People Who Write A Lot With Non-Blue/black Inks, Which Ones Do You Use And Why?

[phoenixfeder]

I use whatever color I like, the inks just have to be easy to read (also at low light levels) and not sear anyone's retina . Different colored inks brighten up my work day a bit, and the great thing is: I'm not alone, 2 other collegues write with fountain pens and one of them is also into colored inks.

 

At the moment I'm using J. Herbin Cafe´des iles for regular text and Lamy neon coral to highlight important things.

When on night duty I use Lamy Pacific/turquoise, just for a bit of variation .

 

Before that I used Pelikan Edelstein Amethyst, Diamine Enchanted Ocean, Diamine Tropical Glow and Pelikan Edelstein Garnet. I'm already looking forward to the next color change

[KreepyKen]

Unless you're signing contracts or other legal documents that specifically require black or blue ink, there's no reason to avoid using inks that make you happy. I work for a very large, Fortune 50 company (aerospace), and people use all sorts of pens and colors in the office. I had a manager who routinely wrote in bright pink and green inks. No one ever thought twice about it.

 

Here are some of the ones I've really enjoyed using at work (omitting limited edition inks):

• Sailor Jentle Shigure (purple/black)
• Kyoto/TAG Kyo Iro #4 Moonlight of Higashiyama (dark orange)
• Pilot Iroshizuku Shin-Ryoko (green with a slight blue cast to it)
• Pilot Iroshizuku Yu-Yake (orange)
• Sailor Jentle Sky High (bright blue)
• De Atramentis Steel Blue (bright blue...but darker than Sky High)
• Akkerman Dutch Masters #12 Sharlaken van Jan Steen (deep red)
• KWZ Foggy Green (green/black)

[radellaf]

My god, which ones do I use? All of them? I don't really settle on favorites because even with 40 pens inked, I always have more yet-untried colors in both bottles and samples. Why? Because ink colors are fun. I'd rather have one pen and all my ink than one ink and all my pens.

[Bookman]

My collection of "colors" has shrunk over the years. I use medium-dark and dark blues for fiction, the same or brown or black for letters; and they account for 80% of my writing. For postcards and journaling, however, the spectrum is somewhat wider. Current favorites:

• Diamine Orange
• Diamine Oxblood
• Diamine Red Dragon
• Diamine Sherwood Green
• Montblanc Irish Green
• Montblanc Toffee Brown
• Waterman Absolute Brown/Havana

Edited August 19, 2017 by Bookman

[Arkanabar]

Most of my inks would not stand out in a demonstrator. Inks that are dark enough to become one of the Six Essentials (explanatory link in the signature) are too opaque for that.

Three of the Essentials are a black, a blue-black, and a blue. You've made your disinterest clear. The others are a purple, a green, and a brown.

The green was chosen first -- Diamine Sherwood. I love it. I've also settled on the brown, Diamine Chocolate. The purple is likely to be Noodler's Purple.

None of these stand out in a demonstrator. They're all too dark. Colors that stand out in demonstrators tend to be eye-searing or jewel-toned. Consider something like Sheaffer Turquoise, Noodler's Summer Tanager and Apache Sunset, or Diamine Meadow or Apple Green. I'd recommend a fuchsia if I knew one off the top of my head.

[Shaggy]

My favorite ink in a demonstrator is Iroshizuku yama-budo.

[brianzo]

I love using brown inks for personal letters and cards. My favourites are Visconti Brown and J. Herbin Café des ˆIles - depending on the combination with the pen, and whether I'm in the mood for a strong, sharp brown (Visconti) or a softer touch.

 

Sometimes I use purple for cards for special occasions. I love the extra drama and flair that it provides. J. Herbin Violette Pensée comes up surprisingly saturated in my Visconti Rembrandt calligraphy pen (fine nib).

[hachikomustang]

Marrón : Platinum, caran d'ache organic brown , coleccion edelstein ,Visconti, Waterman,Montblanc,J.Herbin,Diamine.

