Red Pen Conceits

odds-n-ends

conceit

noun

  • something that is conceived in the mind; a thought; idea:
  • imagination; fancy.
  • a fancy; whim; fanciful notion.
  • an elaborate, fanciful metaphor, especially of a strained or far-fetched nature.

from dictionary.com

I found a red pen – a PaperMate® medium red ballpoint – the other day. I don’t know where it came from; I don’t ever use red pens. I suspect I picked it up at school; things like that appear in my pockets in the evening when I get undressed – less kleptomanic than inattentive, really. They pile up on horizontal surfaces and sometimes in decorative bowls or glass jars. Eventually, I tend to return them – I lean more towards less-clutter than acquisition.

I decided to see what it would be like to draw with it. I like drawing with ballpoint pens – especially medium point PaperMates®, especially on certain surfaces – white 28lb bond copier paper, and newsprint in a stack (not a single sheet on a hard surface, it must be at least a few sheets to create a certain give – a softness, a receptiveness) are two of the best.  I like the way these surfaces receive the mark. I like the smooth gliding feeling of drawing the pen across the sheet.

I have a prejudice, I’ve long been aware of – I greatly prefer black pens to blue. Just the other day, a friend needed a pen – I happened to have two with me (acquired, I’m certain, in the same manner as the red one), one blue – the other black. I handed her the blue one and felt a rush of guilt for my lack of generosity. I appeased myself with an assuring conviction that she probably didn’t have a preference, but kept the black one for myself.

I had never really given any thought to my feelings about red pens. The idea of trying one out was exciting. I’ve been exploring it’s possibilities ever since. I’m developing quite a stack of these – some more successful than others.  Here are just five for now, that I like. I’ll have to scan  the set eventually, these are just quick iPhone photos – which seems to be the way I do documentation anymore, but I think they’d be better scanned… or maybe not.