Monthly Ink Challenge - Season IV

[InesF]

16 hours ago, LizEF said:

Welcome back, @InesF!  Sounds like your vacation was successful!   I hope it was enjoyable, too!

Thank you, @LizEF! The last time I had such a long and relaxing vacation is roughly 40 years back. I'm almost a bit too slow (if that is possible) ... 🤫

 

16 hours ago, LizEF said:

I see you fell for another Tintenlabor.  

There were three in the package - shopping desire went wild! 🙄  

 

16 hours ago, LizEF said:

Well, now we want pictures - or a story, or something!    I'm hoping it was a happy volatile.

You are welcome! There will be a follow-up, for sure ... I feel a bit like Fimbrethil, like recently left Fangorn.   (leaving Treebeard behind)  

[InesF]

4 hours ago, yazeh said:

What an intriguing prompt, volatile, compound, society, world? Looking forward to it. 🙏

Thank you, @yazeh, you are most welcome.

See also my comment to LizEF, above.

[LizEF]

6 hours ago, InesF said:

There were three in the package - shopping desire went wild! 🙄  

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

There will be a follow-up, for sure ...

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

I feel a bit like Fimbrethil, like recently left Fangorn.   (leaving Treebeard behind)  

This sounds sad, but the smilies make me assume it's not entirely sad.  Looking forward to the followup.

 

Best wishes recovering from your vacation!

[InesF]

On 9/1/2025 at 3:53 PM, LizEF said:

This sounds sad, but the smilies make me assume it's not entirely sad.

It is indeed a bit sad. But I didn't leave Treebeard behind, only Fangorn. And yes, how to tell? Fangorn was great! 👍

Remembering a good time makes the moment a good moment.  

[LizEF]

7 hours ago, InesF said:

It is indeed a bit sad. But I didn't leave Treebeard behind, only Fangorn. And yes, how to tell? Fangorn was great! 👍

Remembering a good time makes the moment a good moment.  

  OK, that sounds better!  Some places are hard to leave.  Thankfully, they tend to stay where we left them, so we can always return later...

[InesF]

16 hours ago, LizEF said:

Some places are hard to leave.  Thankfully, they tend to stay where we left them, so we can always return later...

Yes, so true! 👍

[InesF]

September Monthly Ink Challenge is ready.

 

The quote was "volatile time" which was a flash-like instant inspiration during vacation time but caused me some headaches during the last weeks.

 

I did a text (with some internet recherché support) and a small drawing, in the style of a presentation. All together are a standard entry in my diary, rounded out with a quote. Here is the photo from the book page:

 

You can't read my handwriting? There is a typed version in the spoiler.  

Spoiler

Volatility is a term deriving from financial markets that refers to sudden, unpredictable and often extreme changes or fluctuations of stock values or availabilities. But it can be used for social environments and geopolitical situations as well. In the context of the Monthly Ink Challenge I like to use it as a replacement for transience of time.

VOLATILE TIME stands for our subjective perception of time that alters according to our emotional status and engagement – it can change suddenly and in an unpredictable way.

 

Besides other writings and drawings and Monthly Ink Challenges, I do daily finger exercises. It takes some time each day, maybe 15 minutes in the morning and 15 in the evening, meanwhile both more like meditation than duty. I do this since start of the COVID house arrest and keep the sheets for the last three years. This is how the heap of finger exercises of three years look like:

 

In between 80 or 90% of "blind text" hide some deep thoughts and some reactions to happenings in the world. When clearing the oldest year of sheets, I read some of those entries. From time to time, I'm surprised about what I find there and transfer it into my diary.

 

My preferences have changed a bit, I do no longer prefer rotating three or four fountain each month. I like to keep the really good pens for much longer time and complement them with "utility" pens and inks. It's something like: one daily writer, one rigid travel pen (with the bike etc.) and one eye-candy pen for the soul. This doesn't translate well into a monthly thread, therefore:

 

The Monthly Ink Challenges will end with the current season IV. My sincere thanks to all the reactions and comments, it was a pleasure having you here! 

 

I don't know what surprises the future has for me, but I'm sure, I will continue to provide good and bad, anticipated and unwanted comments, as I did in the past!   

[LizEF]

6 hours ago, InesF said:

The quote was "volatile time" which was a flash-like instant inspiration during vacation time but caused me some headaches during the last weeks.

  After reading more, of course it gave you a headache!   Time is annoying in that way - dragging one moment, racing the next (and sometimes drag racing?).  I forget which of the famous Greeks gave us "goods of first intent" (googled, Aristotle), but I think it's when engaged in one of these that time disappears altogether - until we're done, or a reminder drags us kicking and screaming back into time...   At least, that's what came to my mind.

