Monthly Ink Quartett

[InesF]

Years back, when writing had been as simple as owning one fountain pen and one bottle of ink: buying one new when the current fountain pen breaks and buying one new bottle of ink, when the current is empty.

Good old times!

 

This period is over.

 

Exilation during the early pandemic taught me: there can be more than one pen; there can be more than one ink.

Ouch!

And here we are: 28 fountain pens, 65 inks.

 

What to do with them all? Bored at home, strange ideas come to mind: what if I select inks for colour sets of three or four that chime together and, as a whole, can be a theme that fits the season?

More boredom, even more strange ideas: what if I write each of those colours with another type of nib and use different handwriting styles - or, at least, try to do so?

 

And here we are now: using four inks in four different fountain pens with four different nib types and (almost) four different writing styles:

The fountain pens and inks of November 2021 are (l.t.r): Montblanc Egyptomania EF - deAtramentis Sherlock Holmes; Pelikan M400 Tortoise 0.8mm stub - InesF Late Autumn (P4001 Red + P4001 Brown); Cross Botanica F - Pelikan 4001 Dark Green; Montblanc Solitär flex - Pilot Isohizuku Yama-Budo.

I use these four pens and inks during all days of the month.

 

There are also ink swabs:

I did the first swab for October 2021 (right side) - it is a bit boring, sorry!

The second is for November 2021 representing a first attempt to make swabs in different shapes. Here I made a rough drawing with R&K Sketchink Lilly that I filled with ink on wet paper and accentuated with more lines of the same inks drawn with the fountain pens. I was heavily inspired by the colour of the oak tree foliage in front of my window and selected the other three around my new Late Autumn mix.

Both swabs are on 300 g/m² watercolour paper.

 

Please feel free to add you colour sets of three or four (or more) - I'm looking forward!

[LizEF]

  Love your creative use of inks.  Congratulations on discovering color.   Welcome to the hobby side of FP ownership.

 

Meanwhile, although I can't read what's written in the letter, I can tell that's some seriously gorgeous handwriting!  I envy Europeans who were forced to learn such good handwriting as children.  I can't seem to make myself practice enough to make my own look good.

[InesF]

On 11/20/2021 at 3:54 PM, LizEF said:

  Love your creative use of inks.

Thank you, @LizEF, always a pleasure!

On 11/20/2021 at 3:54 PM, LizEF said:

Congratulations on discovering color.

Haha! I'm lovin' it! 😂

 

On 11/20/2021 at 3:54 PM, LizEF said:

Meanwhile, although I can't read what's written in the letter, I can tell that's some seriously gorgeous handwriting!  I envy Europeans who were forced to learn such good handwriting as children.  I can't seem to make myself practice enough to make my own look good.

Thank you for the compliment! Slightly out of focus, it always looks a bit better.... ☺️

 

To be honest, I loved to write with a fountain pen since early primary school. There had been others who hated it. Who will stay and who will go away from fountain pens is not pre-determined. Especially since begin of the pandemic, I see more people coming back to fountain pens and starting loving it again. And there are all types of handwriting being seen, the hasty and the careful (expressive) and all (50) shades in between. None is better, none is worse.

 

[LizEF]

4 hours ago, InesF said:

To be honest, I loved to write with a fountain pen since early primary school. There had been others who hated it. Who will stay and who will go away from fountain pens is not pre-determined. Especially since begin of the pandemic, I see more people coming back to fountain pens and starting loving it again. And there are all types of handwriting being seen, the hasty and the careful (expressive) and all (50) shades in between. None is better, none is worse.

Pretty sure I was older than primary school before I even knew what a fountain pen was...  Perhaps this is one of those "different is pretty" things - people have complimented me on my handwriting, and my reaction is always to think they must need glasses...   But you're right - the more, the merrier!  Bring on the handwriting!

[InesF]

Decembers ink quartet is ready.

 

The image has all four. Black is missing in the list, it it Pelikan Edelstein Onyx.

(... and yes, quartett with double t is german ... sorry)

 

All the best for 2022!

[agaric]

That Solitär (with Yama-Budo) in the first image above: the type of lines that it makes is so beautiful! Does the nib have a stubby quality or is the line variation mostly produced by pressing? And happy 2022 to you too!

[LizEF]

4 hours ago, InesF said:

Decembers ink quartet is ready.

