A lot of us like to buy Japanese G Pen nibs and other brushes and pens and the like. This is good advice so you’re not caught unprepared. Stock up - ThreadSky

jongraywb.bsky.social • 114 days ago

A lot of us like to buy Japanese G Pen nibs and other brushes and pens and the like. This is good advice so you’re not caught unprepared. Stock up

Reposted from Michelle Rapp, Cozy Bisexual

If you're an artist (or someone who buys foreign goods for their profession/hobby), get your stuff this year before the inauguration.

Tariffs are likely to be put into place, and other countries will respond. We're going to be paying more for paper, paint, tech, brushes, pens, you name it.

Comments

merdet.bsky.social•107 days ago

Time to put in a JetPens order 😌

nazara13.bsky.social•107 days ago

Oh shit… gotta stock up on iroshizuki ink… and find a REAL Tomoe River replacement ASAP.

jongraywb.bsky.social•114 days ago

I didn’t think about this but computer and tech stuff is gonna be hard to maintain due to costs as well (I mean, it already is tbh)

Do early maintenance and update your equipment if you can. ❤️

dantastic.bsky.social•114 days ago

Maybe I should replace my laptop now instead of waiting.

jongraywb.bsky.social•114 days ago

I need to get one and I can’t. We do what we can

riavanitas.com•114 days ago

I also need a laptop, ugh. This is gonna be difficult. I recommend checking out FB marketplace for used stuff

kbspangler.com•113 days ago

Dipped into the credit card for a new desktop computer just last night. 😭

jl55.bsky.social•113 days ago

I plan to buy a new cell phone tomorrow.

symliadoo.com•114 days ago

god I didn't even think about this 😭 luckily I was planning on getting a new mini pc for christmas

limebackwards.bsky.social•113 days ago

Ah dang. I picked an awful time to get into doodling with fountain pens.

fiendjr.bsky.social•113 days ago

Is there a pen you would recommend?

zaftigdollie.bsky.social•114 days ago

Man I guess I'll buy an iPad and stock up on ohuhu amd tooli markers,Japanese pens and ink,and search for quality American shops for pins keychains and stickers

zaftigdollie.bsky.social•114 days ago

Because my favorite for those last few are British or Canadian

ptros.bsky.social•114 days ago

Big @rileyfeldmann.bsky.social energy on this post.

rileyfeldmann.bsky.social•114 days ago

Fountain pen segment on Deer Diaries getting a boost due to tariff politics. Time is a flat circle.

tchakacosplay.bsky.social•107 days ago

yup those tariffs will hurt consumers more than governments. and the ripple effect will mean mean that the price of everything down the line goes up if its effected by imports. ink, Paper etc so the final product will be more expensive now

readeranna.bsky.social•114 days ago

This might be a bit of an ask, but do you known a place that isn’t Amazon where one could get good 40 gsm tracing paper? Or 60 gsm?

jongraywb.bsky.social•114 days ago

Beyond doing a Google search for reputable stores, I can’t think of anywhere off the topic of my head. I have a local store I go to but… that may be an issue down the road. Maybe someone in the RTs can help

daverclarke.bsky.social•114 days ago

Dick Blick has this 57gsm paper:

https://www.dickblick.com/products/borden-riley-51-heavy-weight-tracing-paper-pad/

readeranna.bsky.social•112 days ago

This is perfect!! They have a 41gsm! Thank you so much.

planecrazy.bsky.social•107 days ago

If things get bad on this, I can help some on the steel dip pen side. DM me. Mine are not Japanese G, but are instead vintage US nibs in a much wider variety of styles, flexibility, fineness etc. I can also give you some idea of vintage nibs sold on ebay and what they may be like.
https://thesteelpen.com

vibanib.bsky.social•114 days ago

Oof📌

queengwenevere.bsky.social•114 days ago

Hell, ANYTHING that involves pigment is going to go up in price. That’s what happened last time.

