there is beauty everywhere OR Copic Multiliner Rocks!

I've been on a quest to find the perfect pen for art journaling for months. Literally.

When I was at the Craft and Hobby Association meeting last week I was on a mission to try ALL the pens either coming to market or already available. While you might think that would be a daunting mission, it wasn't. Mostly because I found my dream PEN at the first stop. This isn't a new pen -- but I'm in love with it anyway. Oh Copic Multiliner where have you been all my life? 

One of the things that I noticed right away is the tip is rounded on the edges instead of square like other pens are. Being a leftie -- and taking into consideration that I hold my pen in a wonky way (most people say how can you write that way, but whatever --lol) this rounded tip really rocked for me. There are other features that I liked, but let me show you how I used it in my art journal last night so you can see exactly why I want to buy more of these in different tip sizes.

When I add lettering and quotes to my pages I always use a pencil to rough in the words - this helps me work out placement, spacing and size. For me it's really important that the lettering look as nice as the art -- I follow these practices when I scrapbook too!

My Illustration Professor says NO to pencil -- I say YES bring it on.

When I'm happy with the pencil draft I use a platinum Brushables from Zig to trace over the pencil lines. I'm not precise at this point, often times I make little adjustments as I work along.

Then I go in with the black pen to trace the pencil lines.

A double line on curves and places here and there adds interest, and I like my pages to be interesting.

When I'm done, I go back in with a darker Platinum Brushable and make the shadow on one side of the lettering a bit darker -- this creates depth and makes my lettering look a little raised off the page. I love this technique (which I learned from Heidi Swapp in one of the books she wrote with Autumn Leaves YEARS ago) and it really accents anything you create.

I also use the Copic MultiLiner to go over the pencil lines in my painting to accentuate the lines and enhance the details, it really makes things pop right off the page.

Other things I like about the MultiLiner are not as obvious as the rounded tip -- but are definite selling points. The first -- the tips are REPLACEABLE on some. Yes. So when you gunk up your tip with gel medium or gesso -- which I do ALL the time -- and your pen is full of ink you can replace it and use up the rest of that delicious ink. The second -- the ink barrel is replaceable. Yes -- that gorgeous metal barrel that you love so much will last FOREVER because you can add new ink cartridges to it.

And the last reason I love this pen so much -- it's a silly reason -- but I like the way the cap clicks on when you press it onto the barrel. A nice, sturdy, manly click. Great for people with nervous ticks, ha ha - not that I have nervous ticks but you get the picture.  The pen feels great in my hand, perfectly weighted and doesn't hurt my fingers to use it for a long time.

There is another reason that I love this pen. It's not silly, but sweet. As I was gushing about how much I loved the MultiLiner to my friend Martha while we were looking around the Copic Booth and how perfect it was for me as a leftie -- I thanked the gentleman that was giving me the information -- asked him if they were available to purchase in sets or individually -- and gave him back the pen -- thanked him again and started to walk away -- he touched my arm and said you can take it with you if you like. Yes, it's the little things that mean a lot. Yes, I was in Pen Heaven and couldn't wait to use it in my art journal!

I did not expect that little bit of generosity as the pens are almost $10.00 each -- so it made me pretty happy -- I am definitely going to save up my pennies and get a nice set of these -- but for now the 0.3 Tip will have to make me happy!

Thanks for stopping by -- hope you have a GREAT weekend. It's a nice, rainy day here and my garden is getting a drink that it's really needed.