A product photo of a black marker.

Uni Pin Fineliner

Yes, this is the same manufacturer that is behind the Posca acrylic markers. Uni Pin is a solid, quality marker — I’ve been using these on and off for years. Also one of the cheapest in this lineup, though the price difference isn’t huge since most of the markers I use cost between €2–3.50 anyways. …

An edited photo of two black markers on white paper.

Stylefile Fineliner

Easily on the third place of all the markers reviewed here. Stylefile fineliners have relatively intense black. It has slightly harder tip than many similar markers, but in general it has a good flow. Markers have alcohol-based ink and it dries fast, just not immediatelly. So if you’re drawing over pencil sketches, let the ink …

Two markers side by side.

Pentel Pointliner

A solid second place of the markers reviewed here. Almost tied for first. The brand itself is very familiar to me from my early days as a graffiti writer. Pentel makes all sorts of markers, including the wider ones that used to be commonly used for small billboards and adverts by grocery stores and similar …

Many sketchbooks on top of each other, most of the books have stickers on their covers.

Sketchbooks and Papers

Just like with copy paper, there’s no shortage of sketchbook options out there — prices range from just a few euros to thirty-something. Personally, my pain threshold is around 15 euros. I try to buy my sketchbooks from the same stores where I get my fineliners, if possible, which naturally limits the selection I’m reviewing …

Eleven fineliners side by side, with the caps removed and marker tips in sight.

Molotow Blackliner

There’s a reason why Molotow Blackliner is the first brand I’m reviewing. First and foremost, they’re the markers I’ve used the longest — pretty much since they became widely available in Finland. Before that, I used whatever fineliner I could get my hands on, without giving it much thought. But back then, I didn’t sketch …

Many sketchbooks on top of each other, most of the books have stickers on their covers.

Sketchbooks and Papers

I’m not that picky about these. As long as the color of the paper is correct, the paper is acid free (doesn’t yellow) and it is smooth and thicker than regular copy paper (80g/m²). Especially with sketchbooks you don’t want the black ink bleed through the pages below. And when scanning the sketches to the …

Markers

Most of the markers I reviewed have water based ink, some are alcohol based. Even if the latter, they are very neutral in smell. I mostly use sizes 0.5 – 0.8 for drawing, but for filling in the larger areas I naturally try to use the larger ones, 0.9 – 1.2. I also noticed that …

Photo montage of Asus laptop in front and blurred Macbook Pro and iMac in the background.

Computers

The first review on this site will be about computers. After that it’ll be more about pens and such. But, yeah… I’ve used a lot of computers since I’ve been doing web and graphic design since 2000. At work, I’ve always used whatever my employer provided at the time. For personal use, I always built …