from the pan; that’s the thin wash on the hand•book. The second dab has more color on it. See how the paint breaks up on the Moleskine paper?
Furthermore, the hand•book journals list for the same price or less than Moleskines, despite having more pages.