Keeping Track Of Your Inks - My New System

[Anne-Sophie]

Following the topic with interest, but I'm still wondering how to incorporate the system. I don't write with a swab and haven't found swabs to reflect the true nature of the ink in a pen. At least not for me. As such, I'm not confident that a color swab sample like that would help me. Second is the paper medium. If it really is similar to the type of paper I use then, maybe, just a writing sample with ink in pen would work. Is the paper any where similar to, well, any typical paper brand that folks write on for correspondence or in any type of notebook/loose leaf?

 

I don't use color swab either, I write the ink's name and the name, color and nib size of the pens associated with it.

 

Rhodia notepads come in a variety of size, the loose leafs can be organized in a letter/A4 binder, a junior/A5 organizer (in my case, Tom Bihn Field Journal Notebook which goes everywhere with me)

 

Rhodia has also index card and pocket sized notepads, two easily portable sizes.

[migo984]

 

I don't use color swab either, I write the ink's name and the name, color and nib size of the pens associated with it.

 

Rhodia notepads come in a variety of size, the loose leafs can be organized in a letter/A4 binder, a junior/A5 organizer (in my case, Tom Bihn Field Journal Notebook which goes everywhere with me)

 

Rhodia has also index card and pocket sized notepads, two easily portable sizes.

 

Notebooks definitely have a place in recording inks, but the limitations of notebooks is that you can't re-arrange the order of the pages, unless you have a binder/loose-leaf system, and those are bulky. I like the cards becaus,e as I buy a new ink, I can slot the card into the pack wherever i want to, and re-order ad nauseum in the future..........

[Anne-Sophie]

 

Notebooks definitely have a place in recording inks, but the limitations of notebooks is that you can't re-arrange the order of the pages, unless you have a binder/loose-leaf system, and those are bulky. I like the cards becaus,e as I buy a new ink, I can slot the card into the pack wherever i want to, and re-order ad nauseum in the future..........

 

Posters on this thread have been talking about different systems. To make things clear or less so , I have a letter size binder with writing sample of each pen associated with a particular ink, the ink has to match the pen color as exactly as possible.

 

The Field Journal Notebook is a Junior size binder organizer.

 

I might just copy your idea using slightly bigger ring bound cards, http://myndology.com/shop/ring-bound or punched Rhodia pages at least the size of index cards, such is the trouble of having an handwriting of size.

 

Thank you for the lovely inspiration Migo984!

 

Your idea is so great and all those ink samples so thrilling, I wish your post was pinned.

Edited April 20, 2014 by Anne-Sophie

[amberleadavis]

 

Posters on this thread have been talking about different systems. To make things clear or less so , I have a letter size binder with writing sample of each pen associated with a particular ink, the ink has to match the pen color as exactly as possible.

 

The Field Journal Notebook is a Junior size binder organizer.

 

I might just copy your idea using slightly bigger ring bound cards, http://myndology.com/shop/ring-bound or punched Rhodia pages at least the size of index cards, such is the trouble of having an handwriting of size.

 

Thank you for the lovely inspiration Migo984!

 

Your idea is so great and all those ink samples so thrilling, I wish your post was pinned.

 

 

We sort of limit the pinned topics because they can overwhelm the first page.

[Sinistral1]

Front:

Back:

This has been fun and takes time. However, it allows me to get to really know each ink pretty thoroughly. I also really like how they show what I want to know about the ink as an artistic medium and not just it's writing properties. The paper comparisons show feathering with flex, which I need to know. This will be a project with happy results!

Edited April 21, 2014 by Sinistral1

[amberleadavis]

Very nice!

[Tas]

 

Really, really lovely and so thorough.

I wouldn't have the patience to do it but am delighted you have. Excellent !!!

Thank you.

 

P.S Sailor Epinard . . . Mmmm

Edited April 21, 2014 by Tas

[migo984]

Sinistral1 - now that takes my simple card indexing system to a whole new level. Amazing! Can I ask how you order your cards. Is it by colour or some other system?

[alc3261]

I have just ordered some Muji Word Cards from ebay.

My ink journal has all the colours in date order which doesn't make it easy to find what I have or don't with regard to a particular colour range.

