Wing Sung 3009 Fountain Pen (review?)

I’ve gotten a couple emails asking me what a Wing Sung 3009 pen was.  I’ve referred to several times in my posts.  This isn’t a real review of the pen so consider this post to be just an answer to that question.

As far as I can tell, if you’re in North America, the only place you can buy a Wing Sung pen is through eBay with the product being shipped from China.  There are positives and negatives to this.  The positive is that the price of most of the pens is less than a latte at Starbucks and shipping is typically free.  I paid $3-4USD for my Wing Sung 3009s.  The downside is that instant gratification isn’t served well, because if you order a pen it’ll take several weeks for it to arrive.  I’ve had good luck ordering this way but I have to order and forget about it cuz standing by the mailbox will wear you out.

Ok…so what’s a Wing Sung 3009 and why do I use one given that I own Namiki Falcons,  and lots of Pilot and Platinum pens?  As I’ve said, it’s a $4 pen made in China.  It comes with a fine nib that’s similar to a Lamy nib (they’re interchangeable) but finer.  It has a clip that’s similar to a Lamy Safari but that’s where the similarity ends.

The Wing Sung 3009 is a transparent pen so it’s easy to see how much ink you’re carrying.  It is piston-filled and holds a lot of ink.  These two things combine to make it an ideal pen to carry on location.  And did I mention that it only costs $4?  No big deal if I lose it.  I now own three of them, just in case (grin).

There’s another thing that’s invaluable beyond description, but if you’ve drawn with fountain pens for a while you’ll understand.  This pen has a rubber casket that’s similar to the Lamy Safari, but unlike the Lamy Safari, the cap screws onto the body of the pen and thus, it seals VERY WELL and there is no ink evaporation which is a big problem with Lamy pens.  This is particularly important if you’re using pigmented inks like many sketchers, including me, use because they’re no concentration of ink over time.

So, that’s the reason I’ve been using this pen.  It’s wonderful.  The only drawback is that I have to explain why my $250 pens are sitting on a shelf while I draw with my $4 pen (grin)

Thanksgiving Time In Canada

Thanksgiving comes in October here in Canada, the same month as Halloween.  This causes pumpkins and many displays of them to serve double duty.  At the beginning of October displays go up for Thanksgiving.  Hay Bales, pumpkins and such are everywhere.

When I saw this display I had to sketch it.  Great scene, though unfortunately it was placed into a shaded area next to the entrance of our farmers’ market.  This was not the most photogenic placement of a rustic cart so I didn’t draw any of the background.  Hope that’s ok (grin).

Stillman & Birn Beta (8×10), DeAtramentis Document Black, Wing Sung 8009, Daniel Smith watercolors

That was last week.  I walked by this week to find a bunch of additional pumpkins had been added.  Each had a black pumpkin face painted on it.  Happy Halloween everyone!

 

Sketching A Classic Yacht

There are signs of autumn in the air, though most of our trees have yet to change color.  I suppose that disappoints those arriving daily on fancy cruise ships so they can see the fall colors, but I’m grateful.  Our summer started so slowly that we need an equally slow entry into winter for sanity’s sake.

I made another trip to Bassin Louise, the harbor for personal craft in Quebec City.  I confess that I’m not impressed by the modern plastic boats that people are so proud of but give me a classic wooden ship and I feel the need to sketch it.  This sketch didn’t do the old yacht justice but here it is, warts and all.

Stillman & Birn Beta (8×10), DeAtramentis Document black, Wing Sung 8009

Where Have The Alligators Gone?

The Artistes dans les parcs went back to what is now called Parc des Moulins, but the area used to be the Quebec zoo.  Oh how I wish we still had animals to draw but politics brought the zoo to an end, a needless end.

Anyway, it was a hot day but I set up in the sun at one end of a large impound that used to house the alligators. It’s a pond with small islands for alligator basking and a building at one end so people could look down on the critters.  The islands are now overgrown so while this sketch doesn’t have any alligators, it does have lots of plants.  The mandatory alligator-proof wall is still in place around it and it seemed only fitting that it be included in the scene.

Stillman & Birn Beta (8×10), DeAtramentis Document brn/blk, Wing Sung 8009, Daniel Smith watercolors

Cap Rouge Marina Sketching

We were at the Cap Rouge Marina last Sunday and it was a wonderful day, though a bit on the warm side.  I relish the heat, partly because I’m from Arizona and partly because I know that all too soon we’ll be back in heavy coats and complaining about winter.

I was in the mood to draw rocks and found a bunch of them on the other side of the mouth of the river that flows into the marina and out into the St. Lawrence.

When I finished I walked down to where some other people were sketching and I started sketching a sailboat that was moored on the ‘flats’, which turns into a giant grassland at low tide.  I’d just gotten started when it was announced that it was time to gather for lunch.  I share it in its unfinished state as I never got back to it.  By the time lunch was over the boat was laying on its side in a sea of grass, waiting for the tide to come back in.

After lunch I walked to the other side of the marina and drew this scene, that is looking across the marina.  By then it was blisteringly hot and I cooked on my tripod stool for the duration of the drawing.  It was an end of a great day and, once again, I owe Denise a big thank you for organizing the event.

Stillman & Birn Beta (8×10), DeAtramentis Document brn/blk, Daniel Smith watercolors