Because I think it conveys warmth and approachability, yet still retains a sincerity and air of professionalism required for business use. It shades beautifully, too.

Verdes : Diamine, Colección Edelstein , Montblanc, Waterman . Signatures and invoices

Púrpura / violeta: J.Herbin, Montblanc, Waterman. Notes

Naranja: Colección Edeltein.

Rojo: Colección Edeltein Ruby, Sheaffer, Montblanc ...

Edited August 21, 2017 by hachikomustang

[MarcS]

this spring and summer, i'm liking green, specifically levenger gemstone green, for my personal use. it's easy on my eyes despite standing out on a page, and it's refreshingly different from the blues and blacks i see all day long. however, chanelling Sandy1, i consider it NSFW.

[alanlight]

I like to at least try and match ink color to pen color.

Some of my favorite pairings are:

 

• Noodler's Apache Sunset in a Noodler's Ahab Arizona pen. This one quite literally matches exactly.
• J. Herbin Éclat De Saphir in a vintage blue-barreled Sheaffer PFM.
• Iroshizuku Kiri-Same in a vintage gray Sheaffer Craftsman
• Pelikan Dark Green in a Green Pelikan M600
• J. Herbin Vert Olive in an olive green barrelled Parker 45

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Flaxmoore]

I have three "Hey, you! Pay attention!" inks that I use when I'm marking up patient charts.

 

A patient has a pacemaker, or some metal in their body so they cannot have an MRI, that is noted on the front of the charge in either Sheaffer red, Rouge Hematite, or Diamine Oxblood.

 

That's also my color group for things that are vital for patient or staff safety, such as if they have hepatitis, HIV, or other communicable diseases that may require extra precautions.

 

Less important things such as record request typically go in Diamine Sherwood, Diamine Apple Glory.

Edited September 18, 2017 by Flaxmoore

[displacermoose]

I've started working in an office again lately, so I've been experimenting with blues and blue blacks, but for personal stuff (journaling, writing fiction, doodles) I use all sorts of colors. Recently I've been on a Oku-yama phase. It almost exactly the color of leaves that turn red in the autumn and I absolutely love it. It is red without being RED; it has a hint of brown without looking like dried blood and enough blue to lean magenta without being girly.

 

In general, I like my colors complex. Black is not only hard on the eyes (too much contrast), but is also typically pretty boring. As are standard blues. I just inked up a work pen with Pilot blue and I don't think I'm going to be able to stand it. Well behaved but totally boring. I do like, however, blues that approach teal or purple. Sailor Shigure is a great one. Blue? Purple? Black? Who cares, it's lovely. I also like browns. I've been experimenting with different ratios of Noodlers #41 brown and Heart of Darkness to try and achieve the darkest ink possible without it going black. The fact that its well behaved and waterproof is a very happy bonus. I also like Lie du The very much.

[ColdDeadHand]

I'm a big fan of Platinum Forest Black.
With a wet, fine nib, it will dry to almost black, but if you use it on something broader or drier, you can get a lot more green, and if you use something like a stub, you will have green that shades to a very dark green, near-black. It looks different in every pen I've used.

[MHBru]

Currently.... ku jaku. Syo ro. Kon peki. Also have a few

Other teals/aquamarines and Caran d'ache ultra violet. I use them all for personal notes I send to customers and prospects. I like to use inks that stand just off to the side on the center-beam blues and blacks. Just enough to be interesting yet subtle.

[EBGBs]

Well yeah, I have the same issue, if you write or sign things that are a bit formal or 'official', anything out of blue and black quickly looks wild...

The colours I use were already named, lots of Iroshizukus for me too (great performance, bright colours, but also rather easy to find and affordable on my side of the world - i understand it's not the case everywhere);
- Iroshizuku Syo-Ro (blue-GREEN)
- Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo (BLUE-green)
- Iroshizuku Asa-Gao (bright) or Kon-Peki (brighter); for blues that are a bit more lively, less 'common'/dull than usual blues.

