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Aloha Everyone. This is my first writing sample. Does anyone know what style it is? How can I improve? What style or method should I practice to improve it? Thank you, jim

I recently came across a YouTube video that had a shot of Her Majesty the Queen writing with a fountain pen. I have heard that she uses fountain pens exclusively, and I've also heard Parker 51 and Conway Stewart pens mentioned as being used,. Quite curious as to which pen this one could be. Any ideas, anyone? Aside #1: The cap could probably tell us more, but this is the only shot available. Aside #2: Quite prudent of her to remove that white glove before writing. Wonder if that lesson was learnt the heard way!

Does anyone else notice that the quality and nature of penmanship changes depending on the nib, pen, ink, and paper?? Here's a sample of my sloppy handwriting. Practice in progress. Rhodia Paper.

Hello everyone! I'm Mike. I live in Denver, Colorado! About a year and a half ago I moved back to Denver (and the U.S. for that matter) from Australia. I am an engineer and was working in the field. Now that I have an office role I've dropped the field pencil and picked up the fountain pen...and I'm LOVING it! As engineers do, I've been researching to no end, learning as much as I can. I'm really glad I found FPN as it has been an incredible resource (unlike many forums out there...)! I also happen do be big into photography as a hobby! The Visconti Michelangelo rollerball was my first nice pen and it is what got me into writing more. I then found FPN and started lusting after many fountain pens and have since picked up a Lamy 2000 and a Visconti Homo Sapiens MIDI. Now I just need to practice my penmanship so I stop looking like I'm 4 years old. Here are a few photos and some non-pen related of Colorado too! _DSC1109 by Michael Patterson, on Flickr _DSC1110 by Michael Patterson, on Flickr _DSC1112 by Michael Patterson, on Flickr

I was inking yesterday, and got some on my fingers, as is usual(I have a box of disposable gloves, but keep forgetting) Anyway.....one inky finger looked ( to me)like old shipwrecks, the masts sticking up .....there's a village not far from me, which has a bay, and when the tides out, there are several wrecks visible, the masts sticking up at all angles. Eery, sad, beautiful..... Makes feel like getting my painting mojo going. Inspiration comes in strange and unknown ways and places.... Alex

Hello! At least I got a little time write. A couple of weeks ago I was looking after my first P51 and thanks to farmdogfan now I am a happy owner of this magnificent pen! The pen is a MKI aerometric with beautiful black body and lustraloy cap, there are no date marks but it has the basket clutch spring, and the black plastic ended converter so it is one of the early aerometrics (please correct me if this is not true). I have to admit that I really hated this design before (bad lasting memories from childhood using P51 fakes at school) and I was a bit afraid. And I never really liked the idea of a hooded nib……BUT when I saw mine that beautifully proportioned shiny black barrel, the heavy cap that feels machined, that somebody really worked on it. And that solid clutch ring that divides the pen compositionally it is perfect, it just gives the necessary amount of detail to the pen body without being just a "decorative" element. If you divide the length of the visible barrel when capped with the golden ratio number 1,618 it gives the length of the cap (I observed this on more Parker pens) and these were just the looks. Now to get to the tactile review. It just feels perfect for my hands, it is like a highly polished gem, jewel it does not feel at all like "plastic". The thickness is also extremely comfortable for writing in comparison the P75 seems a bit too thin for me. At 20grams the pen may seem light but not that light to feel cheap. Its a wonderful piece of architecture! Behind that streamlined body hides the technology, you know from the beginning that its an old pen but feels modern. It resembles pure elegance, professionalism in this minimalist design. I started to like this idea very much, that the nib is hidden, that only I know (from my colleagues) that there is a nice gold nib, most of them don't even recognise it being a fountain pen. It is like the pen reveals her secrets only for the user. As for the writing performance its smooth, wet, holds a lot of ink. I use it as a daily user because I'm afraid that my P75 is too flashy in many situations. Also as a comparison many compare it to the P51 Mustang but for me it is much more like the Mallard Steam Locomotive, as far as I know the most elegant and fastest steam engine. Some pictures of my P51: Have a nice day!

Hi, i just purchased a pack of Waterman pink rose (large) cartridge. It was ordered from an online shop. I think something is just not right. But as this is my first Waterman cartridge, i need help. The pack that i received seems to be almost half empty. Hence a picture of your new cartridge will be highly appreciated. As i will be able to question the seller. And it was not purchased from eBay. Rather a reputed online portal in India. Regards, Chayan