Recommended watercolor brush for swatching ink samples

[lovechop]

So I am eager to start making my own fountain pen ink swatch collection, ring, book, etc.

 

I know what I want to do with respect to paper (pretty much).  Now, I saw someone swatching with a watercolor brush....questions:

 

What size and type (I assume "round").  If the swatch piece will be say 2" x 3" would a size 10 round work?  Princeton seems to be a decent brand....others?  Brush material (for best cleaning and reuse, if possible)?

 

 

I love trial and error, but things costing what they do, I would prefer to be as far along the curve (within reason) as I can be.  Call it cheating...I call it frugally motivated humility fueled by obsessive compulsive ink disorder.

 

 

Thanks!

 

lc

 

 

[OCArt]

You can get a large bag of cotton ear buds at the dollar store, that's what I use.

[A Smug Dill]

33 minutes ago, lovechop said:

So I am eager to start making my own fountain pen ink swatch collection, ring, book, etc.

…‹snip›…

I love trial and error, but things costing what they do, I would prefer to be as far along the curve (within reason) as I can be.

 

What exactly do you want the swatch cards to show and/or tell you, when you go to review them (side by side, or individually) time and again? Please don't say, “Everything!” or, “as much as possible.” What are your priorities? Especially given the limited ‘real estate’ on each swatch card, you can capture only so much on one and have it convey only so much back to you later.

[AmandaW]

I use a 13mm (1/2) wide flat brush because my swatch is a rectangle of that width - one swipe does it. So... depends on the shape of your swatch.

[lovechop]

10 hours ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

What exactly do you want the swatch cards to show and/or tell you, when you go to review them (side by side, or individually) time and again? Please don't say, “Everything!” or, “as much as possible.” What are your priorities? Especially given the limited ‘real estate’ on each swatch card, you can capture only so much on one and have it convey only so much back to you later.

I'm just looking to create a representative sample of the ink on paper i might use on a regular basis.

 

At this point, I see making one out of Rhodia paper; write the name with a pen, splash some ink with the brush, done.  Then, i can flip through it on occassion when I'm curious about looking for a color.

 

You make it sound as though it is a sin to make one unless you know X, Y, Z?  What if I just want to make it for the sake of having a physical archive of my inks?  .  Seeing "Smokebox" on a bottle says one thing; swatch says another.  

 

lc

[mizgeorge]

I dislike waste, and in particular single use items, so I've stopped using cotton buds etc. I'm too lazy to properly clean my good brushes as well, so I've switched to using a silicone artist's brush for large swabs, and just use the side of my beloved Kakimori brass dip 'nib' for smaller ones and writing.

[tde44x]

Since I write only and don't draw, my swatches are actually just writing samples using a glass dip pen and then added to whenever I ink up a pen to see the results with the actual pen/nib. I use 3 sheets for each watch- copy paper, HP32, and TR52 - which represents the papers I use on a regular basis.

[A Smug Dill]

2 hours ago, lovechop said:

You make it sound as though it is a sin to make one unless you know X, Y, Z?  What if I just want to make it for the sake of having a physical archive of my inks?  . 

 

Do you really think so?

 

I was talking about something along the lines of these discussions:

• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/356948-ink-swatch-templatesdesigns/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/356944-which-ink-sample-cards/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/356944-which-ink-sample-cards/?do=findComment&comment=4379303

[sansenri]

14 hours ago, lovechop said:

So I am eager to start making my own fountain pen ink swatch collection, ring, book, etc.

 

I know what I want to do with respect to paper (pretty much).  Now, I saw someone swatching with a watercolor brush....questions:

 

What size and type (I assume "round").  If the swatch piece will be say 2" x 3" would a size 10 round work?  Princeton seems to be a decent brand....others?  Brush material (for best cleaning and reuse, if possible)?

 

 

I love trial and error, but things costing what they do, I would prefer to be as far along the curve (within reason) as I can be.  Call it cheating...I call it frugally motivated humility fueled by obsessive compulsive ink disorder.

 

 

Thanks!

 

lc

 

 

 

A marten brush should be good, one brush won't cost you a huge sum anyway. It does depend how big are your swabs, I usually use a size 2 brush which is smallish, but can hold quite a lot of ink (don't exceed, a brush can absorb quite an amount of ink), perhaps you can get a couple, a size 2 and a size 5 for larger swabs. I prefer round brushes, they are much simpler to use.

Many synthetic brushes are too springy, they will work but not allow you to work softly on the paper and shape the swab easily.

 

Remember to rinse your brush in water immediately after the swab, don't let ink dry on it if you want it to last for very long.

[lovechop]

1 hour ago, A Smug Dill said:

 

Do you really think so?

 

I was talking about something along the lines of these discussions:

• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/356948-ink-swatch-templatesdesigns/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/356944-which-ink-sample-cards/
• https://www.fountainpennetwork.com/forum/topic/356944-which-ink-sample-cards/?do=findComment&comment=4379303

Good info....I plan to keep my needs simple.  Thanks!

 

 

[tde44x]

I like to do swatches on the papers I use regularly or want to try out and prefer to include writing.

 

I started with writing with an actual pen and using a cotton swap for the swatch. Then I progressed to a glass dip pen. But none of these worked the way I wanted.

 

My current preference is to use a brass dip nib which can do both writing as well as swatches and holds enough ink to do several cards at a time. The one I am using is the Kakimori one I got from Yoseka Stationary: https://yosekastationery.com/products/kakimori-metal-nib-brass?_pos=42&_sid=f94b4e2ae&_ss=r .

 

I like this so much I am tossing all of my old swatches and starting over again 🤪.

 

FYI - I swatch on HP32, Midori MD, Clairefontaine Triomphe, Rhodia #18, and Tomoe River (original) 52. I use a disc bound system in a 3x5 format. Covers from Levenger: https://www.levenger.com/circa-326/circa-notebooks-339/circa-vivacious-jotlets-set-of-4-18465.aspx .

[Runnin_Ute]

I use cotton swabs and a fountain pen. I write the name of the ink using a pen, usually filled rather than dipped in addition to the swab.