Classes: Saturday, August 24

To view all the classes and disclaimers for the 2024 San Francisco Pen Show, please proceed to the: Classes (tuition based) page.

---

Do you have stationery or art supply items that are waiting for their own special purpose?

Do you have a purpose in mind but have yet to find the right supplies for expression?

Do you flip between digital and analog throughout the day?

Join artist  and web developer Julia van der Wyk as we match up methodologies and systems with our beloved stationery and art supplies.  Our daily routines can be structured or fluid, and either way have great opportunities for enjoyment of stationery, pens and ink.

We’ll talk about what we do, what we’d like to do, and finding a routine that sticks.

Bring your favored stationery or art supplies, questions, and conundrums!

---

Note: This class is currently full.

In this 2-hour workshop, we’ll make a blank notebook using fountain pen-friendly paper. 

The binding is a French Link Stitch with a Soft Cover. This binding technique originated in 16th-century France and is a popular decorative binding when left exposed. It is a variation of the Coptic binding with a series of looping Xs stitched along the spine and is a type of “lay-flat” binding. 

All materials are provided and included in this workshop. Beginners welcome.

About Cheryl Ball:

Cheryl Ball is a native San Franciscan who has always loved books and paper. Cheryl has taken Master Classes in bookbinding with Dominic Riley and Michael Burke, She has completed the Bookbinding and Letterpress Certification at the San Francisco Center for the Book and continues honing her skills. She brought her love of bookmaking to her former position at a San Francisco Public Elementary-Middle School as their Art Coordinator and now, the students there create original story-filled bound books and participate in the Ezra Jack Keats Bookmaking Competition each year. Cheryl is a Co-Founder of Book Arts Roadshow and has taught at museums, libraries, and schools throughout the Bay Area.

---

Note: This class is currently full and has a waitlist, email: classes@sfpenshow.com

If you love the idea of playing with inks and color and BIG, FUN NIBS, come join me for a low-pressure, low-key introduction to the Pilot Parallel Pen!

In this 2-ish hour play date, we will play our way into learning about this inexpensive, broad-edge fountain pen. Originally intended for calligraphy, the Pilot Parallel Pen can be used for so much more! We’ll doodle and draw, we’ll experiment, we’ll color-blend, and along the way we’ll become super-comfortable with these great nibs as tools for different styles of mark-making, calligraphy/lettering, and border design. Mi Mo will also demo a comparison of Pilot Parallel Pen nibs to other types of dip pen and fountain pen nibs.

You don’t need to bring anything! Pen, paper, and ink will be provided for paid-up, preregistered participants.

We will be using letterforms and calligraphic styles as inspiration for play, but this is NOT a calligraphy class and NO drawing or calligraphy experience is needed.  We will not be modifying the stock Parallel Pen nibs during this play date. 

About Mi Mo:

Mi Mo (Michelle Morin) is a Bay Area mixed-media artist, calligraphy hobbyist, and pen enthusiast. She’s taught classes in bookbinding, meditative doodling, modern calligraphy, drawing calligraphic borders, and sundry other topics, and has hosted creative meetups and calligraphy study groups, both in person and online, since before the pandemic. She identifies as a collector (hoarder, really) of fountain pens, planners, journals, art supplies, and ALL THE PRETTIES and is a member of the SF Pen Posse and, from time to time, other calligraphy guilds and creative communities.

---

In this class, I will share all the techniques and methods I use for cataloging and swatching inks. I will demonstrate many swatching techniques, methods for organizing and inventorying your ink collection and even some fun ways to choose an ink for your next fill-up.

Class participants will get to try out lots of tools and techniques for starting their own swatching collection.

No additional materials are needed for the class but feel free to bring a notebook, recent ink acquisitions, and ink samples.

About Ana:

Ana Reinert is the creator of The Well-Appointed Desk. She is a former Hallmark graphic designer, lettering artist, university design instructor and freelance graphic designer. She and her husband, Bob Atkins, created the Col-o-ring products which are available in our online shop and at your favorite pen shop worldwide.

Ana is also a photographer; knitter; and an unabashed, Crazy Cat Lady. When not covered in ink, she is passionate about bicycles, typography and just about anything vintage.

---

Eileen P. Goldenberg, award winning artist and avid Urban Sketcher, will teach you the basics of how to set up an Urban Sketch: big shapes, shadows and color. Urban Sketching is a relaxing and interesting way to learn to see the world around you.  We will sketch outside( weather permitting.) Fountain Pens are excellent for Urban Sketching!

