# Check out these pens



## toyotaman (Jul 30, 2011)

While at my local bookstore yesterday I came upon a book with handcrafted pens and looked through it a few minutes. I have to admit the pens are nice but very high priced as you will see. I think the ones here on IAP are much better. Let me know what you think. Check it out at   www.penscapes.com


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## Rangertrek (Jul 30, 2011)

Yep, extremely high priced in my opinion.  But, If you can get that for them, all the better.  Sometimes I think I sell my pens for less than I should.


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## navycop (Jul 30, 2011)

I thought the backdrop distracted from some of the pens.. Pretty pricey also.


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## Texatdurango (Jul 30, 2011)

*Wow.......... I must be so far out of touch with the mainstream membership here, I guess I just don't get it!* 

We take three or four pieces out of a plastic bag, turn a blank round then glue and press everything together and for this menial effort we can't wait to call ourselves *"Artists"* then go on and on about how much we should charge for our "Art". 

THEN..... along come some folks who in my opinion ARE true artists, spend countless hours or even days creating some beautiful masterpieces then all we can do is nitpick their work and knock their prices. :frown:

Please help me understand your thinking here, the work I looked at was stunning, something I certainly could never aspire to for sure and I consider myself a halfway decent pen maker! 

Toyotaman, you said.... "I think the ones here on IAP are much better".  Which pens in particular are you referring to?  Other than Toni's clay designs I've never seen anything close to this level of artwork here.

Not bashing folks here....... just trying to put things in perspective! :wink:


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## azamiryou (Jul 30, 2011)

They claim the FP nibs are titanium... I've never heard of such a thing. If they really are titanium, I wouldn't mind getting hold of some of those and customizing the look of a pen by anodizing them.

As for the prices... hand-painting takes time. A small painting can take just as long to paint as a big one. While I can't say I saw any pens that really appealed to _me_ there, I don't think the prices are ridiculous. These artists are clearly not just putting together kits for those prices.


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## Timebandit (Jul 30, 2011)

Texatdurango said:


> *Wow.......... I must be so far out of touch with the mainstream membership here, I guess I just don't get it!*
> 
> We take three or four pieces out of a plastic bag, turn a blank round then glue and press everything together and for this menial effort we can't wait to call ourselves *"Artists"* then go on and on about how much we should charge for our "Art".
> 
> ...



I thought the same thing when i opened it. WOW!! All hand painted works of art on something the size of a pen.I think its amazing. I think these are the kind of pens that justify a $1000 price tag. I dont like the shape of them, but this was obviously done to leave enough room for he artist to paint there work of ART.


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## nativewooder (Jul 30, 2011)

Appears to me to be $450 for the assembler/finisher and $500 for the artist.  Should be, IMO, $300 for the finisher, $650 for the artist.  And I wonder if these pens are guaranteed to be writing instruments, or art work?:wink:


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## Texatdurango (Jul 30, 2011)

azamiryou said:


> They claim the FP nibs are titanium... *I've never heard of such a thing.* If they really are titanium, I wouldn't mind getting hold of some of those and customizing the look of a pen by anodizing them.
> 
> As for the prices... hand-painting takes time. A small painting can take just as long to paint as a big one. While I can't say I saw any pens that really appealed to _me_ there, I don't think the prices are ridiculous. These artists are clearly not just putting together kits for those prices.


 
azamiryou, you need to get out more!   If you google titanium nibs, you will have a days worth of reading material.  Titanium nibs are fairly commonplace, here is one of my favorite sites to visit, it has some very insightful information: http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/ttp/materials.htm

I know Bock sells titanium nibs as do others and if I'm not mistaken, Brian at Edison pens sells them so you can buy one for your own creations.


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## azamiryou (Jul 30, 2011)

Texatdurango said:


> Titanium nibs are fairly commonplace...



Obviously, it's too early in the morning for me to bother with googling before firing off a comment.  I'll add these to my queue of things to play with...


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## Jim Smith (Jul 30, 2011)

I quess like most any product, they're worth whatever anyone is willing to pay for them.  Some people actually like to pay more for a product as it makes the product feel more valuable to them which makes them feel more special.  That's not me, but I sure wouldn't mind running into a few of those folks when I'm selling my pens

Jim Smith


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## Texatdurango (Jul 30, 2011)

azamiryou said:


> Texatdurango said:
> 
> 
> > Titanium nibs are fairly commonplace...
> ...


 
A good cup of coffee helps! :biggrin:


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## penmaker56 (Jul 30, 2011)

George, thank you for saying what you said. Penopoly is a customer of mine, and it does take days to make and paint one pen; other than taking a piece of wood or plastic, drilling holes, gluing, turning, press fitting inexpensive parts, and in a half hour, have a pen, that to be honest, looks undistinguishable from the others. 

Titanium nibs have been around for a few years now, and are in higher end fountain pens (I have a couple of them, and are not particularly fond of them). In my experience, they are flexible, but are prone to bending out of shape with a heavy handed writing style.


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## G1Pens (Jul 30, 2011)

I think the pens displayed are awesome. I have seen very little on this site that is comparable to the artwork in those pens.

One question it did raise for me: I noticed that all the designs had the artwork oriented so that the top was at the cap and the bottom at the finial. I guess that would be the correct orientation, but then when you write, the artwork is upside down. So which way would you do it. What do you consider the top and bottom of a pen for purposes of a graphic design?


