Your Frequently Used Inks Recently? Why You Selected?

[Brian K]

My two favorites (currently) are Diamine Bilberry and Iroshizuku Yama-guri. One of the things I like about them is that sooooo many people think that only black, blue or blue-black inks are acceptable for business or "official" use. Bilberry is a rich, wet, velvety purple that is dark enough to pass muster with even very conservative (stuffy?) folk but it has enough real color to stand out from the herd as something a bit special. Not much shading in the 51 I have it in but I saw a review today that must have been done with a very dry pen because the shading was lovely. The pen I have it in now is fine to medium but I have used it in a 45 with a soft and wet broad 14kt nib and it looked like I was writing with liquid velvet.

 

The Yama-guri is a lovely grayish brown that is fairly dark so, despite the non-traditional color, can pretty much be used for anything without compromising my subversive tendencies. At present it is in a TWSBI Micarta V2 with a medium nib and it is lovely and well-behaved on everything from cheap copy paper to Rhodia or Tomoe River. I can't wait to try it with a broader nib.

 

 

When it comes to using blues I occasionally like some more conserative shades like Iro Shin-kai but my heart is more with shades like Asa-gao or Kon-peki which are particularly bright and I have a real softspot for Herbin Bleu Myosotis which is soft (delicate?) and lovely to look at. I'm thinking it might just do the trick when I finally get the P51 Vac demonstrator my dad gave me restored.

 

I am always looking for alternatives to the "accepted" colors but I got the Iro black in the sampler package (8 best selling colors) from Goulet and I am sure I will try it but it's unlikely to be a go to ink. For a black I have been tempted to try Noodler's Zhivago or Rohrer & Klingner Verdigris, which are very dark greens, or at least green black. I'm guessing a lot of people would see them as just black or really dark gray but I would know.

 

I don't think you have to be different just to be different but I think it's not always best to follow the herd, either. There are so many options out there there is no reason that everyone has to use the same colors. I have nothing against those who say they would never use anything but black, blue or blue-black, and I am glad they're happy with their choice, but I'm not going to tie myself to anything - not even to what inks I'm in love with at present.

 

Regards,

 

Brian

[SeeksAdvice]

I use the colors I use because they work, and I'm not that flashy a person. Zhivago is very dark in all but the driest of pens. However, I've found it to take forever to dry.

The lightest blue I'd ever use is Ama-Iro, and even that is pushing the envelope.

For a while, our court demanded that everything be signed in black. When the court says you will use X, well, you use X unless you want your filings rejected. Most recently, the court said that red wasn't acceptable to sign in (though judge does it sometimes). Biggest problem is nobody can seem to figure out how to make the scanners scan in black and white... However, you have to go with what they say.

From Iroshizuku: Tsukushi, Ama-Iro, Kon-Peki, Ku-Jaku, Shin-Kai, Take-Sumi, Syo-Ro, Asa-Gao, Fuyu-Syogun, and Tsuyu-Kusa have survived the filing challenge. I keep waiting for Ama-Iro to get rejected. Was really surprised that Fuyu-Syogun passed, but it scans much darker on Fujitsu Scan-Snaps than you'd think.

Plus, since we've gone to this new recycled used USSR toilet tissue writing paper, some inks just simply don't work. Borealis Black tamed my Waterman 412, but doesn't work on that stuff. Almost all of my Noodler's inks fail miserably on it. Even DRI will show some feathering on it.

[Brian K]

I understand about certain requirements with work, government or the courts. There are a lot of places where the rule is black or blue and I adhere when it's required (luckily, most people see Bilberry as a particularly dark blue so I can usually get away with it.) Worse yet, there are a few things at work where the rule is ballpoint only and that is where the handy Bic Clic comes into play. I do believe in self expression but I don't make a fetish of it.

 

And don't get me started on work or government provided papers...

 

Regards,

 

Brian

 

Edited because I'm an idiot.....geesh!

Edited September 6, 2014 by Brian K

[Lyander0012]

Just got my first shipment of samples from Goulet -- so far I'm in love with Iroshizuku Syo-ro but there are a few Noodler's that I'm itching to try **must go clean pens**

 

samples.jpg

 

 

Nice pic! I'm considering signing up for the samples as well. Might be interesting, ne?

 

Anyway, this is where a dip pen would come in handy! I admit that my initial purpose in buying a dip pen wasn't so much learning calligraphy as having something to sample inks with; while I did eventually take to italic and pointed-pen styles, I still enjoy using my dip nibs with FP ink (though they're usually much too runny for actual use).

[Elyptic]

I've had a real soft spot for J. Herbin Lie de The lately.

