Milan Erasers Singapore Review

  You've probably noticed that Art Friend has brought in quite a number of products from a company called Milan.

  Milan is the leading brand on erasers. And my god do they have a wide selection of erasers... And if you're anything like me, you're probably staring at the whole range of their erasers and being stressed out over which erasers is the best for you.

  The good news is that I've finally gotten around to getting all the erasers that Art Friend sells and now you have the pleasure of seeing them all in one post. ^-^

I sorted them by numerical number. From lowest number, to highest number.
Design 320, Office 320, Gigante 403, Artist 520, White Technik 630, 740, 840, Tecnik, Oval 1012, 1220 (kneaded eraser), 1420 (the Master Gum), 4024, extra soft 5020, Graphic 6024, Nata® Negra,  and the Design 9320.

  The paper I'm using is from an old Monologue sketchbook that I had. I also bought it from Art Friend.

  The pencil that I'm using is the Derwent Onyx pencil in the shade "dark", which isn't really fair to the erasers because most of them are meant for pencils harder than 2B only... But I think it's a good experiment.

  How I've gone about testing the erasers is seeing how much graphite each eraser picks up on one swipe, and then how much of the graphite I can erase with as many swipes as I need. I also show how much dust each eraser created before showing the page after it's dusted off.  I realised after a while that each Milan eraser really is made for a specific use, as the name of the erasers somewhat implies.  So do note that this is not a test to see which eraser is "the best of the best". I was only curious as to how each eraser would fare against graphite which is what I want an eraser for.

  (The information about each eraser is taken from the Milan site, but I added some personal opinions too.)

  Are you ready? Cause here we go~

•   320 Design is made from PVC plastic. It erases pencil strokes from all kinds of surfaces. This eraser felt much harder than the rest, which, I think, isn't a bad thing at all.
•   I don't really think the casing of the Office 320 is a great idea because as you use up the eraser, you'd have to pull it out from its casing. Then when you're erasing, it might get annoying when you accidentally push the eraser back into the casing...
•   The Gigante 403 is, like its name tells you, really gigantic. I guess a big eraser for big mistakes? Or perhaps for throwing at people who make gigantic mistakes in your presence. hahaha. The eraser itself is a little dusty. And if you're wondering how much the big guy weighs... the answer is 150grams. I weighed it.

Singapore 50 cents for scale; and how it looks like in my tiny hands.

  A thing to note here is that I mainly use erasers to erase light underdrawings, which is why I don't like it when my erasers are too dusty. If you're a graphite artist, though, a dustier eraser would be better because it wouldn't disturb the paper too much.

•   740 is at a very big disadvantage in this review. It's a rubber ink eraser– like rubber, but with silica grit in it. There was dust! DUST EVERYWHERE! To be fair, though, I shouldn't even be using it on graphite...
•   840 is a "combination eraser". A high-breed, of sorts. hahaha. For some reason, though, it's not listed on the Milan website. The pink end of it is made of natural rubber, which was soft and quite nice to use. The blue end of it is for ink, which, after my bad experience with the 740 eraser, I did not try to use on graphite. I tried it against Derwent's Line Maker and it did a less-than-stellar job with erasing the ink. The ink-erasing award goes to 740, but I really enjoyed the feel of the natural rubber of this eraser.
•   The kneaded eraser comes in a little plastic wrapper.. But I tried to knead it and it didn't seem pliable at all.

I broke off a little bit of the eraser and as you can see, it looks dry and didn't fold on itself well at all. :/

• The Master Gum is dusty, but does its job really well. Apparently, it's a special and improved eraser, made of a synthetic rubber that has a high capacity for the adsorption of charcoal and graphite. It erases easily without exerting pressure on the surface of the paper, forming soft crumbs. It also can also be used to erase or blur strokes of charcoal drawings.
•   Not pictured is the 2424- reason being is that it has been the eraser I've kept in my art pouch and use regularly (until I made this review and found a different eraser I liked better). 2424 has its number printed on the top and middle of the eraser, which I thought was nice. Both the 2424 and the 4024 are made of soft synthetic. They erase most graphite on all surfaces.
• The extra soft 5020 is a plastic eraser and it really is soft and squishy.
• I found out that "Negra" is Portugese for Black. It is a black PVC eraser; is extra soft with great absorption power. Suitable for soft pencil strokes and does not damage the paper. I really like Milan's Nata® line, though.
• 9320 Design is a thermoplastic eraser (sounds fancy). Non-abrasive; able to erase deep strokes made by hard pencils.

