How Do You Choose The First Ink For A New Pen?

[kestrel]

Most of my "new" pens are 65 years old or older (some much, much older) so I know the nib will probably need some tinkering. My vintage pens get a fill of Blakwa. Safe, consistent, and a nice color. Once I am satisfied with the way the pen writes I either write it out or switch to whatever else suits my fancy at the time that is relatively easy to clean from a vintage pen.

 

Modern pens? Iroshizuku, Waterman, KWZI Gray Plum, Aurora Black, Binder Burgundy.

[Fuzzy_Bear]

Eni meany minny moe

[Freddy]

Yesterday a box arrived bearing my new Pilot Custom 74 with a soft fine nib. I feel like I already know this pen to a certain extent since it is an exact replacement for one that was stolen, but I am still faced with a conundrum: which ink do I use to welcome it into the collection?

 

My own process involves determining the pen's vibe and finding an ink that complements that vibe along with the color. So in this case the pen itself is rather plain, so I'll want an ink that has some liveliness but isn't frivolous. I don't ink more than four or five pens at a time so I try to vary the kinds of colors I have available. This is both a hue/value thing (I have a bunch of inks in my favorite families and try not to have more than one in a pen at the same time) and a tone thing (some inks are serious, some are punchy, some are contemplative so I try to keep a mix to match my moods as they change). Apart from these highly subjective questions, I also want to get a good gauge of how the pen performs. Using an ink with which I'm familiar gives me a more reliable gauge of performance, but I have a ton of samples I'm itching to try out.

 

The welter of questions often produces a delicious flurry of indecision that can last for several days. Right now I'm leaning toward Colorverse Andromeda even though it breaks all of my rules. I suspect that it is too frivolous for this pen, I have two other pens inked with what I broadly consider "red", one of which has Yama-budo (although I'm considering flushing that one; it's a TWSBI mini and they don't really seem to go together), and I'm new to Colorverse as a brand (my other current "red" ink is Dark Energy, which is my first full Colorverse fill) and have never tried Andromeda.

 

{*So how do the rest of you approach the first fill of a new pen? What questions do you ask yourself? Do you use a standard ink? Why?*}

 

 

I do not ask myself any questions.....I use Waterman Blue-Black or current form..Mysterious Blue. Why....any pen should work well

with this ink......Been usin' for many moons. Note: also usin' Skrip Blue-Black # 22 and Royal Blue # 52.................................................

 

Fred

"We are engaged in a generational battle today......whose beginning we are closer to than its end." Tim Geraghty

Edited April 7, 2018 by Freddy

[FOUR X FOUR]

Personally, I use inks that correspond with the pen's brand(Pilot for Pilot, et al).

 

Hope this helps!

Although not necessary, I generally do the same thing

[TSherbs]

I tend to match color group of pen to color group of ink, and I try to pick an ink that I have not used in a while (3+ months)

[Aysun]

I... sort of go for color?

Though I mainly pick an ink that is not already in another pen because I am one of those "each pen has a different ink so that all my inks are available to me"

 

But I do have a new beige pen coming in and I am not sure what color I will be putting in it.