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## Woodlvr (Jul 30, 2011)

Those are some beautiful pens. The only thing missing was a pen with a Wolves scene.:biggrin:


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## Hubert H (Jul 30, 2011)

No question - the value is in the art work.  It is a matter of taste - I like wood better.  I have a softer finish on the pens I carry but most of the people I do pens for like a high shine and my personal taste for a really great looking pen would be Charles with his exotic wood and perfectly finished pens.  On lesser wood it would be to much like plastic but with the beautiful wood he uses it is beautiful.  Again - the art work is the value with these pens.  I'm glad they have them for people who like that kind of pen.  HWH


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## Bill Sampson (Jul 30, 2011)

Penscapes will be at the Washington Pen Show. Will be interesting to visit their booth and see the artists pens first hand.

Bill Sampson, Richmond


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## dozuki (Jul 30, 2011)

I really like some of those pens.  Some don't appeal to me but some do.  I may not like all of the pens but I can appreciate all the work that goes into one piece.  As to the price I know people on the fountain pen site I go to that will line up to buy a pen with a beautiful urushi finish and will pay as much if not more than they are asking from a lot the pens I saw.


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## U-Turn (Jul 30, 2011)

Incredible craftsmanship with an acceptable price. In my opinion, few charge the price they should for the time and quality they sell - though some are right on target.


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## Don Gaiser (Jul 30, 2011)

What do you think they hand paint with... to such detail on such a small canvas? Then what do you finish it it with as to protect the design? I am curious because my daughter is somewhat of an artist... I'm thinking I could get her to do some painting on pens.


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## Don Gaiser (Jul 30, 2011)

Found this... http://www.monteverdepens.com/painted.html
OMG... these might be worth the hefty price... watch the vid on how they are painted!!

Click each pen to see a short vid of that pen being painted.

Oooo... the one to watch... http://monteverdepens.com/nabuvideos.html

More... http://www.pianki.com/Hand-Painted-Pens_c_368.html


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## Toni (Jul 30, 2011)

Those are some of the most incredible pens I have ever seen!! To choose a favorite would be impossible.   The amount of time and patience that must go into each pen must be days.  Thank you for posting a link to there work!!


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## bitshird (Jul 30, 2011)

That is beautiful art, George is right, most of what we do is craftsmanship and perhaps even attain the status of Artisan. But the painting of pens on the inside out is really artistry in the purest form, I don't fancy owning one, but I can and do appreciate the work of creating one of those pens.


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## Texatdurango (Jul 30, 2011)

Watching the video mentioned above reminds me of when I was in the middle east and fell in love with "Persian Miniatures", beautiful paintings similar to what we are seeing on the pens.

To look at the paintings, tiny and full of the tiniest detail is amazing but then to watch the artist actually paint was mind blowing.  On a face the size of a pencil eraser, what appeared to be flesh tone color was actually VERY thin lines drawn VERY close together but never touching each other using a brush with one hair on it!  It takes a magnifying glass to really appreciate what you are seeing.

Maybe this is why I appreciate fine art and set aside from what we do.


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## eldee (Jul 30, 2011)

bitshird said:


> That is beautiful art, George is right, most of what we do is craftsmanship and perhaps even attain the status of Artisan. But the painting of pens on the inside out is really artistry in the purest form, I don't fancy owning one, but I can and do appreciate the work of creating one of those pens.



I agree with that. I watched artists in China paint glass balls from the inside. Some of the brushes had tips that were too fine to see without magnification. It was amazing enough that I ended up with a couple.


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## okiebugg (Jul 30, 2011)

*??????????*



Jim Smith said:


> I quess like most any product, they're worth whatever anyone is willing to pay for them. Some people actually like to pay more for a product as it makes the product feel more valuable to them which makes them feel more special. That's not me, but I sure wouldn't mind running into a few of those folks when I'm selling my pens
> 
> Jim Smith


 
Jim Smith is right.

The artwork is excellent, the pens are just that.......pens with a big price tag. I hold no grudge against anyone who can demand those types of prices.


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## ossaguy (Jul 30, 2011)

I just love the bird paintings,just simply beautiful! Wow,that's some fine artistry there.


Steve


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## IPD_Mrs (Jul 30, 2011)

$950 - too much to pay for a Pen painted like that?  I think they are probably not charging enough for their work.  That is a skill that most of us will never know or duplicate and yet we have members who sell pens for over $1000 that are not hand painted from the inside out....

One of my favorites on their website was $20,000 - celluloid and 18K gold with a beautiful cameo style painting done with some type of enamel process ... WOW - these folks are really good.  I'll never know what it feels like to spend that kind of money on a pen, or to be able to garner that kind of money for something I make.  However, I totally admire those who can accomplish this!


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## Grizz (Jul 31, 2011)

All I can say is, I wish I had that kind of talent in painting/drawing... or whatever that is.  I'd be doing that all the time.


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## toyotaman (Jul 31, 2011)

I must have missed the 20k pen. I'll have to check it out.


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## Dan_F (Jul 31, 2011)

One thing I haven't seen clearly stated here, is that it's not just the ability to paint something, but the creative process itself, imagining what to paint, that commands the commands the higher price. The pens are marketed primarily as art, which also happens to be a pen - a rather high priced canvas to begin with, the value added to that. 

Roger Cromwell is a well known dealer and restorer in all things fountain pen, so I'm sure the wouldn't be doing this if the pens were not top notch writing instruments to begin with. Entry price for modern pen with a traditionally shaped gold nib is usually around the $300 range, so their prices are not unreasonable, given the cost of the canvas. 

That said, If i was going to plunk down that kind of money, I'd rather have a Wahl Eversharp Coronet or oversized Doric, but to each his own. 

http://www.stylophilesonline.com/archive/jan03/04cor.htm

http://www.richardspens.com/?page=ref/profiles/doric.htm

Dan


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