Do You Keep An Ink Journal?

[Plume145]

Hi everyone! I've had ink journals on the brain lately, so I was wondering how many people actually keep those, and most of all how they are doing it - for inspiration so to speak

 

When I started out playing around with lots of inks again (last May when I started my Ink Drop subscription) I did start keeping an ink journal. It was really basic - sample entry: 'Waterman Phileas Mississippi Red - M nib - Sailor Jentle Apricot' and the month in the margin - and it was in a big A4 notebook that I found in some korean stationery online shop (maybe yesstyle). I didn't even know if the paper was consistent - the point was just to have a record of what's in each pen at any one time, and less about displaying the ink.

 

Lately though, I've been reconsidering that. Aside from the mystery paper that could turn out to be a different type halfway through the book moleskine-style, I'm not loving the large format: it's pretty unwieldy (I almost never have enough room to lay it down on my desk) and it's completely impossible to travel with. Plus, the stuff I'm laying down is a little too short on info and not particularly easy to review with everything all in one line.

 

I tried the InkJournals, and while I liked the format and loved the small size, I didn't love the paper. It's not terrible, but it is a little more absorbent than I'd like it and because shading is one of the, if not THE, most important trait I look for in inks, the absorbency makes this less attractive to me than it might be to someone who likes dry, fine nibs and a solid line. I'd like to keep the idea of a tiny notebook and one pen/ink combo per page, and the possibility of leaving the back of the page blank to assess showthrough and bleedthrough, but with more suitable paper. I'm considering the best way to do that.

 

So, what kind of paper or notebook do you use for your ink journal? Do you have a set of information that you always include in every entry, and if so what is it? And how do you set it out - have you somehow figured out a way to pre-print the info or do you just keep a mental checklist?

 

Any and all ideas and experiences welcome! Including photos and scans of ink journals :-)

[Charles Skinner]

This may not be what you are asking, but I will share it with you. I am a daily writer in my journal, and I change pens and ink every two pages or so. Each time I change, I write ---- right in the journal --- the name of the pen and the ink being used. I put a mark in the margin so I can find it again later. I hope this helps.

 

C.

[Plume145]

That's a pretty cool idea actually, Charles! It's really seamless and natural Unfortunately it's not something I can incorporate because my current journal doesn't have the greatest paper (I like it for other reasons) but I will keep it in mind because I am trying to find a refill with better paper for my journal cover. If/when I do, I think I will stop any separate ink journaling and put it right into my regular journal. I like how compact and simple this is!

[KateB_tps]

I'm about to create a sub-section for this in my Filofax under the existing fountain pen section. I plan to do reviews of my inks using my glass dip pen (so I can be consistent, and it's the only pen with which I can guarantee the colour is true) on Rhodia paper, punched and inserted into my Filo; I already have a few sheets of my Registrar's Ink comparisons (old faulty bottle vs new good bottle), and a list of which ink is in which pen. In the wider section I have a chart of when I have cleaned each of my pens and which technique I used (simple flushing, ear bulb syringe flushing, soaking etc etc); favourite online links, blogs, youtube channels etc etc for fountain pens; pens wishlist; ink wishlist...

[betsypreston]

I keep two ink journals.

 

The first is a small Kokuyo spiral-bound notebook where I log the pen and the brand and name of the ink every time I (re)fill a pen. I use both sides of the paper, since I have pretty much no problems with bleed/showthru on the Kokuyo paper. I use every line, one pen after the next as I fill them. This log is just a way for me to remember which ink is in each pen.

 

The second is a looseleaf Kokuyo notebook where I organize inks by color. I have pages for green, red/pink, purple, orange/yellow, blue, black, and brown. I also keep separate pages for ink samples and bottles. I use the same three dip pens for every sample: one with a big flat tip, one glass, and one much finer nib. I write the brand and name of the ink. Then I write where and when I got it. The last line is gibberish to test the fine nib. I do a q-tip swap. And scribbles with the first and the last pen. I only write on one side of the page so that I can check for showthru and bleedthru (not much of either cuz the paper is very FP friendly). The point of this journal is to keep a record of which inks I own. I use it when I'm not sure which ink I feel like using next. I page thru until I find "the one".

