Project: Writing textblocks to examine behavor of daily writers

[Ergative]

I've decided to make a semi-systematic record of the pens and inks I choose to have inked at any one time. Therefore, I've been writing pages from some of my favorite books (to provide text without requiring thinking) in my current pens on two sheets of paper: a cheapo pad my husband brought back from work that is, surprisingly, quite fountain-pen friendly, and some of my old loose-leaf TRP that I haven't used in literally years. Below are the photographs I've taken to examine the properties of these inks on these two papers, along with my thoughts about how the inks behave. These are not really ink reviews, but I do review what I think of the inks in this particular set-up.

 

First batch:

Iroshizuku yu-yake in a Waterman Hemisphere (inherited from my late grandmother) with a M nib;

Private Reserve Electric DC Blue in a Pilot Metropolitan with a M nib. 

 

Here are the pens and the source text. (This book, by the way, is outstanding, and I highly recommend it!)

 

 

We start with an overview of the two sheets. Here and forever, the image on the left will be the education NES Arnold pad, and the image on the right will be TRP.  My impression is that Arnold paper is whiter, and colors look a bit more vibrant on Arnold than on TRP.

 

Next, let's see some side-by-side comparisons of the inks in the same image, with the same lighting and color correction. I'm not sure it comes through in the images, but my impression is that shading and sheen are a little more pronounced on TRP, but actually the Arnold does a decent job revealing both those characteristics. Lines are crisper on TRP; colors are more vibrant on Arnold, possibly because it's a purer white.

 

 

Next up, let's look at the Yu-yake on the two papers in larger textblocks.

 

 

Here's the PR Electric DC Blue. I messed around with the color correction a bit to see if I could get the sheen to show up properly, which is why the pictures look so different from each other. The sheen is visible on Arnold paper on the left, but it's much more pronounced on the TRP on the right.  (You have to take my word for it). Letters are also crisper on TRP.

 

Summary final thoughts:

I've always liked PR Electric DC Blue. I love the sheen and the vibrancy of the color, and it's always flowed smoothly, with comfortable lubrication. It's super smudgy, though, especially on TRP, but also on the Arnold paper, and I'm beginning to come to terms with the fact that with sheen comes smudginess.

 

Yu-yake is something I've seen praised to the skies for its shading and behavior. And it did behave very nicely, and it did shade, but I can't say I like it. There's a sort of pinkish quality to the orange-yellow color palette that I just don't like very much. It seems a little bit insipid. 

[LizEF]

Fun!  Looking forward to whatever you add to this!  Thanks for sharing with us.

[Ergative]

Here's the second batch of pages. Inks are Rohrer & Klingner Alt Goldgrun (top) and Noodler's Habanero. I got the Habanero because I didn't like Yu-yake very much, but I wanted a yellow/orange/red shading ink. Pens are an Esterbrook with the 2442 nib and again the Waterman Hemisphere from before. Here's the full set of pages. As before the Strathclyde Education NES Arnold paper is on the left, and the old 52gsm Tomoe River is on the right. (There's also an unintentional water test of the Habanero: As you can see on the right-hand page, in the middle of the bottom block, we have the words 'All around, decay proceeds'. Except 'proceeds' is smeared because I coughed or something. Not terribly water resistant, is Habanero.

 

Here is the Alt Goldgrun on both pages:

 

Here is the Habanero. I think this picture is best at capturing the superior vibrancy on the NES Arnold paper (left) but the superior shading on the TRP (right)

 

I won't be doing separate close-ups of the two colors and two papers, because it's too hard to make sure the lighting is comparable. The above photos in which the pages are side by side in the same photograph are better at ensuring comparability of colors across pages.

 

 

[brokenclay]

Wow, nice! I had a sample of Alt Goldgrün a couple of years ago and didn't like it at all, but your photos make me want to try it again and see if my tastes have changed.

[Ergative]

1 hour ago, brokenclay said:

Wow, nice! I had a sample of Alt Goldgrün a couple of years ago and didn't like it at all, but your photos make me want to try it again and see if my tastes have changed.

The problem with Alt Goldgrün (I've found) is that it's lovely when it's coming out thick and wet, but when I write for longer periods it starts coming out lighter as the ink built up in the feed runs out. I love the dark version, but the light version is just too light. It needs a really, really wet pen to show itself at its best, and I don't have one with a consistently wet flow.

[Ergative]

Here's the third batch of pages. Left-hand page is Strathclyde Education NES Arnold paper, and on the right is the old Tomoe River paper, 52 gsm. Inks are J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune on the top, out of a Sheaffer Snorkel (graduation present from my parents--very small ink capacity, but lovely writer), and Noodler's North African Violet on the bottom, out of a Sheaffer Prelude. The Prelude has never written very well--at first I thought it was the fault of the feed, but after replacing it I still have problems, so maybe the nib itself is at fault. There are a few spots of corrosion on the wings of the nib that I saw when I replaced the feed, so possibly the slit is corroded too and that's what causes the problems. I'm not sure it's doing justice to the North African Violet, so that ink might show up again in a different pen.