  The erasers that did their job the best are the Artist 520, Tecnik 920, and the Master Gum. So I decided to do a comparison between those three on one page:

And my favourite ended up being the Tecnik 920 because it created the least amount of dust.
It has actually become the eraser that I've kept in my art pouch.

I didn't particularly care for the 740 because we're in the 21st century and you might as well use a correction tape. I also wonder why Milan stopped making natural rubber erasers...

  And before you go, I have one more eraser that I wanted to show you... The Milan Cleaning Cushion. It is a very peculiar, and rather large object. A sort of bag filled with eraser dust (imagine putting an eraser into a blender) and its purpose is to gently removes dirt and smudges without abrading the surface.

It is, quite easily, the weirdest art product that I currently own.
It's really soft and squishy. I imagine it'd make lightening large sketches very easy, but rather messy. In any case, I really like it for its novelty. hehehe

  To see a very helpful pdf guide on all Milan erasers, click this link. It is picture heavy, though... So if you're not on wifi, it might take a while to load. And really, all the info you need is in this post. ;)

  I hope you enjoyed this review. Let me know in the comment section below which Milan eraser you like the best, or whether you prefer an eraser from a different brand.

New Art Friend Branch at Plaza Singapura

  A new Art Friend just opened to replace the one that was at Takashimaya. It's located at Plaza Singapura, B1-13. Apparently, it's not fully open though.. But I think it's the most beautifully laid out Art Friend branch; everything was easy to find and there was a good flow to the layout of the products. 

Look at the gigantic ad that was placed at B2!

Opening promotion: For every $50 you spend, you'll get a $5 voucher to spend on your next purchase at this branch. Valid till' 31st Jan 2015.

Polychromos. Gimme~

Buy ALL THE Derwent products!    ＼（＾▽＾）／
And the Graphik pens are already in stock. Woohoo!

They sell frames now?!? That's new to me. And they have a good variety too.

Paper aisles.
These are Daler Rowneys.

Fabriano sketchbooks.
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  You bet your butt I bought things from the store. And yes; I did spend more than $50 to take advantage of the in-store promotion. ^-^

These were located near the check-out counter.
And this would be the equivalent of supermarkets putting their candy section near the check-out counters... You're all like, "Uhhh~ This looks interesting..." *grabs one and puts it into the shopping basket*

It's seven little sketchbooks by Fabriano. And each sketchbook has a name and different papers within them. All in all, they look really cute and I can't wait to try them out. $22.90 for the whole pack.

Red is "Vellutata", which is velvet.
Orange is "Pergamenata, which is parchment.
Yellow is "Goffrata", embossed.
Light green is "Vergata". They say it's laid paper. I think it resembles Chinese rice paper.
Dark green is "Ecologica". Ecological- which I think means it's made of recycled paper.
Light blue is "Naturale", and I think it's untreated paper.
Dark blue is "Marcata". It's paper meant for felt markers.

Always wanted to get myself some new watercolour brushes.
My old Pentel one was giving me troubles.... And these were $13 for one pack.

Another Fabriano product.
I thought it looked like a bible. hahaha

I thought it was cool because it had a mix of brown and white paper.
$13.90

Kneaded eraser (a.k.a "putty eraser") by Faber Castell. I love Faber Castell, by the way. I think their students coloured pencils- the regular children's coloured pencils- are very affordable and give really good colour pay-off. I'm still looking forward to getting their Polychromos sometime in the future.

I needed the eraser for my coloured pencil drawings, and my sketches as well.
A very affordable $1.10.

Daler Rowney's Aquafine Watercolour Postcards.
I have a friend who is going to further her studies in UK. I bought this so that I could draw on the postcards and mail them to her over the coming year. This cost me $6.

Each postcard has a space for you to stick your stamp on, and lines to write the address you're sending it to. It's also really thick and sturdy watercolour paper, and I already have ideas on what I'm going to draw on them. I bought this mainly to use my Derwent Inktense blocks on.

Not from this haul.. These were actually Christmas gifts from a friend of mine. 
But in case you were wondering, this is how Inktense Blocks look like. Also in the picture are the Derwent Graphik Line Makers. You can read my review of them via this link.

