Need Help On Picking Out Ink!

[Bo Bo Olson]

I have a little gray plastic box with index cards** of the pens...and what inks are in them....if only I would use it.

 

 

**There are top quality index cards....which I don't have....but it's a long way to the States. The better the index card the more true the ink qualities.

[Arkanabar]

Keeping it simple is why I limit my ink purchases to the Six Essentials of Black (Heart of Darkness and perhaps either or both of Perle Noire and Pelikan 4001 Brilliant Black), Blue-Black (Pilot or maybe a home-brewed mix of VMail Midway Blue and Bad Black Moccasin or maybe even Iroshizuku Tsuki-Yo), Purple (awaiting fade results), Blue (Noodler's Blue or perhaps Blue Eel), Green (Diamine Sherwood), and Brown (Iroshizuku Yama-Guri).

For me, the Six Essentials have to be fade resistant, well-behaved, and have enough contrast/ are dark enough for easy legibility. After that, I'll pick based on which color I like best.

I don't buy markup colors. I have a bottle of Sheaffer Skrip Turquoise and a bottle of Widow Maker. Those should last until either I have SITB or die. If they don't, I will have to consider more Skrip Turquoise, perhaps Skrip Red, and possibly some really bright green.