An Autumn Ink Palette Inspired By Van Gogh

My favorite season has returned though where I live, you wouldn’t know it was autumn. One way to compensate for that deficiency is to let my ink and pen selection represent the color variety that the local flora does not. Could my current maximum rotation of five pens do the season justice? After extensive perusing of ink swatches, I was not satisfied with any combination and put aside the project for another day.

Then I noticed a book of Vincent Van Gogh’s paintings, a gift from family earlier this year. Why not consult a master? Eventually, I settled on his painting, Rocks with Oak Tree, and found a few inks in my collection that approximate the colors.

• Herbin Ambre de Birmaine
• Iroshizuku yu-yake
• Iroshizuku ina-ho
• Herbin Lie de Thé
• Noodler’s Dostoyevsky
• Waterman Florida Blue

The two pens already on my desk were filled with Sailor Tokiwa-Matsu and Diamine Violet so adding six more would be too many. Three inks were returned to the shelf, leaving a manageable number.

This group will do nicely for visual variety and writing pleasure.

• Iroshizuku yu-yake
• Herbin Lie de Thé
• Noodler’s Dostoyevsky
• Diamine Violet
• Sailor Tokiwa-Matsu

 

These inks may not reflect the season so much as Van Gogh’s color choices, but that’s fine since they will provide sufficient variety to meet my current writing needs. As the holidays approach, yu-yake and Violet will be replaced by Diamine Emerald and a bright burgundy to carry me into the new year. At least that is the current plan. I am quite fickle when it comes to ink, so don’t hold me to it. I am after all an inkophile. Aren’t you?

These items are available at Amazon.com. For qualified purchases, Inkophile receives a small commission at no additional cost to you.

• Van Gogh His Life and Works in 500 Images by Michael Howard
• Herbin Ambre de Birmaine
• Iroshizuku yu-yake
• Iroshizuku ina-ho
• Herbin Lie de Thé
• Noodler’s Dostoyevsky
• Waterman Serenity Blue (formerly Florida Blue)
• Diamine Violet
• Sailor Tokiwa-Matsu

 

Sunday Reads: Pens, Ink, And Pups

Not in the market for a new pen, but if I were, the PenBBS Vac would be on my list. What’s on yours?

• WaPo: Maryland chemist brews up artisanal fountain pen ink
• HGTV: The Best Pens for Gifting and Everyday Use, According to Pen Enthusiasts
• The Gentleman Stationer: PenBBS Vacuum Filler Review
• Behind those Foster Grants

This pet is very very
smart! pic.twitter.com/FbjWuZ12kr

— viralvideos (@BestVideosviral) September 28, 2019

Sunday Reads: Fountain Pens, Ink And A Diplomat

Sonal Kalra has some excellent tips for dealing with pen borrowers…

• The Well-Appointed Desk: Eye Candy: Papier Plume Bad Bad LeRoy Brown & Lake Michigan Winter
• The Pelikan’s Perch: 4001 And Günther Wagner’s Lost But Not Forgotten Pelikan Inks
• Mountain of Ink: Ink Review #650: Kingdom Note Tomato Red
• Rupertarzeian’s Fountain Pen Blog: A look at the Diplomat Excellence A2 fountain pen.
• Hindustan Times: A Calmer You, by Sonal Kalra: Do people keep borrowing your pen?
• Rediscover Analog: Ink Review: Sailor Ink Studio 670

Sunday Reads: Lotsa Pen Stuff Plus Extra Credit Questions

This post started out as exclusively pen and ink links but the “Extra Credit Questions” piece begged to be included. I couldn’t resist.

• The Pelikan’s Perch: How To Differentiate The Pelikan 400 From The M400: A Guide
• Mountain of Ink: Small Pen Makers
• Learn Something and Pen Ink on a Leaf
• The Well-Appointed Desk: Eye Candy: Lamy Bronze Al-Star & Fountain Pen Ink
• Introducing Inexpens Fountain Pens (Never used one but they do have a lot of nib choices.)
• Fountain Pen Love: Creating and Keeping A Fountain Pen Ink Journal
• Montegrappa Reaches For the Moon – Introducing Moon Landing LE Pens
• 16 Interesting Office Stationery Facts You Can File Under Amazing
• Extra Credit Questions

From the archives

A Short List Of Easy Inks

Want to keep things really simple? Fill only a few pens and use inks that make cleaning easy. Enjoyable pen use is sure to follow.

With hundreds of inks on the market, where should you start? Sheaffer, Waterman and Parker Quink inks are quite safe and easy to find. My favorites are Waterman’s Inspired Blue, Serenity Blue, and Mysterious Blue. They are comfortable colors that suit personal correspondence as well as business use, rinse easily from a nib, and work well in any pen. In addition, they are very reasonably priced so there is that to recommend them as well.

Another well-behaved ink is Pilot Blue-Black. The color is subdued but the other characteristics more than compensate for the understated color. Several years ago it became my alternate to Waterman Mysterious Blue for testing pens. That is high praise from an inkophile.

