Do You Feel Guilty Sending A Letter In Black Ink?

[Jerome Tarshis]

That's because you used the word 'guilty'.

 

+1.

 

This is indeed a fountain pen board, and I am indeed interested in (some but not all) fountain pens, but it is divided into sub-fora. I am not greatly interested in ink colors or in papers, and am not often on those parts of FPN.

 

Above all, I'm not a bit interested in the idea of feeling guilty about this or that. Having learned that, according to the Buddha, suffering is universal, I am willing to accept that I suffer about A and other people suffer about B.

 

Questions of wearing black nail polish I also leave to others. Who are, in quotidian fact, very much younger than i am. And some of them attractive in mind and/or body. There I don't feel guilty, but I do in certain cases feel rather wistful.

[radellaf]

Well, there's no need to actually feel guilt, since it's easy (with FPs) to avoid writing in black. I'm not advocating guilt over trivialities. What inspired the wording is that the one time I _did_ write to a penpal in black, because I had only an uninked pen and a bottle of black, I actually wrote something like "sorry, I'll usually write in more interesting colors, but..."

 

You make a good point, though. I'd never considered how many FP fans might have only a few ink colors and put all their focus on the pens. I don't know anyone like that, personally, that I know of... but, yeah, for all I know they're a majority. Especially for the vintage collector people, perhaps.

 

From the day of my first Sheaffer cartridge pen, I _had_ to have all (seven?) the cartridge ink colors, and was delighted to keep writing through a beautiful change from green to peacock blue, or blue to red or burgundy. My paper, in 1980s USA elementary school was, of course, lousy.

[PenPaper52]

 

No!

 

As a newbie who is interested in the performance of the instrument, I only have a small selection of ink samples.

I usualy write in blue....for the time being any blue will do, but after ordering some ink samples I have come to really like lilacs and browns and reds.

 

Only have Diamine Jet Black which I currently use for calligraphy practice.

 

 

Stay safe!

 

Rita

[myn]

Guilty for using black ink? Nope, never!

I happen to love the simplicity of black.

[radellaf]

Simplicity, eh? I think I'm on the opposite side of that. Recently I've had, if not guilt, then at least a second thought about using "complicated" ink.

 

I do a lot of mixes of 2 or 3 inks in vials or, for a single fill, 1cc syringes. Those I can describe. But more than a few pens have one ink topped off with another, or a one-off mix I've forgotten, or maybe 3 or 4 inks plus perhaps water. Complicated.

 

The ideal letter is written with a fresh fill of either one still-available ink, or a simple ratio of two. If it's not a fresh fill, well, you should see the range of pinks and purples R&K Solferino has put on the page between partial dry out and adding water.

 

Speaking of water, there's then the complication of how to concisely describe 80% noodler's blue with 20% water with one number. Is it an 80% solution of blue? A 20% dilution? Or just a 4:1 blue:water mix.

[darazs]

Simplicity, eh? I think I'm on the opposite side of that. Recently I've had, if not guilt, then at least a second thought about using "complicated" ink.

 

I do a lot of mixes of 2 or 3 inks in vials or, for a single fill, 1cc syringes. Those I can describe. But more than a few pens have one ink topped off with another, or a one-off mix I've forgotten, or maybe 3 or 4 inks plus perhaps water. Complicated.

 

The ideal letter is written with a fresh fill of either one still-available ink, or a simple ratio of two. If it's not a fresh fill, well, you should see the range of pinks and purples R&K Solferino has put on the page between partial dry out and adding water.

 

Speaking of water, there's then the complication of how to concisely describe 80% noodler's blue with 20% water with one number. Is it an 80% solution of blue? A 20% dilution? Or just a 4:1 blue:water mix.

Now, you are reaching heights us poor mortal human can only dream of or hope to understand.

Edited January 3, 2017 by darazs

[Retro-user]

Simplicity, eh? I think I'm on the opposite side of that. Recently I've had, if not guilt, then at least a second thought about using "complicated" ink.

 

I do a lot of mixes of 2 or 3 inks in vials or, for a single fill, 1cc syringes. Those I can describe. But more than a few pens have one ink topped off with another, or a one-off mix I've forgotten, or maybe 3 or 4 inks plus perhaps water. Complicated.

 

The ideal letter is written with a fresh fill of either one still-available ink, or a simple ratio of two. If it's not a fresh fill, well, you should see the range of pinks and purples R&K Solferino has put on the page between partial dry out and adding water.

