Pens, Inks And Watercolour Paper

[Gracie]

I'm wanting to try combining watercolour painting and fountain pen calligraphy (or dip pens) in cards or small art works. Does anyone have a suggestion as to which watercolour papers are friendly to such nibs, and which inks work best and how? I usually paint on Arches papers, but nibs are an entirely different challenge.

[Corona688]

That's similar to what I'm doing. Watercolor paper is rough-textured and rapidly absorbent, since the point is to rapidly inhale water and prevent pigment from moving, not to have a smooth writing surface. Not very good for pens, catches constantly and bleeds.

 

I've had my best results with index cards. Better than paper for watercolor, better than watercolor paper for pen. Not ideal for either but c'est la vie.

Edited February 23, 2018 by Corona688

[pajaro]

Cold press watercolor paper is pretty shooth. Hot press watercolor paper is rougher. I generally expect fountain pen ink to not survive the washes when I use it for a drawing before applying the washes.

[Studio97]

Cold press watercolor paper is pretty shooth. Hot press watercolor paper is rougher. I generally expect fountain pen ink to not survive the washes when I use it for a drawing before applying the washes.

Hot press wc paper is smooth. Cold press is more rough. The FP ink would need to be water resistant or waterproof if want the initial lines to survive the wash applied over it. I have found different companies produce cold press rough that varies in texture. I prefer cold press with less texture like Arches 140 lb.

I found that less expensive wc paper cold press seems to have more texture than the premium brands. Student grade paper appears to have more texture which makes fp nibs and dip pen nibs more difficult to use on it.

 

Also i have experimented a lot with inks , pens and dip pen nibs to get desired results. I prefer antique bowl nibs that dont come to a "needle" point. Sepia inks on wc paper have been my preference.

Edited February 24, 2018 by Studio97

[Studio97]

One more suggestion, I have laid down washes and allowed them to completely dry an hour or more and apply the line on top.

[Corona688]

I prefer antique bowl nibs that dont come to a "needle" point.

I'm always curious about unusual nibs, what's one example of those?

[Studio97]

There are many bowl style nibs. A more common example, vintage Esterbrook Radio Pen 988 nib. Esterbrook Oval 788. Easy to look up on the net.

I am careful not to overload the nib with ink.

[CraigR]

I found a site that is about calligraphy and includes using watercolors with dip pens to make cards etc. She does discuss pens, inks, paints, and papers. It may be of interest to you. https://www.thepostmansknock.com/7-tips-for-creating-watercolor-calligraphy/ I found it interesting. The site is The Postman's Knock.

 

Craig

Edited February 24, 2018 by CraigR

[zephyrdeluxe]

I work in an art supply shop. You might consider a hot press paper with external sizing like W&N's new line of WC papers? Arches really is the best -- I especially love their rough paper with Daniel Smith paints to get all of the granulation nooks and crannies goodness -- but it may be too absorbent even if HP as they size throughout and not on the surface.

 

If you want to practice just lettering look for Borden & Riley's Paris paper or plate surface Bristol board.

 

Dip pen inks - try India or acrylic inks if you plan to do washes over your lettering. Sumi-E inks aren't waterproof but are a wonderfully rich black and are easy to clean up. If you do italic or brush calligraphy and want a disposable option look at F-C's Pitt Pens, which use India. And If you want to go the FP route there are tons of reviews of waterproof/water resistant inks. I tend to say yes to anything Liz Steel recommends (much to my budget's detriment)!

 

 

[Corona688]

[edit] mispost

Edited February 25, 2018 by Corona688

[johnboz]

I have some mixed media paper that seems to work pretty well for watercolor. I have used it in the past to play with combining ink and water. I just tried writing on it with a few different nibs (stub, medium, wet and juicy) and didn't have any issues with the texture. Of course, it's probably a compromise for both watercolor and writing, but seems to handle each one just fine.

[requiescat]

I've been using Fluid 100 hot press watercolor blocks with fountain pens and they're smooth enough not to be a detriment. Jane Blundell recommends De Atramentis Document inks for waterproofness. I have only tried Document Black but have found it to be waterproof once it dries--10-15 minutes if not faster. I'm mostly using Daniel Smith watercolors.

[77kath]

I’ve used Arches and Fabriano hot press blocks with Noodler’s ink brushes. At some point I acquired some Amalfi watercolor paper, which works surprisingly well for drawing and washes, but I don’t think it’s widely available.

[Torrilin]

R&K has 2 document ink lines, Dokumentus and SKETCHink. I believe both have ISO certification for lightfastness. I’m working my way through some samples, but I haven’t gotten far enough to have opinions really. Definitely haven’t checked the light claims, it’s winter here in WI and all my windows face north. Great portrait lighting but awful for fade tests. I believe these are all pigment inks, but the exact pigment isn’t listed and at least 2 of my samples show settling that suggests multiple pigments. Definitely worth considering, but you’ll probably want to do some testing.

 

Everyone else doesn’t make official lightfastness promises. There’s several brands that seem to use PBk6 for black tho.

 

Sailor Kiwa-guro is a pigment ink, and is much loved around here. I’ve only used about a cartridge worth so far, and I don’t love it. I won’t say I hate it, but it’s not as flexible about nib width as I’d like. It’s not a reliable ink in a fude or italic. Dry and skippy while also having lefty smear issues. I still recommend trying it because so many people do love it.

 

Pelikan Font India is dirt cheap and is sometimes advertised as waterproof. It’s not waterproof in my experience, and it can be prone to nib dry out. But if you want a washable black with a neutral tone, it’s very good. It’s a viable to very good ink in an italic. (I’ve got an insane number of pens inked, so it’s kind of waiting for a turn for more testing)

 

Platinum Carbon Black is my personal favorite. I’m not going to say it’s the best. But I love it a lot, enough that it’s always in at least one pen. And it’s one of my most flexible inks in terms of the paper it likes. It even handles thermal paper, which has a weird coating that rejects many fountain pen inks. It also likes every cold press watercolor paper I’ve thrown it at so far. I call it my pen fixing ink because it makes almost all nibs feel smoother and write with nicer line variation. And it’s tough to get it to dry out in a pen. It stays fresh longer than all my other inks even if the pen is prone to dry out.

 

Fluid paper tends to be cheap around here, so I tend to use it. I tend to use cold press over hot press, even though most advice is that pen work goes better with hot press. There’s just something unpleasant about a too smooth paper. It doesn’t feel right to me. And I don’t find that cold press tends to stuff a nib with loose fibers.

[Drawing61]

I've been using Sailor nibs on Arches hot press but that's very pricey if you don't already own the pens. A good alternative is any good calligraphy nib for dip pens.

[sidthecat]

You'll probably want Bristol board...it won't warp too badly when exposed to water. Hot press or cold press is a matter of personal taste.