Inky T O D - How Did You Get Started On The Long And Inky Road? Merged With Your Inky Journey?

[napalm]

The year that I was in Durham for School Supply season, I went to Office Depot and went nuts buying for a teenager whose mom couldn't afford the start of the year. It was the first and only time, I've ever gone nuts and didn't look to see if something was on sale. She loved purple so I bought her the backpack, notebooks, pens, pens - it all matched.

 

LOL, I have a niece of the right age for such supplies, she got more pens and inks than the whole school could use in a year. She loves pink-purples

[colrehogan]

I would have to say that it is partially due to coming to this site and then finding the Goulet site. Pen and ink reviews, swatches, wow!

I never thought about it, but I love going to the office supply store too. The only FP related stuff I've seen in Office Max is a Parker set with a bottle of black ink in it. My parents used to have fountain pens, but threw them away thinking that they were old, outdated, messy and "there was no ink available anymore" for them.

[Jgalfano]

I started my little journey when I was, if I remember right, looking into finding a fountain pen because of a picture I saw of some object I desired that had a nice vintage pen next to it, presumably to "class" up the unknown object. I think it was a watch or something. I don't remember. Anyways, this vintage pen led me to Google "fountain pen", and I discovered the wonderfully cheap Pilot Varsity somewhere along the way.

 

So I decided it was high time to make a run to my local pen/art store, Art Materials (in Minneapolis, MN, for anyone wondering; if you're in Minneapolis, be sure to check it out), and while there I bought a red and a black Pilot Varsity. These lasted me only so long before I made another trip down to Art Materials and bought a Lamy Safari, a bottle of Cross Blue, and a Leuchtturm 1917 pocket notebook. That started me on everything as I had, prior to that purchase, researched the Safari plenty and discovered Goulet Pens and FPN, etc.

 

I later bought a Jinhao x750 and a Jinhao 159 with a bottle of Noodler's Apache Sunset and Diamine Monaco Red. My most recent purchase consisted of an exchange from a Monteverde Prima and a bottle of Noodler's Navajo Turquoise (I kept the ink) to a TWSBI Mini and a Rhodia No. 16 DotPad. I currently have Iroshizuku Kosumosu, a few Private Reserves, and Noodler's Black Swan in Australian Roses on a "to-buy" list. The addiction is real.

[inkstainedruth]

When I first re-discovered fountain pens a couple of years ago, it was Quink Blue cartridges. With a preference for Permanent Blue over the Washable. When I started having trouble getting anything besides black (and left my pen at my brother-in-law's house); I started looking for replacements and noticed that you could (sometimes) get other colors -- green, and red, mostly. But that other brands had better colors, like purple. Now *purple* sounded like a fine plan, but it had to be the *right* purple.... And that got me to looking at the Goulet swabs, and at ink reviews on here. And hey, bright blue sounded good, and pink, and maybe grey....

The one I was convinced I *didn't* want was blue-black. Until I saw the dregs of reconstituted ink that came out of an Esterbrook SJ....

Still tend to avoid black, although I have some.... Grey, and off-black, and the almost-black that is Diamine Eclipse. And then there's Noodler's El Lawrence. Which is just... different....

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

[napalm]

I'm after sapphire blue inks. I've got on this forum looking for a more mundane, readily available replacement for Asa Gao. This forum seems to be fountain's pen "Hotel California" - "You can check-out any time you like, But you can never leave"

[Bookman]

After I started this leg of the journey five years ago I bought inks in a variety of colors. But eventually I found I just didn't use a color palette. I use red for special purposes like marking red-letter days on calendars. I use red and green on Christmas cards. Otherwise I stick to blues, blacks, and blue-blacks.

[JeanManuel]

Approximately, as I recall the events, and inks ordered by frequency of use:
~9-16 Waterman erasable blue.
~16-24 Sheaffer black, Waterman blue-black, J.Herbin black.

~24-29 Sheaffer black, MB blue-black & black, Pelikan black & purple (both discarded).

~29-33 MB midnight blue, Diamine majestic blue, R&K verdigri & morinda, Sheaffer black, R&K mix(scabiosa+solfiero)... and others which I don't use as often.
I try to use the inks I have before using others now

Edited June 20, 2014 by JeanManuel

[Pickwick]

I continued to use Blue/Black ink, Parker Quinck, having used pen and ink these past 70 years. Then tried Noodler's Manhattan Blue. Then I started exploring different papers which would accept fountain pen ink, and bought A couple of packs of Wausau 100% cotton in Ivory and Grey. These papers set me on the road to experimenting with different color inks. Now I have, Diamine Sherwood Green, Grey, Chocolate Brown and Syrah on the way. J. Herbin Poussiere de Lune, Waterman Absolute Brown., and discarded my Blue/Black mixes but kept a bottle of Sheaffer Blue/Black Skrip.

