Monthly Ink Challenge - Season IV

[InesF]

Monthly Ink Challenge Season III is over, let’s start with Season IV

 

But first a short summary of learning outcomes from Season III:

1. Having a fountain pen in use for at least one calendar month taught me about the character of each pen and let me find new darlings!

2. Having three fountain pens filled at a time is all I need. Having four does extend possibilities but does not always improve the set.

3. I adore some of my pens so much, I like to have them in use for longer than a month.

4. I wish to use all of my fountain pens during one calender year.

5. The strict rules of previous seasons, as helpful as they were to some extend, were overdone at most times and caused more stress than they provided orientation and joy.

 

Some of these outcomes weight more than others and at least two of them are in contradiction considering the 53 fountain pens in my collection. During the past decades I have seen myself primarily as an user. Time has come to be a collector as well. During the upcoming season, some of my fountain pens will have to stay in their racks. 😢 I like to give priority to the „longer than one month for my darlings“ over „using them all“.

 

As before, Season IV will present sets of three (sometimes four) fountain pen inks and invite you, dear FPN users, to take part in the creative realization of a suitable theme.

 

All that considered, those changes will apply to Season IV:

 

The most important change is the duration: I can offer only nine months of Ink Challenge, from October 2024 to June 2025. The following three months are optional - for personal reasons. As I do not know details about my absence before June 2025, I will not promise anything yet.

 

The Monthly Ink and pen Sets will not change monthly! Oh, wait, what? 🤔 While I will generally continue with composing ink and pen sets, I will do that asynchronous to the report times. As told before, some pens will stay longer, others will stay shorter than for a month. To avoid set and inspiration quote postings at „random“ times, I will post the status of my then active set at the begin of each month, nevertheless. At least for me, there was always a good reason why a pen and why a certain ink made it into a set. I intend to provide you with a short background story including a pen-in-use micro-review for every newly appearing fountain pen and I will drop a line or two explaining what made me choose the ink(s). But let‘s see how this works out and if it requires adaptations during Season IV.

 

There will be a monthly inspiration text, quite similar to before while monthly changing themes are optional. Based on the inspiration text, I will be looking forward to your participation, making Season IV a true Co-Razy-Views topic. Again, the same as before, I will post some result or outcome from my side around the middle of each month.

 

Let me thank you for all your contributions, motivation notes and creative ideas you have provided during the past seasons. 

I‘m looking forward to the new Season IV, which already starts to feel like a new adventure!

See you October 6^th, latest.

[LizEF]

6 hours ago, InesF said:

Having a fountain pen in use for at least one calendar month taught me about the character of each pen and let me find new darlings!

Your series inspired me to pick one of my less-used pens each month and use it with one ink all month long, just so that none of my pens lies dormant for years on end.  And also to rule them in or out as far as keepers or ones I should find a new home for.  I've only been doing this for two months and so far, one "give away" pen has come back into the "keepers" category, and another in the "keepers" category has been upgraded to, "hey, I like this more than I remembered".

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

The most important change is the duration: I can offer only nine months of Ink Challenge, from October 2024 to June 2025. The following three months are optional - for personal reasons. As I do not know details about my absence before June 2025, I will not promise anything yet.

I hope whatever will cause your absence will be a happy occasion for you.  Whatever its cause, you will be missed!

 

6 hours ago, InesF said:

I‘m looking forward to the new Season IV, which already starts to feel like a new adventure!

Me, too!

[InesF]

15 hours ago, LizEF said:

Your series inspired me to pick one of my less-used pens each month and use it with one ink all month long, just so that none of my pens lies dormant for years on end.  And also to rule them in or out as far as keepers or ones I should find a new home for.  I've only been doing this for two months and so far, one "give away" pen has come back into the "keepers" category, and another in the "keepers" category has been upgraded to, "hey, I like this more than I remembered".

Thank you, @LizEF, I'm pleased by your reply! Indeed, much too often we look only forward to what new things we can experience and forgetting about the happy status we already had, once in the past.

 

15 hours ago, LizEF said:

I hope whatever will cause your absence will be a happy occasion for you.  Whatever its cause, you will be missed!

🙏 By all I know so far, it will be a good time coming. But now, let's focus on the upcoming nine month.

[knarflj]

On 9/29/2024 at 10:27 AM, LizEF said:

Your series inspired me to pick one of my less-used pens each month and use it with one ink all month long, just so that none of my pens lies dormant for years on end.  And also to rule them in or out as far as keepers or ones I should find a new home for.  I've only been doing this for two months and so far, one "give away" pen has come back into the "keepers" category, and another in the "keepers" category has been upgraded to, "hey, I like this more than I remembered".

 

Oh, I like this idea!  I am pretty sure I have fewer than 20 pens, but I don't write reams and all my nibs are fine and extra fine, so sometimes it can take me several months to empty a pen.*  I have a handful of pens I always keep coming back to, so some of the others almost never get used.  I could adapt this to help me keep all my pens feeling loved, or perhaps to prompt me to pass some of them along.  Thanks, Liz!