 

Speaking of water, there's then the complication of how to concisely describe 80% noodler's blue with 20% water with one number. Is it an 80% solution of blue? A 20% dilution? Or just a 4:1 blue:water mix.

In printing, it's common to screen a color with white and call it 80% red or whatever color, so I'm thinking you could say "80% blue" without much confusion.

[Mercian]

I wouldn't feel bad about using black ink when writing to non-pen people.

And I would happily use black to pen people as long as I'm using interesting paper.

 

I would feel uneasy about using blue-black though - even though the blue-black I use is R&K Salix, whose shading is a Thing of Beauty (especially on crisp white paper).

I worry that a recipient of a letter from me in blue-black might think 'why is he using a 'work' ink to write to me?' :-(

 

Now OK, I *do* realise that this is Foolishness, but e.g. I also suffer from an over-active penchant for the Pathetic Fallacy. D'oh!

 

Of course, my main sources of Guilt in terms of writing letters are that my handwriting is execrable, and that I have a *very* un-eventful life, and thus (apart from opinions about controversial topics) have very little to write that is likely to interest the reader :-(

[electricpowerman]

No, I don't feel guilty sending a letter written in black ink. Unless:

• The last several letters to the same recipient were all written in black ink (starting to get a bit monotonous!); or
• I really wanted to use another colour but didn't have a thoroughly cleaned, dry pen ready to use it (how many times have I washed out a black-inked pen to find that there are still traces of black in there somewhere to ruin a lovely new ink colour?).

[flyingfox]

Even though I probably won't feel "guilty" to the recipient, it might feel like a lost opportunity for myself to use up some of the ink I own... in sooooo many colors...

[Manalto]

As PaperDarts (and probably others; I didn't read through all your responses) has said, the rarity of a hand-written letter trumps all. I read somewhere that, traditionally (100 years ago) black was for business correspondence, blue for personal and brown for intimate. I don't know if this is true but it's been my general rule for the past few years. With FPN members, however, all bets are off. We can communicate with black on copy paper, multi-colors on Rhodia or cinnabar on vellum. Anything goes. (I hope - that's been my policy, anyway. I don't think we should feel obliged to dazzle other FPN members with our choices of ink and paper. If we do, that's fine - and fun - but I refuse to feel the pressure to use an ink that purrs like a kitten or smells like a cinnamon donut.) Your question has elicited some wonderful responses. I think I'll go back and read a few more.

Edited February 11, 2017 by Manalto

[GuilhermeAtencio]

If it's something more "serious", I feel like it should be black, otherwise, depends who is getting the letter.

[Manalto]

I was raised Catholic - I feel guilty about everything.

[stonezebra]

What is this ink that smells like a cinnamon donut?!? I'm in! LOL!! LOL!!

[FPRebel]

 

No, I don't feel guilty sending a letter written in black ink. Unless:

• The last several letters to the same recipient were all written in black ink (starting to get a bit monotonous!); or
• I really wanted to use another colour but didn't have a thoroughly cleaned, dry pen ready to use it (how many times have I washed out a black-inked pen to find that there are still traces of black in there somewhere to ruin a lovely new ink colour?).

 

+1

 

 

[MHBru]

I sampled take sumi and really liked it but didn't think it fit in the type of impression I am going for in handwritten correspondence. Kon-peki and Ku-jaku from

Iroshizuku and caran d'ache ultra violet are my go-tos.

[Moonshae]

I particularly like the look of a deep, crisp black, so I wouldn't mind receiving one. I don't typically have any pens inked with black, but at some point I will, and if that's what's in my pen when it's time to write to a pen pal, I wouldn't feel guilty about it.

 

In the past, I've found that when using black for an extended period, if I switch to a colored ink, it seems that much more vibrant to me.

[jmccarty3]

I would be so delighted to receive a letter written with a fountain pen that I wouldn't care what ink it was.

 

For my own letters, the only time I think black is obligatory is for a letter of sympathy. Even then, I prefer a dark charcoal, like Take-sumi. To me, it is much richer and more elegant, much as a dark charcoal suit sends a message quite different from a stark black one.

 

For any other correspondence, I would tend to use a dark blue, such as Diamine Regency Blue, except in the most informal circumstances, where I might use just about anything except pink or yellow.

[MHBru]

Following...

[darazs]

Even though I probably won't feel "guilty" to the recipient, it might feel like a lost opportunity for myself to use up some of the ink I own... in sooooo many colors...

Really, i never noticed