 

It is dumb luck that I ended up using the Kokuyo notebook for the first journal. I had no idea that some paper was so much nicer than others when I started that log. I just needed a way to remember what was in each pen and that notebook was handy. I chose Kokuyo deliberately for the second log. I started in a different journal and was frustrated when I still had several empty pages allocated to red, but didn't have room to add more blues and greens. I went with a looseleaf notebook, and chose the Kokuyo paper cuz it performs so well.

 

I never do any water or dry-time testing. I don't use fountain pens in the second log. I wish that I could, but it's just too inconvenient for me to test with FPs.

 

I guess I actually keep a third log. The last one a spreadsheet listing all of my inks. It is sorted first by bottle vs sample. Then by brand. Then by color name. I try to log when and where I got each ink, how much it cost, whether or not it is waterproof, and random comments. The random comments are mostly descriptions of the ink color when the name doesn't already make that clear. There is no ink in this journal. I use this one to keep track of what I already own so that I don't buy it again by accident (or so that I do if I find a great deal on an ink that I love). I like this electronic log because I can sort it, and I can easily change it if I have any new ideas.

 

In my Q&A 5-year journal I answer each daily question in a different fountain pen. I log the pen and the ink on the last line. It's not really a log log but, now that I have just rolled to my second year, it is fun to see the pens and inks that I was using at this time last year. It will only get more fun as I fill it up.

[dot]

My daily/doodle journal is a Miquelrius flexible graph journal. It's decent for most inks/pens. I have a page dedicated to nib comparisons and pages dedicated to inks by color. I just write the name of the ink, name of the pen, and any observations. I also write the ink and pen names in the margin of my other entries.

[Plume145]

wow, you guys are sure not playing around hehe Thanks for the great ideas!

 

 

 

I'm about to create a sub-section for this in my Filofax under the existing fountain pen section. I plan to do reviews of my inks using my glass dip pen (so I can be consistent, and it's the only pen with which I can guarantee the colour is true) on Rhodia paper, punched and inserted into my Filo; I already have a few sheets of my Registrar's Ink comparisons (old faulty bottle vs new good bottle), and a list of which ink is in which pen. In the wider section I have a chart of when I have cleaned each of my pens and which technique I used (simple flushing, ear bulb syringe flushing, soaking etc etc); favourite online links, blogs, youtube channels etc etc for fountain pens; pens wishlist; ink wishlist...

A filofax is a cool idea. I don't use one in general - my organizing ideal is that wuote attributed to Anna Wintour that goes something like, 'give me a phone and a notepad and I can do anything', lol - but I like the way you're using it! Although I don't know if in my case it would be worth having this much detail, because it's all pretty streamlined: I always clean by ear bulb syringe, keep the links etc on my browser, keep the wishlist items in a general wishlist with everything else I want (clothes, techy gear...) and so on. I might not have much to put in there besides strictly ink related stuff!

 

I keep two ink journals.

 

The first is a small Kokuyo spiral-bound notebook where I log the pen and the brand and name of the ink every time I (re)fill a pen. I use both sides of the paper, since I have pretty much no problems with bleed/showthru on the Kokuyo paper. I use every line, one pen after the next as I fill them. This log is just a way for me to remember which ink is in each pen.

 

The second is a looseleaf Kokuyo notebook where I organize inks by color. I have pages for green, red/pink, purple, orange/yellow, blue, black, and brown. I also keep separate pages for ink samples and bottles. I use the same three dip pens for every sample: one with a big flat tip, one glass, and one much finer nib. I write the brand and name of the ink. Then I write where and when I got it. The last line is gibberish to test the fine nib. I do a q-tip swap. And scribbles with the first and the last pen. I only write on one side of the page so that I can check for showthru and bleedthru (not much of either cuz the paper is very FP friendly). The point of this journal is to keep a record of which inks I own. I use it when I'm not sure which ink I feel like using next. I page thru until I find "the one".