 

I also have Noodler's Bad Belted Kingfisher loaded as I really love the color.

 

Then of course, I have Noodler's Bulletproof Black loaded in one pen for those tasks that require black.

[gwyneddd]

I'm using Herbin Poussiere de Lune and Montblanc black a lot. I like Diamine's Chocolate Brown (of which I accidentally bought 2, so I'd better like it), Diamine Ancient Copper and I favor Waterman Bleu Mystere for note taking.

[Bill]

Diamine Chocolate Brown has been my mainstay for a couple of years and remains the #1. Levenger Empyrean is my current favorite for professional use. I've circled back around to some Montblanc inks lately.

[Aurko]

I currently use Diamine Monaco Red, Sheaffer Turquoise, Sheaffer Brown, and Iroshizuku Shin Ryoku in my pens. They all tend to be well behaved, cause minimum fuss, and I really like the colours too. Especially the Shin Ryoku. I do change up my ink rotation every once in a while in my daily writer (Sailor 1911 Standard) and try a new ink or one that I haven't seen in a while though.

[anibalgb]

Yama guri- love it for off white paper

Platinum Carbon Black- one of my favorite inks

Diamine midnight- my perfect dark blue

[Green Ink]

Floreat, what a wonderful way to use color. I especially like the Rouge Hematite for the dragon!

 

I do love my Diamine Ancient Copper. My fun ink is Iroshizuku Fuyu-gaki (Winter Persimmon). And Iroshizuku Kon-peki (Deep Cerulean) always. Those three.

Edited September 7, 2014 by Green Ink

[inkobsessed]

Pelikan Edelstein Onyx, (a bit better as the 4001 black so way to expensieve)

Pelikan 4001 Black, (a bit dryer but doesn't bleed through a's the Onyx does on cheaper papier).

Pelikan blue-black, (my main business ink)

MB blue, (a bit to fresh, will be replaced in time by a more modest one like J. Herbin Miosotis)

 

Joop

[Buzz_130]

I always have blue loaded as it's one of the "acceptable" colors.

 

1) Iroshizuku Asa-Gao: good color, easy maintenance, works from every pen I've tried

2) MB Royal Blue

3) Waterman Serenity Blue

4) DC Super Show Blue

 

My sons favor black so it's either Heart of Darkness or MB.

 

My daughters enjoy a wide range of color but go through Ama-Iro very quickly!

 

Buzz

[theolu]

I have a pretty consistent rotation.

 

1. Dark Blue/Blue-Black: Diamine Midnight, Pelikan B-B, Lamy B-B, Kaweco Midnight Blue. This is my workhorse ink color for work. My favorite is Midnight.

 

2. Brighter blue: Sailor Sky High, Kon-Peki, Aso-Gao. These are to contrast my Blue-Blacks and for more personal correspondence and journaling. My favorite is Sky High.

 

3. Dusky Purple: R&K Scabiosa, Diamine Damson. An alternative color but still professional. My favorite is Scabiosa.

 

4. Black: Sailor Kiwa-Guro. Sometimes you just need black ink and this is my favorite.

[Arkanabar]

I do most of my journaling in super cheap (10-25 cent) 70 sheet spiral notebooks, and I can only write on one side of the paper, but that's ok. Notes get made on the back side of 88 brightness 20lb Georgia Pacific copy paper we buy for school. What, are you suggesting I'm cheap? You betcha!!

Noodler's Red-Black. Somebody on FPN gave me a bottle of this stuff a few years back, and it's been a workhorse for me in my Pelikan M200 ever since. Undiluted, it's darned near black, so I dilute it as much as 1:1 with water in 5ml Nalgene vials. At that point, it's a nice warm reddish brown, and it lasts twice as long. What, are you subggesting I'm cheap? You betcha! The black in Red-Black is Noodler's Black, a permanent black that gets left behind if ever the writing gets wet, and this bulletproof water-resistance is one of the reasons it's been a go-to ink. But I'm giving it a break for the first time in years, so I can try some others.

Waterman Black. It's currently loaded into my dad's basic black Parker "51", one of my very few prized possessions. I am now working in medical records, and for compliance reasons, anything written in the record (such as accounting of disclosures) must be written in black ink, and I don't want to have to use my Fisher Cap-O-Matic space pen for EVERYTHING. I only bought that for writing on outguides held against the wall. Anyway, it is a blueish/pitch black on my super cheap notebook paper, but the lines are as good as they get.