FREE Sketch kit with class! Please bring a fountain pen with permanent ink, such as Platinum Carbon Black.

Questions? eileen@goldenbergdesigns.com

---

Visual note-taking (aka: sketchnoting) is a fabulously fun technique used to transform simple notes into rich visual summaries. It’s a great way to capture ideas, to remember them, and to share them with others. Whether used as a personal tool to develop your creativity, or as a way to share information with others, sketchnotes are a powerful way to create memorable, engaging info summaries while you also develop and express your own unique visual style.

In this hands-on workshop at the SF Pen Show, you’ll create a visual vocabulary of both objects (things) and concepts (ideas), practice simple lettering techniques, and learn to structure information into common layout patterns. Then you’ll bring it all together as you practice creating sketchnotes in real time. You’ll further hone your skills with collaborative feedback and critique.

If you’re new to sketchnoting, this is a fun and fast way to get started. If you’re a seasoned sketcher or visual note-taker, you’ll advance your practice in a whole new way!

About the Facilitator:

Kate is a sketchnoter, graphic facilitator, nature journaler, and a lover of all things sketchy. As principal at Intelleto, she creates visual explanations that make complex ideas simple, memorable and shareable. Kate has been a visual practitioner for over 25 years, using a broad range of sketching techniques to support communication in organizations big and small. She’s sketchnoted 100s of events, led workshops for clients including the Stanford d.school, Uber, Walmart Labs, Google, Singularity University and General Assembly, and teaches interaction design at the California College of the Arts. Kate believes that sketching is the engine of curiosity, that sharpie pens smell like ideas, and that the touch of pen to paper opens a world of personal expression, wonder, and magic. Kate tweets and instas at @katerutter, blogs at www.intelleto.com and co-hosts the NSFW podcast What Is Wrong With UX.

---

GREAT NEWS! Abbey Sy opened a new workshop session for Saturday at 4:30-6:30pm. Seats are limited and may sell out fast.

Join artist and author Abbey Sy for a travel journaling workshop at the San Francisco International Pen Show.

During the workshop, you’ll delve into the captivating world of travel journaling and gain creative insights as you peer into Abbey’s own awe-inspiring travel journals for inspiration. Abbey will lead a travel journaling session—make sure to bring your favorite tools, fountain pens, and ephemera as she shares with you her documenting process and techniques to make your journal pages more meaningful. 

Along with the journaling session, participants will receive a stationery kit which includes a travel journaling cheat sheet, sticker sheets, washi tape roll, and digital freebies that will be sent over before the workshop. 

About Abbey Sy:

Abbey Sy is a Chinese-Filipino artist and author based in Berlin, Germany. Throughout her creative career, she has written and illustrated best-selling books, worked on freelance projects, designed products such as washi tapes and journals, taught workshops on lettering and journaling, and traveled the world as part of her creative process. 

With her Always Be Creating mantra, her mission is to make art more accessible and help you on your creative journey, wherever you are at.

---

This is a beginner level class

We will cover – parts of a fountain pen including common nib sizes and what works best for various handwriting styles, common filling systems, how to use cartridges and bottled inks, as well as how to clean and store your pens.

Please bring a cup of water for the pen filling and cleaning process.

---

Have you ever wanted to paint with fountain pen inks but don’t know how to start? Think you can’t draw abstract flowers intuitively? Want to learn a fun way to swatch inks? This class will cover all that!

In this workshop, you’ll learn how to use Carola’s unique style of painting with inks and line drawing to create your own abstract floral art piece on paper. This is a 2-hour interactive class where we explore painting with fountain pen inks and drawing intuitively with a fine liner. Watch as Carola demonstrates how to paint freehand floral outlines and then draw details on top – then try it out yourself! No prior painting or drawing experience needed. 

Each participant will receive a supply kit (included in workshop fee) – a paint brush, a fine liner, ink samples, and paper. You’ll also walk away with a handout of tips and techniques along with a sticker sheet of floral art created by Carola.

Please bring a cup of water to dip and clean the paint brush.

About Carola

Carola (@fromcarola) loves painting and drawing flowers in her unique abstract style and shares her process for creating intuitive art with her growing community on Instagram and YouTube. When she’s not creating art, planning, or journaling, she’s chasing her 5 year old twins around Vancouver mountains in Canada. You can find out more about Carola at Liliandbella.com

---

Note: This class is currently full and has a waitlist. There is a confirmed session scheduled for Friday night at 8:00PM. For details, please email: sunnykoh@straitspen.com

Do you want to learn how to diagnose and smoothen problem nibs? Learn from Nibworker Mr. Sunny Koh with hands-on instruction on pen maintenance, nib diagnostics and simple repairs and smoothing.

