QUESTIONS
1. Have you ever water skied?
2. Can you remember how much stamps used to cost?
3. Which professional basketball team do you like the best?
4. Do you think charge cards are a good idea?
5. Do you have a laundry chute in your house?
ANSWERS By: Austin Smith
1. No, and I don’t plan to.
2. Not really, but I have a couple that say 5 cents, but that was before my time.
3. I don’t particularly like any of them.
4. No, but I think credit cards are worse.
5. No, I wish I did though.
Now, crayons are impractical for most art types, usually because they are fragile and fiddly. What if these two problems were fixed, and crayons were easy to take and use anywhere? What would their value be? Well, Crayola has a set of twistable crayons which have plastic bodies with a twist action, so let’s take a look.
First off, the crayons come in a quite nice plastic-and-card-stock carrying case, which, while handy, seems like it would fall apart rather quickly. And, just for me personally, I would want to store these somewhere else, but have a problem throwing plastic things away so I keep them in it.
The crayon barrels are made of plastic and have Crayola and Twistables written on each one, with no indication as to color, though the body is see-through so the color is fairly apparent. Near the tips is a tapered and grippy section which works quite well, especially since the rest of the body is very slick. At the other end is a twisting knob which operates easily and can be used to both push the crayon out and retract it.
That’s almost all there is to say. The crayons themselves are nothing special, they’re just kept in place by a plastic tube and screw. They are, of course, for kids so they are bright and not very natural. They are also non-toxic, which is a bonus. They stay alright on the paper, but not as well as more “professional” crayon and oil pastels.
So, overall they are better crayons, but they don’t change what Crayola crayons really are. Which is good for the people who use Crayola crayons. They aren’t particularly serious art supplies, and that’s fine. For more advanced things I’d recommend picking up one of the larger cases with more colors rather than the standard 10 pack I got. Past that there really isn’t anything special about them.
QUESTIONS
1. Do you have a dog?
2. How long do classes in your school last?
3. What kind of pop do you like the best?
4. Do you like using cordless telephones?
5. Do you think voting is a privilege?
ANSWERS By: Austin Smith
1.No, but I have had a dog.
2. When I was in school they shifted from 45 minutes to an hour.
3. I like Dr. Pepper.
4. I don’t use corded telephones at all, so if that’s any indication…
5. As opposed to other countries, yes certainly, voting is a wonderful privilege; but in this country, I think that most every one should have to vote and be educated on the subject of the vote.
While not necessarily an art supply, the Pilot EasyTouch Pro claims to use a hybrid ink formula to make a smooth writing, quick drying, waterproof ink, which sounds super handy. Let’s see what it’s all about.
First the body of the pen features a “modern design”. The tip is a metal cone similar to most click pens. The grip is nicely tapered and flares out at the end. The barrel is fairly straight, but with a little engraving and minimal information. The clip is simple, and tight, with a “modern design”. At the end is a click button and a strange cutoff design. The click mechanism works well but has a grating sound.
The ink itself is a slightly dark black, but really more of a grey. The tip is medium and there are no options. It does flow quite easily, with very little pressure on the paper. It isn’t as smooth as a fountain pen, or even a gel pen. It does offer some line variation when one presses harder, and it becomes considerably blacker when one does so. It dries fairly fast, though not the fastest. All of this is quite nice until at some points when one is writing (especially when one has just started) a large blob of ink spills out of the point and bleeds though the paper. This is not really unusual for a ballpoint, but the amount and the bleed through make it quite a problem. It’a not really a problem when writing, but a problem when doing anything else.
So overall, this is not a drawing pen, but a writing pen, and not a long writing pen either, because of blobbing, but if one merely wants to sign a paper, or write one page it is quite a smooth-writing fine instrument.
QUESTIONS
1. Have you ever broken a window?
2. Do you think checking accounts are a good idea?
3. How often do you wash your face?
4. What do you do at your house when the power goes out?
5. Do you use encyclopedias very often?
ANSWERS By: Austin Smith
1. Yes, when I was little I fell out of one when bouncing on a bed.
2. Yes, they are better than credit accounts.
3. Once every few days of so, unless I did something that warrants a face washing.
4. I would usually write on my laptop, or if it’s too bright or dark outside, go outside or sleep.
5. Yes, I have tones and I look at them all the time.