   And that's about it for this Art Friend haul. To see a list of all the Art Friend branches in Singapore, you can click this link.

Art Stores In Singapore

  As most (I hope) of you know, I live in Singapore, one of the ever busy metropolitan city in Asia. We're right under Malaysia. Below you can clearly see that Singapore resembles a diamond shape, and that we're surrounded by the sea, thus making us an island. With a population that has just passed the 5 million mark, it is a very crowded and busy island.

  [You might also be interested in the following post... 101 Websites For The Artist: A Masterlist]

Overjoyed.
  Situated at Little India, which by the way is a brilliant place to go sketching in Plein Air, I recently found Overjoyed. They do door to door delivery for purchases over $150. I haven't visited them, though, so I can't say much about their store or customer service.

  Address: 89 Short Street, Golden Wall Centre, #B1-08, Singapore 188216

http://www.overjoyed.com.sg/

Everything Is Art
  If you're an artist that would like to purchase Zentangle® products, you're in luck. Everything Is Art is a reseller of original Zentangle products. They sell original white and black tiles, Apprentice tiles, Bijou tiles, and Zendala tiles. They're also willing to sell Micron pens with purchase of tiles. Purchases will be sent to you via normal/registered mail, depending on your preferences.

  See what products they have available via this link.

Art Friend.
History

  They opened their original outlet in 1981 at Bras Basah Complex, and till' today, it still remains.

  In the late 90's, they opened their Peace Centre branch. It is the equivalent of a book shop that is meant to serve the Art Institutions around the area, namely NAFA, LaSalle and SOTA. It has always been small and only carries the essentials. It briefly moved to IOI plaza and later, a shophouse across the road before going full circle back to Peace Centre.

  They once had a branch in Buona Vista, but that branch moved to Clementi. They also opened in Takashimaya, but that branch closed down and will be relocated someplace else soon.

  Currently, they're located only at Plaza Singapura (their newest branch. see a review I did of it via this link), Bras Basah, Clementi, and Peace Centre. (To the boss of Art Friend; if you're reading this, might you consider opening a branch nearer to the East side of Singapore..?)


Good to Know

  They stock Bristol boards, and have just started stocking Arches paper. I also really love the Fabriano paper that they have.

  They're the sole distributor of Derwent, my favourite brand of pencils and pens- Coloursoft, Inktense, and Graphik pens.

  They do free delivery if your total purchase amounts to more than SGD$150.

  Membership is free if you spend over $100 in a single receipt or $10.70 for a 2 year membership. Renewal is waived if $600 is spent within the two years or if $5.35 is paid. Membership allows you to get 10% off all your future purchases.

  They sell a very large variety of things; from craft products, to papers and pads, sketchbooks and canvases, easels, paintbrushes ad paints, coloured pencils, dyes, scrapbooking papers, pens... You name it. Link to all the branches' address: https://artfriendonline.com/OnlineUsers/locates

Related: List of Prices of Art Materials In Singapore


Straits Art Co.
They don't have a website, so if you ever need to contact them, dial 6338 1710. Located at North Bridge Centre #01-27, 420 North Bridge Road, (S)188727, it's right near Art Friend, so if you decide to visit Art Friend at Bras Basah, drop by there too. They stock Van Gogh watercolors, a huge range of soft pastels, artist grade oils and acrylics, and easels too. What makes them unique though (and this I'm very sure of,) is that they're the one and only store on the island that sells clay heads. You know, those clay statues that art schools use for sketching practice. They're also the sole distributor of Golden brand paints. However, the prices are pretty steep, so you might want to just drop by for a look see, look see first. They also stock sets of Prismacolors.

  May I add though, that due to its smaller shop size, its staff to customer ratio is very high and they are extremely knowledgeable on their products, and very willing to guide you to the right products for your needs. So, if you're an artist in Singapore, ready to take the plunge to artist grade materials yet are a little lost as to what to buy, head here.

Art Studio & Gallery.
  They have three locations! Bedok North, Bugis, and their newest one at Simei in East Point Mall. I went to the one at Simei. They sell brands that I am not familar with, and I think it's the start to a brand new adventure (and also my wallet crying). They also provide art classes and art jamming sessions within their store. Check out my review of the Simei store here.

