'not Black' Is My New Black

[PithyProlix]

I've just decided. My main writing pen - which has only seen black since I've had it - has just been inked up with blue-black and I doubt that it will ever see black again.

It's not like black is inherently ugly, it's just that I think 'Why?' when there are many other dark, conservative-looking, legible ink colors that don't call attention to themselves when reading or taking a glance at the page. And, when you actually do pay attention to the color and texture of the written words, they provide some beauty and interest.

 

I can't think of a situation I've been in in many years that requires black, I don't expect I'll encounter one, and, if by chance I do, I still have a few black Pilot Varsity's. I probably won't use my remaining black ink for anything other than mixing with other colors.

Edited October 17, 2020 by PithyProlix

[Intensity]

I am the opposite: only used and bought non-black inks for a long time. Now I have 3 black inks and always have an EF Vanishing Point Decimo filled with Sailor Kiwa-Guro, used daily. Still mostly using non black inks.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Intensity

[PithyProlix]

I am the opposite: only used and bought non-black inks for a long time. Now I have 3 black inks and always have an EF Vanishing Point Decimo filled with Sailor Kiwa-Guro, used daily. Still mostly using non black inks.

 

Thought you were going to write that you now exclusively use black ...

 

May I ask why you decided to start using black?

 

Edited October 17, 2020 by PithyProlix

[lapis]

IYAM, a real "non-black" is the best black or most interesting black. Or call it a pseudo-black. There are 3-4 good (no, let's say acceptable) blacks which are nothing else than black, but there are to this day basically only one Eclipse, Dark Matter, Doyou etc. The fun part is that when somebody sees it for the first time, they say, " Hey, I first thought that was a black!"

[inkstainedruth]

I don't use black inks much because even growing up I tended to prefer blue ink for ballpoints over black. The only time in the last few years was when filling out paperwork at a ENT's office and black ink was REQUIRED, I of course didn't have a pen inked up with black with me.... My former bank (which got bought out by my current bank) insisted that that you had to use ONLY blue or black when filling out and signing checks -- but never ever blinked an eye at my choices: (Noodler's KTC or 54th Massachusetts for "blue" and Noodler's El Lawrence for "black"). Those choices were of course all based on their permanence.

I did consider Noodler's Upper Ganges Blue (which is waterproof) at one point, but decided that it was too close to "non-repro blue" for me to feel comfortable using it on checks, and too washed out a blue in general for me to want to get a full bottle of it.

Ruth Morrisson aka inkstainedruth

 

edited for formatting issues

Edited October 17, 2020 by inkstainedruth

[Intensity]

 

Thought you were going to write that you now exclusively use black ...

 

May I ask why you decided to start using black?

 

Because I like the crisp and neutral high-contrast line out of a Japanese EF nib. I enjoy the cool hues of Pilot Iroshizuku Take-Sumi for sketching on margins and using a water brush. And for writing I love how Sailor Nano Kiwa Guro has a satiny silver sheen.

[Namo]

That taste comes and go as far as I am concerned. Used to have Borealis black in my favorite writer several years ago, got bored. Until recently, I have been using mostly blue and blue black (PR DC ss blue, more recently Tsuky Yo a lot); and then, the taste for black came back. Unfortunately, Borealis black takes litteraly days to dry on some papers: it was perfectly ok with cotton Midori MD, but there is no way I can write on Tomoe River with it. So now I am using Iroshizuku anniversay Itoisan, a very muddy, dark green that look almost black. Fortunately, I did bought two bottles back the, and sittl have one almost full. If I am still in black mood after that, I will go with Take Sumi or mayby Sailor Miruai if I can find any at a decent price.

Edited October 17, 2020 by Namo

[RJS]

I rarely ever use black in fountain pens these days, though I have a few blues and purples that appear almost black. I do sometimes write in my journal with a black fineliner, and I like the look of it when I do, for some reason.

[RJS]

I don't even own a bottle of black ink, just a dozen or so black cartridges.

[silverlifter]

I opt for the best of both worlds, inks that go onto the page blue or blue-black, and dry to blue-black or black!

 

I do generally have one pen inked with black (currently Take-Sumi), and have just ordered some Carbon Black for more permanence.

[langere]

Well, for a few years Visconti sent me bottles of their black ink tucked into the boxes of the pens that I bought. So I used them and also gave many of these bottles away. Pelikan sends only blue inks, unless you get a themed pen.

 

I use black every once in a while, but much less since I used up my Pelikan Brilliant Black, which almost shines with its blackness. I bought a bottle of Noodler's Heart of Darkness about 15 years ago, but the bottle is almost still full...

 

I have lots of other colors, but only one of the three pens I usually have inked might have a black ink.

 

Erick

[bunnspecial]

In my pre-fountain-pen enlightenment days, I considered the black Pilot V5 the gold standard of what a pen "should" be, and I never took to the blues in those as much as the blacks.

 

Naturally, when I DID jump to fountain pens, I gravitated toward black inks. My first cheap cartridge pens only got fed black cartridges, and my first bottle period(where I pretty much ditched cartridges) was Pelikan Black.

 

Someone clued me in to the fact, though, that blue was pretty much the "standard" general purpose fountain pen color(I know that's a very broad, general statement), so I started experimenting with blues and found that on the whole, I really liked them. There's enough variety in blues them to make things interesting, but also still appropriate to use in a typical office setting, plus the blue inks from most pen manufacturers are about as gentle on pens as you can find(I always think of Waterman Blue as the standard on this).

