Show Us Your Oblique Penholders!

[hzsimms]

New carrot style holder. Cocobolo and turquoise.

 

 

http://i1349.photobucket.com/albums/p743/hzsimms/IMG_2800_zpsb24b2bda.jpg

[MusinkMan]

Here's one of my newer ones. Ebony, Holly, Padauk, and an ivory endcap.

 

 

[hzsimms]

Here's one of my newer ones. Ebony, Holly, Padauk, and an ivory endcap.

 

 

 

Very nice work, Brian! Went back with the padauk, I see. Come up with a new way to keep it from chipping???

[caliken]

Here's a magnificent penholder from Brian Smith (MusinkMan)

Edited March 27, 2014 by Ken Fraser

[schin]

Boy, everytime Ken posts I have to sit and stare and FORCE my brain to think 'No that's not a computer font, a human did that!!!'

[thang1thang2]

Boy, everytime Ken posts I have to sit and stare and FORCE my brain to think 'No that's not a computer font, a human did that!!!'

 

He actually lost me once when he posted something with a perfect gradient. I actually commented asking how he put the gradient in, (guessing photoshop). I had never seen someone paint a gradient so perfectly inside a letter, so you could imagine I had a hard time picking my jaw off the floor when he told me how he made it.

[caliken]

Thank you Schin and thang1thang2.

 

Actually, shading isn't difficult if you have a lot of patience. It just takes a long time....at least, it does for me.

 

I just keep working from dark to light and back again over and over until it looks right and smooth. After all, this is how it was done, long before Photoshop.....just look at the delicate shading in the paintings of the Old Masters!

 

I know that I could learn how to do it by computer, but that would take all the fun (and sense of achievement) out of it.

 

Ken

Edited October 15, 2013 by caliken

[MusinkMan]

Mr. Ken, thank you so much for posting my pen with your freakishly-good writing! I can make them, but I'll never be able to use them anywhere near the way that you do. Sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo good. Actually GREAT is nearer the mark.

 

Thank you again, sir!

[MusinkMan]

 

Very nice work, Brian! Went back with the padauk, I see. Come up with a new way to keep it from chipping???

 

Thank you, Howard. Well, nothing gives me that dark saturated red like padauk. As for chipping, I usually don't have too much trouble with it. I have started honing my chisels to razor-sharpness before I start each job. They cut really well, and slice through. Try to be careful with the "scraping" tools...if they are not really sharp, that's when the problems start to happen. The thing about padauk wood is that it has a very pronounced grain structure which is conducive to chipout when the chisels contact it. Just keep a close eye on it, stopping the lathe frequently when your chisels are contacting the padauk. If you see some chipout starting to develop, sand it out and go back at it. Re-inforce the grains with CA and accelerator before going back at it. That stuff will work wonders in stabilizing the padauk for you; but ya still gotta be cautious.

[Scribe_Not]

Boy, everytime Ken posts I have to sit and stare and FORCE my brain to think 'No that's not a computer font, a human did that!!!'

+1 on not the computer!

[Scribe_Not]

Thank you, Howard. Well, nothing gives me that dark saturated red like padauk. As for chipping, I usually don't have too much trouble with it. I have started honing my chisels to razor-sharpness before I start each job. They cut really well, and slice through. Try to be careful with the "scraping" tools...if they are not really sharp, that's when the problems start to happen. The thing about padauk wood is that it has a very pronounced grain structure which is conducive to chipout when the chisels contact it. Just keep a close eye on it, stopping the lathe frequently when your chisels are contacting the padauk. If you see some chipout starting to develop, sand it out and go back at it. Re-inforce the grains with CA and accelerator before going back at it. That stuff will work wonders in stabilizing the padauk for you; but ya still gotta be cautious.

Good lord Brian, that is one magnificent staff! And apropos that Ken is utilizing it to the fullest.

Edited October 16, 2013 by Scribe_Not

[caliken]

Mr. Ken, thank you so much for posting my pen.......

My pleasure. Actually, a holder as attractive as that, deserves to be seen!

 

I also show it off in post #47 of my thread "Caliken's Calligraphy" which is pinned at the top of this forum.

 

Ken

[Estefa]

Something beautiful in the post yesterday:

 

 

Stefanie

[schin]

 

He actually lost me once when he posted something with a perfect gradient. I actually commented asking how he put the gradient in, (guessing photoshop). I had never seen someone paint a gradient so perfectly inside a letter, so you could imagine I had a hard time picking my jaw off the floor when he told me how he made it.

 

I think we have discovered Ken's secret.. he really IS a computer robot with an endless library of fonts in him!! There can be no other way.

[caliken]

Brian,

 

This latest jewel-like holder of yours is truly the epitome of quiet elegance, and is complemeted beautifully by the script from Stefanie.

 

Ken

Edited October 16, 2013 by caliken

[thang1thang2]

 

I think we have discovered Ken's secret.. he really IS a computer robot with an endless library of fonts in him!! There can be no other way.

 

Now... Which computer is this one? The secret's out, Ken! Are you Skynet? HAL? GLADIS? You can confess, don't worry; we won't treat you any differently.

 

Unless you try to, I don't know, launch a bunch of nuclear warheads or something...

[schin]

I found this amusing little snippet in the Penman's Art Journal dated september 1886 and thought I should share with our penmaker friends here.

 

[schin]

And here is a reply three months later in December 1886

 

[MusinkMan]

Something beautiful in the post yesterday:

 

GB-1.jpg

GB-2.jpg

 

Stefanie

Hi Stefanie! Thanks for showing it off...and for showing us some more of your brilliant writing! I get really excited when I see all of the amazing things that you guys can do with my pens!

Awesome!

[MusinkMan]

And here is a reply three months later in December 1886

 

I certainly agree with fellow!