Visualtroop.
  Visualtroop is an online platform and marketplace that brings artists’ works alive through everyday products. Artists submit their works to the site so that the works can be printed onto shirts, tote bags, notecards, and art prints. Artists still retain the rights to their works and get 15% from products sold. It's an awesome way to make merchandises if you’re an artist, or support an artist by buying awesome merchandises.
  The site is well designed and easy to navigate. I love the “Quick View” function that the site has. Local shipping is made via Singpost. Charges vary depending on whether you choose regular or registered mail but they're very affordable. International shipping starts from $6 to $50, depending on what you order.

  I actually wrote a full review about them. You can check that review out if you click on this link.

  You can visit their site by clicking right here.


Art Mark.
  It's situated at #04-35, Bras Basah Complex, Blk 231, Bain Street, Singapore 180231. They are the only shop in Singapore to have open stock Prismacolors. It's the place where I get my Black Grape and Ginger Root when they're all used up. Although, I feel, you're better off buying paper from Art Friend at the 2nd storey.

  A head's up though; they have bad customer service and are unhelpful when you ask questions about products. I only visit them to buy open-stock Prismacolors, that's all. And until they improve in that area, I'll continue to recommend Straits Art Co, and online shops for purchasing boxed sets of Prismacolors.

  They also sell sets of Caran D'ache, (which I'm still saving up for) and the 132 Premier Prismacolor set. Link to their website right here; http://www.artmark.com.sg/

Krafers Paradise
  They're located at City Square Mall, #04-19/20/21 Farrer Park. So it's really close to Farrer Park MRT station. I did a review of their store via this link.

Maple Treehouse
  Located on the 5th floor of IMM.  www.mapletreehouse.com (Not visited yet, so I can't comment on how the shop is like.)

Tinkle Art and Crafts
  They have a showroom but operate mostly as an online store. They also offer craft classes, and why I'm listing them here is because they sell a lot of silicone molds and resin, and a lot of people ask me where they can get them. So, here you go. :) You can view their webstore here: http://www.tinkleartncrafts.com/

Spotlight
  Located at Plaza Singapura, on the 5th floor. This shop sells lots of craft and sewing things. They do stock many things. However, their art-related materials seem to be more expensive, so I'd recommend doing a price check and comparing it with prices from other shops. It's a great shop for scrapbooking, fake flowers, halloween costumes, and little craft things though.

Made With Love
  Located at Orchard 313. Made With Love stocks lots of scrapbooking materials... Lots of patterned papers, stickers and stamps.

Paper Market
  Again, this is another store for all your scrapbooking needs. Lots of pretty papers, and stamps, and stickers.

Golden Dragon
  My mum loves this place. They sell all sorts of beads, zippers, ribbons, yarn, and felt. And also pieces of cloth and other things for needlework and craft. They open from 10am to 8:30pm from Monday to Saturday, and 12:30pm to 7:30pm on Sundays and Public Holidays. Located at 101, People's Park Centre, Upper Cross Street #02-51 Singapore 058357, do drop by to visit them some day.

Graf Von Faber Castell
  Located at ION Orchard, #04-13, Singapore 238801. This is an outlet that sells all sorts of Faber Castell products– I especially love their Polychromos. Polys are available open-stocked from here but only if you buy a minimum of six pencils of the same colour. (Which is silly, if you ask me... but oh well.) If you're so inclined to give them a call, you may do so at (65) 6339-6388.

Royal Art
  They're located at 91 Bencoolen Street, Sunshine Plaza, #01-72, Singapore 189652. They also have an online at the shopping portal Qoo10: http://www.qoo10.sg/shop/Royalart. (Not visited yet.)


BONUS: What about money saving stores? 
  At IKEA, you can find very cheap newsprint to practice sketching on. $6.70 for 40m long by 45cm wide, or so I'm told. They also stock ready-made frames. If you're looking for a cheaper alternative to framing your art, just so you can hang it up, IKEA might be worth a look.
Link to stores are here: http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_SG/ikny_splash.html

  There is a shop called DIASO where everything goes at $2. There you can find sketchbooks, electric erasers (at 2 bucks, it's a steal.) and many other things. Here's a small lined notebook I bought at DAISO that now serves as my sketchbook.
Related: A list of all branches of DAISO stores in Singapore.

[Related: Prices of Art Materials in Singapore]

So, there you have it. All the Art shops in Singapore with all their available links in one post. If I've missed any stores, do leave me a comment in the section below. :) And if you have any questions, write to me at < stephanie_jennifer@ymail.com > .