 

It is dumb luck that I ended up using the Kokuyo notebook for the first journal. I had no idea that some paper was so much nicer than others when I started that log. I just needed a way to remember what was in each pen and that notebook was handy. I chose Kokuyo deliberately for the second log. I started in a different journal and was frustrated when I still had several empty pages allocated to red, but didn't have room to add more blues and greens. I went with a looseleaf notebook, and chose the Kokuyo paper cuz it performs so well.

 

I never do any water or dry-time testing. I don't use fountain pens in the second log. I wish that I could, but it's just too inconvenient for me to test with FPs.

 

I guess I actually keep a third log. The last one a spreadsheet listing all of my inks. It is sorted first by bottle vs sample. Then by brand. Then by color name. I try to log when and where I got each ink, how much it cost, whether or not it is waterproof, and random comments. The random comments are mostly descriptions of the ink color when the name doesn't already make that clear. There is no ink in this journal. I use this one to keep track of what I already own so that I don't buy it again by accident (or so that I do if I find a great deal on an ink that I love). I like this electronic log because I can sort it, and I can easily change it if I have any new ideas.

 

In my Q&A 5-year journal I answer each daily question in a different fountain pen. I log the pen and the ink on the last line. It's not really a log log but, now that I have just rolled to my second year, it is fun to see the pens and inks that I was using at this time last year. It will only get more fun as I fill it up.

 

I love this! Are you a librarian or something? This is an organizer's dream! It makes me wish I had more stuff just so I had something to organize, which is saying a lot given I've done a lot of paring down and decluttering in the last couple of years!

 

I do love the idea of separating the log for what's in each pen, from the ink testing. It might be a way to have my cake and eat it when it comes to the portability issue, in particular: the 'what's inside' log can be just a simple piece of memo paper stashed inside my journal and renewed when no longer current, and the sampler log could be a bigger notebook or even a small binder that would stay home with the inks.

 

My daily/doodle journal is a Miquelrius flexible graph journal. It's decent for most inks/pens. I have a page dedicated to nib comparisons and pages dedicated to inks by color. I just write the name of the ink, name of the pen, and any observations. I also write the ink and pen names in the margin of my other entries.

cool! thanks for another way to integrate the ink journal into the regular journal (besides Charles' method). I really want to do that now! I would do it in a heartbeat if the paper in my journal was any better.

[FountainPenCowgirl]

I created one more or less by accident. I took a pocket-sized journal (that I had bought but quickly realized it was too small to actually use) and began testing each new ink sample from the back page forward. I include both the ink and the pen/nib combo with each sample, so I can also track pen performance and preferences.

 

Techy Me also started a running list of musts, maybes, no ways in Evernote, with a few details re why each made its respective list. Helps me avoid duplicates, remind what to go for when shopping.

 

I also started noting what I was using in my journal, mostly when something new was being used. Not every time, just until I got acquainted with it. Didn't do that earlier; there are a couple of samples where I can't remember and really want to do so.

 

Unfortunately, I really dislike the (expensive, highly popular) paper in the ink journal. It's not always obvious which is which, because they perform so differently on the different papers. Definitely all a part of a fascinating and fun learning process!

Edited July 22, 2013 by FountainPenCowgirl

[Plume145]

oooh, I like the idea of the tiny journal used as an ink journal. I have a couple of those but unfortunately they are random journals and I have no idea whether the paper will be consistent throughout the book. That's not a problem if I'm just writing it down to remember what's in each pen, but for sampling it could be a problem

[requiescat]

I've been using a Clairefontaine large French ruled notebook for an ink journal each time I try a new ink, mainly because I got the notebook on discount from Goulet Pens (it was slightly damaged, but I don't care about that for personal use). I'm kind of hating the notebook for this purpose because it doesn't remotely lie flat, which means I can't scan pages (for ink reports) without, perhaps, cutting them out. I have a batch of white Clairefontaine loose leaf that I'm thinking of switching to--the A4 paper will be easy to just stick in the scanner, and I can then collect the pages in a binder.

