So What’s Wrong With Red?

Red the color – not the film Red. Helen Mirren is one of my favorite actresses and deserving of a svelte namesake fountain pen in my opinion. But that’s another story. No, this post is about red ink and its nearest neighbors, pink and orange. What can you do with them?

Time after time I load a pen with one of these colors and start out with the best of intentions, most often to shake up my rotation. Nothing wrong with blue, violet, brown, green, teal, and turquoise. They are, with the exception of turquoise, somewhat muted and dark, if not brooding in many incarnations. Red and its cohorts are cheeky in comparison. Shouldn’t that be exciting?

Too often anything in the red family just gets flushed down the drain though not all reds are created equal. Some shout while others whisper. With a few exceptions like Noodler’s Black Swan in Australian Roses, Noodler’s Red-Black, and Rohrer & Klingner Solferino, the pen doesn’t get used and the ink gets wasted. So I’m swearing off for a while. My rotation no longer looks like a  rainbow but that’s fine. Maybe Noodler’s Cayenne will sneak in with the first autumn chill. Since it can look either red or orange, only one pen need get sullied. Glad that’s settled.

Do you have a similar issue with a color? If so, which one?

Noodler’s Cayenne Ink

Ink Talk At Fountain Pen Network

If you haven’t visited FPN recently, they’ve expanded and made it easier to find things that will surely appeal to an inkophile.

• Inky Thoughts
• Ink Reviews
• Ink Comparisons, Scans and Tests
• Inky Recipes

Just for fun here are a few of my favorite inks. Note that the swatches are imperfect and a bit pale. Even so these inks are awfully pretty and frequently in my rotation.

A Few of My Favorite Inks

Coffee Jokes, Paperbacks, and Fountain Pen Links

Links are well and good but 10,000 scientists working on the same project at the same location is nothing short of mind-boggling…

• Coffee Jokes
• Jogging in forest twice as good as trip to gym for mental health 
• Operation Paperback
• Writer’s Bloc: The Platinum Plaisir vs The Platinum Preppy Fountain Pen
• Rohrer & Klingner 120th Anniversary limited edition ink
• Estilograficas.net: Chilton Wing-Flow 7 1/2 Burgundy
• East…West…Everywhere: Fountain Pen Review: Sailor Lecoule MF nib
• Bestseller Labs: Pixar Insider Reveals The 22 Rules Of Storytelling
• BusinessWeek: Europe Overtakes U.S. in Physics Pursuing God Particle in Geneva

More Links

A few for the weekend…

• Daleks attend a wedding
• Eleanor Baker Watercolors
• Anderson Pens: Collecting Strategies – Making Sense Out of Pen Collecting
• Gentian: Rohrer and Klinger Drawing and Calligraphy ink
• 10 Reasons the World Would be a Better Place if Japan Ruled the Earth (h/t Chris Meisenzahl)
• Envelope Size Chart Quick Guide (h/t European Paper Company)
• Combination Stationery Case Lap Desk
• Abbey Pens: The Encyclopedia of Calligraphy and Illuminated Letters

Fountain Pen Nibs – It’s All Relative

When it comes to nib size, fountain pen users have a multitude of choices. Recently I was doodling with the inky beauties on my desk and was struck by the differences between them. Even two from the same maker and of the same width produced varied results. Getting the perfect line size to show your writing to its best may take a little trial and error, but the satisfaction in seeing your words look their best is worth it.

I have become an equal opportunity user though I was stuck on narrow nibs for a very long time. Most fountain pen nibs are either fine or medium with a smaller number available in broad and extra-fine widths. The tip of the nib is round in shape, a bit like a ball point pen when you put it to paper. That angle of contact suits general use very well.

Moving beyond the typical nib, the sweet spot where nib meets paper becomes less forgiving and requires more care in use. If it suits your writing style, even an exotic nib should work well once you get the hang of it. Less common categories include double broad (BB), stub, italic, cursive italic, music, and Arabic. There are other exotic nibs but they are too rare for a general discussion.

If a rigid nib doesn’t thrill you, there is a unique characteristic called flex which can be an attribute of any sized nib. It is measured in degrees from a soft give that produces just a slight squish with pressure to a wet noodle that puts down ink like a paint brush.

Another quirk is that Asian nibs for the most part are more narrow than Western nibs. Add to that the interplay between nib, ink and paper as well as the rate of flow from the ink supply to the nib tip and the range of line widths can get ridiculous.

Still there is a range and that is what the image demonstrates. Size is relative.

Fountain Pen Line Comparison

Note that the ink scan has not be color adjusted. Take that aspect of this post with a grain of salt.

I’m In The Mood For Green – Ink That Is

There are four green inks that form the mid-range of my green rotation. Each is different enough to get its own time usually in one of my Pilot Elite ‘Socrates’ pocket pens and when I’m in a bold mood, a Lamy Vista 1.1 mm calligraphy nib.

• Diamine Kelly Green has the most yellow of the green inks and shades incredibly well from light green at the tops of letters to shamrock green at the bottom.
• J. Herbin Lierre Sauvage is less yellow and might be considered the truest green of the bunch. It shades less and offers more consistent coverage than Kelly Green.
• Rohrer & Klingner Verdura starts the transition to blue-based green. The blue isn’t strong but is definitely present in greater measure than yellow. Shading is more subtle and the flow a bit dry compared to the other green inks.
• Iroshizuku Shin-Ryoku is the most blue of the group. Depending on the paper it can produce excellent shading with excellent flow. Even though it leans decidedly blue, it is definitely a green.

In that same color range ,Diamine Umber, J. Herbin Vert Empire, and Diamine Emerald get high marks, too.

No one has done a better job of comparing green inks than geoduc with two outstanding posts (#1 and #2) at FPN. Be sure to scroll through all of the graphics. It’s an amazing body of work.

A Little Ink History For The True Geek

History really does put things in perspective. Look at the years in which some well-known companies began offering ink. To be sure this is only a partial list compared to the number of labels on the market but it is still a good sampling. Whether you like these particular brands or not, the companies are doing something right to endure. Kudos to all of them.

• Aurora – 1919
• De Atramentis – 1988
• Diamine – 1864
• J. Herbin – 1670
• Noodler’s Ink – 2004?
• Parker – 1931
• Pelikan – 1838
• Private Reserve – 1998
• Rohrer & Klingner – 1892
• Sheaffer – 1922
• Waterman – 189?