 

I would like to thank all those members who have posted ink reviews which enabled me to make my choices so much easier. It's never too late to explore a different road!

[amberleadavis]

Merged with an Inky TOD. - Since the original thread was started first - the first post is not the inky TOD question but literally, the first post chronologically.

[Vgimlet]

Like many of us I was a big fan of office supply stores.

 

We had a wonderful store near us, Renton Record Stationary, that also printed the daily paper. You could go in and see the actual press at work, and smell the ink. Ah, good memories.

 

I also liked to color, so over the years I graduated from crayons, to felt-pens, to colored pencils. All of which I wanted in the extra-large size, with as many colors as possible. I used to color adult coloring books (from when I was 10 or 11). Having an artist for a mom, she encouraged my love of color and was okay with supplying me with all the paper and pens I needed.

 

When I was about 10 or 12 I became interested in the American Revolution time period, and the closest thing to write with was FP'S. So I developed a collection of Sheaffer pens and inked them with different colored cartridges. I think I had all the colors, at one point.

 

So, kept my love of playing with color after I quit using the FP's - colored pencils, gel pens, and then circled back around to FP's, and all the lovely ink colors.

[WateryFlow]

Well mine started literally a few weeks ago after I ran into this really useful thread by cybaea(thankyou!), and shortly after where i found 30ml Diamines available for anywhere between £2.95 and £3.80 inc P&P.

 

Soooo in the last few weeks I've been buying Diamine inks like a kid in a sweet shop. I don't (yet) actually have a practical use for so many different coloured inks, I just like the look of them and having a choice.

 

However I'm actually about to start learning Mandarin, and learning simplified Chinese means having to practice practice practice writing hanzi over and over again. Stroke order of the pen is vital and I've been told that a (flex) fountain pen is preferable to make all the varying width strokes, so I think i'm going to have a practical use for all those inks afterall.

 

"Pen" is written in mandarin as a compound using "bamboo" and "wool"(or "hair").

http://i.imgur.com/B32LbzY.jpg

 

 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/mfvvQHD.jpg

Edited June 22, 2014 by WateryFlow

[swanjun]

That's neat, WateryFlow! I have occasionally dabbled with learning Japanese, but did not progress far at all with the kanji.

[WateryFlow]

That's neat, WateryFlow! I have occasionally dabbled with learning Japanese, but did not progress far at all with the kanji.

Thanks swanjun! I have had "learn Japanese or other eastern language" in my todo list for about 20 years, so I decided it was about time

 

If you ever decide to take it up again, you'll have a head start with your fountain pen . I've heard that kanji is built from hanzi, so most japanese people can have at least a limited understanding of simplified Chinese characters

Edited June 22, 2014 by WateryFlow

[amberleadavis]

Well mine started literally a few weeks ago after I ran into this really useful thread by cybaea(thankyou!), and shortly after where i found 30ml Diamines available for anywhere between £2.95 and £3.80 inc P&P.

 

Soooo in the last few weeks I've been buying Diamine inks like a kid in a sweet shop. I don't (yet) actually have a practical use for so many different coloured inks, I just like the look of them and having a choice.

 

However I'm actually about to start learning Mandarin, and learning simplified Chinese means having to practice practice practice writing hanzi over and over again. Stroke order of the pen is vital and I've been told that a (flex) fountain pen is preferable to make all the varying width strokes, so I think i'm going to have a practical use for all those inks afterall.

 

"Pen" is written in mandarin as a compound using "bamboo" and "wool"(or "hair").

http://i.imgur.com/B32LbzY.jpg

 

 

 

 

http://i.imgur.com/mfvvQHD.jpg

 

 

WOW, can you "draw" / "write" the characters for Fountain Pen and Pen & Ink for us really big? I'll start adding the characters to reviews.

[swanjun]

Thanks swanjun! I have had "learn Japanese or other eastern language" in my todo list for about 20 years, so I decided it was about time

 

If you ever decide to take it up again, you'll have a head start with your fountain pen . I've heard that kanji is built from hanzi, so most japanese people can have at least a limited understanding of simplified Chinese characters

 

Yep! They just pronounce them differently. And, too, Japanese has two syllable alphabets. *Those* I can read, at least.

[chewytulip]

Like many others here, I always had an interest in pens. When I was in school, I always had a rainbow of ink colors with me - liquid ink rollerballs. Sometimes they made weird scratchy noises while I was writing.