Initially, my ink purchases were from companies that also sold pens. This was based on the assumption that a pen manufacturer would be unlikely to offer ink that would cause damage. Eventually, Waterman and Quink colors seemed too limited so I sought advice from Sam and Frank at Pendemonium. It wasn’t long before well-behaved inks from Diamine and J. Herbin joined my collection including

• Diamine Emerald
• Diamine Sepia
• Diamine Violet
• Diamine Mediterranean Blue
• Diamine Dark Brown
• Diamine Wild Strawberry
• Herbin Lie de The
• Herbin Orange Indien
• Herbin Poussiere de Lune
• Herbin Perle Noir

This group of colors cleaned easily and was perfect for a novice. For water-resistant ink, I turned to Noodler’s Black or Lexington Gray. They are slightly higher maintenance but only marginally so.

My list of inks is always changing since new brands and colors arrive every year. Among those new releases are certain to be at least a few that will be low maintenance. In my experience, blacks, blues and greens rinse out more easily than other colors. And if it’s easy to clean, you are more likely to do it frequently, right?

If you want to try Pilot Blue-Black but your preferred retailer doesn’t offer the brand, it can be found at Amazon in three sizes, 30ml, 70ml, and a humongous 350ml bottle for around $22. The latter comes in a tall, thin container that is unsuitable for pen filling. However, a thoroughly cleaned, empty ink bottle would make a nice home for a more practical amount of ink. A benefit to decanting is that the ink remaining in the larger bottle is less likely to become contaminated. Store the bottle in a dark place where moldy little beasties won’t thrive and color won’t degrade, and that Pilot BBk should last a very long time.

All of these inks continue to rotate through my pens and that is the best recommendation. However, my list is not definitive. Is there an ink you would add?

The Return Of Private Reserve Ink

Did you know that Private Reserve Ink has returned with a new website and some old favorite colors? It has been ages since I bought any, but Avacado and Shell Pink will be welcome here come Spring. Arabian Rose, Burgundy Mist, Orange Crush or Gray Flannel might follow soon after.

The price is very reasonable including the six sample packs that are especially useful if you have no experience with this brand. The Ebony group would make a good choice for those who favor dark inks while the Winter sample pack is perfect for those who are fond of blue. The other four are mixed groups that will hit just the right notes for many inkophiles.

If you like highly saturated ink and don’t mind giving it a few extra seconds to dry, Private Reserve could be a worthy addition to your ink collection.

Fountain Pens Are Cool

Last week, HisNibs.com shared a link to a Bloomberg article about fountain pen ink that stated, “Worldwide, fountain pen sales are forecast to total $1.15 billion this year, up 3 percent from 2017 and almost 31 percent from a decade ago, according to market-research company Euromonitor International.” Yes, fountain pens are cool and so is ink.

An inkophile needs a stable of pens to test and compare several colors at the same time. A five-pen rotation works well for me and for a reasonable investment, these are some of my favorite models.

• Pilot Metropolitan – My three are good writers, but might seem slender in a large hand.
• Pilot Kakuno – Mine has a good nib and adds virtually no weight to my kit.
• Platinum Plaisir – Good nibs and attractive colors. Slightly larger than the Metropolitan.
• Kaweco Sport – Modern pocket pen works well in small spaces. Nibs can be swapped.
• TWSBI Eco – Small nib and simple design, but folks swear by the Eco. The Diamond 580 is my preferred model.
• Lamy Safari – Sturdy build, but the grip is awkward for some users. Nibs can be good if finicky about ink. The Studio is my preferred model for an everyday pen.
• Nemosine Singularity – Good build for the price. My italics work best with well-lubricated inks.
• Conklin Duragraph – The stub nibs are smooth and juicy. I liked the design and performance well enough to purchase two.

Although I have owned a few inexpensive Chinese pens that wrote well enough, most brands have been too inconsistent to recommend. However, for the modest investment, they could be worth the gamble. Amazon and eBay offer quite a few, but you might have better luck at His Nibs.

The Pilot Metropolitan has emerged as my favorite fountain pen for ink testing because it cleans easily and flows well with every ink. The Duragraph with its wide nib is good for general writing so it will often get filled with an ink I would use for a journal or correspondence. The Kakuno or the Singularity come out to play when aqua ink is on the menu. The Nova Orange Plaisir is happy with orange ink or sometimes a fill of Noodler’s Lexington Gray. Either way, it makes my desk look cheerful.

My current pen rotation for testing ink includes

• Silver Pilot Metropolitan – green ink
• Aqua Pilot Metropolitan, Kakuno, or Nemosine Singularity – blue/aqua ink
• Plaisir – red/orange ink
• TWSBI – purple/burgundy ink
• Duragraph – black/brown ink

That makes five pens for under $150. Or a mix of Metropolitans and Plasirs could be put together for less than $75. Add a selection of ink samples and you are on your way to being a collector. Now wasn’t that easy!

Though I have never needed to make a return, do purchase where that would be easy. Low-end pens can be imperfect by some accounts though I suspect that is less common with the pens on my list.

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