 

 

 

Here's a close-up of the Poussiere de lune. I do love this ink every time I see it. It's this saturated, rich, almost chaulky mauve color. On the TR paper (on the right) I picked up the pen after not having written wth it for a few days, so you can see that it had a little bit of difficulty getting started in the top few lines ('This is . . .').  Look down a few lines for a better impression of how it flows out of the Snorkel on TR paper during normal writing. Despite the fact that the NES Arnold paper (on the left) usually making the colors look vibrant, I think it looks a LOT nicer out on the TR paper.

 

 NB: do NOT put Poussiere de Lune on the same page as anything brown. It looks terrible next to brown inks. The shades just clash badly. 

 

Here's the North African Violet. I want to like this ink more than I do. It's very, very permanent--I did a little water test on some scrap paper (not shown here) and it did not budge. It looks a little anemic, though, but that could be a combination of the super-fine nib on the Prelude, along with the ink flow problems I mentioned above. Given the fineness of the line, the improved line crispness on the TR paper (right) doesn't really have a chance to shine, and the brighter background on the NES Arnold (left) does more justice to the color.

[inkstainedruth]

Hmmm.  Your batch of NAV seems paler than mine.  If you hadn't said what it was, I would have maybe guessed modern Skrip Purple.  But then, you likely have a newer bottle than I do, and I was mostly using it in pens with medium nibs -- and you did say that you were having issues with the Prelude....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[Ergative]

Yes, it's not looking the way I would have expected based on reviews. I'm thinking I'll put it in the Waterman Hemisphere, which is rapidly becoming my favorite, reliable, trouble-free pen for testing out new inks, and give it another try.

[Ergative]

Batch number 4! Inks today are Noodler's Apache Sunset in the Waterman Hemisphere, and Diamine Misty Blue in the Pilot Metro M nib. Left-hand paper is Strathclyde Education NES Arnold paper, right-hand paper is old-stock Tomoe River, 52 gsm.

 

 

Here's a close-up of the Apache Sunset. It was the third of the yellow-orange shady inks I wanted to try out in comparable pens/papers, and it comes middlingly. I think the Habanero posted above is nicer--not quite as pale--and as we've already established I hate Yu-yake.

 

Here's the Diamine Misty Blue. It's rather shady on the TRP. Diamine Misty Blue in the Pilot Metro is one of the first inks I ever tried, and I wanted to revisit it. It's fine, but I don't see whatever it was that charmed me the first time. I think something about the combination of that pen + ink feels too slippery on TR paper, as if the pen's always on the verge of skipping over hand oils, even if I'm very good about wearing my writing glove and not touching the paper.  It never does skip, but I think this combination of pen + ink + paper has passed the limit of my preference for glassy smoothness. I want either just a bit more feedback than it gives me, or else a wetter ink that will glisten reassuringly to show that it has no intention of skipping. Of course, wetter inks tend to smudge more, and this feels like it's not going to smudge on me, which is nice.

[txomsy]

Interesting Apache Sunset... I expected it to be less readable, don't know why.

[Ergative]

I haven't finished any fills recently, so no new pages. But here are side-by-side-by-side comparisons of the three orangey shadey inks---Iroshizuku yu-yake, Noodler's Apache Sunset, and Noodler's Habanero. Here's the larger view of the fuller textblocks, first on the NES Arnold paper. This paper really brings out the different base shades of the three colors. Yu-yake's pink insipidity really comes through, and the brighter orange of Habanero and bolder yellow of Apache Sunset are well captured.

 

 

Here are the same three colors on old TRP 52gsm. Note that the Habanero and Apache Sunset are swapped top-to-bottom (sorry about that).  The slightly off-white yellowy color of the paper (possibly combined with the color-correction, although I used the same settings for this photo as the photo above) mutes the distinction between the three inks, but I still dislike the pinky shade of the yu-yake, and most prefer the bolder Habanero.

 

Here are some close-ups of the three colors on the two pages. First the NES Arnold. The color correction here I think was a little bit unfair to the three colors because of the uneven lighting on the paper. The yu-yake is slightly more washed out that it appears in life, and the Habanero and Apache Sunset are slightly bolder.

 

 

Here are the same three inks on TRP. This is a good rendition of how they look in life on TRP. 

 

In summary: Habanero rocks my socks. Apache sunset is fine, but I don't love the yellow base color. Yu-yake stinks.

