Do You Have A Signature Ink?

There is little in life that is more unique than a signature. Unlike fingerprints that are immutable from birth, we get to choose the color by which we are best known as well as the design (signature) by which we are most easily recognized. As testament, my parents have been gone many years but I can still picture their signatures quite vividly. So much else has faded but not that.

Using a real pen with real ink to sign documents may eventually go the way of the dodo bird. Until then, what do you choose in all of inkdom to make your signature memorable? If I had a bottle, Pendemonium‘s Noodler’s Legal Lapis would be mine. In its absence, Noodler’s Ottoman Azure or Diamine Mediterranean Blue will do.

Noodler’s Ottoman Azure with a Brause dip nib and Diamine Mediterranean Blue in a Platinum #3776 Music nib doodled on Clairefontaine GraF it 90g Sketch paper. It has a slightly rough surface well suited to pencil sketching but a little less ideal for pen use. I like the way ink skips over the paper and enjoy the break from perfection found with more fountain pen friendly paper.

Parker Penman Ruby Fountain Pen Ink

Parker Penman Inks were introduced twenty years ago and for some aficionados nothing has replaced them. Sapphire is the most often mentioned color but Ruby is no less worthy of note.

Ruby has a bit more yellow and green in its base than other burgundy inks and that gives it a unique, slightly earthy color. It has good shading for its degree of saturation as well as good flow. The color combined with the other properties have kept this ink on my list of favorites for a very long time.

Several years ago, I sent a sample to Diamine hoping they would develop something comparable. After all, Ruby had been off the market since 2000 and there were few burgundy inks available at that time, much less one that offered similar properties. Since then, Diamine has released Syrah and Merlot. From Diamine’s online swatches, Syrah looks like a possible substitute for Ruby while Merlot looks more red or wine-colored.

Inks that are true color duplicates are uncommon so at best Syrah will be similar. If it shades well, it might be a worthy substitute. Not that I’m likely to run out of Ruby anytime soon. My stash of three bottles is more properly a hoard, one that could make even a dragon jealous.

A Burgundy By Any Other Name

Not that anyone has to have a burgundy ink in their color wardrobe, but a true inkophile does love variety. My collection is lacking a Diamine in this color range, something I intend to remedy soon with either Oxblood or Syrah.

For now, the long-discontinued Parker Penman Ruby and Noodler’s Red-Black will do while Noodler’s Black Swan in Australian Roses is perfect for something a bit more pink. All three show a degree of shading with the right pens and good to excellent flow in any pen. None are fast drying but I like the colors so well that this quirk doesn’t deter me .

Noodler’s Tiananmen and Cayenne are my choices for red though Diamine Monaco Red is a good option for a slightly less saturated look.

Noodler’s Black Swan in English Roses would be another good addition to this group but it’s a lot more difficult to find as the good ones so often are.

The dots are more representative of the color produced with a pen except Noodler’s Tiananmen which is less red and more rose colored than reflected in the scan.

Diamine Dark Brown Ink Earns Top Marks

Diamine Dark Brown is a seldom mentioned ink that deserves top marks for performance as well as its soft brown color. Even for ink users who aren’t fond of brown, this one might be a useful option.

A different name would be more descriptive, so I think of it as Diamine Dark Brown – That Isn’t. Unlike the rather orange colored Sepia that barely qualifies as a brown, Dark Brown is properly a medium brown. Very well-behaved and easy on the eyes, it produces lovely shading and a hint of outlining here and there. Good flow and average lubrication make it suitable for a wide variety of nibs. It dries slightly faster than Diamine Sepia and significantly faster than some of the heavily saturated inks in my collection.

Dark Brown is a chameleon depending on the light source. In daylight, it has a red slant. In artificial light, it looses the red and looks balanced or neutral. It isn’t a red-brown like Waterman Havana but there is a subtle bias. My ancient scanner was flummoxed by it and no amount of color adjustment could produce an accurate rendition despite three of us attempting to pin it down to a single image. This one will have to do.

The color is soft and attractive enough for drawing purposes. It also works well for correspondence and in many business applications. My Kyoto Levenger True Writer custom stub suits it perfectly.

Diamine’s selection of brown inks has expanded greatly in recent years and it is a color at which the company excels. It’s hard to go wrong no matter which one you choose but my current favorites are Dark Brown and Chocolate Brown, just in case you were wondering.

An Ink Rotation And Its Worksheet

You are not alone if you wonder/aren’t certain/debate which inks make a rotation. Truthfully, it’s anything that makes you happy but a worksheet can help narrow and refine choices without inking a gazillion or even a dozen pens.

The pens in the upper right section were already inked and some will continue into the summer with the same colors.

The bottom section is a test of possible inks culled from a review of my ink journal. The dots of color were made with the tip of a cotton swab. The paper is from my daily journal which will see the most use of my rotation. It is tinted pale gray which has a mildly dulling effect on ink color so I like to test directly on it for better accuracy.

The upper left section of my worksheet reflects the most likely prospects along with possible pens. Though good colors for the season, some of the inks were eliminated due to degradation or poor performance.

This rotation is in flux. Waiting in the wings are Sailor Uranari, olive green, Sailor Yaki-Akari, pale aqua, Diamine Steel Blue, turquoise, and Noodler’s Black Swan in Australian Roses. If a red is needed, Noodler’s Tiananmen or J. Herbin  ’1670′ Rouge Hematite will do depending on whether subtle or flashy suits the occasion. China Blue will replace asa-gao and Noodler’s Cayenne will replace Vermillion for summer. BSAR might eliminate Claret and Solferino as well. Chocolate and Pilot BBk will return in autumn. That will leave a nine pen rotation which is plenty even for me.

What I don’t like about this group of inks is that the colors don’t come together thematically. What I do like is that it provides lots of options for duos and trios. In addition, the inks are well-matched to their pens so writing will be very enjoyable.

The Levenger True Writer (TW) dominates for now but that is in part because it uses an easy to fill converter and the fine nibs aren’t terribly narrow. My collection needs more broad nibs and stubs to show ink color better. Skinny nibs just don’t have enough punch for a color addict but do not tell me there is a 12-step program for that addiction. I absolutely will not listen. No, no, no, no, no.

Moleskine Paper Meets Ink And It Ain’t Pretty

When it comes to stylish, portable notebooks, it’s hard to top Moleskine. However, there is no doubt the paper does not work well with most fountain pens and inks. There are exceptions and that is part of the frustration of loving Moleskine. There is no predicting what will work and what won’t. The scans tell the tale.

This particular Moleskine Reporter has been my testing site for several years and a few pen and ink duos work well enough in it. In fact, ink following along the occasional paper fiber doesn’t bother me. Even the Apica 6A10, my daily journal for many years, does that here and there. It’s the fuzzy outlines I don’t like. If a retailer wants to donate a more recently manufactured Reporter, I would be happy to test the latest paper. Otherwise, these results stand as the best I can produce in a Moleskine.

Not that your favorite pen and ink won’t be fab in these notebooks. Just be prepared to make adjustments, perhaps, going so far as to use something other than a fountain pen. In fact any writing instrument, save a chunky Sharpie or a fountain pen, will work just fine. Bleed-through might be an issue since the paper is very thin, but clear writing on one side is virtually assured.

Caveat emptor, fellow inkophiles.

What Does Fountain Pen Ink Have To Do With Chocolate?

Such a range of browns! Hard to pick just one but for my spring rotation, it will be Diamine Chocolate Brown with a firm nib and Noodler’s Beaver or Kiowa Pecan with a flex nib. Which one would you choose?