 

I think these work well because they are either blue (the last 2), or not quite blue but rather dark (the first 2), so they keep an element of formality.

If you can go as far as using something not really blue and not dark either; then turquoises are the next easy stop.

 

I wouldn't feel too comfortable signing things in purple or brown, even dark tones, but of course that depend on how open your line of work/ industry/ company/ job are.

I do have pens with turquoise and purple inks, I use them for things that won't be shared (meeting notes, diary/ to-do lists, etc)

Edited September 22, 2017 by EBGBs

[Honeybadgers]

I find Edelstein smoky quartz winds up in a lot of my pens at work. I also use noodlers dark matter a lot, sailor tokiwa matsu, and a lot of pilot blue black.

 

Noodlers liberty's elysium gets an honorable mention. But I use all my inks. The shimmer ones a lot less so since I don't like cleaning it out, but of those, emerald of chivor generally.

[hh1990]

Most of my inks are different variations of blue, but I like having some variety, too. My favorite non-blues are Irish Green, Yama Budo, Ancient Copper, and Oku Yama. My black inks have just been being used with dip nibs lately.

[VivaTerlingua]

These are my most favorites, organized by preference within that color group

 

Does grey count? I adore grey!: Noodler's Lexington Grey, Pilot Iroshizuku Fuyu-syogun, Callifolio Gris de Payne

 

Teal: KWZI IG Turquoise, Organics Studio Walden Pond Blue

 

Green: Robert Oster Melon Tea, Sailor Rikyu-cha, Stipula Musk Green, Robert Oster Jade, Sailor Tokiwa-matsu , Noodler's Zhivago (you can tell that murky colors are my thing)

 

Purple: Lamy Dark Lilac, J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune, Rohrer & Klingner Cassia, Sailor Shigure, Noodler's Purple, Noodler's Kung Te Cheng

 

Red: Noodler's Red-black, Noodler's Antietam, KWZI Maroon, Nagasawa Kobe #39 Brick Red, J. Herbin 1670 Rouge Hematite

 

Orange: Noodler's Habanero, Monteverde Fireopal, KWZI Grapefruit, Kyo-iro Arashiyama Morning, Nagasawa Kobe #63 Tokoen Torch Orange

 

Yellow: Nagasawa Kobe #21 Taisanji Yellow, DeAtramentis Mahatma Gandhi, PenBBS #111

 

Brown: Noodler's Kiowa Pecan, KWZI Honey, KWZI Brown #4, J. Herbin Lie de The, Nagasawa Kobe #3 Old Foreigner's Ward Sepia

[amberleadavis]

Oh, wait, somewhere around here I have some great pictures of demonstrators with ink.

[VivaTerlingua]

Whatever I enjoy at the moment. The ones that regularly come back to my pens are:

 

Brown: Lie de The (J. Herbin), Sepia (Rohrer & KLingner). I love browns and could recommend you 50 more but time shows I use these two most

Green: Olivastre (L'Artisan Pastellier Callifolio), Souraken Tea Green (Nagasawa-kobe)

Grey: Lexington Gray (Noodler's), Stone Grey (GvFC)

Purple/violet: Dark Lilac (Lamy), Poussiere de Lune (J. Herbin)

Orange: Yu-yake (Iroshizuku), Monarch (KWZI), Fireopal (Monteverde)

Red: Akane (Maruzen Athena), Crimson (Diamine), Oku-yama (Sailor)

Yellow: Taisanji Yellow (Nagasawa-kobe)

 

You and I have really similar tastes in ink! Absolutely love all of the ones that you've posted (that I have tried anyway)

 

How different is Monarch from Fireopal? I have Fireopal and really like it and Monarch has had my eye for a while. Was wondering if you think its worth it to have both.