[Ergative]

Here are the new fills. We have Noodler's North African Violet in the Waterman Hemisphere to give it another try, and in the Esterbrook with a 2442 nib we have R&K Dokumentus Magenta. Neither of these inks will go anywhere. The Apocalypse will destroy the paper before these inks run or smear.

 

As always, NES Arnold paper on the left, TRP (52gsm, old style) on the right.

 

Here's a close-up of the Noodler's North African Violet. It's still not as vibrant as earlier reviews have promised, so I'm guessing the batch I got a sample of is not a great one. It shades ok, I guess, but it's not nearly as nice as some other purples. 

 

Here's the Dokumentus Magenta. I'm quite impressed that someone decided it was worth the effort to create a BRIGHT PINK ink that is archival documentary immovable waterproof smearproof. It felt quite nice as I was writing with it, but pink is not my favorite color. 

 

[Ergative]

It's been a little while--very exhausting at work, no energy for fountain pens. But now I have two weeks off, and some new toys to play with!

 

First off, I'm swapping out the NES Arnold paper for some Kokuyo Business paper, which I've mentioned on another thread. (There's also a more thorough review here, although the old photobucket links are broken. You can find the OP's original album here.) It's as friendly as the NES Arnold, and I can find it on Amazon for a pretty good price in the UK. (The Arnold was just basic office supplies ordered for my husband's old workspace, and he brought home a couple pads that he didn't use. Now that he's switched jobs I don't know how to get more. Can't find it online.)  It will take dip pen happily, and so I've printed bunches of guidelines on it and will be using it to practice my Spencerian and copperplate. I may write a review of this paper elsewhere in a bit.

 

Anyway, here is the next batch of textblocks! I have a new pen, a Wing Sung 601, because I realized I had no idea how a Parker Vacumatic worked, and wanted to try out the filling system for less cash. I'm working on a full review of this pen for later. On the top is the Wing Sung 601 with Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black, and on the bottom is my TWSBI 580, finally de-mildewed after an overnight full-strength vinegar soak and many-week-long-sunbathe in direct sunlight. with Iroshizuku Kon-peki. Kokuyo Business paper is on the left, TRP on the right.

 

 

Here is a close-up of the 4001 Brilliant Black, with Kokuyo on left, TRP on right. It flows very well from the nib, but the nib is quite feedbacky (not scratchy, just feedbacky), and that, combined with the dryness of the 4001, made for a bit of a rough ride. I'm curious to try this pen with a wetter ink and see how that feels, but as far as the  paper goes, there's really very little difference for this pen and ink combination between Kokuyo and TRP. TRP is slightly crisper, as always, but otherwise the textblocks look the same.

 

Here's a close-up of the Kon-peki, again Kokuyo on left and TRP on right. Since Kon-peki is a wetter ink than 4001 Brilliant Black, the differences in the paper start to come out. Kokuyo is more absorbant (and hence less smeary), so the lines are a bit wider. But still, no feathering or anything like that.  

 

Kon-peki isn't a huge shader, so it's not a great ink for comparing the papers on shading. But you can definitely see that TRP encourages sheen and Kokuyo doesn't. Here are some super-zoomed in close-ups (not a macro lens, but the best my camera + GIMP can do) of the two papers to illustrate my point. First, here's the TRP. Note the nice red sheen around the edges of the letters, especially the capital A at the top.

 

And here's a similar sized close-up from the Kokuyo.  Nary a sheen to be seen. But also note that it's still prett crisp, no feathering. I don't have pictures of the backside of these papers, but it doesn't bleed at all.

 

Both of these inks were inks I had lying around. In summary, they're fine. The Pelikan is pretty dry, but it's the only black ink I have, and since cleaning the Wing Sung is non-trivial without tools and disassembly, I wanted something easy to clean out. I really do need a better black. I think I'll be getting myself some Perle Noire in my next ink order. I've heard that one's good.

 

I had a sample of Kon-peki from an ancient, years-ago All-The-Iroshizukus sample pack I'd bought from Goulet pens, and it was about half gone, so I guess I must have tried it in the past and not loved it enough to use it up. But everyone loves it so much I decided to give it a second try. And, again, it's fine. It's a nice, well-behaved blue ink that flows well and has a bit of sheen on TRP. But it's not an interesting blue, like Tsuki-yo (I have a full bottle of that) or a flashy blue like PR Electric DC blue (again, full bottle) so I don't see myself seeking it out after this is done.

 

So, in summary: The inks are meh, but I'm glad to have used them up. But I've also discovered that Kokuyo business paper is excellent for FPs and reasonably priced in the UK.

 

[Ergative]

I'm no longer in the edit window, so I just want to post a quick update here: That last post did not have Kon-peki, but I can't remember what it was, because I used the vial for something else after emptying the ink. It was definitely was an Iroshizuku, but which? Asa-gao, maybe? It looks rather like Asa-gao.

