Pentel Creator Collective Featured Creator: Jenna Lechner – Crafts Pro Kit

Hi Creator Collective! Jenna Lechner here, illustrator and art teacher based in Portland, OR, USA. 

I’ve spent the past 30+ years of my life as an artist playing with different materials and media, and I’m excited to share with you the Crafts Pro kit that I helped curate with Pentel Arts. It is chock-full of fun tools to try!

Here’s a little bit about me, and the motivation behind this kit: I worked in art and craft stores for years, which is where I first fell in love with Pentel products. (All of their brush pens are forever the best!) Prior to that, I received a bachelor of fine art degree, and a minor in art history. 

After  graduating, I fell in love with illustration, and began my path as an illustrator, which is my primary field of work these days. You can see my work in books, magazines, and on things like custom stationery, wallpaper, and packaging. 

BUT, like many, my art career has involved a lot of twists and turns.

To be specific, over the past couple decades, I have: woven baskets, paint

ed window murals, hand lettered wedding invites, and embroidered faces on sloth plushies (gotta love gig work). 

I’ve also: carved spoons, felted wool, knit sweaters, stitched books, planed wood, and worked as a freelance arts journalist. And, in the days of art school…well, I made conceptual art, created experimental “drawing machines” using a fan + plastic bag (no joke!), and even drew comics for the college newspaper. 

Alongside my illustration career, I’ve continued my love for crafts, teaching continuing education classes to all ages, at alternative venues like non-profits, plant stores, and craft schools.

 I believe art should be accessible to all, and I love teaching beginner students. This kit is designed to be both of those things: it’s designed for you to dip your toes into multiple worlds of making, without being intimidated by skill level. It’s designed for kids, and adults.

All of the above is to say: my goal was to bring a true exploratory spirit to the Crafts Pro kit.

As for what’s actually in the kit? I’ve included some fabric paint sticks, to experiment with decorating shirts & other textiles. There’s a series of colorful Mattehop pens, which work

on photographs and various surfaces (scrapbookers, take note!) – they even work on the cover of many sketchbooks. There are brush pens, to practice your handlettering; this includes one of my favorite brush pens (and one of the bestselling pens at every store I’ve worked at): the Sign Pen Brush Tip, in classic black. 

There are even some watercolors to play with in this kit. There’s a white pen that works great on dark papers, and a gold (!) Slicci pen.

 And last but not least, included in this kit is the best permanent fabric pen on the market – i.e. the Pentel Arts Gel Roller,which is great for drawing unique designs on quilt blocks, by the way.

I grew up in rural Montana, where the most arts & culture you could get was visiting the ole Ben Franklin Crafts and Frame Shop (Midwesterners know!). I still remember every single latch hook kit that was purchased, every patterned pencil, and every funky multicolor pen that my mom brought home from that store. My hope is that opening this kit feels like opening a present; I hope it might spark that same childlike joy & wonder of bringing home a project that opens a new world. The goal is to enjoy the process of creating & discovery.

Making art can be intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be. In art, the joy is in the discoveries and the trying – in art, the mistakes are where the humanity is.  You don’t know what your “favorite” tool is until you try it! So, go ahead, pick up this kit, grab a new material, and give it a try!

Xo,

Jenna

Click here to view some tips and tricks for how to use the tools in this kit. You can also click here to view and download a collection of stencil designs!