Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 Watercolor Pencils Review

(Sarah Read is an author, editor, yarn artist, and pen/paper/ink addict. You can find more about her at her website and on Twitter.)

There's an element of "jack of all trades, master of none" to these...pencils? Crayons? Paints? But that doesn't stop the Stabilo Woody 3-in-1 Watercolor Pencils from being a fun family activity. They're designed for kids and they passed my rigorous kid-test with flying colors.

The wood case is made from sustainable wood, with a break-resistant core. They're short and bulky, like the jumbo crayons marketed for preschoolers. They're a bit uncomfortable to hold, I felt, and the thick core only allows for the boldest of bold lines.

The core is very soft and lays down a smooth thick layer of color. It could easily achieve solid coverage on smooth paper. When you add water to the applied color, the results vary somewhat. Some colors are more soluble than others--black dissolves almost completely and spreads nicely, but silver doesn't appear to be soluble at all. Most colors are somewhere in-between, with at least a little of the original crayon line still visible after painting. I also tried dipping the crayon in water and drawing, but the core is too waxy to work well that way. It repels water rather than absorbing it, so I'd get maybe two strokes of painted line, and then it would return to a normal dry crayon line. Wetting the paper first and applying the color to the wet page created a neat feathering effect as some of the pigment ran, but the crayon line is still clearly visible. This could make for some really fun blending techniques.

Despite the heavy line put down by these, it doesn't take much color to get a rich puddle of watercolor. I think a wonderful use for these (for those of us who aren't inclined toward thick crayon art-making) is in creating washes or backgrounds for journals or other media. A fine layer blends into a lovely background with enough remaining texture to add some nice depth. Once the wash is dry, you can write or draw over it. The crayons even write well over themselves, creating some fun layered effects. They also work on different colored paper--and, because they are water-soluble, on chalkboards and glass. I haven't tested them on glass yet, but I'm envisioning some festive holiday window art.

After asking my eldest to test these, he has officially claimed them. He's never been the type to sit and color (or sit at all, for that matter), so he only reluctantly agreed to try these, and promised only a small, quick sketch. Instead, he patiently covered every inch of the large A3 watercolor paper. And then he liked them so much just as crayons, he resisted my suggestion to add water. And then when I convinced him to at least try adding water, he enjoyed that so much, he painted over the whole thing. Y'all, I got a good half-hour of peace and quiet out of it. And a lovely piece of art.

The crayons/pencils/paints come in sets of 6, 10, or 18. They're also available as open stock--but as far as I can tell, you need to buy a set to get the custom-sized sharpener. I'm not sure what other sharpener might fit these beasts. One thing the sets do not come with is a paintbrush. Instead, the 18-color set comes with a perplexing cardstock-cutout of a paintbrush in a compartment where you're clearly meant to place your own brush. I imagine it's there to indicate that "no, we didn't forget to add your brush--you just don't get one". These sets aren't cheap, and I feel like they really ought to come with a brush. Even a skimpy plastic one. If you plan to order these, be sure to have a brush on hand, or order one at the same time.

As for offering my recommendation, if you have an aspiring young artist in your life, I think these would be a big hit. But if your resident artist is old enough to take care of their art supplies, I'd actually recommend the Derwent Inktense Pencils instead. They create a better watercolor effect, are fine enough to color smaller details, and are considerably less expensive. They can't tackle as many surfaces as the Woodys though. If you want to color on the windows (and I had no idea how much I really do want to color on the windows until today), you want these. They'd also be great for drawing strategically-placed mustaches on the bathroom mirror. Art is art.

(JetPens provided this product at no charge to The Pen Addict for review purposes.)

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Stabilo Sensor Fineliner Review

Not all drawing pens are created the same. In fact, there are more differences in these types of pens than you can imagine. Archival, water-proof, fade-proof, lightfast, pigmented, cushioned, metal encased, light, heavy, refillable - I think you get the picture. No one pen can cover all of those bases, but most of them can handle a few very well.

From a feature standpoint, the Stabilo Sensor Fineliner brings cushioned writing and a metal encased tip to the table. The latter is a very import thing for those that use drawing pens alongside rulers or stencils. It gives the tip added durability that other similar pens can't handle. The cushioning works in conjunction to make this a very comfortable pen to write with.

I noticed when using it that this is a very inky pen, something it shares with another metal encased tip pen in the Rotring Tikky Graphic Drawing Pen. I didn't care for it in the Tikky but now I am wondering - is this a feature? Does it need to be this wet to keep up with the speed the pen travels while using it against a ruler? I'm not sure, but it's a thought.

Outside of the writing aspects, the barrel is very comfortable and lightweight. It is also priced right at $1.60. If you don't require archival ink properties in your drawing pens this is one to check out.

(JetPens is an advertiser on The Pen Addict and I received this product at no charge.)

Stabilo Bionic Worker Roller Ball 0.5 mm Review

Do you have a brand of pen that you think is great looking and great feeling but there is something a little off that throws you for a loop? Stabilo is that brand for me. I keep coming back to them because they make a great looking pen but there is one thing that consistently makes me shake my head: their tip sizes are not based in reality.

I have mentioned on several occasions that tip size and line width are two separate measurements. The tip size is the physical measurement of the tip of the pen, while the line width is the width of the ink line on the page. For example, an 0.5 mm gel ink pen often leaves a line wider than 0.5 mm on the page, while an 0.5 mm ballpoint leaves a narrower line. Each brand has their own little intricacies that I have come to expect, but Stabilo blows them all out of the water.

The Stabilo Bionic Worker Roller Ball is marked on the barrel as an 0.5 mm pen. With a liquid ink pen such as this, I do expect a wider line than a comparable 0.5 mm gel ink pen, but this one is really wide. This is a line width I would expect from an 0.7 mm or 0.8 mm pen at the least. I should have been tipped off when I saw the word “Medium” on the back of the barrel. I have never seen an 0.5 mm pen marked that way.

This is a consistent experience across all Stabilo products I have tried but don’t let my rant dissuade you from what is actually a very good pen. I compare this pen to the standard Uni-ball Vision pen, and the Stabilo may be even better. If you like a wider line in your liquid ink pens then you should give this one a shot. Just don’t go in expecting fine lines.