Looking For Interesting/proffesional Ink

[MuttonChew]

Hello,

I recently purchased my first fountain pen (Lamy Al-Star), along with Noodler's Liberty's Elysium, and Lamy Black.

I really love L.E, but now have an obsession with finding new inks!

At the moment, I'm looking for an ink that is interesting enough that i will be excited to use it, but still remains professional enough to use in class for notes.

Feathering, and bleedthrough are not an issue, as I use a Rhodia Pad.

Thanks in Advance!

Mutton

[Randal6393]

My favorites are Aurora Blue and Noodler's Navajo Turquoise for professional inks. Might check them out.

 

Enjoy,

[Arkanabar]

Are you kidding me??

 

When I was in university, I used red, orange, brown, green, blue, purple, blue-black, and black inks in my chemistry lab book. The TA who graded it looked forward to the new colors.

 

Bear in mind that your goal in university is to please your professors. If they don't like color, don't use it, or stay sneaky with colors like Noodler's Squeteague, Diamine Eclipse, and the like.

[ac12]

Some ideas:

• PR DC SuperShow blue
• Diamine Midnight blue
• Sheaffer Turquoise (might be a bit bright, depending on the pen)
• Diamine Sherwood Green
• Diamine Green/Black
• Waterman Green (if in a pen that writes it dark enough)
• Noodlers Red/Black
• PR black cherry
• Waterman Brown

Follow on to Arkanabar, if this is to hand in for grading, do NOT use bright colors like pink or bright red or orange, etc.

Having been a grader, I can tell you that my eyes did NOT like reading those inks. When I had to review/grade a LOT of papers, that bright ink almost hurt my eyes to look at it. End result is that ink put me in less than a good mood when reviewing that paper, which is NOT what you want to do to a grader.

You can use bright colors as highlight or notation, but in small amounts.

[NinthSphere]

Between notes & assignments, I use Noodler's Antietam, Liberty's Elysium, Nightshade, Pelikan Turquoise, Private Reserve Sherwood Green, Diamine Majestic Blue, & J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune.

[SeeksAdvice]

Sailor Sei-Boku = waterproof when dry, dark blue/black, not all that hard to maintain if you flush the pen periodically. *Way* easier to deal with than the MB Permanent Blue I've been playing with. Extremely well behaved on paper. Will "stick" to the nib a bit. it is one of my preferred blue/black inks.

Noodler's 54th Mass is one of the better behaved Noodler's bulletproof products I've tried. Very durable on the page. Not sure where the "blue" is in this blue/black is though.

If you don't care about water resistance, the Iroshizuku darker blue series and Sailor Yama-Dori are good choices.

If you need ISO certification, then probably MB Permanent Blue, but man is it a pain to clean. MB Perm Black on the other hand was a major disappointment. Smudges badly, and I can remove off the page with just some water and finger rubbing.

I tend to avoid brighter/lighter blue colors. On a whim, bought Ama-iro... don't like it, and will wind up mixing it with Take-Sumi to get a dark teal. Liberty's Elysium is a bit too light for my tastes.

There is no point in writing pages with an ink that really hurts the eyes to look at it. The Bay State series from Noodler's is certainly bright, but imagine trying to read a few pages of it:/

[ink-syringe]

Diamine Midnight. No shading, but very wet and a nice dark navy blue. Not a blue-black (which is so often blue-grey).

[jasonchickerson]

Notes need not be professional. So use whatever you like.

 

For written exams, etc., a good brown is professional (Cacao du Bresil, Iroshizuku Tsukushi) and you'll stand out, which is good unless your work is bad.

Edited February 7, 2015 by jasonchickerson

[EricaTX]

I use Noodler's Texas Blue Bonnet for my notes at school. It's a pretty blue, but it's a dark greenish-blue.

