De Atramentis Ink – A Brief Look

De Atramentis has an enormous range of colors so there’s a rainbow from which to choose. If color determines your fondness for an ink, this manufacturer has got your number. If other properties count as much, then caveat emptor. Certainly some will meet your standards. However, others may only work in a limited number of pens or on a limited selection of papers. This is one brand of ink that may take some trial and error to find a satisfying combination.

Lest you think I am unhappy with the whole line, perish the thought. While it won’t replace my favorite brands, I did find good things about Aubergine, Sepiabraun, and Cement Grey. No coverage issue though Sepiabraun and Cement Grey are incredibly wet. There was a small amount of feathering with the latter on Apica though not on Staples bagasse or Rhodia. I no longer have a sample of Aubergine but the color was a favorite in the past. No issues with performance either.

De Atramentis Ink Samples

Sepiabraun is similar to Noodler’s Walnut but less saturated while Cement Grey looks like wet cement or maybe a piece of charcoal depending on line thickness. Olive Green is close in color to J. Herbin Vert Olive with some blue added. Aubergine bears a resemblance to Parker Penman Ruby. It isn’t a substitute but it is similar.

Now for Olive Green. It is a pretty color but did not make the grade for performance. Two pens and three brands of paper plus various scraps on my desk were tested. Poor coverage with both a Lamy Vista 1.1 italic and a Sailor 1911 fine nib revealed an issue with skipping/poor coverage on Rhodia and Apica. The lack of cleanly filled in lines was less evident on Staples bagasse and more closely resembled skipping than poor coverage. On bagasse the dried ink showed some shading but not with any consistency. The pale color would be well suited to wide nibs but the performance with my pens was not satisfactory. Perhaps in a wet broad nib issues would be non-existent but there is nothing suitable in my collection to give Olive Green a proper test.

I am loathe to include YMMV in a review but it’s true. Please post in the comments if you have used De Atramentis ink. I hope you can add good experiences to balance my so-so one.

Time for a Purple Fix

Do you have days when color rules your choices? Even if it’s black ink in a black pen, a harmonious duo can be just the thing to set the right tone for your day. Not that a vibrant contrast doesn’t have its place. Think vivid orange in a black pen or true green in a yellow pen. These combinations are lively and make writing fun. However, there are days when I just want my tools to be an extension of thought rather than a statement of fashion. This week I needed purple.

Why purple? It combines the stability of blue with the vigor of red and is associated with creativity and magic, all good stuff for a writer. Since I only own two purple pens, one of which could pass for silver and has never been inked, the choice was easy.

Levenger True Writer in Periwinkle

Levenger discontinued the periwinkle version of its True Writer some time ago so I was fortunate to acquire one from a private seller. Because it has so many shades of purple in its marbled barrel, including at its darkest what passes for a blue-black, this TW works with a variety of inks. The smooth medium nib may not add anything to my penmanship but it is very easy on my hand so I can write longer at a session.

Pen in hand I browsed though my swatches for an ink with just the right color and characteristics. The two most likely candidates were J. Herbin Violette Pensée and Diamine Violet. For a change of pace, I opted for the Diamine though the colors are nearly identical.

Diamine Violet

So for days I’ve been enjoying my purple fix especially on Rhodia grid paper and in an Apica 6A10 journal. How about you? What inky duo made you happy this past week?

Leather Cover for an Apica 6A10 Notebook

Do you use the Apica 6A10 notebook? I am a great fan of Apica and the 6A10 has been my daily journal for a couple of years. For me that’s a very long time to use a single product and high praise indeed.

The only drawback for some folks is the thin cardboard cover. Since I rarely write in my journal anywhere but at my desk, I find the cover to be convenient. Still there are days when writing in a coffee house or at the park sounds enticing so finding a sturdy cover makes good sense.

Apica 6A10 Notebook

At 7″ x 10″ this journal just doesn’t fit any of the reasonably priced options I could find. To be sure there are some companies that will make a custom leather cover but a knockabout, easy care version is more suitable to my needs. As it turns out a binder at the bottom of my paper stash works very well, The Notabilia from Levenger. It is meant for composition notebooks but it fits the Apica journal very well with a half inch to spare on the side. People who are handy could fit a pen loop in that space making the cover even more useful.

Did I mention I wanted something reasonably price? Well, I bought my Notabilia cover on sale for a fraction of the current price of $94. Levenger’s eBay outlet has imperfect ones that go for less than $30. That might not include the Lev composition book but who needs that anyway when you’ve got a stellar Apica 6A10!

Levenger Notabilia

On My Desk – 2008/09/27

Variety makes life interesting so now that summer is over, my desk is back to it’s old tricks, collecting pens and cluttering this tiny piece of real estate. There are a number of additional pens inked but they are in a drawer ready to produce a spot of color where needed. Really, isn’t nine at one time enough?

• Lamy Al-Star EF with Diamine Teal
• Lamy Al-Star EF with Pilot Iroshizuku Syo-ro
• Lamy Al-Star EF with Sailor Red-Brown
• Levenger True Writer with Diamine Golden Brown
• Pilot Socrates F with Diamine Kelly Green
• Pilot Namiki Falcon SF with Herbin Larmes de Cassis
• Platinum Pocket Pen F with Platinum Black cartridge
• Sailor 1911 F with Herbin Vert Empire
• Sailor Sapporo F with Noodler’s Legal Lapis

My paper supply rarely changes consisting of HP Inkjet 24#, HP Laser Jet #32, Rhodia lined pads, Exacompta Black Block and an Apica 6A10 Notebook as a daily journal. My “To Do” list goes in a Notebound 7 in x 5 in spiral notebook. The size allows for plenty of notes but still easily fits in my handbag. These notebooks are available in markets, pharmacies and office supply chains but the paper is too inconsistent to recommend. Good stuff is good but the bad is useless for fountain pens demonstrating excessive feathering and bleed through. It’s great for pencils or roller balls if you are willing to compromise.

On My Desk – 2008/5/25

Not sure this will be a daily thing but for at least the near future, a log of what I which pens, ink, and paper get used the most/longest would be a useful record to keep. The best format might be a page that gets posted daily but to get things rolling individual posts will do.

My Apica 6A10 journal is a fixture so I won’t list it except to note the date I start a new one. I keep a variety of Post-Its plus two small Rhodia blocs with grid paper for quick notes on my desk at all times.

• True Writer in green marble with F nib loaded with Diamine Kelly Green
• Lamy Al-star in periwinkle with EF nib loaded with Diamine Teal
• Sailor 1911 in black/rhodium with F nib loaded with J. Herbin Vert Empire
• Lamy Safari in charcoal with EF nib loaded with Platinum Black stashed in a leather pen case