Trained by Richard Binder in nibworking and by Nathan Tardiff in nib retipping, Sunny is a practising nibworker from Straits Pen in Singapore.

---

Note: This class is currently full and has a waitlist, please email: sunnykoh@straitspen.com

After learning the basics of nib care, do you want to learn how to make Stubs, Italics and Obliques? Nibworker Mr. Sunny Koh will give hands-on instruction on how to make these custom nib grinds using sandpaper and a Jeweler’s Block, the low-tech way, using a variation of the article by Associate Professor Ludwig Tan.

Attendees will first attend the Basic Nib Care & Tuning Class followed by this class on how to customise the nib to get the various line variations.

Trained by Richard Binder in nibworking and by Nathan Tardiff in nib retipping, Sunny is a practising nibworker from Straits Pen in Singapore.

---

Note: All sessions are currently full.

In this workshop, you will learn how to write unique letters using dip pens and two colors of fountain pen ink. You will also learn how to use dip pens, how to care for them, basic strokes, how to write letters, how to blend inks, and finally, you will be able to write phrases you like by blending two colors of ink.

This workshop is designed for beginners and no prior experience with dip pens, calligraphy or ink is required!

About Bechori:

Bechori is an author, calligrapher and workshop instructor living in Japan. Starting in 2016, Bechori began learning lettering and calligraphy on his own as a hobby while working his day job and in 2019, he began full-time as a freelance calligraphy/lettering artist. In Japan, Bechori is well-known for their signature monoline lettering calligraphy style done in fountain pen ink. He has written four books on the topic of hand lettering, often provides demonstrations of writing instruments from various Japanese stationery brands and stores, and frequently holds workshops at stationery stores and events across the country of Japan. He works everyday to spread the joy of handwriting through social media posts, live broadcasts and online lessons.

---

Taizo Yamamoto is a paper hunter.  Traveling throughout Japan in search for the next great fountain pen friendly paper, only to find out that the machine is on the verge of being decommissioned or the factory is about to close.  Why is it so hard to make fountain pen friendly paper?  Why are great papers of the past being discontinued at such an alarming rate?  

Taizo will share his personal experiences of trying to save great papers from extinction, and the challenges he has faced along the way.  He has sunk a significant amount of his personal fortune into keeping some papers alive, but the challenges he faces are larger than what a single man can handle…  Come hear his story, and learn about some of the back-stories of the paper industry. 

The class will conclude with a short writing session at the end to test out a few new types of paper Taizo will be bringing from Japan.  Please bring a variety of your own fountain pens and inks to see how they perform in these papers.

In Japan there is a term called “getting sucked into the paper swamp”, or “becoming a resident of the paper swamp.”  The more you learn about paper, the more you will be fascinated by it, and deeper you get sucked into it.  We hope this session will suck you deeper down the paper swamp 🙂

About the instructor: Taizo Yamamoto is the president of Yamamoto Paper. Yamamoto Paper originated in 1972 as a paper distributor, and expanded into creating their original paper-based products in 2005. The company is best known for its high-end notebooks and memo pads using fountain pen friendly paper.  The company also organizes the B2B focused “FRAT” stationery exhibition in Tokyo and the “TOKYO STATIONERY WEEK.”  Taizo regularly holds workshops in Japan, the U.S., Taiwan, Korea, and other countries.

---

Note: This class is currently full and has a waitlist. To be placed on the list, please email: classes@sfpenshow.com

Do you get mistaken for a doctor with your chicken scratch? Has typing your life away taken its toll on your handwriting? Is your writing fine but you’d like it to look nicer?  Join us for an interactive seminar on how to improve your everyday handwriting with Kimberly Lau (@allthehobbies on IG) who started her own handwriting journey in 2017 after discovering fountain pens. 

Kimberly will walk you through the different aspects of handwriting, providing tips and techniques to get you improving your handwriting in no time.

You’ll learn:

– How to break the process into individual and less daunting steps

– Steps to overcome your inner critic

– Practical methods for planning your practice

Please bring any kind of pen (with ink) or pencil to this 90 minute session and get ready to transform your everyday handwriting! 

About Kimberly:

Kimberly Lau (she/her) has been working on her own handwriting since 2017 when she took the express train down the fountain pen/stationery rabbit hole. Examples of her writing (and pens and inks) can be found on Instagram @allthehobbies, and you can also find her articles on the Pen Addict blog.

---