It may take some time to get this organised.....

[Tas]

See what you've started migo984

[migo984]

See what you've started migo984

 

Yeah, right - as if you lot need any encouragement! And I've just had a £5 bet with myself that a bottle of Epinard will be added to the Tas ink stash very soon.

[white_lotus]

 

All of you for your amazing work!

 

I'm tempted to order a set of these, though I don't have as many inks as any one of you. (insert more bowing here)

 

sinistral1, could you explain the "wet dry" drawing? I don't understand how they show/demonstrate the ink being wet or dry. Maybe you're showing its use in a wet or dry pen? The pictures were lovely though.

[Tas]

 

Yeah, right - as if you lot need any encouragement! And I've just had a £5 bet with myself that a bottle of Epinard will be added to the Tas ink stash very soon.

 

Ha! - read like a book I am. ​

I said to myself if I come back from Paris empty handed it'll be the first ink I order in May. Spooky.

[Sinistral1]

Thanks for the encouraging comments!

 

This project includes so many things I love and enjoy doing. I like to work with color and lettering, and love to plan and organize so that I make something with the most information possible that is laid out in a way that flows smoothly and uses space instead of wasting it. Even though this is going to take time, I will truly be a pig in mud while I'm doing it!

 

These first cards were a test run with some sheening ink samples recently received from Anderson Pens. I plan on doing everything I have, including cartridges, bottles and samples. That's about 110 right now, but as you all know, that is a fluid number.

 

I plan on sorting them by color, probably in the rainbow spectrum.

 

The wet and dry objects are to show how the ink washes with a brush while still wet and after it has dried completely.

 

Now my question - do you think these are different enough to deserve a separate post for each color in the ink review forum?

 

Tas - speaking of spooky, you came to mind when I did the Epinard card! A nice, dark green/black/gray that's just your style, yeah? I already have bottles of MB Jonathon Swift Seaweed Green and MB Racing Green, so already have that color box ticked. It is a beautiful color.

[Tas]

Now my question - do you think these are different enough to deserve a separate post for each color in the ink review forum?

 

 

Definitely!!

Your swatches would be really useful to people, like myself, who wash their inks and in fact to anyone with an interest in how an ink behaves beyond a medium nib scribble on copier paper.

If you have the time, I'm sure many members here would love to see your swatches in the reviews section. Go for it.

 

I don't feel mine warrant it as they're not comprehensive enough but what I am doing, when I see a request for an ink colour from an FPN member, is to post my a relevant swatch to help (or hinder) their decision.

 

Tas - speaking of spooky, you came to mind when I did the Epinard card! A nice, dark green/black/gray that's just your style, yeah?

 

Again, read like a book ​ .

[JonSzanto]

Front:

 

You left off latitude, longitude, and phase of the moon. And what you ate for lunch.

Edited May 24, 2014 by JonSzanto

[Sinistral1]

Lunch can be noted by the smudges and smears. GPS and lunar info (including tidal highs and lows) is encrypted in a micro chip inserted under the list of papers and pens on the front of the card. Sheesh, now you made me give away ALL my secrets!

[JonSzanto]

Lunch can be noted by the smudges and smears. GPS and lunar info (including tidal highs and lows) is encrypted in a micro chip inserted under the list of papers and pens on the front of the card. Sheesh, now you made me give away ALL my secrets!

 

I feel all info-saturated!

 

Seriously, though: I had seen these mentioned somewhere, and when filling up a 'cart' for shipping from JetPens, I put one of these in, and just got it. I've been cataloging inks for a while in a three-ring binder, but I know I can cut down on the amount of writing and painting on the samples, and your layout is really a great use of a small space with a lot of info. Thanks!

[Sinistral1]

A picture is worth a thousand words. These suit my needs, and I share them with pleasure.

[JonSzanto]

A picture is worth a thousand words. These suit my needs, and I share them with pleasure.

 

Indeed. Here is a page from one of my ink journals, showing (now, I think) more duplicity (or over-abundancel) in the written areas. I wanted to see each ink with three different nibs, but I bet I can do that with... less.