Dip Pen Ink Thickness

December 1, 2010

Hi all,

I've been working on learning Copperplate, and I'm having some issues with ink thickness. I tried india ink, and Higgins Black Magic Drawing Ink (labled as good for calligraphy on the bottle). The problem is it either flows too much leaving a blob, or requires coaxing to start. Even after I coax it to start flowing, I'll then get a huge blob on the paper. The first 2 letters after dipping act like this and I can't make line variation at all. The next few letters work better, allowing the different thicknesses but not being exactly what I want.

I tried keeping the ink uncapped for a couple days, and also in the Higgins, I also added quite a bit of gum arabic. It hasn't helped so far.

Fortunately I have a nice recipe from JBB, and that ink I made works incredibly. I found that if I add distilled water 1 or 2 drops at a time, testing after each drop, eventually I get a consistency that starts up well and behaves nicely. I can't do that process for already made inks, so I need to figure how to really thicken them and do it 'properly' so I do not damage the ink. Also the inks I'm making use a metalic powder so unless I find a pure black subsitute I will not be able to just make my own for more daily use.

Do I just need more gum arabic, or possibly a corn starch thickener? Heat the ink (definately not in the microwave) to evaporate some water. Something else I did not think of?

Also is there a good rule of thumb of telling the proper thickness other than periodic tests with the dip pen.

Thanks all. I appreciate your replies. It is much easier when you are only using the dip pen for standard writing without flex, but once you get to calligraphy, it changes things soo much.

December 2, 2010

Number of factors affect the flow of ink. Previous threads have discussed this at length, might be worth the time to search here.

Quick thumbnail of previous threads:

-- Higgins Eternal is an excellent practice ink, not truly great hairlines but flows well and reproduces well (Ken Fraser swears by it.)

-- Most of the better "penman" inks are available through supply houses -- Blotts Iron Gall in England, Old World Iron Gall in the United States. John Neal Booksellers is the house I most often use, I particularly like the McCaffery line of penman inks. JNB also has books, oblique elbow holders, and flexible nibs. Standard nib for copperplate (used by many penmen) is the Gillott 303, runs about a $1.00 per nib.

-- Previous threads have shown how to use a brush to control the amount of ink placed on a nib, be it a flexible nib or broad nib. Also seen on YouTube. If one puts too much ink on the nib, blots and feathering occur with the best of inks.

-- Good series of videos showing how to pen Copperplate letters, both upper and lower case, on the IAMPETH website. Along with many exemplar sheets, books on several different types of business cursive, etc. An excellent resource.

-- Several of the Penmanship threads feature Copperplate, how to do it, and what results one can expect. Again, calliken (Ken Fraser, a professional calligrapher and well-known FPN member) has contributed freely of his experience and knowledge.

Best of luck to you in mastering this interesting, if sometimes difficult, hand.