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

This is how the heap of finger exercises of three years look like:

Whoa!!!  That be a lot of exercise.

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

The Monthly Ink Challenges will end with the current season IV.

  I'll miss them, but would not want you to continue against your will (so to speak).  It's always a pleasure to see your participation in the forums, and I look forward to whatever form that may take.   Thank you for four impressive seasons!

[yazeh]

That is a lot of finger exercises. What is it exactly? 

Love your volatile times art work. Its what a modern illumination would look like. 👏

Does the end of Ink challenge mean end of FPN, or just end of ink challenge? I'm hoping it's the latter.

I have enjoyed your inky exploration, and I hope, I'll see more of your illuminated works. 🙏

[InesF]

On 9/21/2025 at 4:28 PM, LizEF said:

[...] I think it's when engaged in one of these that time disappears altogether - until we're done, or a reminder drags us kicking and screaming back into time...   At least, that's what came to my mind.

Indeed, @LizEF! Such "volatile periods" happen quite often during our routine and not-so-routine days - time dilatation isn't predictable. But when it happens, you intuitively know having done something important....   

 

On 9/21/2025 at 4:28 PM, LizEF said:

  I'll miss them, but would not want you to continue against your will (so to speak).  It's always a pleasure to see your participation in the forums, and I look forward to whatever form that may take.   Thank you for four impressive seasons!

Thank you so much, you are most welcome! 👍

It is mostly the summertime and the possibility for outdoor activities that distract me from doing posts in regular frequency. Winter time is much better suited for doing indoor activities!   

Not yet, but I guess in one or two month I will be soooo bored ....   

[InesF]

On 9/21/2025 at 5:23 PM, yazeh said:

That is a lot of finger exercises.

Thank you, @yazeh, you are most welcome! 👍

 

On 9/21/2025 at 5:23 PM, yazeh said:

What is it exactly? 

It started with the first wave of COVID restrictions. Sitting at home, being soooo bored (  ), I decided to start a daily routine for handwriting. It was (and still is) one A4 page in the morning (during breakfast) and one A4 page in the evening, filling one sheet front and back side. Soon I started to experiment with paragraph layouts, later with different handwriting styles depending on nib size / line width, followed by use of initials and/or small drawings. After 4 ½ years my handwriting has come to a new "intuitive" style that has still my characteristics but in a more stable, more homogenous and more predictable way. I write two different main intuitive styles, one with fine and the other with more broad lines plus Kurrent which still requires a lot of attention.

 

The interesting part (warning: scientist that can't stopp being scientist) is how routine interferes with intention. Depending on what I write, my attention is either reduced in intensity or in time. The moment routine (muscle memory) is stronger than attention, each of my two main handwriting styles changes, each is shifting slowly towards a "mean" of both. If is interesting looking back to the two or more years old sheets, find the changes and backwards correlate them with attention to style vs. attention to content.  

 

Another interesting but not surprising fact is that sub-optimally working fountain pens - or bad combinations of ink, pen and paper - are a significant distraction and change any handwriting style after only some text lines.   

 

 

On 9/21/2025 at 5:23 PM, yazeh said:

Love your volatile times art work. Its what a modern illumination would look like. 👏

[...]

I have enjoyed your inky exploration, and I hope, I'll see more of your illuminated works. 🙏

Thank you so much!  

 

On 9/21/2025 at 5:23 PM, yazeh said:

Does the end of Ink challenge mean end of FPN, or just end of ink challenge? I'm hoping it's the latter.

No end of FPN! Meanwhile I feel like being home here!   

There will come winter time ... cold, wet, windy, perfect for indoor activity ... sure, I will become bored. Wait for it ...  

 

However, I experience some problems with fountainpennetwork.com loading during my (European) morning hours. This is the best time for me to surf, read and comment. Today was the first time since last Sunday I was able to load the page. Maybe only a temporary problem?

[LizEF]

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Indeed, @LizEF! Such "volatile periods" happen quite often during our routine and not-so-routine days - time dilatation isn't predictable. But when it happens, you intuitively know having done something important....   

  What a great way to put it.  For me, any creative endeavor (writing, doodling, building something, etc.) and reading fiction cause this phenomenon every time.

 

7 hours ago, InesF said:

Not yet, but I guess in one or two month I will be soooo bored ....   

 I look forward to what your boredom produces!  (They say that allowing children to be bored is one of the best things you can do for them - eventually, they get motivated enough to get creative, which is far, far better than giving them constant entertainment!  We adults have too easy a time acquiring entertainment for ourselves rather than needing someone else to allow it.  We should probably allow ourselves to get bored more often...)

[LizEF]

7 hours ago, InesF said:

However, I experience some problems with fountainpennetwork.com loading during my (European) morning hours. This is the best time for me to surf, read and comment. Today was the first time since last Sunday I was able to load the page. Maybe only a temporary problem?