 

In any case, from there I've moved to blue black inks, where I really appreciate the fact that they're not black, a color that's pretty distinctively a fountain pen color, tend to be permanent, a day-to-day color that is appropriate for pretty much any general use, and also the ones I use(I prefer IGs) tend to have some shading that still keeps things interesting for me. I'd use Mont Blanc Midnight Blue if I could actually get the IG version still, but since I can't I use Pelikan mostly. I THINK Noodler's "Bad Belted Kingfisher" is considered a B-B, and I've been playing with it a bit lately-I like that it's a bit more on the blue end than most other B-Bs, and of course even though it's not Iron Gall it's still effectively a permanent ink(although the Warden inks do have some interesting properties more to show tampering than strictly being absolutely permanent).

 

More recently, I've bought a few other blacks, although I haven't tried any out yet. Noodlers X Feather appealed to me for cheap paper at work, while there are times I can appreciate a fast dry ink and Bernanke Black promises that. I know the Bernanke inks are available in colors other than black, but like a lot of Noodler's products it can be hit or miss as to whether any particular ink is in stock at a given time. X Feather, as best as I can tell, is only a black ink.

[PithyProlix]

[snip] I THINK Noodler's "Bad Belted Kingfisher" is considered a B-B, and I've been playing with it a bit lately-I like that it's a bit more on the blue end than most other B-Bs, and of course even though it's not Iron Gall it's still effectively a permanent ink(although the Warden inks do have some interesting properties more to show tampering than strictly being absolutely permanent). [snip]

 

Whatever Bad Belted Kingfisher is (does it matter?) I think it's a great color and example of what I'm talking about. I'd gladly use it.

 

BTW, please excuse my ADD, but there are some amazingly colored birds in Northern Thailand where I live and I imagine could inspire some ink colors (if not of the type I am referring to in this topic). The Kingfisher species are some of the best. (Not my pictures below but they are Kingfisher species that live in my 'hood.)

 

Edited October 18, 2020 by PithyProlix

[bunnspecial]

 

Whatever Bad Belted Kingfisher is (does it matter?) I think it's a great color and example of what I'm talking about. I'd gladly use it.

 

BTW, please excuse my ADD, but there are some amazingly colored birds in Northern Thailand where I live and I imagine could inspire some ink colors (if not of the type I am referring to in this topic). The Kingfisher species are some of the best. (Not my pictures below but they are Kingfisher species that live in my 'hood.)

 

I agree that Bad Belted Kingfisher is a great "not black" color. To my eye, at least where I've used it, it's a dark navy-blue-almost-black color, but still has some subtle color differences that set it apart.

 

IIRC, Bad Blue Heron is very similar but maybe just a bit lighter blue. Blue Herons themselves are not a super common bird around me, but stand out for their size(easily one of the largest birds you're likely to encounter in the wild here, short of a turkey or a vulture...or turkey vulture) but also do have a distinctive almost iridescent blue-gray color that would make a great ink color.

 

One not-black range of colors I want to like, but can't really get behind, is grays. The only one I have is Noodler's 54th Mass, and to me it's just a boring color(not helped by the fact that it seems to kind of puke out of whatever pen it's in). Edelstein Moonstoon looks like an interesting color too, and might be worth trying at least a sample, but it would have to appeal to me a lot more than 54th Mass to actually commit Edelstein money to a bottle(and I do have a couple of bottles of Edelstein, so I'm not opposed to buying it).

[Karmachanic]

Non-blacks I have my eye on. KWZ IG Green #3 and Kobe #51 Kano Cho. Octopus Shwarz, despite it's name, could also fit the bill.

Edited October 18, 2020 by Karmachanic

[PithyProlix]

[snip]

 

One not-black range of colors I want to like, but can't really get behind, is grays. The only one I have is Noodler's 54th Mass, and to me it's just a boring color(not helped by the fact that it seems to kind of puke out of whatever pen it's in). Edelstein Moonstoon looks like an interesting color too, and might be worth trying at least a sample, but it would have to appeal to me a lot more than 54th Mass to actually commit Edelstein money to a bottle(and I do have a couple of bottles of Edelstein, so I'm not opposed to buying it).

 

I think Noodler's 54th Massachusetts is a blue-black, no?

 

The only gray I have is Noodler's Lexington Gray, a large bottle I bought long ago. It's still almost full, which is saying something. But it is easy on the eyes and more interesting to me than any black, especially with its decent amount of shading - now that I am off blacks it might get used more. For broad nibs & calligraphy it gives a kind of 'antiqued' look that I like.

[bunnspecial]

Sorry, youre right-it is Lexington Gray. So far Ive only used it in a Pilot Falcon SEF, and its a washed out boy super engaging color to my eye. It might help me to try a different pen, especially with a bigger nib.

[PithyProlix]

Non-blacks I have my eye on. KWZ IG Green #3 and Kobe #51 Kano Cho.  Octopus Shwarz, despite it's name, could also fit the bill.

 

In the online reviews Kobe #51 Kano Cho looks like a very, very nice close-to-black but not-black. I'm gonna put that on my buy list. Thanks.

 

I didn't know about Octopus inks (I'm looking at their site now. What a fantastic name! And 250ml bottles - wow.).

 

I've just received Diamine Salamander and it's looking like a nice not-black - sort of a masculine, grayish, brownish, beer & cigars green.

[PithyProlix]

Oh, and I've been taking a lot of notes with Diamine Oxford Blue in a pen with an extra fine nib. It would be a great non-black for me but, even with the extra fine nib, it has been shading *a lot*, making it appear overly busy to me - perhaps an effect of the paper I'm using.

[Pensei]

From my experience, Ink of the Witch is about as close to black as you can get without being there. It performs very nicely, too. For me, Shigure is as close to black as I want to get, but it might not be for others.