That wasn't my jump to the FP world yet, though.

When I finished college, I realized how many black sharpies I had gone through for my drawings. So I sought an environmentally friendly alternative, and I found technical pens. It was love at first use. My rapidograph was reliable, and the ink was instantly waterproof, and so beautifully dark black. But then I thought...what about the other colors?

Just black could never satisfy my rainbow soul. But it would be silly to get another of the exact same pen! How would I tell them apart?

Then, with a little bit of searching on ebay, I found a Noodler's Nib Creaper in yellow. And I abused the bejeezus out of it. Any colored liquid was fair game to be loaded into that pen...I happened to have a lot of Higgins ink. Hahaha. But don't cry, that pen did not die. In fact, it's working today, loaded with Liberty's Elysium!

Eventually I came to my senses, stopped running ridiculous experiments on my happy yellow pen, and started looking into real ink meant for fountain pens. I bought Noodler's African Violet, thinking that it would be my first and only bottle...my signature writing color.

Silly me. I can't stop at one color.

I can't even stop at one of each color in the rainbow!

(My collection of bottles is nearing 30, and yet I still have a bottle of Private Reserve Tanzanite coming in the mail!)

[amberleadavis]

@ChewyTulip - Welcome aboard!

[Arkanabar]

My journey started when I went off to college in 19(ahem). Until that time, I'd been a big fan of 0.5mm mechanical pencils, like the Pentel S55, some Niji retractables, and the Pentel Sharp Kerry (capped, believe it or not). But college required a lot more writing, and I wanted something smoother. So I tried ballpoints, but they just weren't smooth enough either. My dad had recently given up his Parker "51" for the ugliest (and hence theft-resistant) darned Pentel Rolling Writer he could find (gold with black pinstripes, and boy was it ugly), so I tried rollerballs too. I thought the best of them was the Pilot Precise V5, but it wasn't smooth enough either.

So I walked into the local art supply store, "The Art Attack," and asked them what they could recommend. They recommended an Osmiroid c/c calligraphy pen and a round-tipped nib. I swiftly decided I had to have more colors than just Quink blue-black. They recommended Dr. P. H. Martin's Brilliant Watercolors. Within a week I had one for just about every color of the rainbow. I also picked up a school pen at Kmart that I liked.

I lost track of my fountain pens after I dropped out of left college. But eventually a Levenger's catalog showed up in a shipment of bicycle parts, and I suddenly had to have another fountain pen. I ordered a Waterman Phileas that I grew to not particularly care for, because of its limited ink capacity. I eventually found a Pelikan M200 on clearance at a nearby Colorado Pen Company store (Pelikan was changing the styling), and then an M400 at an ad agency whose owner dealt fountain pens on the side (and had a Clark's Ink Sampler). I used a lot of Waterman Havana Brown, Sheaffer Skrip (washable) Blue, and Pelikan Brilliant Black. I lost track of all those bottles in my next move. I had no conception of mixing inks to purpose, and I did not save any I emptied.

Then my brother-in-law gave me a Sheaffer PFM-II(!). It was in my search for information on this pen that I found Richard Binder and FPN. I'd guess that most of my ink was given to me by other members. Perhaps three of my current bottles were not.

At this time, I think I have ONE bottle of ink that I have actually purchased: 4.5oz of Noodler's Borealis Black. The rest are gifts: Waterman Blue and Violet; a mix of Levenger Raven Black and Waterman Black, and a mix of Levenger Cobalt Blue and Waterman Washable blue; a bottle of Noodler's Red-Black; a bottle of Visconti Sepia; a bottle of Sheaffer Turquoise; a bottle of MB black that almost certainly dates back to the '70s (found in a hospital medical records department and given to me), and the bottle of permanent black Quink that my dad had for his "51". I want a darker purple (say, Diamine Grape), a nice dark green (say, Diamine Sherwood), maybe an inexpensive bottle of red for markup (Sheaffer Skrip could work) and a bottle of some brighter green for markup (there are numerous candidates). I don't really have to have the red and green for markup; I could do it with the Turquoise, Sepia, and Violet. But I sort of want them....

[amberleadavis]

That sounds like a fairly nice journey. Also, it sounds like friends have found a good way to give you gifts.

[Lou Erickson]

I just backread and found I'd posted. I have certainly plunged in with great abandon since March when I made that post, and have more than three bottles of ink now. What I have will expand greatly as soon as a package or two arrives.

 

I'm importing inks from other countries, and doing group buys and things.