[A Smug Dill]

3 minutes ago, Ergative said:

Asa-gao, maybe? It looks rather like Asa-gao.

 

It does indeed look like Asa-gao.

[Ergative]

Here are another few pages! The top block is the Wing Sung 601, which I have reviewed elsewhere, but this time with a bent nib from the Etsy seller Chinese Pen. The ink is still Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black, because I wanted to be consistent in comparing the bent nib with the stock nib. As you'll see in the update to my other review, I love the bent nib. The bottom block is my trusty Waterman Hemisphere, inked with Noodler's Purple Mountains Majesty (thank you, @goodpens, for the sample!) which is a surprising standout! I really love this ink: Saturated, but not too saturated to shade (although probably it would shade more in a dryer pen), dark and opaque and beautiful. Unfortunately, something about the lighting or the camera or my own abilities was not able to really capture the qualities of this ink very well in the photographs, alas.

 

As before (and continuing), the left-hand page is Kokuyo KB printer paper (64 gsm, highly recommended, especially in the UK--only £10 on Amazon for 500 sheets). Right-hand page is old 52 gsm Tomoe River Paper (still available for about £15 for 100 sheets on Amazon in the UK).

 

Here's a close-up of the 4001 Brilliant Black. The lighting meant I had to be a bit heavy on the color levels correction, which enhanced the contrast. This ink is not actually this black looking. But the contrast does give a nice demonstration of the line variation in the nib. I can't overstate how much I love this nib! Left is Kokuyo, right is TRP:

 

Here is a  close-up of the Noodler's Purple Mountains Majesty. Left is Kokuyo, right is TRP. This is a nice representation of the very dark color, but also the potential for shading in the right pen. You can see hints of lighter color at the tops of ascenders and bottoms of descenders on both papers, but I feel like it could be just a bit more pronounced if the pen were a smidge dryer. I think the shading is a tiny bit more pronounced on the Kokuyo--perhaps because it's a smidge more absorbant, so the ink has less time to flow back along the wet path and even out the line darkness.

 

Because I like this ink so much, I took a couple of close-ups from an artistic angle, one on each page. Here's the Kokuyo first. I used a flash for this photo, and you can see the purpleness and shading coming through a bit more, but that's an exaggeration. It's darker and not quite as shady in real life.

 

 

Here's a similar shot on the TRP. Again, it's a bit darker looking in real life, with less of a red tone to it, but if you compare this to the picture above you get a sense of how the Kokuyo above shows the shading a bit better than the TRP below. I think this is also a good representation of the thickness and opacity of the color. I really, really like it.

 

 

 

[goodpens]

So glad you are enjoying the purple inks, @Ergative! (I am currently testing out the lighter browns from you—Honey and Ina-Ho.)

 

And I enjoyed reading through this thread. The Kokuyo paper had been on my wishlist. Will bump it up now.

 

And +1 for “This is How You Lose the Time War.” I read it earlier this year, on the recommendation of another pen friend, then passed it on to another. 

[Ergative]

Such a great book! Amal El-Mohtar came to our local bookstore to do an author event + signing, and she's a fountain-pen user. I don't remember which pen she used, but the ink on my book's inscription is definitely Iroshizuku kon-peki. I know because I asked when it was my turn to get it signed. 

[goodpens]

10 hours ago, Ergative said:

Such a great book! Amal El-Mohtar came to our local bookstore to do an author event + signing, and she's a fountain-pen user. I don't remember which pen she used, but the ink on my book's inscription is definitely Iroshizuku kon-peki. I know because I asked when it was my turn to get it signed. 

That’s awesome. :)

[Ergative]

Here's another batch! The top is Private Reserve Ebony Purple in the Wing Sung 601, and finally this pen has found its happy place: wet, smooth-flowing, saturated ink that is blacker even than the black ink I had originally loaded it with, and gives a lovely smooth ride. The bottom is Monteverde Joy Sepia, which I stuck in my Pilot Metropolitan with a fine nib--and as a Japanese fine nib, it is very fine indeed. I did this because I've been using a Cosmo Air Light notebook, and although I love it dearly, the line width on this paper is really substantially broader than on other papers, so my usual trusty Waterman Hemisphere M would have been too broad. But for these papers, the F nib is quite fine, but not too fine to show some beautiful color and shading from this sepia.

 

As always, Kokuyo KB paper on the left; TRP 52 gsm on the right:

 

Here is a close-up of the Ebony Purple. It really is black unless you're looking in exactly the right light:

 

Here is the Joy Sepia. It's a tiny bit greener on the TRP, and a tiny bit redder on the Kokuyo. I've noticed this about brown inks before. Montblanc Toffee brown is strikingly greener on TRP than on other papers. I wonder if there's some common dye component in the two inks that reacts to the TRP coating differently.