Visconti Sepia, which also was given to me /|:^). I don't think the (plastic) bottle is comepletely airtight, so I recently added some water to it, too. It went into a Sheaffer Viewpoint Fine (1mm) calligraphy pen that I use as a stub. I just wanted to put the ink to use. It's sort of a dull orange, like pumpkin pie, and it works for markup, at least in a sufficiently broad line. I don't know if it would be dark enough for legibility in a finer line. But I really like it where it is.

Kitchen Sink Blue. This is an unregulated mix of leftover Levenger Cobalt Blue, leftover Waterman Florida Blue, and water. (A lot of my inks suffer from dehydration. And adding water lets them last longer. What, are you subggesting I'm cheap? You betcha!) I read somebody's description of a bottle of brown ink that caught the leftovers from every other bottle brown ink he had that had run too low to use by itself, and decided to try something similar. I put it into my blue stripe Pelikan M400. It behaves fairly well, and is sufficiently dark (about midrange) and dense without being overwhelmingly so. It dries to a very bright blue.

Sheaffer Slovenian Skrip Turquoise, another gift. I put this in a green Noodler's dollar eyedropper pen that came with a bottle of Borealis Black. I wanted to try the pen, dammit, and I wanted to get away from the Red-Black and Kitchen Sink Blue which had been the only inks I'd used for years. And I thought the pen would be pretty good for markup because the point looks so fine, and turquoise is a good markup color -- dark enough to read, and super-bright, so it draws the eye. So far, it's working just fine for its intended purpose.

Mont Blanc "School" Black. This is old stock; it's in a cone-shaped gold-colored plastic bottle with a tipping facet on the base. The bottle looks like it belongs in an eleven-year-old schoolboy's locker or desk, which is why I call it "school" black. I found it in the medical records room of a hospital where I was gaining professional practical experience prior to graduation. I put it in a copper Estie J with a 9460 nib. It was black enough, and well-behaved; in fact, the off-cap time was incredible. Seriously. I'd sit there, holding that pen in one hand and the cap in the other for minutes, thinking, and then start writing and it would just go from the very start. But it's not very dense, and it feathers a little, and it's brownish, not true black. I wonder if perhaps my super cheap paper has enough acid in it to fade my inks. But no. As the pen ran dry and the lines got finer, it got to looking more black and less brown.

Next up: I have a brand new Mandarin Yellow Ahab. Once my M200 runs dry of red-black, I am going to fill this Ahab with Waterman Violet (yet another gift). I know the ink may stain the pen. Truth be told, I think the pen could use the variation in color for personality. And why NOT have an ink-stained pen to go with my ink-stained fingers? It's a $20 pen, and I am nowhere near so concerned about maintaining it in pristine condition as I am about having fun using it.

And that Borealis Black, which came from Goulet with not one but TWO dollar Noodler's Eyedropper pens, is going into a new 3.8mm Pilot Para//el. But I have to run dry a couple of super-cheap Staedtler calligraphy pens (part of a set of 4 barrels, 5 nibs, and 20-25 assorted color International cartridges, for around $20). They will not be returning to rotation any time soon, as the points are rectangles about 0.7mm tall, and the XF point is not even that wide. I want my sidestrokes to be hairlines, and that is nigh impossible with these pens. Eventually, I am going to get a c/c pen that takes international carts, and it will use the rest of them up. Something like a Volcano Grey Monteverde Intima ... that is a downright gorgeous pen.

[Newjelan]

I always have Pilot (Namiki) Blue-Black in my VP and Pelikan Edelstein Topaz in either my Lamy vista or a Pilot CH 92. Other than that I am fickle and colours change all the time.

[rafizip]

My Waterman Audacious Red arrived yesterday and today I inked my Pilot Metropolitan Med with it. I am disappointed; it's too light, almost a pinkish color. I was hoping for a much darker red. Well it will have to do for now.

[Mopen]

Sailor ultra marine

Noodler's violet

Noodler's black

Would like to get a nice red next!

[rafizip]

Sailor ultra marine

Noodler's violet

Noodler's black

Would like to get a nice red next!

Please tell if you find a good red, since I'm not crazy about Waterman's Red

[Diderot]

Please tell if you find a good red, since I'm not crazy about Waterman's Red

 

Here you go as a starter

 

https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/index.php/topic/273764-recommendation-for-red-ink/

[saxmanchop]

Lately I've been using Private Reserve American Blue quick dry.

Private Reserve Tanzanite quick dry

DeAtramente Atlantic Blue

Waterman Mysterious Blue

Chesterfield Cobalt

 

I love the deep rich blue that American blue gives me in some of my pens. The Tanzanite looks really interesting with an extra wet nib. The Waterman dries quickly and with the right pen produces a really nice Teal look. The Tanzanite and the Cobalt make for nice variations since I tend to use mostly deep rich blue tones.