Mixing inks can be a slap-dash affair or a carefully orchestrated endeavor. Nick Stewart has taken the game to the ultimate level, one drop at a time, in his experiment with the primary colors red, yellow and blue. The three can make a rainbow of hues and Nick finds them all combining Diamine Scarlet, Yellow, and Turquoise.
Wanna give it a try?
Various subjects…
Diamine Vermilion
Ink, pen and paper:
Sketching Kit:
Watercolor Supplies:
Accessories:
Want to purchase any of these items? Here ya go!
Ink, pen and paper: Pilot BBk, Noodler’s Black, Diamine Mediterranean Blue, J. Herbin Cafe des Iles, Sailor Tokiwa-matsu, Stipula Calamo Sapphron, Stillman & Birn Zeta Sketchbook, Tomoe River Paper from Paper for Fountainpens, Quo Vadis Plan & Note journal, Pilot Metropolitan, Platinum #3776 Century M, TWSBI Diamond 580 1.1, Staples Arc, Traveler’s Notebook 013
Sketching Kit: Staedtler Mars Lumograph pencils, Pentel Hi-Polymer Eraser, Prismacolor Kneaded Eraser, Lowe-Cornell tortillions, Stillman & Birn Epsilon Sketchbook, Faber-Castell Sharpener
Watercolor Kit: Martin Mijello Airtight Watercolor 18-Well Blue Palette, travel box, Stillman & Birn Beta Sketchbook, Arches 300 gsm watercolor paper, Schut Aquarelbloc 300gsm watercolor paper, Monaco Travel Case, Traveler’s Notebook 012
Brushes: Silver Brush Black Velvet Script #4, Round #8, 3/4″ Flat, Escoda Versatil Rigger #10, Isabey Petit Gris #0, SAA Gold Round #10
Tube paints for a watercolor mixing triad: Daniel Smith Cobalt Blue, Winsor & Newton Aureolin, Winsor & Newton Permanent Rose.
Watercolor Metal Travel Box with colors especially good for mixing: American Journey Aureolin, American Journey Quinacridone Burnt Orange, Winsor & Newton Winsor Red, Winsor & Newton Permanent Rose, Daniel Smith Cobalt Blue, American Journey Phthalo Blue, Daniel Smith Phthalo Green (BS)
Accessories: Coccoina glue stick, American Crafts washi tape, Bigelow Earl Grey Green Tea, Numi Chocolate Pu-erh Tea, Sadaf Special Blend Tea with Earl Grey.
The flowers from a watercolor video prompted my December ink rotation and prove that inspiration can be found anywhere. The colors might suggest summer, but they are making me happy today. And that is what counts.
Diamine Eau de Nile, Sailor Tokiwa-matsu, Rohrer & Klingner Alt-Goldgrun, Diamine Violet, Diamine Tyrian Purple, Noodler’s Black Swan in English Roses, J. Herbin Terre de Feu, Diamine Vermilion, and Stipula Calamo Sapphron. The pens include a Pelikan M215, Platinum #3776 music nib, Platinum Century Nice, TWSBI 580, Pilot Metropolitan, Platinum Plaisir and a Noodler’s 1820 Essex.
Watercolor video by Andrew Geeson.
Here are some of these items at Amazon.
It’s that time of year, at least by the calendar, when cooler temps, crunchy leaves and anything made with pumpkins inspire a palette for the season. Old favorites were due for attention, but some new inks deserved a nod as well.
During October, I often load a black pen with orange ink. It’s a small treat. Inks and pens should be fun, no?
Which inks do you use for a little autumn color?
Reviews and comments on the inks: Tokiwa-matsu, 54th Mass, syo-ro, Alt-goldgrun, Ambre de Birmanie, Orange Indien, Terre de Feu, Verde Muschiato.
Pen reviews and comments: Essex Konrad, Pilot Metro, Duragraph, Century Nice, #3776 MU.
Where to buy: Tokiwa-matsu, 54th Mass, syo-ro, Alt-goldgrun, Ambre de Birmanie, Orange Indien, Terre de Feu, Verde Muschiato, Pilot Metro, Pelikan M215, Duragraph, Century Nice, #3776 MU.
That is my collection of Pilot/Namiki fountain pens. Nice variety to it, but they seldom get inked. In comparison to other pen makers, I’ve experienced more flow issues with their modern pens than any other brand. While the fine nibs can be temperamental, the wider nibs and flexy ones are the most frustrating.
With more than thirty Pilots having passed through here in the last few years, I am certain their feeds and nibs are not created equal. The nibs write well enough but the flow is not able to keep up. The pens are too often hard starting and skip mid-word even failing for a full word or occasionally even several. This has never happened with my Sailor and Platinum pens. It has been a rare issue with a vintage Western pen but that could be attributed to careless handling by a former owner. My Lamy, Waterman, and Levenger True Writers have had very rare flow issues though matching ink to pen has helped in a few cases.
Pilot Elite pocket pens from the 1970’s are not so quirky though some of the Script nibs write dry and especially narrow. The ink flow keeps up nicely maintaining an even line. The pretty, decorated ones have had a higher than acceptable rate of cracked barrels so that’s a different kind of warning. However, my Socrates, Isaac Newton, and Black Striped models have been especially good writers and aren’t at all picky about brands of ink. That sort of versatility puts them on my list of favorite fountain pens.
This doesn’t mean all of their pens have flow issues. However, this post can be considered a caveat to my previous pen recommendations from the Pilot Custom 742 to the Custom 74 to the lower end Prera and 78G and the bottom of the line Plumix. Even the Namiki Falcon Soft Broad (SB) nib unlike the Soft Fine (SF) has a flow that is inadequate for the amount of ink that should be laid down. A nib adjustment might help though I’ve experienced mixed results on that score.
A free-flowing ink can improve performance a notch. Pilot Iroshizuku ink is a good match though some Diamine and J. Herbin inks have proven up to the task as well. Waterman Blue-Black is my standard test ink and one that can bring out the best in a multitude of pens so that’s a good one to have on hand. Unfortunately, ink won’t fix a pen but it can improve one that is borderline.
This isn’t meant to dissuade you from buying a Pilot or Namiki fountain pen but it is a warning. Your sleek, new pen may need tweaking to be the best it can be. Or it may only take finding the right ink and paper combination to bring out its most charming qualities. Even better, you could get a pen that is perfect from the start. Shouldn’t they all arrive that way?
The writing instruments on my desk needed a little exercise this morning.
Three inks are waiting for slots in my rotation: Pilot Blue-Black, Pelikan Violet and Diamine Vermillion. Pens to be determined. A turquoise or aqua ink will go in the Century Nice with its next fill. Diamine Marine has called dibs on a second Pilot Pocket Brush Pen though the Eco would show Marine to better advantage than the black barrel of the Pilot. It will all get sorted soon.
Inkophile