[Plume145]

aaah, good point about using them in ink reviews and the like. It makes sense to be able to do that, since we're taking the trouble of making these in the first place and all So, that's another vote in favor of a binder system like betsypreston's and kateb_tps' Filofax

[Avetikus]

I've got a Staples Arc smaller book that is my ink 'journal' with both Arc paper and HP Laserjet paper that I punch and insert. So each time I change ink in a pen I check to see if I haven't already marked it on the sheets I'll start a new bloc: Brand, Model, Nib, Mods (stub, ci, etc.), and then "The quick..."

 

Then behind that I've got sheets to noodle on. I limit this to musings on color, shading, and the like.

[inkstainedruth]

I bought an inexpensive top-spine sketch book at Barnes and Noble. It's made by Piccadilly, and the paper is okay but not great (I've had weird color shifts between it and other, better papers). I note the name of the ink and what pen(s) I'm trying it in, do some general comments about impressions I have (showthrough, feathering, dry times). I'll do some sort of small drawing and do a nominal test to see how water resistant the ink is (I don't do swabs because I find them to be incredible inaccurate renderings of the color coming through the pen), but I do tend to go back through old pages and add a sample of the current ink I'm testing on the pages for similar colors (just the ink name, and pen and nib being used).

In addition to this book, I keep a separate journal (a cheap composition book) with a few pages for each pen, noting which inks did well -- or not -- in that particular pen. I have post-it flags at the beginning of each "chapter", and I write the name of the pen and the nib in it (and the color if I have more than one of that make). Entries are simply whether a specific pen/ink combination works well together... or not.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

ETA: the ink journal is one sheet per ink, because sometimes I make notes about related inks on the back of the page. I'm most of the way through it, and have bought the identical (I presume) model for when this one is full up.

.

Edited July 22, 2013 by inkstainedruth

[The Good Captain]

I use a Clairefontaine A5 (approx) spiral-bound Seyes-ruled notebook for my ink journal. Date in the margin and a comment about which ink in which pen, every time I change an ink or refill a pen with the same. The French ruling sort-of helps with a bit of writing practice at the same time but I rarely write more than four lines per entry. I might also add a couple of comparisons at the same time, if relevant inks are in pens.

[Sandy1]

Hi,

 

Recently there was a related Topic which you may also find useful, with more preference given to loose-leaf / folios as the repository for ink samples: https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/248422-creating-an-ink-sample-book/?p=2714269

 

Bye,

S1

[beak]

I have a stack of 3x5 fp-friendly index cards that I use for a sample of any new ink I find. Easy to flip through for colour matching, and to check for notes on bleed etc.

[sargetalon]

What I do is keep a Rhodia #16 notebook and every time a pen is inked, I note it on a line with the pen and ink combo for future reference. Simple and quick. Here is an old pic as I'm up to #48 these days.

 

http://i49.photobucket.com/albums/f282/jdanley/1366297490_zps5e2e2e4e.jpg

[lapis]

I guess you wouldn't call it a journal... I call it my "Inventory". Always an A4 page, usually different papers, Paper name up top, along with the inventory page number, from the left margin on, first the date of course, then the pen, the ink company, the ink name, whether or not I completely cleaned the pen out first, did I rinse and flush with the new ink once or twice before use?, then a bit of space left over for later notes on dryness, drying time, ignition problems, etc. It's not all that exciting that I can always check out (1) which pen has which ink in it?, and above all (2) when did I last fill the darn thing? But... sometimes the thing I like best about this is, for some pen-ink combos, it can amaze me even 6 months later after not having used that combo at all, it can then still write immediately!

 

Mike

Edited July 22, 2013 by lapis

[Paddler]

I don't keep a separate ink journal. The first page of my pocket notebook has a list of the pens I have inked at any given time. The list is written in ink. Opposite each list entry is the name of the ink contained by that pen. The ink's name is written in pencil. When I change the ink, I erase the old ink's entry and write in the new one. I don't bother with refill dates. If you actually write with your pens and pay attention, you will know when to flush and start over.

 

[EKE]

I have a little A5 sized Staples M spiral bound notebook that I use as an ink journal. I use an easy format: one-half page each entry, with name, date, pen used, and a brief paragraph describing my impressions of the ink.

 

http://i646.photobucket.com/albums/uu188/ErikEvens/photo_zpsddcb297d.jpg