 

On 9/29/2024 at 10:27 AM, LizEF said:

I hope whatever will cause your absence will be a happy occasion for you.  Whatever its cause, you will be missed!

 

Yes, indeed, to both points!

 

@InesF, I rarely have time to contribute to your thread, but I always enjoy your posts and those of everyone else who contributes, so thank you ahead of time for season IV!

 

*It is one of the mysteries of the inky universe that although each of the three or four pens I may have inked up at any one time holds a different amount of ink, and their nibs are of varied widths, they often all seem to run out of ink and need cleaning within a week or so of each other.

 

[LizEF]

10 minutes ago, knarflj said:

Oh, I like this idea!  ...  Thanks, Liz!

Thanks! And you're most welcome.

 

14 minutes ago, knarflj said:

*It is one of the mysteries of the inky universe that although each of the three or four pens I may have inked up at any one time holds a different amount of ink, and their nibs are of varied widths, they often all seem to run out of ink and need cleaning within a week or so of each other.

The secret conspiracies of inks and pens.

[InesF]

12 hours ago, knarflj said:

@InesF, I rarely have time to contribute to your thread, but I always enjoy your posts and those of everyone else who contributes, so thank you ahead of time for season IV!

Thank you! Please feel welcome to look over the fence and have a talk with us. Your comment is as welcome as any other form of contribution!  

 

12 hours ago, knarflj said:

It is one of the mysteries of the inky universe that although each of the three or four pens I may have inked up at any one time holds a different amount of ink, and their nibs are of varied widths, they often all seem to run out of ink and need cleaning within a week or so of each other.

It is, indeed, some type of conspiracy (thank you, @LizEF!) - it must be! Because I observe something similar with my pens!   

[LizEF]

6 hours ago, InesF said:

It is, indeed, some type of conspiracy (thank you, @LizEF!) - it must be! Because I observe something similar with my pens!   

Clearly this is a widespread conspiracy.  I'm going to posit that water (or at least liquid) is the means by which pens communicate with each other, and the reason I don't have this problem as much as you two is because there's less water in the air here, making their interpen communications more difficult.

[gmax]

Hello @InesF 👋

 

I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next   

 

[InesF]

15 hours ago, LizEF said:

[...] and the reason I don't have this problem as much [...]

@LizEF, please be aware, that ink samples can be quantum entangled! 🤭 Means: as long as the bottle at one side of the ocean is full, the ink sample (and maybe the pen, if you didn't intentionally break the entanglement) on the other side of the ocean will always be full as well! 🥺

  

(if you scroll down the provided Wikipedia page, the last chapter before the references has some hint about quantum entanglement of macroscopic objects)

 

However, the very best quantum ink effect would be "The Grinning Cat Phenomenon", means: the ink is in the bottle, but it's properties can be elsewhere ... 🤔 You think you are safe from Baystate Blue? 🫢 

[InesF]

10 hours ago, gmax said:

I'm looking forward to seeing what comes next   

You are welcome!  

[LizEF]

8 hours ago, InesF said:

@LizEF, please be aware, that ink samples can be quantum entangled! 🤭 Means: as long as the bottle at one side of the ocean is full, the ink sample (and maybe the pen, if you didn't intentionally break the entanglement) on the other side of the ocean will always be full as well! 🥺

  

(if you scroll down the provided Wikipedia page, the last chapter before the references has some hint about quantum entanglement of macroscopic objects)

If one day I reach for an ink sample and find they're all empty, I'm going to blame you!

 

8 hours ago, InesF said:

However, the very best quantum ink effect would be "The Grinning Cat Phenomenon", means: the ink is in the bottle, but it's properties can be elsewhere ... 🤔 You think you are safe from Baystate Blue? 🫢 

What nightmares science must give you!   (Here's the page in English, for any interested.)

 

Meanwhile, it would appear that Quin's message paper has been quantum entangled.

[InesF]

18 hours ago, LizEF said:

If one day I reach for an ink sample and find they're all empty, I'm going to blame you!

18 hours ago, LizEF said:

Meanwhile, it would appear that Quin's message paper has been quantum entangled.

I'm loving it when fiction is based on science! 👍  

[LizEF]

5 hours ago, InesF said:

I'm loving it when fiction is based on science! 👍  

[yazeh]

@InesF thanks for posting this. I'm looking forward to next 9 months. I wonder if it's something birth related 

You know it's Inktober month, and you can this month for fun creations  

 

I have two sets of pens, my reviewing pens, Ef Japanese nib (Pilot), Lamy Safari /or Kawecos and a flex/semi flex vintage or modern pen. 

And then I have my permanently inked pens, these pens are mostly eyedroppers and they are all filled with permanent waterproof inks and they act as ink reservoirs. I use the feed if I want a paler colour or pull the feed/ convertor or the barrels and dip the water brush directly in them. 