[jmccarty3]

I like Diamine Anniversary Regency Blue and Diamine Eclipse for more formal writing. The Regency Blue can be hard to find, but you can order it direct from Diamine. If you have to have a permanent black, the Sailor Nano is a good choice, although I added a bit of glycerine to mine to improve flow. If the ink doesn't have to be permanent, I like Iroshizuku Take-sumi.

[Sasha Royale]

A handsome ink, that is still conservative for formal use, and seems universally to function well.

is Private Reserve's DC Supershow Blue. It lacks the "hints" of gray, green, purple, or brown.

I call it "pure blue".

[ScienceChick]

I like PR Ebony Purple when I need a "serious" ink. Diamine Majestic Blue or China Blue for serious blues.

 

FWIW, a fine nib really tames Baystate Blue. It's still bright but not hard to look at a full page of it, IMO. I'm a new convert.

[Davros]

Diamine Denim is my charismatic serious blue. Asa Blue is my charismatic cheerful blue. Either is unobjectionable.

 

If you can get some, many of the KWZI inks are both interesting and professional.

[St.Pugsley]

I'm new to the fountain pen hobby, having just bought a lamy pen myself (Vista!), but it seems like a good way to find many inks for yourself (without breaking the bank) would be to try a bunch of samples... I know goulet pens have a collection of the staff member's favorite inks, or the ink drop; where you subscribe and get a new, themed collection of ink samples every month.

-Hope this helps!

[Parse Error]

Noodler's aircorp blue black -- still a drab blue that nobody is going to object to but there's a lot of subtlety and shading differences that you can pull off...

[wallylynn]

Registrar's ink is always interesting and professional.

[TheRealScubaSteve]

.

Noodler's Zhivago is a nice dark green that looks black at a glance.

Edited February 8, 2015 by TheRealScubaSteve

[Sandy1]

Hi,

In addition to the excellent suggestions above, kindly consider R&K Sepia and Diamine Macassar for quite neutral fairly dark Brown inks. Both have a good degree of water resistance. Then we have the dark Teal inks, such as R&K Verdigris and Diamine Twilight which are rather soft on the eye. For a medium-dark Blue, a perennial favourite is Noodler's Ottoman Azure. And in the BlBk range we have the iron-gall Salix from R&K.

For written assignments, exams, etc., I've put forward three strategies:
- Stealth: When you don't want your work to standout or draw much scrutiny. Pelikan 4001 Royal Blue and Lamy Blue (bottle) are good picks, and can be corrected/erased with the appropriate thingy, such as the Lamy ink-x.
- Bright Bulb: When you think you just might have somehow done more than mundane scribbling, so want to standout a bit. Consider Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue or PR American Blue, both of which can easily withstand dilution so you can determine how bright your bulb should burn.
- Mercy: When you hope to elevate the mood of the Grader, hence receive a better grade than deserved. Any of the Turquoise inks have that upside potential, though I'd lean toward the ones that are a bit dark, and still have more Blue than Cyan. (I used Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise for my Chem lab assignments, and to sign an undertaking that I would not major in Chemistry.) Waterman Inspired Blue and the Noodler's Navajo Turquoise are also likely picks. Should your work be at risk of mauling by highlighters, inks with more water resistance may be preferred, such as Pelikan Edelstein Topaz and Pilot ku-jaku (a bit more expensive, but may be worth it to rescue iffy work.)

Bye,
S1

 

__ __

- Comparo : Private Reserve, American Blue :: DC Supershow Blue
https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/158771-comparison-p-r-american-blue-d-c-supershow-blue/

- Private Reserve DC Supershow Blue - Dilution: 100, 70 & 35% : https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php?/topic/239373-dilution-private-reserve-dc-supershow-blue/page__view__findpost__p__2590755

Edited February 8, 2015 by Sandy1

[PaperDarts]

Sandy1, love your recommended strategies and your ink suggestions!

[Durp13579]

Diamine Evergreen looks black at a glance, but upon inspection it is a very nice green/black with nice shading.