[beautiful picture]

Wow!  Beautiful drawing, @InesF!

[InesF]

Thank you, @LizEF! You're always welcome!

[InesF]

On 12/28/2021 at 10:10 AM, agaric said:

That Solitär (with Yama-Budo) in the first image above: the type of lines that it makes is so beautiful! Does the nib have a stubby quality or is the line variation mostly produced by pressing? And happy 2022 to you too!

Thank you, @agaric! All the best for you too!

 

The Solitär has a special grind: the 'iridium' ball is formed like a flat disc:

 

So, yes, theoretically, there was a kind of stubbiness in the nib, but it was not so much.

 

The nib on my pen was somehow under tension, so that the tines did not open when writing with a light hand, resulting in unsteady ink flow and some skipping. When writing with some pressure it behaved a bit too wet.

 

After reworking the nib, it now has next to no stubbiness with a light hand but opens up just enough to give ca. 3x line widening with soft pressure. It now suits my kind of handwriting (I do no calligraphy with this pen).

 

Inspired by this MB, I applied a similar grind to one of my Pelikan M600, resulting in comparable behavior but less flexibility.

[amberleadavis]

On 12/28/2021 at 12:43 AM, InesF said:

Decembers ink quartet is ready.

 

The image has all four. Black is missing in the list, it it Pelikan Edelstein Onyx.

(... and yes, quartett with double t is german ... sorry)

 

All the best for 2022!

 

What is that third pen?  I really like the colors.

[InesF]

6 hours ago, amberleadavis said:

What is that third pen?  I really like the colors.

You're welcome, @amberleadavis.

The third from left to right is the Santini Libra Ebonite Voyager in bronze finish with semi-flex stub nib.

[amberleadavis]

7 hours ago, InesF said:

You're welcome, @amberleadavis.

The third from left to right is the Santini Libra Ebonite Voyager in bronze finish with semi-flex stub nib.

 

It is beautiful. I just went looking. How do you like the nib?

[InesF]

On 1/5/2022 at 9:21 PM, amberleadavis said:

It is beautiful. I just went looking. How do you like the nib?

I like the colours and the swirly pattern. I harmonizes very well with the bronze finish (and with the rosegold nib). The nib was a bit too broad for me, so I reworked it to my liking. However, you may give your preferred specifications to the Santini team and you may get a customized nib.

[amberleadavis]

Thank hyou that is great advice

[InesF]

It's January (for a while now) and time for the monthly ink Quartett!

 

This time the colours are inspired by a photo of the winter morning sky shot out of the window of my living room.

 

 

The inks are (swatches from top down): Pelikan Edelstein Tanzanite, Lamy Crystal Beryl, deAtramentis Vienna, Diamine Aqua Lagoon.

This ink set represent the cold air at January mornings quite well. Most probably it will also fit the February mornings - maybe I use it a bit longer. Let's see.

 

Here is the reference photo:

[LizEF]

[askwyatt]

Love the art, ink choices, and pens, of course!

[InesF]

Thank you @LizEF and @askwyatt! You're welcome!

[InesF]

February starts in two days and the new ink Quartett is ready! Why not posting it now?

 

 

This time I tried a bit of word art. Each segment has its own text with highly constructed sentences (style over message).

 

The February inks are:

Pelikan Edelstein Topaz (in Pelikan M605 White White puck nib) - a remains from January

deAtramentis Virginia Woolf (in Faber Castell Ambition M)

Lamy Crystal Beryl (in Aurora Optima "flex") - also a remains from January

Lamy Crystal Amazonite (in Waterman Perspective M - the one I used for the ink measurements, now finally available for writing!)

 

Tanzanite and Beryl are winter morning sky colours which I can see from January till March. Virginia Woolf is a symbol for indoor activity (like writing a novel). Amazonite has no special meaning, it is simply a well fitting and balancing colour.

 

The goal was to select two warm and two cold colours which complement each other. This is the first time I used two of my Lamy Crystal inks which both impress me a lot! Beryl is a beautiful and intense colour with a bit golden sheen, although a bit flat with the Aurora Optima. Amazonite is my new "bulls eye" teal with some amazing shading - I love it!

[LizEF]

Beautiful presentation, as always.   Love your combos, jealous of your handwriting.   Thanks for doing and sharing these.