Yes, it's temporary.  But it has happened a few times now, and for a few days in sequence each time.  I suspect upgrades or experiments with changes to the system.  The slow-downs for me have been either unique to FPN or at least once, shared with another Invision Community site. (I don't know if it was a fluke, or if both are hosted by Invision - they offer either hosting or installing on your own server and I don't know which option is used by the Invision Community sites I visit).

 

FWIW.

[yazeh]

8 hours ago, InesF said:

Thank you, @yazeh, you are most welcome! 👍

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

 

It started with the first wave of COVID restrictions. Sitting at home, being soooo bored (  ), I decided to start a daily routine for handwriting. It was (and still is) one A4 page in the morning (during breakfast) and one A4 page in the evening, filling one sheet front and back side. Soon I started to experiment with paragraph layouts, later with different handwriting styles depending on nib size / line width, followed by use of initials and/or small drawings. After 4 ½ years my handwriting has come to a new "intuitive" style that has still my characteristics but in a more stable, more homogenous and more predictable way. I write two different main intuitive styles, one with fine and the other with more broad lines plus Kurrent which still requires a lot of attention.

Wow. Such dedication. Thanks for sharing the process. It's fascinating. I can see now why you have a distinct handwriting, very precise, legible and elegant.

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

 

The interesting part (warning: scientist that can't stopp being scientist) is how routine interferes with intention. Depending on what I write, my attention is either reduced in intensity or in time. The moment routine (muscle memory) is stronger than attention, each of my two main handwriting styles changes, each is shifting slowly towards a "mean" of both. If is interesting looking back to the two or more years old sheets, find the changes and backwards correlate them with attention to style vs. attention to content.  

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

Yes, I know that feeling. How I change from cursive to print and vice versa. And how I mix flourishes from one alphabet to another.

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

Another interesting but not surprising fact is that sub-optimally working fountain pens - or bad combinations of ink, pen and paper - are a significant distraction and change any handwriting style after only some text lines.   

 

Yes so true. I often have difficulty using 1.9 stubs. Plus as I'm a lefty I have to contort myself and the notebook. And the the question is how to angle the nib, 45, 90 or in between. I find fude and flex nibs in this respect very responsive, to writing quirks. 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

No end of FPN! Meanwhile I feel like being home here!   

Same here.

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

There will come winter time ... cold, wet, windy, perfect for indoor activity ... sure, I will become bored. Wait for it ...  

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

However, I experience some problems with fountainpennetwork.com loading during my (European) morning hours. This is the best time for me to surf, read and comment. Today was the first time since last Sunday I was able to load the page. Maybe only a temporary problem?

I'm sorry to hear that. Hope it'll fix itself.

 

[USG]

On 9/25/2025 at 3:22 AM, InesF said:

However, I experience some problems with fountainpennetwork.com loading during my (European) morning hours.

 

18 hours ago, LizEF said:

Yes, it's temporary.  But it has happened a few times now, and for a few days in sequence each time. 

 

Still going on here too.  Very annoying.   😬

[InesF]

On 9/25/2025 at 4:47 PM, LizEF said:

  What a great way to put it.  For me, any creative endeavor (writing, doodling, building something, etc.) and reading fiction cause this phenomenon every time.

👍 +1

On 9/25/2025 at 4:47 PM, LizEF said:

 I look forward to what your boredom produces!  (They say that allowing children to be bored is one of the best things you can do for them - eventually, they get motivated enough to get creative, which is far, far better than giving them constant entertainment!  We adults have too easy a time acquiring entertainment for ourselves rather than needing someone else to allow it.  We should probably allow ourselves to get bored more often...)

and another 👍 +1

Everything you wrote about children plus: boredom is the best basement for creativity - and no, it is not the extra effort.

 

On 9/25/2025 at 4:54 PM, LizEF said:

Yes, it's temporary.

Indeed, no wading through honey today.   

[InesF]

On 9/25/2025 at 6:12 PM, yazeh said:

Wow. Such dedication. Thanks for sharing the process. It's fascinating. I can see now why you have a distinct handwriting, very precise, legible and elegant.

Thank you, @yazeh, you are most welcome!

As always, I'm my own most critical reviewer and I'm still not satisfied with my results ....    I continue my aspiration.  

On 9/25/2025 at 6:12 PM, yazeh said:

I often have difficulty using 1.9 stubs. Plus as I'm a lefty I have to contort myself and the notebook. And the the question is how to angle the nib, 45, 90 or in between. I find fude and flex nibs in this respect very responsive, to writing quirks.

That's interesting! Me as right handed person find fude nibs uncomfortable ...