I recently bought some new pens when I went to a somewhat local art store. When I was browsing around I came upon some pens that I haven’t seen before named Stabilo pens. After looking at them I noticed that they were almost exactly what I was looking for. In the past Copics used to have multiliners that came in different colors which I would have loved to use as outlines for my artwork, but they got discontinued a good bit ago. Ever since I was trying to find a replacement I could try and use instead but I wasn’t too happy with the limited selection Prismacolor had so I haven’t really used them since I bought them a couple of years ago. But these Stabilo pens seem to have a rather robust color selection  and they also offered different nib sizes (though for now I’m really only interested in the multiliner type). And when I saw their price being really cheap I thought what the heck, so I bought 10 (all of them either skin tones or grays). So since this was going to be my first try using them I decided to give the honor to Michishige Sayumi as the subject. Here’s what it looks like finished (done with my new Stabilo pens and Copics). Process below for those who are interested.

 

It’s been a while since I’ve done a piece traditionally so I was a bit worried, but it went rather smoothly and the whole portrait took me only a couple of hours.

On the right are my new pens, these are the colors I have so far.

And as usual I start outlining using my 2H pencil.

And that leads me to the finished piece (already shown at the beginning):

My thoughts on the Stabilo pens? So far I really love them. They leave beautiful marks and are resistant to my Copics too. Not only that but the color selection makes them quite useful for different applications. I’m definitely planning on upgrading my collection. The only downside is that they don’t seem to be refillable, but they’re not expensive so it’s not a big deal. Can’t wait to see what I can create with them.

-Bonus-

In any case, as I was writing this I had recently gotten off my other job and was happy to find a new video with members of Platinum Era Morning Musume, and that led me to another video that happened to give me a rather happy coincidence.

-By the way I use a dual monitor set up, left is my XP-Pen (that doubles as a monitor when not used for art) and my normal monitor on the right.

Anyway as I was watching this video I noticed that Sayu was looking right at them as they performed, I noticed this and found it funny and a coincidence as a certain number was happening. (I know I’m the only one finding pleasure and happiness in this but whatever).

Those who get it, get it.

Anyway, that’s this update.

Hasta la proxima,

-Nube