[InesF]

18 hours ago, yazeh said:

@InesF thanks for posting this. I'm looking forward to next 9 months. I wonder if it's something birth related 

 

 

18 hours ago, yazeh said:

You know it's Inktober month, and you can this month for fun creations  

Yes, I started with enthusiasm 😊 and stopped after day one. 😔 October is too busy for me for keeping up with Inktober. Maybe I will do the drawings in November ... 🤭

[InesF]

Monthly Ink Challenge IV – October 2024

 

The first set of the new season consists of:

Montblanc Gustav Klimt – in Montblanc Gold Leaf flex

deAtramentis Rotorange (red orange) – in Faber Castell Ambition M

Rohrer & Klingner Sepia – in Lamy Studio F (14 kt black)

 

The idea for this ink set was inspired by a necklace I saw in September. It was made from wooden and stone pearls in the colours brown, orange and bluish petrol. These are not just colours that nicely represent autumn, but are a very harmonious and elegant colour combination as a whole. The necklace combined a more green-leaning petrol and red-leaning brown, which would had been another option to go.

 

Here the short introduction on an A5 sheet of Fritz Schimpf Feinpost paper:

 

And a small writing example on Rhodia paper:

 

 

Some background information to the pens and inks.

 

The Montblanc Gold Leaf with flex nib is a bit controversial. It is a solid metal body pen with heavy weight and elegant visuals. I like it a lot, despite it’s „loud‟ character. Its heavy weight allows to write without pressure. The cigar shape is not so charming for my kind of taste, but is acceptable. The nib however, has serious up- and downsides. It can produce hairlines when written with next to no and up to ca. 1mm line width when applying some pressure. The downside is in the next-to-zero ink flow when not flexing the nib. It is possible to get consistent lines from inks with surface tension below ca. 45 mN/m. But, flexing the nib with such an ink results in flooded lines. In contrast, using inks with high surface tension (such as the Gustav Klimt) requires a certain minimal pressure to get a continuous line with the challenge to hold this gentle pressure at a constant level. That‘s almost impossible and therefore a paragraph of text looks somehow inconsistent in most cases. However, the MB Gustav Klimt ink is, colour-wise, a perfect match for the Gold Leaf pen and the centre colour for the October set. Due to it‘s high surface tension it is a stunning shader with the pale parts leaning more towards a neutral blue and the saturated parts leaning more towards petrol.

 

The Faber Castell Ambition is among my top EDC pens. The steel M nib can handle inks of all properties and produces consistent and reliable lines with the low surface tension deAtramentis Rotorange ink. The pen is rigid and of good weight at the lower end of my preference. It‘s single drawback is the small section (btw. it was never intended to be the grip when writing!) which is hard to hold when screwing it off for the refill (or back on) without spilling residual ink on the finger.

 

I doubled the value of my Lamy Studio by equipping it with the black 14kt gold nib and never regretted it. There is not much to tell about the pen: it has a comfortable length, diameter and weight for me and even the polished metal grip section feels convenient. It is an EDC pen because of its sturdiness and is a far above average writer with the gold nib. The R&K Sepia ink does have a slightly green undertone in its grey-brown hue making it the obvious complement colour for blue-petrol and orange. Btw., it is the same colour as the R&K sketchINK Lilly, which I adore and use frequently for line and wash drawings. Sepia has limited shading potential because of its medium surface tension.

 

Remark: for exactly reproducing the colours of the necklace, I would had chosen Pelikan 4001 Brown and Ferris Wheel Press Bluegrass Velvet to complement the deAtramentis Rotorange. I have swatched these inks with a Kakimori steel dip nib below the inktroduction part:

 

 

The inspiration quote for October is:

Nature retreats and prepares for its winter rest.

 

Get inspired, choose your pens and inks and start bringing your creative ideas to paper!

Looking forward to your contributions!

See you October 20^th latest.

[yazeh]

@InesF Such a lovely handwriting, I wonder if you were a scribe in a previous life working with Hildegard von Bingen.  Looking forward to your creations  

[RedPie]

The Montblanc Gold Leaf is such a beautiful pen! @InesF

[LizEF]

Such a lovely combo.  R&K Sepia looks much more "normal" in your sample.  When I was reviewing it first as a "mystery" ink and then after learning its name, the green came through a bit more (or so my memory claims).  Whatever the case, it's on my list of inks to buy.  Enjoy your choices - even that Montblanc Catch-22.   (And I'm with you - "cigar" is just about the worst pen shape - makes me yawn.)

[InesF]

On 10/5/2024 at 2:41 PM, yazeh said:

@InesF Such a lovely handwriting, I wonder if you were a scribe in a previous life working with Hildegard von Bingen.  Looking forward to your creations  

Thank you, @yazeh, you are welcome!

Unsure where my roots are, I can only guess it must be some alchemist. I received the gift of quickly starting with some experiments and think later about the fail! 🤫