Escher’s pencil
I recently took some time out to see the M.C. Escher exhibition at Somerset House in London. Coincidentally, the day of my visit also happened to be Escher's birthday, which…
Mira, Mira
It is a rare treat to find a drawing tool conceived, designed and manufactured entirely in Canada, especially one as off-the-wall as the Mira. Packed four to a box, which…
Superbow Sunday 2026
As Superbow Sunday rolls around once more (or should that be "bounces erratically"?) this year's edition is well deserving of the name Superbow XL - yes, you heard that right,…
Ruling pen multipacks
A recent discussion about Stanley's 20th-century "Perma" cases and their ruling pens reminded me of an uncommon four-pen set that I acquired as part of a lot of modern drawing instruments. At…
Superbow Sunday 2025
Superbow Sunday is here again, and if there is one thing people like more than the event itself, it's the commercials. So what better way to celebrate the day than…
Höhnig’s square triangle
Interesting European drawing instruments have been a bit thin on the ground here in the UK over the last couple of years, but occasionally something unexpected still turns up. In…
Snappy Canada Day!
As it is once again Canada Day, I dug around in my collection for something suitably Canadian to mark the occasion. As mentioned previously, Canada was not especially known for…
You say Golmet, I say Golmet
As today is St David's Day, the traditional feast day of the patron saint of Wales, I decided to showcase a drawing instrument that was actually manufactured in Wales. The…
Superbow Sunday
I heard it on the grapevine that today the USA celebrates "Superbow Sunday", apparently an annual national event of great importance - and who am I to argue with that?…
Rotring’s eccentric Centro
In the same vein as Staedtler's Galileo, the 1990s also saw Rotring trying to reinvent the compass, in particular the spindle-adjustment master bow. The resulting design is unusual not only in…