Plus anything that involves plastics, various chemicals, a number of rare metals, a LOT of essential parts for tech and various types of machinery, etc etc etc. Fun times yay super great 🙃

kochalka.bsky.social•114 days ago

I don’t think there are any art supplies manufactured in the US, except a few niche things in very small quantities.

jongraywb.bsky.social•114 days ago

I was wondering about that, which… tbh is even worse now that I think about it

jendrawscomics.bsky.social•114 days ago

I picked a terrible time to have renewed interest in returning to traditional art 🥲

kochalka.bsky.social•114 days ago

The don’t manufacture any of the tech necessary for digital art in the USA either

jendrawscomics.bsky.social•114 days ago

I guess it's an increasingly bad time to be an artist 😰

inkdependence.bsky.social•113 days ago

Or, you know, just a person in the US. 😤

senorwoberto.bsky.social•114 days ago

My no. 1 prediction is that there’s going to be a gray market for things that were smuggled out of Asia or other cheaper countries and sold here in increasingly shady ways simply because getting them legally is that much of a pain in the ass

sylvanrat.bsky.social•106 days ago

There are some pretty big ones--Strathmore paper, Princeton brushes, Golden, Gamblin, Daniel Smith, Da Vinci, M. Graham, and Utrecht for paint, for example. The problem is that a lot of the pigments they use in those paints come from many other countries, particularly China and the EU.

junkyardcrawler.bsky.social•114 days ago

hrm yeah. Musgrave makes pencils in the US, but none in the graphite grades used for art.

roseberrycomix.bsky.social•114 days ago

I looked through my art supplies out of curiosity and Speedball makes a lot of things in the US (drawing ink, block printing ink, etc), ditto Utrecht paints, and most of my paper is milled in the US. But most of my other supplies come from Europe and Japan.

kochalka.bsky.social•113 days ago

I guess Golden acrylics are made in the USA...or at least mixed here (not sure where ingredients come from) and packaging is probably foreign made but IDK

teaberryblue.net•114 days ago

G nibs are exponentially better than any other pen nib this is great advice

brandtandstein.com•114 days ago

If Tachikawa g nibs specifically are what you like, worth mentioning you can get 100 of them in a box from eBay for around $150, which I know is a lot upfront but $1.50 a nib is cheap and that’ll last a looong time

teaberryblue.net•114 days ago

Oh that’s good to know though I go through one, maybe two nibs a year!

brandtandstein.com•114 days ago

Yeah, it’s definitely for heavier users, but could be handy to know! At my peak I was getting through 20-ish in a year, maybe? So that would be a 5-year block for someone in a similar position!

planecrazy.bsky.social•107 days ago

Vintage nibs can also be excellent quality, much better even than the modern Japanese ones. The challenge is knowing what one might be like because they came in LOTS of styles, each with a different feel. I'm happy to help advise as I have a few pens of my own
https://thesteelpen.com

reynaldocreate.bsky.social•114 days ago

Can only imagine how much you’ll pay for copics

jongraywb.bsky.social•114 days ago

Jesus H. Christ

galaxywing.bsky.social•114 days ago

Ohuhus are a good alternative! They aren't copics but they're a bit more affordable!

m00psy.bsky.social•113 days ago

a lot more! i recommend uncapping and recapping away from your drawing surface, though, because the ink can splatter

edshard.bsky.social•114 days ago

I guess I picked a good time to buy Zebra titanium G nibs. Only issue would be getting the bottles of Pilot ink I use.

brendanmcginley.bsky.social•113 days ago

AliExpress has some excellent mimic versions of Microns, along with fountain pens, etc.

wingedhussar.bsky.social•113 days ago

And, because they're Chinese, the tariffs on everything from AliExpress are likely to be the highest. This is going to be a shit show.

brendanmcginley.bsky.social•113 days ago

True, stock up early.

denniskdraws.bsky.social•114 days ago

I’m guess I’m lucky(?) that this year I got both a new computer and a new (used) car.

I mostly digital now, but I do have a box of my favorite Japanese brush pen.

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